Wishing Wells and Tooth Fairies

Friday we did our school work in record time so we could enjoy some time at the coast. (We have decided we just shouldn't call it the beach, because it is SO not hot!) We met some new friends and went with them to Lincoln City where we all had a great time. The kids really hit it off and played very well together. They were crazy enough to get wet...then when they were really freezing, they started digging a well together which they were so proud of. If it wasn't for the wind, it actually would of been a pleasant day, but it just felt cold to me. But the important thing is that they had a good time, right?

Finally on Sunday morning Connor finally lost his other front top tooth! That thing has been loose for weeks and he doesn't like to pull it out so it pretty much has to fall out on it's own. He looks SO different and I just love the little lisp he has now:) Since I forgot to play tooth fairy last time I reminded him that he can't put it out to early or she won't know where she has to go. As he was climbing up to put it under his pillow, he said to me..."mom, tooth fairies aren't really real are they?" I know he doesn't believe, but a part of him wants to so I just played mysterious;) Wow, look at him growing up!

Very Important Vocabulary Lesson

Today I decided to introduce a very important word into my son's vocabulary...

Here are their definitions;

Connor: "To not do something you are supposed to do"

Brody: "To stop school and work"

Yes, folks, it is true...today we played HOOKY!!! Well, kind of anyway. We did most of the day, but crammed in a few lessons at the end.

We started our morning with breakfast at McDonalds! YUMMY and fattening, but who cares! The boys love to go do this and it is a big treat with mommy. They even for the first time had their own pancake breakfast so it was a big day! Over breakfast we discussed some ideas to raise money for a fundraiser we are participating in called "One Verse". It is through Sonlight, where we get most of our school supplies. We are working with The Seed Company to supply the funding needed to translate the entire New Testament for the Meeto people in Mozambique Africa. It is a 8 week course complete with lessons in so many areas.

Then we headed to the library. Trust me, this is fun for us. We had to return some books, and pick up a few on hold, but we also spent some time in the "bookstore" which we all love.

Our third stop was a trip to the magical Salem Carousel for a few rides! This is always a favorite and today we got a huge bonus. We met this really nice lady who brought us into this special room where we got to see some ladies working on some real hand carving and even met Suzette who worked on some of the original horses! They gave us all sorts of fun information and we learned how it was made, learned about some tools used in real woodcarving and about the trees that made all the magnificent horses. (Basswood from the Linden tree) Connor told them we were playing hooky and they thought was so funny:) Little did he know, all that we were learning! We also learned another important word: volunteer! This whole project was done by volunteers logging around 1000 hours per horse and there is 42 of them. Amazing and such incredible talent!

There just happens to be a park attached and it was a beautiful day so we fit in about 30 minutes of physical play time and some sunshine!

Then we ran 2 quick errands and finally headed home where we hit the books!

Of course they are already asking to "do hooky" every day but I had to explain to them that it wouldn't be hooky anymore, it would just be a new routine. They felt so naughty, I could tell:)

What a great day to remember.....

Gorgeous Giraffes!

Yesterday was a perfect day to get one of those art lessons in that I am always wanting to do. We didn't have anywhere to be, it was a beautiful day and the boys were inspired! They were excited to make these giraffes that we found on Ms. Julie's Place (see link to the left) and it was the first time using the scratch off method for them. I saw this wild side come out in them when it came time for color over all of their hard work in black! Connor was a little hesitant, but then got into it and Brody dove right in with this HA HA kind of a laugh! They are so proud of their amazing works of art!

Good and Married

Wow! I can't believe it! 10 years ago yesterday, Bryan and I became "good and married".

I found my precious copy of Pastor Don's outline and I thought it would be fun to have these words captured here...I am so grateful that he gave these to me, what a gift!

It's been a long journey to this place-to this moment.

Your lives have taken many turns along the wayYou specifically wanted the song that Sharon sang to be part of this celebration. ("I know how the River Feels by Ty Herndon)

You do know, don't you, how a river feels?

You know how simple life seems at the very start, and yet you how complex it can become.

You've known moments of reflection...still water, quiet currents when friends and family have over the years been encouraging and training and strengthening you. You've experienced as well the unexpected rapids-when life churned out of control.

You have been in stretches where everything was running well. And I know you've chosen at times to follow what we would call 'run-offs' - side streams that end nowhere.

But not today!

Not today. For almost 750 days, Bryan, you and Suzie have grown closer together. And in this ceremony, your two lives will, in the eyes of God-be fully joined together as one. You each come to this morning with individual strengths and experiences. You come as well with the loving support of your family.

