Time for Learning

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

I had to post the above in order to review this curriculum. I've never done this before, so we'll see how it goes.

sorry for the boring post:-)

I Just Can't

Tonight is one of those nights when I just can't.
You know, there's wet laundry in the washing machine that needs to be moved to the dryer.
And clean clothes that wait on your bed to be folded.
But you just can't.
I should really do myself a favor and pick up the books and shoes and children's drawings of star wars battles and princesses scattered all over the living room floor.
Because don't you love waking up to a clean living room, ready to start the day?
But I just can't.
You know the saying, "whether you think you can or you think you can't, You're right?" Henry Ford or someone really ambitious and perseverant said it. I don't think perseverant is a word, but it should be.

Well anyway, tonight I think I can't so I can't. And I'm enjoying "can'ting".

So I waste time on the computer and eat two granola bars and a handful of chocolate chips because they are the closest things resembling sweets that I have in my house right now.
(I'm on a diet) A handful-or-two-of-chocolate-chips-a-day-diet. The granola bars were an Indulgence because I've been so good lately. Just eating chocolate chips.

Isn't mediocrity blissful sometimes??

Usually when I feel like I can't, I look up homeschooling stuff because I'm a nerd and that's fun for me, or I read a good book. But, I just finished my book a few hours ago and tonight even that sounds too productive for me.

So, I let the can'tness wash over me. And I enjoy seeing the squiggly, red lines under all my misspelled, made up words.

And I just can't go to bed on time even though we just resolved two days ago to go to bed earlier. I have to admit I felt a little discouraged when I woke up at 5 am sharp the first morning of the "early to bed and early to rise" goal only to hear my 6 and 2 year old cheerily carrying on a conversation about spiderwebs. What's the point when it just means two more hours of one-sided spiderweb conversations instead of the quiet, meditative time you were hoping for?
(I did manage to tiptoe past their room and stay downstairs for a 1/2 hour while my wonderful hubby sat on the couch with said children and (as he put it) "just listened".)

Anyway, I'm done can'ting. My heart is willing to can't all night, but my body is weak and even can'ting is taking it's toll. Can'ting can be work too, you know.

So, I can go to bed now.

And I have to confess that I CAN actually move the wet laundry over to the dryer before heading to bed.
After all, I "just can't" do mildew-smelling clothes even more than I "just can't" get off my lazy bum to put them in the dryer.

Good night!

Trusting

Olivia went to school on Monday.
Yes. School school.
I know! It was unexpected to me as well.
I feel....like my right arm has been cut off.

I feel like a duck trying to peel a banana.

I feel out of sorts.

Sigh...

It started about a week ago when I had this nagging, persistent feeling that there was something I was supposed to be doing that I wasn't doing.

I know I'm not perfect, so I could think of A LOT of things it COULD be. But, nothing gave me peace until I prayed and said,
"OK! What is it?"

And clear as a bell:

"Olivia needs to go to school"

Um...excuse me?

But.I.homeschool. WE homeschool! We love it. And this year has been the best year yet!

"Well, Olivia still needs to go to school"

But homeschooling is a good thing, right???

You know all the reasons I homeschool and don't send her to school, right??

Yes, He knows because He knows me.

But He sees something better or best.

Isaiah 55:8-9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, thus saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I had my plans.

Yes I did.

And my plans never included public school.

And I mean never.

At least not completely. Sure, maybe sports or choir or band in the upper grades.

But all day, 9-3 school?

Nope. Not for us.

I had my plans.

But His plan is better than the cleverest, wisest, most inspired plan I could come up with.

So what do I do?

I trust.

I trust that everything I see as a disadvantage to public school will work out.

I trust that Olivia will thrive.

I trust that I will be able to "let go" to a degree.

I trust that someday I will understand the WHY.

And honestly, the hardest part hasn't been sending her to school.

It's been hearing all the "Oh-was she falling behind?"

"Oh-was it for the socialization?"

"Oh-that will make everything better!"

Um...

Sorry. But she was AHEAD of the game, and the "socialization" is a DISadvantage in my book, and tell me-How will this make things better when they were already going GREAT?

