What a week!
Our ward got split on Sunday and it's created quite the ripple effect of things to worry about and take care as a result.
Spring has officially ticked me off. It keeps coming and making me happy, then abandoning me and letting Winter come back. Jerk. We've had snow a few days this week. SNOW.
Steve's parents came last night. The visit was too short, but it was so nice to see them.
We cannot wait for school to be over with! I have been counting down the days with much more vigor than the kids.
Speaking of school. The last couple of weeks Jonah, Celeste and I have been studying the Island of Crete, the Persians, Athenians, and all those ancient civilizations around the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas during our History lessons. Very interesting stuff! I have left my opinions on these civilizations completely out of our lessons. Today I asked them to do their writing assignments on Greece. I found their blog posts on this assignment quite interesting. Celeste had one take on it, and Jonah an entirely different one. Note, they did these posts entirely on their own and in different rooms from each other. I just came in and read them when they were done and we discussed the grammar a bit. Celeste and Jonah have writing styles that are polar opposites and on different levels, but it's interesting to see what they said. I love the individuality children even in the same family come with! Kids are the best. My kids especially are at a point in their lives that I would freeze in this moment (for each of them) if I could. I think I'm experiencing the best phase of my life ever.
Check it out:
Celeste's blog post about the Greeks- Jonah's blog post about the Greeks.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
History that really feels personal
This is likely not interesting to most people, but it is intensely interesting to us! So I wanted to make sure we documented it on our family blog.
Our family has spent the past several hours researching our family history.
We found out some fun stuff.
Steve's line had an ancestor that was living in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials. She made it through just fine.
My line I was able to see back to ancestors who were born in the year 1000 or closely to. That was pretty cool!
We got sidetracked deciding to find out if we had an ancestor that came over on the Mayflower. (There were only 102 passengers I believe.)
We found 36 direct line ancestors (possibly more as we only looked on my father's father's side of the family,) who lived in Plymouth Mass., when it was just getting started. I wish I had known this when Steve and I were there last year!
We also learned that
Francis Cooke was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. (See image at top.)
They only know of 26 male Mayflower passengers to have descendants. Many died in the first year. He brought with him his 13 year old son and left his wife and younger children at home. She came with them soon thereafter. Francis was an important part of Plymouth. He served in many civil capacities. There is an article about him on Wikipedia. I found this part of the article particularly interesting; it's a quote from
William Bradford (the elected Governor of Plymouth 30 times.)
"Francis Cooke is still living, a very old man, and hath seen his children's children have children. After his wife came over with other of his children; he hath three still living by her, all married and have five children, so their increase is eight. And his son John which came over with him is married, and hath four children living."
And my children and I are part of that "increase".
Pretty cool.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tough Decision
We are really struggling with some big decisions in our family!
Now I post about this on here simply to examine our options and issues in a well thought-out, documented manner. (I will only discuss one of these issues we're grappling with at this time for now.) We welcome thoughts and opinions. However, we do know that these decisions will ultimately be up to us and what we feel is the right thing to do for our family. We've been thinking, discussing, and praying about these things for months now and still no answers. I'm starting to feel more pressure and impatience to make a decision!
First is the decision to continue homeschooling next year. I've been losing sleep over this decision! Just today the school called me and asked me to make a decision about whether or not I'd be re-enrolling Jonah and Celeste next year ASAP. I literally vacillate between sending the kids back to public school and homeschooling them next year daily. Some moments I feel like homeschooling has been such a great thing for them, and other days I feel like I really don't want to do it long term. It's tough. It's time consuming. It's a lot of responsibility!
Pros:
*Jonah is a much happier, emotionally stable kid when he's homeschooled. He's got some special needs with being Bipolar and ADD and I think I know him well enough and love him enough to meet those needs.
*I get a lot more time with my homeschooled kids.
*My kids that are homeschooled are a lot less stressed.
*My kids that are homeschooled have more time to just be kids.
*I get to teach them what I want and feel is important.
*They get to learn at their own pace and in a manner that best fits their personality and learning strengths/weaknesses.
*They don't have to suffer with bad teachers, time wasting in public school, stupid busy work and projects that are pointless, kids that bully or who are screwed up, bad language, being at school for 7 whole hours, then sent home with another hour or so of homework, etc...
*They are taught by a teacher that actually truly loves them deeply and has a vested interest in their eternal progression and happiness.
Cons:
*I have a LOT less time to myself or to do things that I might enjoy doing. This is my biggest concern by far. As great as the pros seem, this con is a very BIG con. Very selfish ~ but it is what it is.
*I don't get sick days or can't call in a substitute.