I know you love each other. I know your family loves you. What I want to underline as well is how very much God loves you. His design for you-for your life together-is incredibly good. His desire for you is that you would experience the very best of His presence-that you would know His love!

What an amazing gift that is...

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul reminds us that

We could say all the right words to each other

But without love, we'd just be noise.

We could sound very religious-have the vocabulary of faith exactly right-but without love, it adds up to nothing, or worse.

We could even do unbelievable acts of sacrifice,

But without love it wouldn't produce spiritual life.

The good news is this

Not only is LOVE God's design and desire for you

He personally delivers it through Hi Son, His Spirit, His word.

And as you commit your lives to Him, you are able with that love,

To love each other.

If then it is your desire to commit your life together

And to do that not only in your own strength,

Not only with the encouragement of family and friends,

But to do so in the eyes of God and with His blessing,

Then I want to ask you to come up the stairs as we prepare to hear your vows.

Bryan, Suzie...

The world has such a distorted view of marriage-

That it's not important. That when vows are broken, there are no real consequences. That along with so many products, relationships are disposable.

But the world is wrong! Tragically wrong!

Marriage was part of God's plan from the very beginning.

Bryan, Genesis says that whatever God would create, He would stop and say-it was good.

And then He created man - and for the first time, we hear God say-it's not good-not referring to His creation, but to man's situation-It's not good for man to be alone. And so the Lord created woman to be man's helper, his partner, his companion, specially suited for him. And he for her.

Suzie, I've been learning about EUKANUBA-I know you sell it and Bryan I know you stock it.

I've been intrigued by the word, so I got our my Greek N.T.

I'm sure the product founder never had this meaning in mind,

But let me tell you what I found.

EU means 'good' in Greek

KA is a form of the word 'and'

and NUBA - if you change just one letter-the B to a M, you have a word that in its feminine form means bride. In it's masculine form-bridegroom. And in it's neutral form-wedding place. In Latin the word NUBARE means ...marriage!

From now on, every time you see the word Eukanuba...Every time you stock, every time you sell it, I want you to realize that you are both "Good and Married"!

That's God plan for you life..

To achieve it takes the kind of love Paul described in 1 Cor 13.

A love that's patient -won't always follow your time table.

A love that is kind. It doesn't envy. It doesn't boast

It isn't proud - not rude, not self seeking, not easily angered.

Keeps no record of wrongs. No phrases like..."what about the time you?" or

"you've done this 17 times that I know of"...

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes. Always perserveres

Love never fails.

Powerful thought.

Overwhelming. In your own strength-Impossible! But you don't stand here in your own strength. You stand here as believers in the transforming power of Jesus. And in His love, you come to make this commitment.

So, here we are 10 years and two beautiful kids later; still commited to each other. I read those words now knowing how true they are. It is because of Jesus that we celebrate this day and the strength He has given us to get through the rough times. God continues to bless us in the good and the bad...beyond measure.

CB's School House First Field Trip

This week we went our first big field trip of the year and we had a great time. The famous Oregon Garden had an event specifically set up for homeschool families and although I didn't know what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it would also go along great with our botany study that we are doing this year. They had stations set up around the facility with hands on learning experiences and a "passport book" to guide them through. Brody said his favorite part was finding a "furry plant" in the greenhouse and Connor's favorite was also the tropical greenhouse, but he liked the spiky plant. They were given a sheet and had to find plants by number based on clues. They also enjoyed seeing a bullfrog tadpole that had already grown feet up close, and I have to say that was pretty fun for me too! The weather literally could not of been better and it was a beautiful day! Here are some pictures from our wonderful day!

This was at the entrance..we took a new friend of ours with us, her name is Aldine. She loves flowers and was excited to go and she told me later she took 167 pictures! She out shot me, that is for sure:) Of course, I won't mention how she went out on her own and went down a hill into the rose garden and got stuck. After she failed to make our meeting time, I had to send park volunteers to find her. Luckily she found a nice family to bring her back...but I won't mention that:)

Here is the boys working on getting their passports filled in.

This was a great experiment blowing bubbles through wood using the tubes that carry water to the plant!



This was called "The Living Wall"...totally cool!

This was the Oak Garden part of the property, some amazingly beautiful oak trees to view.

Connor and Brody were participating in setting up a worm composting bin. EEEWWW! I want one!

Overall....I give us an A+ for the day!

Well Said Sidney!

I just finished reading Sidney Poitier's spiritual autobiography..."The Measure of a Man". For some reason it took me forever to get through it, but it was overall a good book! There were some parts that I especially loved related to parenting, some of them come from recalling his childhood on Cat Island...