I've had to swallow my pride.

And keep trusting.

So please don't sound excited and tell me this is a good thing.
I know it's right.

I know it's His will.

But, I'm still grieving.

And trusting...

Harvest Festival: Day 3

And here's the final installment of our Harvest Festival...the harvest part!

There's a great farmer's market down the road from us with fantastic peaches. Mmmm......Could peaches be the most beautiful fruit ever? They remind me of a sunset.

So, we can peaches every year. Here's the results. Our peaches floated this year. I'm not sure why, but my friend said hers floated too. So I am blaming it on the peaches. :-) No, my syrup was not too heavy. It was lighter than light. So? I don't know. But, they still look nice, eh?

This is actually a cheese that Sam made in February that has been curing in our fridge since then. We decided to break it out in celebration of...Cheese and things. It was great. It tasted like mozzerella. By the way, that blue stuff is not mold. It is food coloring. You have to coat the cheese in wax to protect it from mold, and we tried to dye the wax blue to look cool. Well, wax and food coloring don't mix...apparently. So, speckled weird blue is what we got.

Sam's chalk art. Ok...this.is.funny. Remember my Hawaiian sunset scene from Day 1? Yes, well Sam was just blown away that my chalk art was prettier than his (he did some carnival scene that day). I mean, he was standing there staring at my sidewalk square just stupified. BECAUSE, like I mentioned in Day 2 post, he is better at everything than me. So, what does he do when I'm gone for an hour the next day? Create this Cat in the Hat masterpiece. The funny thing is, I knew the day I saw him jaw-dropping over my art that he would have to contest. I knew he wouldn't be able to take it-me winning.

We're not competitive or anything...!

He ran out of chalk before he could finish, and this picture was taken after the water fight. It looked a lot cooler before.

Remember the balloon chamber? Well, here are all the balloons out in our yard for the whip-cracking event.

Junior having a go at the balloons...

It was taking a LONG time cracking all those balloons, so we eventually put the poles on the ground, and let the kids stomp on them.

Then, wheel-barrow rides. Yes, those are extra kids of a friend who just had a baby.

Sam had quite a work-out wheeling them around the house over..and over again.

We ended the night with a movie that Sam made. It was called, "Something to Celebrate" and it consisted of pictures from the past year put to music. I might set up a link to it if he publishes it online. But, it was like 40 minutes long. You'd have to REAAALllly love our family to want to watch it.

Anyway, it was a great festival.

Thanks, Sam/Dad for all of your devotion to our family! You're the best!

Harvest Festival: Day 2

ahem...
So, a week later I'm finally posting about Day 2 of our Harvest Festival. Ha ha. That's life.

We started the day with abel skivers-a yummy Danish dish that basically tastes like pancake balls.

Mmmm.....
Then, we went for a hike down to the river.

Whoops. Forgot to rotate this, and I'm too lazy to change it now. Me and Jack in the Moby.

We found some tracks....raccoon, I think?

Next up...waterfight! If you ever ever ever buy waterguns again in your life, buy these! They were so much fun. They refill in seconds, and they shoot out large amounts of water at a time.

The "littles" preferred to just jump in the refill buckets.:-)

We also had a pie-making contest scheduled. It sort of happened. Last time I totally won with a killer blueberry pie, so I think Sam was a little intimidated. He is pretty much better than me at everything in life EXCEPT making pie crusts (oh...and having babies).

So, basically it turned into me making 3 different peach pies over the span of 3-4 days. I was trying to find the best recipe. Suffice it to say, I didn't fall in love with any of the recipes...and Sam didn't make any pies. :-(

We also had a strobe dance in the evening...you know-the good ol' strobe light days? Yeah, they actually make me sick now that I am old and no fun anymore. So, the kids and Sam danced away while I hung out with baby upstairs. The pictures of that didn't really turn out.

Well, that's Day 2 of the Festival!

Livin' the Dream!

Harvest Festival: Day 1

About 3 years ago, we had a "Harvest Festival". It's kind of a "Celebrate our family and have crazy fun for three days" kind of thing.
We planned on making it an annual tradition, but two babies later and some other "life" stuff and...we missed a few years.

