Christmas Countdown: Day 21

Christmas Countdown: Days 4-20

I am not very good at blogging in December. Okay, I probably could have stopped after the word "blogging", but in December it is especially hard for me. There is just so much to do and to enjoy, that it is hard to find the time to get on the computer. I'm sad that I haven't taken more pictures over the month, but I thought I'd include a little bit of what we've been doing this Christmas season.

Sleeping next to the the Christmas Tree.

Sitting on Santa's lap at our Church Christmas Party. That night when putting Little C. to bed, she told her dad, "Sorry I freaked out on Santa's lap dad." She was really worried she was going to be put on the "naughty list" after that. We had to assure her that Santa understood. How cute are 3 year olds?

Making gingerbread houses with Grandma.

Attending the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. That was a highlight of the month so far. The music was beautiful, the spirit was so strong, and Doug and I had a wonderful evening with H-Man, and I-Mac. I'm so grateful we were able to get tickets this year.

There have been so many more things we've enjoyed this month, but unfortunately that is all I have captured on camera. 

I love Christmas time.

Christmas Countdown: Day 3

I started this month with great expectations of documenting all of the wonderful moments and memories of this Christmas season in words and pictures, but here it is the 6th of December and I only have one day to report on. We have been battling major illness in our household for the past month. H. Man has had it the worst and I think he is just finally turning the corner on a three week battle with bronchitis. We're praying that we are all healthy by Christmas and that we have paid our dues this last month so we can stay healthy the rest of the winter.

I decided to start a couple of new traditions to help us to enjoy the true spirit of Christmas a little more this year. The first thing I did new this year was to find 24 Christmas books, wrap them, and place them under the tree.

Each morning one child gets a turn to pick a book to open, and we read it together as a family. There are a mixture of fun stories like The Night Before Christmas, and The Polar Express, but I tried to make the majority of them ones that exemplified the true meaning of Christmas, like Christmas Day in the Morning, and A Christmas Bell for Anya. We have been loving this addition to our Christmas traditions. Each child can't wait until it's their turn to pick the book for the day and I love the mood it sets for the rest of the day as we start the morning cuddle up together on the couch reading stories about Christmas.

The other new thing we have done this year is that I made a Christmas Activity Advent for the kids. I got 24 bags at the craft store and filled each one with a treat for each child and an activity for the day. I hung them all up on our banister and each child takes a turn opening a bag for the day.

I had wanted to photograph and document us doing each of the activities, but I have only remembered to pull out the camera for one so far, and that was for our trip to see the lights at Temple Square on Friday night.

We all bundled up (although the weather was quite pleasant for December at 40 degrees) and headed downtown to take in the sights.

C. Bear was mesmerized by all of the lights.

The boys favorite thing was the life sized nativity. Little C. loved everything and Doug had to carry her or she would have spent the entire night wandering around, enjoying it all at her leisure.

After looking at the lights, we headed to a nearby café for hot chocolate and treats.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect night.

Wordless Wednesday: Face First Snow Angels

Wordless Wednesday: 8 Months Old!

The Greatest Man I Know

I was reading in my journal last night about when Doug and I started dating. We were so in love, and I trusted completely in the fact that he would be able to make me happy for the rest of my life. Although it's funny to look back and realize how little we really knew each other, I was absolutely right about that fact. He has never stopped making me laugh, filling me with joy, or being the man of my dreams.

I thought he would be a wonderful father, but little did I know then how much our children would idolize him and try to spend as much time with him as they possibly could, even as they entered the teenage years. I thought he would be a good example to me and my children, but little did I know how often I would turn to him for guidance and direction with questions and decisions I faced and trust completely that the answers he gave me were right. I thought that he would always love me and help me feel good about myself, but little did I know that after 5 kids, and 17+ years of marriage, he would still make me feel like there was no other woman who could ever hold a candle to me in his eyes. I thought I knew the happiness I would have if I married him, but I never could have imagined the joy it has been to be married to my best friend and the greatest man I know. I trust that in another 17 years I will look back on today and realize that I had no idea how good it could really get.  