One of my favorites was..

"We put our kids to fifteen years of quick-cut advertising, passive television watching, and sadistic video games, and we expect to see emerge a new generation of calm, compassionate, and engaged human beings?"

Also, I loved this...

"I fear that as we cover more of our planet with concrete and steel, as we wire our homes with more and more fiber-optic cables that take the place of more intimate interactions, as we give our children more and more stuff and less and less time, we go further and further away from the kind of simplicity I knew as a child on Cat Island, our Earth, Gaia or not-will become for us the Wire Mother, and our souls will wither and die as a result."

He shared the results of a fascinating study with chimps where a "wire mother" was provided to a baby to supply a him with all he could "need" in the way of nutrients and food supply, but it wasn't enough to keep them alive and they would die.

He had an interesting perspective to share on a lot of broad topics and he sure seems like a fascinating person. Makes me want to run to the video store and rent one of his old movies and passively sit in front of the television. What is all that about?

Where was I?

I often hear of people remembering where they were major events occurred in history. For instance, the bombing of pearl harbor, the assassination of JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr. come to mind. It is still hard to believe that I have one of those moments in my life too.

9/11/01

I can't forget that I was pregnant with Connor, my first son at the time and I had just finished getting ready to go out into the field with my job at The Iams Company as a representative for Eukanuba Veterinary Diets. I got a call from a dear friend and co-worker, Paula who I talked to almost every day at the time. She informed me that one of the towers at the World Trade Center was on fire and to turn on the news because it was really big. (She knew I am not a big fan of the news, I'm still not) I remember it seemed to take forever before we all knew what happened and it was absolutely terrifying to watch the live coverage. We were told to stay home from work and so many of us were just glued to the TV and calling each other trying to make sense of what was happening in our country. The images of people jumping from those buildings was truly horrific.

I remember after so many of hours of this, I longed to just do something normal. I had this incredible need to leave the house and to not be scared. It sounds silly to me now, but I wanted to just celebrate the fact in a few months I would be a mom and I wanted to ignore the fact that it would be a different world from that moment on that he grew up in. So, I left and went to Babies R Us to buy something that I needed for "the baby". I had planned to get a "crying baby doll" to get the dogs used to the sound which I heard would be helpful for them to adjust to the big change. I had been putting it off and looking back now, I think I just had the need to fulfill a plan and know that I could. In a small way it gave me hope that I needed. The roads seemed empty for southern California and the store did too. People everywhere were shell shocked and I bought my doll and went home.

Truthfully, I don't remember much more of the day than that. What I do remember is coming out of the bedroom every morning for a week up way before my alarm went off, and asking Bryan the same question met with the same answer...."Did they find anyone alive?" I can literally see the face of one woman in particular being interviewed on the news holding on to the hope that people were alive in this basement and that her husband was one of them. It was devastating and sad and senseless. My heart broke for days on end and wept with the people that lost loved ones in that tragedy.

I've seen the memorial at Pearl Harbor and studied it at school. I remember learning about Martin Luther King and JFK and I know one day this event, this day, is something I will teach to my own kids. It will be different to teach something that I lived through as history. One day I might take them to the memorial and share with them what I remember and I hope we use it as a reminder to be grateful for our very lives. Today, I pray that those who suffered personal loss on that day are feeling comforted, and that the memories of their loved ones are sustaining them through yet another year.

Language Arts Funny!

This was a small portion of Brody's work today in Language Arts...definitely worth preserving!

Assignment: Dictate a sentence that describes a person in your family.

Answer:
Connor is annoying.
Jake is a good dog with soggy ears and muddy feet.

The first one was just funny and the second was just darn good!:)

The First Day of School 2009-10

I have to say...after a few practice runs last week, I expected today to be much harder than it turned out to be!

We all had a great first official day of school! Connor said that it was easier than he thought it would be and Brody said it was harder, but I'm not sure where he got that! He breezed through everything and we kept it light anyway!

I made the boys one of their favorite breakfasts of french toast (which probably won't last) and we started right on time, (which probably won't last)! We managed to get everything done that I planned (which probably won't last) and even did a special activity making a water clock (which might last). We are finishing up a unit on ancient Egypt (we were halfway through our curriculum at the end of the last school year) and today we made our own water clock to demonstrate how one worked. They really liked this activity and it was pretty fascinating if I do say so myself!