But, this year we are back on track. So, here's the lowdown from

Day #1 of the Harvest Festival!

We love food at our house, and we like to take pictures of food, too. I'm not sure why. So, here's breakfast!

We started the day with some yummy homemade doughnuts and fresh fruit.

Next, we were off to get Family Pictures. (if this doesn't take you to pics,
you can enter my first and last name with LTTT0799107601TAR as the password to view)

After every meal we had a raffle where the lucky winner got to pick something from the raffle box. No, the workout video was not for the kids.

Here's Emily in the Balloon Chamber! This is our downstairs library/guestroom filled with balloons. I think this was the favorite for the kids.

The "Chalk Walk". Here's Olivia working on her "purple mountain majesties".

My finished sidewalk square. I think my inspiration came from the cloudy, cool weather we've been experiencing a lot lately...in AUGUST!

And we ended the day with shishkabobs for dinner. It was a great day and I was wiped out by lunchtime, so we must've been having fun, right?

I have to give most of the credit to my wonderful man for putting everything together. He planned it all and we just showed up!

The egg sac

There have been two spider egg sacs next to our front door for several days.
On the underside of the siding.
So, last night my hubbie and I went out to water the blueberries. I decided this would be a good time to jet off the front entrance and zap those egg sacs (along with all the other bugs that have made their home there).

I don't enjoy killing living things. But...if little critters are on my turf, they just have to go. It's as simple as that.
So, have you jetted an egg sac lately? They are tough little cookies. I had to spray for a good 3 minutes before the things would come free.

I don't enjoy killing living things. And when it takes longer than a few seconds, I start to feel sick inside. It gives you too much time to think....
I started thinking about the mommy spider who worked so hard to make a safe sac for her babies. She did such a good job securing them to my siding! They were well protected. But, I am a big, bad human with a powerful stream of water, and I won.

So then I came inside and got out Charlotte's Web to read to the kids. What chapter are we on?

"The Egg Sac"

That's right.
Charlotte, the loyal and selfless friend of Wilbur, creates her "magnum opus" in that chapter. 514 baby spiders wrapped securely until spring. It took all she had left in her.

There I sat reading this beautiful and sensitive writing. Me! The one who just pulverized not one, but two "magnum opi".
Sigh...
I felt horrible.

But, then I thought of 1,028 spiders by my front door and I didn't feel quite so bad.

BUSY BUSY

I'm a country farm girl at heart.
I WANT to be a country farm girl....
even though I'm not one.
I fantasize about being Laura Ingalls Wilder or Anne of Green Gables,
even though I like my curling iron and I kill most plants I come in contact with.
Animals? no experience with them.
so Why do I have this dream?
Well, one reason is because "back then" life was simpler.
Quieter, slower, thoughtful, peaceful.
People knew how to appreciate real entertainment back then.
Like a sunset.
Or a string of notes slipping from violin strings.
Or a book being read out loud...while the fire crackles...and mom knits in the corner.

Can't you see it?
Perfect, right?

But I was born when I was born and honestly I'm happy to be here now, at this time.
It's exciting, this time on earth.

But I do pine for simpler times sometimes.

Today I had a revelation while reading this article about BUSYness
in my monthly church magazine.

The revelation was simply that I choose exactly how simple or busy my life is. Not necessarily just how many activities or events I fill my life with, but my FRAME OF MIND.

Do I truly listen when my 6 year old spouts the 100th dinosaur fact of the day to me?

Am I wholeheartedly playing a game of pretend with my 3 year old, forgetting any lists or obligations?

Am I taking time to meditate on God's will for our family and myself?

Do I look into my childrens' eyes every day and think about how amazing they are and how precious they are to me?

Do I do something small each day to show my husband how crazy in love I am with him?

The things that show I'm not too busy to listen, to care, to know what's most important.

If I face the facts, I have to admit that my A personality back in the 1800s could be just as "Busy."

I could be baking bread, washing clothes with a washboard, harvesting my bountiful garden, and never take the time to memorize every curve of my baby's face.