*Sometimes the kids don't feel like working and with the unconditional love they know I have for them, they can refuse to work without worrying too much.
*I'm not that smart. (You can see it in my blog posts.) I have to either get smarter, or rely on hired help to come in.
*They don't get to be with friends and other kids outside of our family as much.
Here are some arguments against homeschooling that I want to address.
The most common one you'll hear is that homeschooled kids are social freaks.
I've done a lot of thinking and researching about this topic. What I've found, is that statistically these kids are socially doing great in general. They are well adjusted, more confident, and can function in social settings just fine. In fact this is an argument you don't hear a whole lot about in the homeschool debate among professionals anymore because the people that know a lot about the research and the statistics, know that this really isn't an issue.
There are plenty of ways to get around this too by setting up ways to have your kid socialize with other kids. There are homeschool groups around here that do things together as well.
The kids that are social freaks are social freaks for other reasons. Namely, their parents are weird or the kid has anxiety or psychological problems (which is one of the reasons in which kids will be homeschooled,) among other reasons. (I admit that my kids are a little weird socially. But they've been in public school almost their whole lives. I wish I could blame it on their schooling, but I can't.)
The second argument against it is that kids that are homeschooled aren't getting as good of quality education.
This is another argument that among professionals that know the studies and statistics about academic achievement have found this issue to be a non-issue. Many homeschooled kids have higher IQ's, better ACT and SAT scores, are getting more college scholarships and so forth.
There are so many curriculum options for homeschool that the issue really lies in the parents. Are they disciplined enough to stick with it? Are they responsible enough to make sure that their child is getting the proper tutoring in all the essential subjects? You've got plenty of parents of public school kids who fail miserably in being involved and helpful in their child's education. On the flip-side, you're gonna have parents in the homeschool world who are failing as well.
So the past few months, I'd say that homeschool has been a success. But it's hard! I just don't know if I could do it long term. This was a trial run for us.
One thing is pretty certain though, is I don't want to have some kids in public school and some in homeschool. The reason for that is that Eden and Becca are jealous. They don't get as much of my attention as Jonah and Celeste do. When I'm homeschooling 2 kids & sending 2 kids to public school, I am dealing with the challenges of both concurrently. I have to teach two of my kids during the day. Then when the other two kids get home, I have to do homework with them. I still need to go to the school quite often and volunteer there and be involved. I still have to deal with the public school schedule and it steps on the toes of the freedom of a homeschool schedule. Really annoying.
What do my kids want?
Celeste- She goes back and forth. Last I heard, she wants to be homeschooled next year.
Jonah- DEFINITELY wants to be homeschooled and is very certain about it. He's worried about having to go back to public school.
Eden- She's not sure.
Becca- Definitely wants to be homeschooled.
Another factor in this decision is their desires. I know that if I choose something against what their desires are, I will be setting myself up for some added stress as they could rebel or fight, or be more distressed with what they have to do next year. Because of this, I have asked their input. We have researched it together. We have been praying about it. They feel a little responsible for the decision too.
So next year I am going to either:
1- Homeschool all 4 kids.
or
2- Send them all to school and pray all will go well as I will have a lot less control in their education.
What's your say on it?
Now I post about this on here simply to examine our options and issues in a well thought-out, documented manner. (I will only discuss one of these issues we're grappling with at this time for now.) We welcome thoughts and opinions. However, we do know that these decisions will ultimately be up to us and what we feel is the right thing to do for our family. We've been thinking, discussing, and praying about these things for months now and still no answers. I'm starting to feel more pressure and impatience to make a decision!
First is the decision to continue homeschooling next year. I've been losing sleep over this decision! Just today the school called me and asked me to make a decision about whether or not I'd be re-enrolling Jonah and Celeste next year ASAP. I literally vacillate between sending the kids back to public school and homeschooling them next year daily. Some moments I feel like homeschooling has been such a great thing for them, and other days I feel like I really don't want to do it long term. It's tough. It's time consuming. It's a lot of responsibility!
Pros:
*Jonah is a much happier, emotionally stable kid when he's homeschooled. He's got some special needs with being Bipolar and ADD and I think I know him well enough and love him enough to meet those needs.
*I get a lot more time with my homeschooled kids.
*My kids that are homeschooled are a lot less stressed.
*My kids that are homeschooled have more time to just be kids.
*I get to teach them what I want and feel is important.
*They get to learn at their own pace and in a manner that best fits their personality and learning strengths/weaknesses.
*They don't have to suffer with bad teachers, time wasting in public school, stupid busy work and projects that are pointless, kids that bully or who are screwed up, bad language, being at school for 7 whole hours, then sent home with another hour or so of homework, etc...