It takes me a few weeks to get into a good routine and learn my way around all my manuals and their books, but it did go smooth today. I "stole" an idea from another homeschool mom and made them some "break" or recess cards and they were very excited about this concept. I gave them each two cards...one worth a 10 minute break and one worth a 15 minute break. I told them they could turn them in whenever they wanted during our school day and that they would be replenished each morning. They felt so empowered to plan their free time and were real excited. I had no problem getting them to come inside when break time was over....

which probably won't last:)

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Let's see....we have been here just a few months and now that the inside is mostly done, my eye can't help but focus on what is going on outside and let me tell you folks...it is not pretty! I am trying to be realistic on a time frame and honestly not much will probably get done this year around here. However we do have one thing we are trying to address right now, but since I can't start with the bad or the ugly so here is the GOOD first!

I love to watch the sun rise and the sun set, in Yucaipa we had view of some amazing sunsets from our house. The part of this house with the view had been boarded up so long, I wasn't sure what I would be able to see. The first thing I had to do though was get up early enough to even have a chance and now that I got that part down...I have been blessed with some amazing views. It is different though because I have to look through the trees this time, and it gives me a different perspective. I am not even able to see the sun really set because to that side of us is 2 acres of wooded "forest" and it is totally hidden in the trees. I got this shot the other morning....definitely, without a doubt.....GOOD!

Now, there are some bad things around here too! The yellow jackets are the most annoying little boogers out here this time of year, and they are plentiful let me tell you. I have this image of me relaxing on my front porch with a book and after about 3 minutes, they appear. So far, no one has been stung here, they have even landed us but let's just say they can ruin the mood! So, we got some of these nifty little traps and boy do they catch them! The first time I put one up we had over 20 in there in just a couple of hours! After reading the directions I have learned that IF we get them out the first few warm days of the year, we have a good chance of trapping the queen looking for a nest and keeping the property more clear of these stinging machines. The boys and I have big plans already next year and already have a trap ready in case they aren't in the stores soon enough for us! They come with the heat so it will only be a little longer!

The UGLY!

Gophers...absolutely destructive! Our entire property is covered with holes and it is getting worse by the day. A few holes has turned into literally hundreds and they have now invaded both sides of the house. We tried gas bombs, they pushed them out. We tried bait...no visible signs of working. Today, we bought traps. They are Bryan's responsibility and I am pretending it isn't happening. Definitely on my list to ask God about!

School Plan

Well, all the books are in and the kids are excited! (although Brody is pretending to be tough and saying, "school is boring") We all love getting those boxes in! I am thrilled to see them excited over the years books instead of the years fashions or school clothes! Our favorite school clothes are the comfy ones with holes that we get to wear on a day we don't have to leave the house!! We have been catching up on some history and reviewing some math just trying to get used to doing some work again...I think that will prove valuable next week!

So, every year I plan to do better with a few areas, usually the electives thank goodness!

Anyway, if the boys want, I have access to lots of art projects. I always shoot out of the gate in this area and then lag behind as the year goes on. But I do have plans here..to have some fun and explore their creative side, however hard it is to find:)



I scored the entire Vox, Meet the Masters set on homeschoolclassifieds.com! These are fun CD's on famous composers that narrate parts of their lives and combine some of their most famous pieces throughout. There is just enough music and talking to keep the boys interested and when we start one they will listen to it non stop! So, if I bomb with any other music plans, this will go a long way and now I have all 18 of them!

I also ordered a fun deal called Typing Instructor for kids and the boys are already loving that one! It is really cute and they doing well with it! Connor initially showed the interest to learn to type and I am all for that! They learn a few letters at a time and play games and move to the next level to take over a castle, I would highly recommend it!

So far though the biggest hit is called Mathtacular. We just got the second one with our recent order at Sonlight and Connor and Brody have learned SO much from this. Now usually, I am not a big advocate of learning at an early age through a video, but this is a huge exception for me! I have to warn the average individual that if these would be rated, they would be below G. Now, what would that be??? There is a huge advantage of not allowing a lot of entertainment through TV or movies....my boys think it is a huge privilege to watch this and beg for just a few more minutes!! They are highly entertained by Justin and honest to God they were walking through Wal Mart the other day with new flip flops in hand having a quite intelligent discussion on if their new shoes were congruent or simply similar! It was darn cute if I do say so myself!

We are sticking with Sonlight Language Arts and Core (History and Bible) and Singapore Math for the year. We will also be hitting back to our Botany study which we are excited about. I splurged on the notebooks the company made to help keep it flowing better, plus it had a schedule which is much better for me!

I designed the kids new planners to lay out their weeks which makes them feel very independent and grown up! So, I think we will be ready to start full swing next week when all of Salem goes back to school! I am praying for a good year!