So, since Heavenly Father has been tapping my soul about this lately, I'm guessing I'm not the only Mom out there who has to fight the same balance: relishing each day but also doing the things that must be done so everything doesn't fall apart.

So to all you Moms out there, here's a great poem that is now on my fridge to remind me NOT TO HURRY my way through life.

Duties are pressing upon me,
And the time for work is brief,
What if with purblind vision,
I neglect the very chief?

What if I do with ardor
What a thousand could maybe,
And leave undone forever
What was meant for only me?

--Charlotte Fiske Bates

I love kids...

Apparently, I took too long in the bathroom to receive this gift in person.

A Wedding, A Birthday, and Sightseeing

Recently we went to Utah for some family fun. Most of our family lives there or is kind enough to travel to Utah whenever we do. :-) It was a lot of fun.


Sam's brother got married to a beautiful girl. We all agree he married up:-). And that's saying something since he's quite the guy.

Kennecott Copper Mine.

We toured Brigham Young's house in Salt Lake City. We've done this a few times before, but the kids keep getting older, so it's always a new experience through their eyes.

Brigham Young's Dinner Bell that inspired us to get our own dinner bell. (One of the best purchases we've ever made!) Bells work to summon husbands, too. :-)

The entertaining room in BY home

My dear Papa with baby Jack

Adorable brother and his wife. Talk about marrying up! :-) Just kidding Dr. O. But, not really.

We invited family to come to a bouncy house for Kevin's birthday.
Emily on the big slide.

Poor Kevin fell and smashed his nose the morning of his big day! But, that does seem an appropriate way to start being a 2 year old (officially), doesn't it?

Me and my sis. I'm planning on being just like her when I grow up....Hmmm. I need to hurry.

Awesome brother-10 years my senior. So good with the babies! I also got to see him graduate. I'm going to have two brothers with doctorate degrees by the end of summer. Crazy.

It was a fun trip. Sorry my posts have been a little picture-happy lately. I promise I'll settle down into my boring life now and you probably won't see many pics for a while:-)!

Livin' the Dream!

Vancouver

I'm a little behind....
Here's our trip to Vancouver

The temple was beautiful. I especially liked the murals in the Creation Room. Lovely art with local landscapes.

One of Kevin's many "looks".

Dashing Dad and kiddos

Here we are at the Suspension Bridge after. Everyone crossed! Emily was upset and crying for the first crossing. The bridge does move quite a bit:-).

Forgot to rotate this before posting. oops. Beautiful tall trees.
On the other side of the bridge there was a bunch of tree houses with bridges connecting all of them. I felt like Peter Pan.

Emily poses in the totem pole.

And what trip would be complete without a picture by the iconic Canadian bear. ???

Thank Goodness for Babies

2year old and 4 year old on the counter helping make breakfast
2 year old is poopy
It's a bad one. Poop flies out when I take off his pants. It has already run down his legs. It hits my arm and the clean jeans I just put on.
4 year old yells from the counter that there's poop on the kitchen counter, too.
6 year old walks down the hall and tells me he peed his bed.
That makes 5 loads of laundry for the day instead of 4, I guess.

All before 7 a.m.

I take a 2 minute break an hour later to check if that email I'm waiting for has arrived.
Newborn baby is in the MOBY.
I look down at his sweet face. His eyes are closed, his mouth is open. He is totally relaxed. And then he smiles one of those happy dreams smiles.

My heart rate slows. I breathe more deeply.
It's going to be just fine.
What is it about babies that slows us down?
That helps us remember the eternal scheme of things?
The long-term perspective that makes us stop and enjoy the moment?

I don't know, but I'm thankful for babies:-)

Oh-gotta go. 4 year old has hopelessly tangled a comb in her hair.:-)

Livin' the Dream!

Vancouver BC

I think I've mentioned before that my husband sometimes does "things" that make me go, "uh...why?"

Like recently when our newborn baby was only days old, and we dragged our whole family to City Hall to get passports.

I have to admit that part of me was thinking, "Really? This has to happen NOW?"

We had no travel plans. Passports cost money. I had my doubts.

