Macy=Daily Dose of Laughter

MooMoo, you make me laugh. You make me laugh when you insist on wearing your bright blue footsie pajamas to Target. You make me laugh even harder when you then decide to run around in circles in front of the store SNORTING like a pig as loud as you can (and we both know how loud you can). You make me laugh every single day. I can't wait to see the woman you turn into!

Kate is not to be dissuaded...

Please excuse the messy pantry, but do you see that red and white basket at the top left? Well, apparently Kate saw some treat wrapper sticking out of it while I was doing school with Carston. Seeing as how she is only about 2 feet tall, I would have thought she would have admitted defeat and moved onto the next item of business. No, not Kate. I guess it is a good thing that she feels so capable. She got the stool, climbed right up there, and helped herself to 3 suckers...

I love how she just looks at me like, "What? Why do you find this so interesting?"

PS. She has made it a habit everyday to take advantage of times when I am not in the kitchen. She pulls a chair over to the cupboard, climbs up on the counter, and helps herself to the treat bowl.

PPS. The night before we left for San Antonio, she fell off the counter-height table and got a deep gash on her head. She sat still for about 5 seconds while I tried to put pressure on it, and then she was fighting to get away from me. She is a crazy girl sometimes!

Jinxed

I always thought I'd never be one of THOSE people. You know who I'm talking about. The people who spend absurd amounts of money on their pets. Who does that? Pets are a dime a dozen right? Um.... I am ashamed to admit that I have joined that party. But when I walk in on circumstances such as these just about every night........what choice did I really have?

Sadie (our dog who now has higher medical bills than all 4 of my children combined) had been babying her back leg for a few weeks. It seemed to fluctuate, so I kept waiting, hoping it would go away. It didn't. I took her in expecting a broken bone or something (maybe from the bat Macy dropped on her leg!). Oh no, it was a torn ACL. The Vet (Orthopedic Specialist if you want to be specific) told me I had two choices: a $1200 surgery or a $2400 surgery. (John said their was a third choice but I stopped him before the cruel words left his heartless lips!) So yep, Little Miss Sadie got her surgery (the "cheap" one of course). I don't know what is more embarrassing: the fact that we paid this crazy amount for her surgery, or the fact that I got teary-eyed dropping her off!

Hee Haw Farms

Alpine Online hosted a field trip to Hee Haw Farms. It was a sweet deal to get in and do everything. It was nice having John come over since we were right by his work.

This is what happens when you ask a stranger to take your family picture. Carston? Where are you? Apparently he didn't look like he belonged with the orange shirt family (And my husband is color blind because he considers this shirt mostly red :)!

So we went with the double picture approach. Here's one I took of John and the kids by him...

And here is the other half!

My Monster Organization Board

Sometime in the summer, I did a post on organizing my home. I've done a lot since I posted my intentions :) I think I felt a great need to have our house running smoothly with as little direction from me as possible since I knew we would probably be homeschooling. I am pleased with how things have turned out.

First of all, I made this board. It is huge (4x7), and I love it! Everything I need is right at my fingertips. Lists and schedules are highly visible for everyone.

(I should have straightened it up before the pictures!)

It has a whiteboard at the top (I need to divide it into sections with vinyl tape, which I have but haven't done yet :). There are little magnet things with the days of the week so I can write dinner and daily activities for everyone to see. There will be a grocery section, to do list for me, to do list for John, misc. notes, and anything else that is needed.I implemented a token system in our family. At the beginning of each week, each kid receives 6 tokens in their canister (they can be redeemed for 30 minutes electronic time). I have kitchen timers at the computer and video games so they are responsible for their own time. If they fail to turn it off when time is up, they lose an extra token. Let me say that because their electronic time is fairly limited, tokens are VERY powerful in our house. They can be taken away, but it is rare that it gets to that point because the kids value them so much. And there are times where they are rewarded with tokens, they get free movie nights on Friday, etc. So hopefully you'll erase the image that I'm a mean mother :)

I also made charts for everyone in the family. Each day of the week is listed with categories: Hygiene, Responsibilities, Education, Activities. These were placed in a sheet protector, and things were crossed off as they completed them each day. On Monday, money is deposited in their canister with the amount depending on how many things they completed.

Pegboard is at the bottom of my giant work of art. Each person has a clipboard that holds their chart and any other papers necessary. There are also bins holding markers and crayons.

The canisters are placed up high so Kate can't get them! They hold pens, scissors, money, tokens, pushpins, etc.

I LOVE this thing. Ideally, it would not be in such conspicuous place, but there isn't really anywhere else for it to be in our current home. I love that everyone can easily find the information and things they need without my help :) I think a huge thing for me has been learning to keep my mouth shut. I set up the system with rewards and consequences, and they get to chose. As their mom though, I hate dishing out the consequences, and desperately desire the rewards for them. I have to constantly work on letting them learn that they are in control of what happens to them.