My Candy Store

There is something about a library that stirs my soul. I love to wander down the aisles and just soak up the atmosphere, especially when I don't have something specific that I am looking for. I love going to the library. I always have.

In July I got to spend a week in New York with my husband. It was my first time. He was there on business, so each day I would wander the streets of Manhattan reveling in the sights, sounds, and the culture in that vast city. I saw many amazing things, but one of my favorite experiences was the morning I spent browsing the New York Public Library. O.k., so it's not your average public library. It is everything I ever dreamed a library could be. 

It is historic, 

it is beautiful,

it is full of books.

After wandering the building, I sat down in this room with a book, and just relished the moment.   

It was a fabulous morning.

Today I went to the library to pick up H. Man who had been there with a friend. I was in a hurry to get somewhere, but once I walked through the doors, I couldn't help lingering over a few displays of new and seasonal books they had, and then of course I had to take a quick look at what books they had on sale today. As we left and I remembered what a hurry I was in, I had to try to define what exactly this hold is that the library has on me. Then it dawned on me. It's the possibilities. There are thousands of books on the shelves there, just waiting to be read. Waiting to change my life. You never know when you pick up a book, where you will end up when you put it down. The possibilities in a library are endless. It's magical, and it keeps calling me back for more. I wonder where I'll end up next.

"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book."  ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden 

Back to Nature

We missed out on Nature Study last year because I suffered so much from morning sickness, and generally feeling lousy during my pregnancy. I was determined that we would add it back into our studies this year, but I have yet to do it until today. It was a gorgeous fall day, and I wanted to get out and enjoy it with the kids before all the colors and leaves were gone. We went to my favorite nearby place to do nature study, a local river trail, and it didn't disappoint. There is something about the flow of a river and the vegetation that grows near it, that is soothing to the soul.

When we arrived, we were greeted by this little guy, which caused quite a bit of excitement for the kids. 

We decided to go down by the water to skip rocks 

and enjoy the view.

Little C. had fun collecting rocks and leaves

and posing for pictures.

There was so much beauty to capture.

I just wish my camera battery would have been charged. Instead I had to make do with the camera on my phone. At least I had something.

We stopped to play at a park on the trail,

and then headed home for more fun in the sun on this beautiful Fall day.

Don't you just love Autumn?

Disillusioned

This iPhone app image got me thinking about our recent experience with my husband's campaign. No, we are not heading to Washington D.C.. There never was any thought that we would be. As a "third party" candidate, the cards are too stacked against you to ever make that a possibility in the near future. I debated about wether to post this or not, because I knew it would probably sound like sour grapes, but we really weren't concerned with "winning or loosing" and we gained such interesting insights into "how to play the game" that I just had to share. We have learned so much and have had a lot of positive experiences as we have met other patriotic, and like-minded people who are willing to do the work necessary to restore the freedoms we have lost in our country, but it was also a lot of work, and time, and frustration as we saw so many more people who don't know, and/or don't care about the detour we have taken as a nation. The frustrating thing to me is that so many people seem to think the problems have all been fixed now that the "Grand Ol' Party" has had such sweeping victories. What they fail to realize is that the detour we have taken didn't happen 2 years ago when Barack Obama took office, but over 100 years ago, and has been perpetuated by both parties ever since. 

We have been asked if we will continue down this path and try to run for office again in the future. The answer right now is no. There are too many things about the game of politics that we found distasteful. We saw many of these things before running, but they were brought into the spotlight over the past eight months. For now we are content to leave the campaigning to those who are comfortable with having their name and face displayed everywhere around town, and have no problem wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars of special interest group campaign contributions in order to purchase things like "campaign vehicles", and advertising so that they can essentially buy hundreds of thousands of votes. It has never been as clear to me as it is now, how much our public elections are like the superfluous student body elections of our high school days. It almost always comes down to who has the most money, and the most impressive signs (or commercials), and the greatest number of them, and who is the smoothest and slickest of the bunch. We say we are fed up with career politicians, and yet we continue to elect them and feel good about it, just because they are backed by the "tea party", or are really good at regurgitating the "I believe in the Constitution" rhetoric. 

