if I walk away for even a minute......

he jumps in the bath with whomever is...in the bath

fully clothed that is--diaper and all

He's at THAT age

where the forced smile

looks

well FORCED

i don't know that I have met a child who doesn't go through this phase

Have YOU???

What's a fAnCy giRL to DO.............

.....i need to add that at this moment this same girl is screaming, crying, and kicking my chair......all because i refused to let her use my makeup...what's a fancy girl to do

if you are not familiar with the "Fancy Nancy" books

you should be

they are an Emeline staple

we read about Nancy's puppy..her friends...the french words she loves...and more of her adventures being the only fancy one in her family DAILY (and by this i mean hourly)

so as I contemplated homeschooling i worried that my reading time with Emme might suffer

so I found a little program called audacity
this program allowed me to record my voice onto a CD

So I scooped up our Fancy Nancy collection

and begun reading them onto a MP3 file

next i created little pouches for her Cd's which will be glued to the inside of the corresponding book

and

Voila ( that's french for expressing satisfaction )

Emme can now listen to her favorite books

whilst I teach her older brothers.......

this of course doesn't take the place of my daily readings but it helps to occupy the little princess now and then

***note from the author***

This program is also great if you are having your kids work on memorization

they can read the poem, article of faith, talk, etc. into the mic and use the CD during down time to help them memorize!

my beautiful days....and other reasons to neglect my blogging duties

So recently SHE posted HERE about how her homeschooling days are going

{ i must add here that there are not many people in the world that i admire more than she}

and because

i am the "original" knock off artist { is this oximoronical (is that a word) }

& my days have been completely consumed

I thought I might share

how our days have been playing out

6 am my only daughter: awakes and upon entering the room announces

" I need breakfast"

{usually she announces this to the Mr. who has just exited his shower, never ceases to surprise him either the inappropriate height{ed} little one in the bathroom that is, not the fact that she wants breakfast}

Next the little girly climbs into bed with me, if I give away that I am awake

she tags me with

"MOM...I am starving....and hungry........I need breakfast"

{enter the now towel clad Mr.}

This is my cue

that I now have under 15 minutes to prepare breakfast for these two crazy early birds
as I pull my pj's on

Liam rolls in ( the only child who shares my a.m. sentiments)

in nothing but his sciveys

scratching his head, among other things

"morning mom" he says with just one eye opened

then climbs in the bed

I just vacated

Next the enforcer

in the same uniform as the last son who entered the room

{ I promise they go to bed wearing pj's}

"Good morning Mom, I was wondering if we could do..........( fill in here anything that requires TIME, EFFORT, Patience's, ect.)

I kiss each one of them on the head

and head for the kitchen where I

throw on an apron

and

whip together

pinto ( rice, beans, onions)

with a steaming cup of

Pero

Breakfast hits the table just as the man I love enters the room ( the boss in toe)

The Mr. smells wonderful & looks wonderful

I am happy he still says as his arm wraps about my waist

YOU ARE so beautiful

and with a kiss

he is seated and going through

the a.m. prayer negotiations

Breakfast is eaten quicker always than it took to make it

Spanish word of the day correctly conjugated

My love

exits wishing me well

in the accent.....I love the accent

Showers or Baths

for

the two eldest

Laundry

Dishes

now it is 7:45 AM

I am now off to the shower......the kids.......well they fend for themselves for the next 15min

I shower, dress

( I like to dress the way I would if I were going to teach a class outside my home)

I am met at the dining room table......ie classroom de carvajalito

by three

eager children

Devotional consits of

Prayer

Scripture

Article of Faith Memorization

&

Favorite Church songs

Prayer

Jaxson begins his weekly spelling words

Liam and I work on his penmanship

and Emme......well she pretends to work on her penmanship

45 minutes later

the boss naps and the remainder are off on a math adventure ( pun)

Emeline plays with number or letter magnets

Liam is using Jax's Kinder work books

Jax's is using the computer printed first grade worksheets( until the first grade book arrives)

I mediate

explain facts and divy out the manipulative's

about and hour later

The baby girl screams that she is starving

so I prepare snack

(the smell of food awakes the boss)

during snack a friendly game of hang-man ( oxymoronicle, again )

.......this is actually phonogram refresher in disguise

now it is time for the middle two to be set up

with a Learning games

their choice

they play

while

Jaxson and I embark on a journey through

SCIENCE

I really like the K12 science curriculum

45minutes of science

leaves us ready for a break

during free play

Emme usually wanders around her kitchen while speaking on her "cell phone" to none other

than GRANDMA ahh to live in the land of make-believe

I sit with "the boss" we trace shapes with his finger

say the names of colors

read little books

then I kiss his face until he is sick of me and takes off

the boys are now asking for

SPANISH TIME

this

is where I put one of their favorite movies on with the language set in ESPANOL

while they do this I read

and make lunch

(two days a week I use this time to throw together some bread)