10-8 Party

What started out as a wacky tradition for the adults has now turned into a Halloween party for the kids! Here are the girls. Avery was a Zebra Princess (sporting a pony hawk and everything), Macy decided to be Superwoman after two other costumes didn't quite suit her, and Kate had her choice between a princess and a ladybug. She screamed and fought me with both of them, just less on the princess so she was that by default! Here are the boys. Carston was an army guy last year, but this isn't just an army guy, it has some special name that I can't recall.

Start 'em while they're young

Carston will be turning eight next year. He'll probably be getting baptized. I can't believe that time is almost upon us. It fills me with a drive to make sure that he is on the right track, that he knows what he needs to know, that he has the experiences that will help him build his own testimony. As part of this, I decided I really wanted to focus on helping our kids establish the habit of personal scripture study. We had a Family Home Evening lesson on it, and made charts for a month to help us remember. I have to say, I've been touched by how my children have responded. They have hardly missed a day in three weeks. The way they have responded has reinforced my own testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I watch Avery. She turned 5 a few months ago. She probably doesn't understand or even know how to pronouce half the words in there. But she is excited about reading it. She will read a whole page in a night. She helps Macy read. She reads with expression even when she's not sure what she's reading about. She'll remind me that she needs to read her scriptures. She'll read them even without a reminder. I know she feels the spirit that is tied to the Book of Mormon. What other book would a child love and keep reading when there was so much in it they didn't understand? I don't think there is any other book out there. The same is true with Carston and Macy. Macy loves to repeat word by word each night. Sometimes she uses the picture version. One night we read about Joseph Smith praying, and that night in her prayers, she was "grateful that Joseph Smith prayed." She loves finding and pointing out pictures of him now. Carston is supposed to choose 3 new goals for school. They can be personal, academic, or family oriented. We were talking about him being baptized soon, and I asked if he wanted to have the goal of reading every day until then. His response was, "No, I want to read the WHOLE Book of Mormon." I know the Book of Mormon is a book from God. I want my children to develop their own testimonies. I want them to know that this gospel is true. I want them to know what it feels like when the Holy Ghost is speaking to them. I want them to know that God loves them. I have confidence that this is a way to accomplish that. I believe that studying the scriptures everyday can do all that. It has meant spending more time with them each night, helping them with words they don't know, but it is well worth it. I would do great things for my kids if it would ensure their safety. I can do small, daily things as well.

Loving Homeschooling

It has been a little over 2 months since we began our homeschooling adventure, and I love it! I have to say that the first two weeks were definitely challenging. I had to figure out when to do everything, what times Carston worked best, what a reasonable amount of focus I could expect, how much I should expect him to accomplish in a certain time, how involved I should be in the work, what to do with my other kids, figure out the K12 program, etc. It was a little crazy during those weeks. But now, we have it down. I think an important aspect of that is feeling free to adapt it as I see fit. There is a lot involved in the K12 program. I have no problem skipping parts of the lesson if he has mastered the concept. When the way they were doing the multiplication facts wasn't working and Carston was frustrated, we just stopped K12 lessons altogether and we found other ways to master those. I love that we can skip concepts he understands. I love that he gets to spend so much more time at home. I love that he is able to work on a level more appropriate for him. I love that he has more free time to play and read and be a kid. I love that he is not stressed out by all the demands on him. I love that he still is going to school for a couple hours most days, that he learns about friends, respect, authority, etc. At some point, I might want more freedom in the curriculem, but for right now with the time I have to devote to it...I LOVE IT!!!

And it is probably important to note that Carston loves it too. There have been a few times where he has gotten upset, not over the fact that he does homeschool, but that ALL of his education isn't at home :)

San Antonio-September

John and I decided to brave a couple 3 hour plane rides with 4 little munchkins in order to get to TEXAS! And why, you may ask, would we venture down there? There is only one thing that makes the appeal of a vacation (involving major travel) override the terror and dread: FAMILY! My sister Heather lives in San Antonio, my parents got a rental place at a "dude ranch" and my sister and her husband, Chelsey and Jared, were flying down too. I think I'd honestly go anywhere and go through lots of turmoil if it meant good times with the fam. So here is the breakdown:
Plane
Everyone thought I was crazy because I was determined not to check any bags. But I did it! We had 2 rolling suitcases, 2 large duffel bags, 1 rolling backpack, 3 children's backpacks, and 1 monster purse. Oh yeah, and a double stroller. Our kids were AWESOME with all the airport craziness. Shuttles, removing shoes, bag scanning, etc. I am a firm believer that it pays off to give your kids a heads up on what to expect, and what will be expected of them. Carston, Avery, and Macy were angels on the plane. Macy was very proud of herself because even though her ears were hurting during the descent, she "cried really soft and just put her blankie on her ear." Kate struggled a bit, but nothing that was unexpected. We finally resorted to pumping her full of suckers, gushers, fruit snacks, etc. On the way home, she was so tired. She was yelling, and it was one of those times where you know if you just hold them tight, they'll cry hard for a minute and then go to sleep. I was too chicken though to have her crying, but John held out and she quickly went to sleep. I also want to say that little compliments to strangers can mean a lot. On both plane rides, strangers said nice things to me afterword about me being a good mother and it made my day. It also made me want to do the same for someone else.