Case-in-point: Utah's Senatorial Elections. Mike Lee was the poster boy for the tea parties this year. He was the master of Constitutional Rhetoric. He was constantly spouting his desire to help the country "return to the constitution", while in the same statements he would raise the call for amending the constitution to impose term limitations and balancing the budget. Although these are popular ideas right now, they are dangerous ones. The founders considered both of these ideas when they originally framed the constitution and opted not to include them because of the negative ramifications of each. (ex., If we are forced to balance the budget most politicians are more likely to just raise taxes, not cut spending.) These are band-aids, not cures to our current problems, and I find it troubling that someone so highly acclaimed and so supposedly knowledgeable can't see this for himself. These are not the only affronts to the constitution that Mike made while running either. He supports government mandated health care reform, just not "Obama Care", among other things. Mike Lee raised almost 1.5 million dollars for this campaign, and he spent most of it. To put this in perspective, his Democratic opponent raised less than $300,000 dollars, and the only true defender of the constitution running, Scott Bradley, raised much less than that. How can anyone hope to compete with that? 

So what are our options? Education. Education. Education. That was the only goal of my husbands campaign. He knew he couldn't win against an incumbent republican, in the most republican district in the country, with over $500,000 dollars to spend on his campaign. His only goal was to reach as many people as he could with the message of true liberty and the proper role of government. We had many rewarding experiences in cottage meetings and other gatherings around the state as he was able to share this message with others. Many people are searching for this message right now, as evidenced by the growth of the "Tea Party" movement, but unfortunately many are being deceived into thinking that the answers can be found in the current establishment. The answer isn't in our politicians, it is in "We the People". Until we educate ourselves and our neighbors, and read and re-read the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and their supporting documents, and above all, until we return to God and recognize Him as the Author of our liberty, nothing will change.

Tag, I'm It

Dana at Noggins & Nonsense tagged me in a blog "getting to know you" game. Since I haven't posted in over a month, here is some proof that I'm still around. The questions she asked were:

• What is your favorite thing about being a MOM? (This is a tough one. There are so many things that I love, but I have to say that one of my favorite and most rewarding things, is being able to watch my children learn and grow. It is so awesome and overwhelming to see their strengths and talents being developed and to recognize the amazing potential they have. I feel blessed to be a part of it.)

• What part of homeschooling your family makes your heart sing? My answer to this goes along with the first one; watching them learn new thing. I love that I get to be a part of all the "awakenings" in their educational lives. There is nothing like seeing the excitement in a child (especially your own child) when they learn something new. From first learning to read, to making connections with exciting events in history, or discovering the "veins" in a leaf. That wide-eyed wonder is magical.

• If you could have any dessert right now what would it be? ( I just made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with Little C. tonight, and they really hit the spot. Anything with chocolate is usually a safe bet.)

• What is one thing about yourself that you’d like to change? (I would like to stress less. I often worry too much about things that in the grand scheme of things aren't really that important. I wish that I could give that up.)

• What are some talents you’ve been blessed with? (I’ve been blessed with faith. There are definitely times when I don't trust the Lord enough, but generally speaking, I know that He is there and knows what I need and is waiting to bless me with that if I just trust in Him. I am so grateful for that gift in my life, and the peace it brings.)

• What is a weakness you struggle with? (Not worrying about what others think. You wouldn't think I would have a problem with this since I homeschool, have home-births, am in the Constitution Party, etc., etc., but I often have to stop and ask myself if my motivation for doing something is because it's the right thing for me to do, or because I am worrying about what someone else will think. It's silly, and I am getting better, but I wish I was more like my husband in this area. He just knows what he has to do and does it, and doesn't worry about what anyone else thinks.)

• What book (just for you) have you enjoyed lately? (This is sad. I really love to read, but I don't think I have finished a book for me in 6 months. Right after C. Bear was born I read a few books just for me, and one of the ones I really enjoyed was The Keeper of the Bees, by Gene Stratton Porter. I love her books! I can't wait until I can find more time to read again. I have been itching for a good book lately, and some time to read it in.)