LUNCH

then

Emeline and THe BOss

go to nap

this is quiet reading time

they are allowed to stay awake and look at books & read books

When the boys have had about a half hour of quiet time-- I read aloud to them

then we head to

Language arts

where this week at least we

compare the Cinderella stories from

England, Ireland, Korea

(and more assuming the library gets them back )

NOW the babes awake

and we are off to the pool

and that my friends is my day at a glance well.....i am too long winded for a glance

I am introducing all these subjects on the recommendation from

Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise

in THE WELL TRAINED MIND

guide to a classical education at home

They wrote that this is a great time to give your children a taste of everything

immerse them in information, if you will

They also suggest history lessons

beginning with ancients

so during reading time

the books are

Greek Mythology

Odysseus

Roman Mythology

& of course

the Bible

WOW sorry this is soooooooooooooo long...i just wanted to capture what a day looks like for us

ahh...the joy of a decision well made

So....yesterday I spoke with our

WAVA

Teacher....i was concerned that Jaxson needed to take some placement tests. She informed me that when a student starts mid-semester placement test are not given...hmm. Then { I love her} she said why don't you just print the unit assessments and when Jaxson has completed them we will move him up. So, yesterday I printed all the Math unit assessments......the entire years worth...we put them in a binder...and a little over an hour later Jaxson presented me with the entire Years worth of Math COMPLETED & CORRECT.

I am so glad I made the decision to educate him at home where he can actually be challenged & not get so bored that he never learns to LOVE LEARNING

handwriting refresher

We started out our handwritting lessons with a little CURSIVE refresher course

man this kid has great handwritting

does this look like the work of a six year old boy ?

Handwritting is going great...in fact he is loving it

even when I say no

i can't help thinking that it is a good sign that he can draw how he is feeling

&

move on with the days work

Jax draws

my eldest LOVES to draw{ and I love recieving his art gifts}

i just wanted to post a sample for........well you know who you are (grandma's)

Where were you January 20th 2009

I would like to echo a line from Rick Warrens invocation

"..May he lead in humility.."

I will be reading & re-reading his inauguration address

.............a funny thing happened the other night

Jaxson was......well he was whining about what I had made for dinner

and I have been trying to deal with his.........behavior in a positive way

Since he is like over the moon for STAR WARS

(Master Yoda being his FAV)

I did what any self respecting mother of 4 after a long day having just made a beautiful dinner would do

I snuck into the bed room phone in hand and called a family friend

then putting my self respect aside

I asked if he could call my house and pretend to be YODA and demand that my first born eat his dinner

...the crazy thing is he said YES

and just as we begun eating

The Phone RAng

and

Our dear friend

put on a rather convincing YODA

not only did he convince my eldest to eat his dinner

he also spoke with the second and third of the family

&

made their night

THANK YOU THANK YOU RICH

they totally bought it

NOW YOU

NOW YOURS

YOUR TURN

Too much lipstick....& other fancy things

Sometimes I don't tell her her nails are dry.....it's kind of fun to watch the way she holds her hands so {fancy }
not to mention the lipstick......oh my is she something


****note from the author***
I don't put lipstick on my child ( like some pageant Mom ) I try to stop her but she desires to wear beautiful PINK lipstick....and tells me......all the time
so
a special shout out to wet n' wild who make lipstick that is PINK and looks like mom's for a mere $.99

a word about my blog

i am in the midst of some changes

and as i thought about how to explain my choice

i decided to leave it at this

i will be in charge of my children's education {for at least the next few years}

what this means :

tomorrow is Jax's last day of "public" education

Monday will mark a new day

my resolve is to watch, learn from, & aid my children as they

flourish

{be healthy or grow well... to be strong and healthy or grow well, especially because conditions are right... to sustain continuous steady strong growth }

i am very blest...for i live in a State that has set up an online "public" school

so as we transition i can be sure that my children are getting at least the education that they receive in public school

***note from the author***

these are books that have aided my decision as well as educational planning

The Well Trained Mind ( a guide to classical education at home)

Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise

First Language Lessons

Jessie Wise

Thomas Jefferson Education

Oliver Van DeMille

Read Aloud Handbook

Jim Trelease

Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading

Jessie Wise & Sara Buffington

Slow & Steady Get Me Ready

June R Oberlander

Everybody has a Body

Robert E Rockwell

Robert A Williams

Elizabeth A Sherwood

The Mr.'s Company had a formal party this weekend

( the food was AMAZING......and the location oh MY )

so I did what any wife would do

went to the salon for a fresh cut

tweezed & such

then with my cutest thigh high fish net under the greatest

little black dress since Breakfast at Tiffany's

I was his arm Candy

until

My stockings would not stay up..........yup

I noticed while we were walking from the car

that something was amiss

so we stopped behind a vacant car for me to check the problem

nothing worked

pretty soon they were around my ankles

LOL

at least no one had seen us yet

so

I did what I had to

I ditched the fish nets

and had a great

Bare Legged Evening

**note from the author**

the Mr. & I danced the salsa.........I love that man

your turn

your turn

your turn

your turn

Happy Birthday to...........the boss

My baby is ONE

holy smokes ( as Liam would say)

one year ago today

He is truly a light in our home

he is rarely with out a big smile

when you talk to him it seems he understands not just what you are saying

but what you are feeling

"the boss" uses his eyebrows and eyes to communicate

although he is beginning to use some baby signs

& the occasional word

He is walking..running..giggling..following his older sibs around

WE ARE BLEST to have

this

ONE year old in our home

Happy 1st My Son

THANK YOU { in no particular order }

Brandy

MOM

MY LOVE

Christmas was GOOD to me this year

Christmas ponderings......better late than never

This year I found it harder than ever to keep the RUSE alive

you know the one I'm talking about.....right ?

Santa

St. Nick

Pere Noel

Kolyada

Father Christmas

when " the inquisitor" { Jaxson }

asked the question

my response was simple

Santa represents the great feeling of Christmas & giving

when that failed to do the job

We looked up Saint Nicholas on the Internet

and came up with

a list of the many wonderful things that great saint

did-- because he loved the Lord

I spoke to my children about the lessons that Jesus taught people while on this earth

the lessons that we should learn and know

the lessons that St. Nicholas took to heart

Next I bore my testimony to my little ones and I felt the spirit witness of it's truth.

the moment was fleeting

it is a lot of work to keep the spirit strong in a home full of very young children

i just hope that they have stored the lesson they learned that day

somewhere

As for the ruse......I am not sure that they understood completely what I was saying.

But when they are ready to understand..they will

and

they will know that I know what the true meaning of Christmas is

I love Christmas..I love the Lord...and I am grateful to live in a nation that still celebrates the birth of our Savior.

RESOLUTE

To understand our most apparent New Year's resolution

we must travel back....a month

The kids were snoring in the back seat of the family SUV somewhere between Utah & Seattle

the Mr. & I chatting about how blessed we were

next I mentioned something that had been rolling through my mind for the last....um

YEAR

"Maybe I will make you a deal" says I

"What kinda' deal? " his reply

"if you give up SODA...I'll wake up with you every morning & while you shower I'll make breakfast"

{ the Mr. is a very early riser, which fits his profession..just not his night owl wife}

" You mean........ALL soda ?" he questions

" Well maybe to start with just the soda during the week & each day of the weekend you could have ONE " I respond

"OKAY ! I EXCEPT " with vigor in his voice but concern written across his brow

"ALRIGHTY.....it is a deal"

And Since DECEMBER 1st the

MR.

hasn't had soda any day of the week

even when

his co-workers taunt & tease

open soda cans in front of him

his friends

do likewise

and every time he has a moment of weakness he calls me

and I say sure

if you really want to trade our mornings together for CAFFEINE

I guess it's your decision

and he always chooses OUR MORNINGS

and that is because

for the last Month

I have been a pleasant morning person

don't believe me.....well some of you have seen me in the mornings and I am sure that it is hard to imagine me HAPPY in the Morning

Each morning I simply awake

put a smile...a apron.. & some beautiful music on

and

Voila

A self made morning person

do I still loathe the A. M.....yeah kinda

but I wouldn't trade what I am getting for even a few more seconds of shut eye

I love my husband, I love that he gave up soda to spend more time with me, I love that I gave up sleeping in to spend more time with my LOVE

Since this resolution began before the ball dropped...I am not worried that it will fade as the light from the New Year's Eve fireworks( as many of my past resolutions have). This is my New Years resolution to be a better version of myself...so simply early rising will not fill that bill....more resolutions...maybe...More Life Changes...CERTAINLY

Happy New Year EVE

To celebrate 2009 this blog will get a new look & title

c-ya in 2009

the Wii debacle

our Wiimote claimed it's first victim
with one over zealous
throw from the resident 6 year old
my candle never saw it coming

what do we do when we are snowed in.....