SwimmingThe place we were staying at had an awesome mini-water park. There were big and little slides, a lazy river, a kids water playground, and even a wave pool. The kids were in heaven there. Avery was the first one to go down the big water slide by herself, and she was so excited that she did it. Carston eventually took the plunge and soon became what the lifeguard referred to as the "slide king." (Another little comment that made his day seeing as how he's told me about it several times :) Avery and Carston loved the wave pool (surprise for me). Avery also loved pulling people around the lazy river in tubes. It was kind of crazy with big waves and waterfalls, and she loved it all. She is definitely a little fish. Macy loved going down the slides and just playing with her cousins. Kate liked going down the slides as well and hanging out with all the lounging adults.
(I had to include this one of Macy in her new suit...It is the first one without some sort of ruffle, and it just made her look like such a big girl :)

Pump it Up-No pictures because I was too lazy to get the camera out of the car :)

We got a great deal on coupons for a place similar to Kangaroo Zoo. The kids had a blast there. Kate was the best to watch. She'd climb up these HUGE slides by herself and slide down, and then she'd race as fast as she could to climb up again. It was funny to see this little midget being more daring than her 4 year old cousin (no offense Hallie, Carston was just like you at your age :) I have to admit that I had fun there too. It was sad Jared and Chelsey had to miss it since they spent the previous night puking :) Yucky!

Horseback Riding

We got another great deal on an hour horseback ride (can you say Groupon?) Heather was very nice to watch all the kiddos (except Carston since he was old enough to go). I loved horses growing up. I loved the vacations to Montana when our cousins would take us riding. My mom even signed me up for riding lessons in junior high. But it had been over 10 years since I'd ridden. It was fun to get on one again, but I was disappointed we had to follow the guide the whole time :) I wanted to take off and see what my horse could do! When we hit an open pasture, I was seriously considering giving my horse the signal to take off, and then playing innocent afterward like I didn't know what I was doing :) Don't worry, I didn't. I was too scared Carston's horse would follow my lead :) It was fun though, and I have to say there is something about the dying breed of Cowboys. They are true gentleman to the core, and it makes me sad to know there are fewer and fewer of them every year.

Shooting Shotguns

John decided he needed a manly activity, so when we saw a sign for skeet shooting, we pulled over. Jared and John did pretty well (even with the employee that clashed with John's personality. He was trying to be helpful, but only succeeded in driving John crazy :) Carston was pretty excited to shoot his first real gun, but ended up surprised at how heavy it was to hold up and the pain from the kickback! Chelsey and I gave it a shot. I think Chelsey hit one, so Carston and I made up the group of no hitters.

Miscellaneous

We were able to go to church out there. I had to laugh at Macy twirling around as we walked in from a potty break during the special musical number. I'm frequently surprised by her ability to be so dainty and graceful one minute, and then crazy forceful the next :) I LOVED being able to see Heather's house (and Aaron's playhouse and bunk beds). It is nice being able to more clearly picture her life. The girls had so much fun playing with each other. They are off and running the minute they see each other and never stop. Carston was almost in heaven with all the electronic time this vacation afforded him. Poor Hallie got sick and threw up while she was having a sleepover. Heather found out she was having a BOY! Avery loved having so much fruit for breakfast :) I loved long nights of Ticket to Ride and Bonanza. Having Bluebell ice cream was delicious. John enjoyed some golf. The kids had a great treasure hunt sponsored by Grandma, and Kate thought she was pretty funny running away with the clues :) They also enjoyed making some fun crafts courtesy of Grandma and the dollar store. Heather made a cake and decorated to celebrate Chelsey's birthday! We visited Charming Charlie's for some insanely cheap jewelry. Chelsey got to cut everyone's hair :) Thanks Cho!

Anyway, we were very blessed to go and spend so much time with people we love. My parents are so kind and generous and I'm grateful that they provided this great experience.

And just in case you're wondering, we didn't visit the Alamo. I guess that makes us awful in some people's books (in John's defense, he says he voiced the opinion we should go, but either no one heard him or no one wanted to heed him :)

Kate has skills

Uh! I was in the middle of a post and half of it got deleted! That put quite the damper on my blogging enthusiasm. Maybe I'll finish it later :) In the meantime:

Dear Miss Kate,
I know you think you are a big girl. Maybe it is because you can pull the chair over and climb onto the counter, or because you can put on everyone's shoes who live in the house, or because you refuse to sit in the highchair anymore, or any other number of reasons. You can be as big as you want in any area except one: YOU CAN NOT STOP TAKING NAPS! I thought yesterday was a fluke, but no. After TWO hours of being in your crib today, the only result was that you were NAKED when I finally decided to call it quits and get you out of the crib! Let's call a truce. I'll add "undressing" to your list of big girl skills, and in return, you will resume your naps. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Mom