• What is something you would like to learn how to do? (Sew. My mother was/is a wonderful seamstress, but she never taught me how to sew. I always bring my sewing projects to her and she does them for me. It is wonderful, but some day I would like to buy a sewing machine and learn to sew. Some day. . .)

Now I am supposed to tag some people and ask them eight questions of my own.

Here are the questions:

• What are your top 5 favorite books?

• What is one of your favorite scriptures?

• What is your favorite homeschool curriculum that you have used?

• What led you to homeschool your children?

• If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?

• If you had one day all to yourself, what would you do?

• What is your favorite food group?

• What is something that your child(ren) did recently that made you laugh out loud?

The people I am tagging are:

Cellista @ La Scuola d'Argento

Meg @ Journey, Discover, Gather

Wendy @ O'Neil Oasis

Sea Star @ Sea Star Academy

You! If you want to answer any of these questions, leave a comment with a link to your blog, and I would love to read it. 

Thanks for playing!

1 Down 179 to Go!

(First day of school 2010)

We did it! We officially completed our first day of the new school year! We started a little earlier than normal because we will be taking off a week and a half in September to go to California. I felt so underprepared heading into today that I was rather nervous and stressed out last night, but now that the day is over I think things went pretty well. 

Little C. started school with us today and was incredibly excited for her first day of "school". I am doing Before Five in a Row with her, and started the reading game I made and used for all of our kids (I'll post more on that later). She just turned 3 last month, but she so wanted to do school with us this year, that we are just going to take it slow and have a lot of fun. I can tell it will be a good thing for her to get this special one-on-one time during the school day because she was able to play on her own so much better today after having her time with me. I was able to focus more on the boys and not have to spend as much time worrying about keeping her busy and happy. Hooray!

G. Diddy isn't thrilled about starting school, and we had our battles today, but he did a great job on his Math-it game and it was fun to see his sense of accomplishment in that. I-Mac wishes summer wouldn't end, and just can't wait for our California trip to come, but he is so easy going that he just does what we ask without complaining. We are reading some fun books together right now, so that is always a draw for him. The three of us will be studying about American History this year (my favorite subject) so we should be reading a lot of interesting books this year, which we are all looking forward to. If everything goes as planned, we will be taking a trip to Washington D.C. at the end of this school year to wrap up our history studies. Everyone is excited about that prospect.

H. Man was excited for school to start today. He is entering his "Middle School" years this year, and that is one of the main reasons I have been so stressed. His work load is a lot heavier this year, and I'm not sure I'm fully prepared with what I need to do on some of his courses. Luckily, most of his work is done independently and he is a very motivated student so hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed our summer, and it didn't seem to last long enough, it is exciting to be starting our new learning adventures this year. It is so fun to watch the light bulbs turn on as a child grasps a new idea, to learn about people and places you've never heard about before, to feel the wonder with your children as you ponder on the many amazing things God has created for us. For these reasons and so much more, I am grateful for the blessing and challenge of homeschooling my children. Here's to hoping I can remember to savor those moments all year long.  

She's Three!

After patiently waiting through her three older brother's birthdays last month, Little C. finally had her day in the sun. She was so excited for her birthday all week, that I think she was a little overwhelmed when the day finally arrived. 

We started the day with presents from her brothers and her choice of breakfast; Coco Puffs. She loved the little presents from her brothers and the outfit from mom and dad. We probably could have stopped there and she would have been thrilled. 

She was very anxious for me to make her cake, so when C. Bear went down for her nap we made her Tinkerbell cake. It was a little more work than I was anticipating, but she loved it so it was worth it.

 

Dad came home from work early and we went to the lake to swim and play at the park.

We ended up not being able to swim because the water was contaminated, but everyone had fun climbing on the awesome jungle gym at the park.

 

C. Bear even had fun hanging out in her chair while everyone played.

After that we went to Grandma's for Little C's birthday dinner (pancakes and eggs),  presents,

and cake.

Little C. is such an amazing girl. She has such a love of life and of people. We love her so much and hope she had a wonderful day!  

Happy Birthday Little C.!