so now i get it

why the snow is a big deal here

THERE IS NO SNOW REMOVAL

and when i say none I mean NONE

when i did venture out to the store for some last minute things

the parking lots were covered with about a foot of ICE yup the snow had been left so long it was like driving on icebergs

in our parking lot they didn't remove the snow from the top of the covered parking so

they collapsed....on the cars

YUP...guess it was a good thing we don't have a covered space ( never thought I would say that)

now we have finally witnessed Seattle's snow removal plan

It has begun to rain--and the rain--is REMOVING the snow

so now we have PUDDLES everywhere

but at least everyone here knows how to drive in the rain

PROBLEM SOLVED

here is what went on in our home during the snow days

daddy snuggled, cuddled, teased, & giggled with the kids

Emme cooked up so treats



the boyz escaped the house to build a friend

and make some Angels


And i BAKED

chicken pot pies...among other things

recipe will be posted HERE

then she decided she didn't want any hair in the front & was less than remorseful about using the present wrapping scissors to take care of her perceived problem.

so

TODAY WE GO OUT

pacific science center --Ahoy !

Christmas in our Home

On a day like today....

I wish to keep my home decorated for Christmas year round. The Christmas tree is lit, the children are giggling while playing with their treasures, the beautiful smell of pine wafts from the oil burner, the kitchen is full of homemade delectable(s), & Christmas music still plays. Yet maybe it isn't that I want to keep my home decorated...maybe I want to freeze this moment. My children are all still young & free from most outside influences. Could they really stay this way forever....please

Yet as I write this...I realize. We are celebrating Jesus Christs' birth and his plan for us. Which is a plan of happiness....a plan that includes facing adversity....a plan that through trials we can become as we were intended from the beginning.

Although I would love to freeze this moment, I realize the importance of the NEXT moment.

So....I will drink it in...I will appreciate this time I have...I am the only one who can let the outside invade my home & I will not let it !

CHristMAs DAy

Well it hit our home like a ton of bricks

well a ton of bricks that fell at 6 AM

after a night of late praying for the UPS man to deliver

( to no avail )

the boss dug his new ride

Grandma sent homemade aprons for the GIRLS
And the 'rents finally gave in to the boys dream of owning the elusive
{Wii }

and domestic diva EmmE enjoyed the best

fully loaded kitchen

EVER

FUNNY MONDAY..it's back

The other day.......

i took the kids to see the Nutcracker ( 11 o'clock kids showing)

and

Emeline who was soooooooo super thrilled to see the "balletd"

enjoyed the ballet

endured the intermission

ewed and ahhhed at all the tu tu's

then about 10 minutes from the closing curtain

she said in her LOUDEST SHRILLEST voice

" MOM..I HATE this....I JUST WANT TO GO EAT PIZZA"

LOL..well i wanted to

your turn

your turn

your turn

your turn

retracted {ISH}

so i guess a little bit of an

apology

is in order

to the good people of SEAttLE:

I am sorry...you do have a lot of snow this year

i realize that without

snow ploughs

general snow & ice driving knowledge

&

salted roads

you have adequate reason to be concerned for your

vehicular safety

thus it is more than understandable

that you would

call a ENTIRE week

of snow days

why the change of heart

you may ask

because

today not only was my eldest able to stay home with me

but the Mr. was encouraged

via email

to stay at home and build snow men or make snow angels with his family

THANK YOU

Washington snow

THANK YOU

i loved & appreciated the day spent with my

family

chess was played, dolls hair combed, tuna melt bagels devoured, furniture rearranged, fire made

&

joy was felt

Quirky

well the snow fell here.......just enough to whiten the trees

and

i guess freak out the entire city

we are going on the THIRD snow day

yup

Jaxson has yet to step foot in Kinder since

the ummm......inch of

SNOW FALL

giggle giggle giggle

even the Mr.'s colleagues are concerned....so each evening they prep their work for the next day and take it home..just in case they are unable to return to work the next day

WELL I guess coming from UTAH where the

SNOW is SERIOUS

and yet I am straining to remember even ONE snow day

I just don't get what all the fuss is about

yet, I enjoy having ALL my children at home with me

and am planning GREAT things for the WEEK before

CHRISTMAS

i hope the snow finds you all well & if you are lucky out of school

Pictures of my Mom's THANKFUL event

How do you seat over 50 people beautifully....well if you are my mother this is how

the pumpkin themed table seats

each person with their own place card..of course

the feather table/ thankful table......thankful to be sitting at that table

the acorn table...complete with acorn bowls to hold the cranberry sauce

the pear table.....red chargers for all

and the famous table named for the main dish

and you mustn't forget the children...

each with their own coloring book ( turkey shaped of course) and turkey with markers for feathers

We are SOOOOOO very THanKfuL my Mother stress's herself out over these amazing place setting...thank you thank you thank you for your many Robert's Visits