And now I'm eating my words.
Again.

Last night my husband told me that a coworker mentioned the open house for the Vancouver BC temple on the bus ride home from work.

And spontaneous as he is, he said, "Let's go!"

And what do you know? The passports got here just days ago. So we actually CAN go.

I am so excited! I think the kids will love going inside the temple and feeling the wonderful Spirit that is there.

And the plan is to also visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge
We'll see which of the kids will be brave enough to cross that. Since they've seen "Horton Hears a Who", their imaginations are running wild with images of boards falling 200 feet:-)
(Here's the clip from the movie if you haven't seen it.)

It feels like Forever since we've done something fun together as a family with all the health issues lately, so I am feeling very blessed for this timely and meaningful trip we'll be able to take!

Livin' the Dream

Happiness is...

Waking up every morning remembering I have a new baby and I AM NOT PREGNANT ANYMORE!

Hugging my husband again. (The real kind of hug, not the "Here, let me move my gargantuan belly off to the side first" kind of hug.)

Seeing my ankle bones again

Laying on my belly again

Food tasting good again

Getting my brain back (sort of)

Looking forward to many months of non-pregnancy

Still being 30 lbs. heavier than pre-pregnancy weight and not caring a smidgen!!!
(because it's still better than being pregnant)

Feeling happy again

Ok, I'm really done with the pregnancy posts. I just had to say one more time how wonderful it is not to be pregnant!!!

And, as an update, I had gallbladder surgery a few days. I guess it's pretty common to have gallbladder problems during or shortly after pregnancy, and I happened to be one of the lucky ones. But, other than a few painful attacks, and an absolutely no-fat diet for a week, it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm on the road to recovery now and

Happiness is...

Eating your first chocolate after having your gallbladder removed.

What's your happiness today?

BABY JACK

Jack William

Born: February 25, 2010

at 3:25 p.m.

8 lbs. 9 oz. 20 1/2 in. long

Ok, here he is! I know, I know. We are the worst at updates and announcements. My poor siblings had to wait until my Mom got back from visiting us to see pictures of him (from HER camera, of course). Yes, we're pathetic like that.

But, my excuse? I've been busy!!!!! Busy enjoying a new baby and adjusting to 5 little ones now. It actually hasn't been too bad, since Jack is an amazingly easy baby. He already has superpowers. He can sleep soundly through the cacophony of 4 rambunctious kids. And I mean soundly! He's amazing, and we feel so blessed to have him in our family.

This is the bili-bed that he spent a day on at home. His jaundice was pretty high, so they brought over this bed. He looks like a turtle in it!

The day after using this, his bilirubin had gone up to a semi-dangerous level, so they sent us to NICU (AGAIN!) where supposedly his bili levels were back down to the original level. Alas, we had already checked in to the NICU, and frankly...they don't let you go until the fat lady sings.
So, we spent 2 days there, and then we finally came home for good.

Everyone set to take Jack home!

And miracle of miracles-Kevin-the not-quite 2 yr. old is soooo good with him. He didn't even really get that there was a baby in my belly before Jack was born, so suddenly when this creature came home from the hospital, I wondered...but Kevin took it all in stride.

Jack's first bath.

What a babe.

I think I see the beginnings of a cowlick which Jack might hate someday, but I am enamored. I think a cowlick on a little guy named Jack is perfect!

THREE WORDS

BERTHA
IS
GONE!!!!!!!!!
YAHOO!
(I guess "yahoo" makes 4 words)

Newton's Laws

Newton's Laws of Motion
for Pregnancy

1. An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

This is demonstrated when you roll over in bed and the baby doesn't move with you. Ouch!

2. The greater the mass (of the object being accelerated) the greater the amount of force needed (to accelerate the object).


OH! That's why my friend asked me if I had just ran to the phone when I answered totally out of breath. (I had walked 3 steps to get to the phone.)

3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That is to say that whenever an object pushes another object it gets pushed back in the opposite direction equally hard.

This is what I like to call bladder kickball.

There you go.
Newton's laws apply to everything!!
Or maybe everything applies to pregnancy...