*They are taught by a teacher that actually truly loves them deeply and has a vested interest in their eternal progression and happiness.
Cons:
*I have a LOT less time to myself or to do things that I might enjoy doing. This is my biggest concern by far. As great as the pros seem, this con is a very BIG con. Very selfish ~ but it is what it is.
*I don't get sick days or can't call in a substitute.
*Sometimes the kids don't feel like working and with the unconditional love they know I have for them, they can refuse to work without worrying too much.
*I'm not that smart. (You can see it in my blog posts.) I have to either get smarter, or rely on hired help to come in.
*They don't get to be with friends and other kids outside of our family as much.
Here are some arguments against homeschooling that I want to address.
The most common one you'll hear is that homeschooled kids are social freaks.
I've done a lot of thinking and researching about this topic. What I've found, is that statistically these kids are socially doing great in general. They are well adjusted, more confident, and can function in social settings just fine. In fact this is an argument you don't hear a whole lot about in the homeschool debate among professionals anymore because the people that know a lot about the research and the statistics, know that this really isn't an issue.
There are plenty of ways to get around this too by setting up ways to have your kid socialize with other kids. There are homeschool groups around here that do things together as well.
The kids that are social freaks are social freaks for other reasons. Namely, their parents are weird or the kid has anxiety or psychological problems (which is one of the reasons in which kids will be homeschooled,) among other reasons. (I admit that my kids are a little weird socially. But they've been in public school almost their whole lives. I wish I could blame it on their schooling, but I can't.)
The second argument against it is that kids that are homeschooled aren't getting as good of quality education.
This is another argument that among professionals that know the studies and statistics about academic achievement have found this issue to be a non-issue. Many homeschooled kids have higher IQ's, better ACT and SAT scores, are getting more college scholarships and so forth.
There are so many curriculum options for homeschool that the issue really lies in the parents. Are they disciplined enough to stick with it? Are they responsible enough to make sure that their child is getting the proper tutoring in all the essential subjects? You've got plenty of parents of public school kids who fail miserably in being involved and helpful in their child's education. On the flip-side, you're gonna have parents in the homeschool world who are failing as well.
So the past few months, I'd say that homeschool has been a success. But it's hard! I just don't know if I could do it long term. This was a trial run for us.
One thing is pretty certain though, is I don't want to have some kids in public school and some in homeschool. The reason for that is that Eden and Becca are jealous. They don't get as much of my attention as Jonah and Celeste do. When I'm homeschooling 2 kids & sending 2 kids to public school, I am dealing with the challenges of both concurrently. I have to teach two of my kids during the day. Then when the other two kids get home, I have to do homework with them. I still need to go to the school quite often and volunteer there and be involved. I still have to deal with the public school schedule and it steps on the toes of the freedom of a homeschool schedule. Really annoying.
What do my kids want?
Celeste- She goes back and forth. Last I heard, she wants to be homeschooled next year.
Jonah- DEFINITELY wants to be homeschooled and is very certain about it. He's worried about having to go back to public school.
Eden- She's not sure.
Becca- Definitely wants to be homeschooled.
Another factor in this decision is their desires. I know that if I choose something against what their desires are, I will be setting myself up for some added stress as they could rebel or fight, or be more distressed with what they have to do next year. Because of this, I have asked their input. We have researched it together. We have been praying about it. They feel a little responsible for the decision too.
So next year I am going to either:
1- Homeschool all 4 kids.
or
2- Send them all to school and pray all will go well as I will have a lot less control in their education.
What's your say on it?
Monday, April 12, 2010
California Break
We had a wonderful Spring Break!!! I only wish it weren't over!
On Saturday (3rd) we left home and drove straight through to San Jose. With having to stop and use chains with snow, it took us 15 hours to get there.
We listened to Conference in the car and I really enjoyed the morning session the most.
On Sunday we just chilled in the hotel room most of the day and watched Conference. It didn't feel much like Easter but the Easter Bunny did manage to find the kids while we were there. Our hotel was so nice!
On Monday Steve went to work there in San Jose while the kids and I got to go to Apple and have lunch with Sam, Michelle and Meghan. Apple's cafeteria was pretty darn impressive and being with Uncle Sam and his family was even better.
After that, Michelle, Meghan and the kids and I went to the Egyptian Museum. We were pretty impressed with this museum. It had stuff I never imagined they could have acquired. And it was fun to see things that went along with what we've been learning about in homeschool.
The grounds were very nice too.
It wasn't the warmest of weather, but still nice and warm enough for the kids to brave the outdoor pool a couple of times.
On Tuesday the kids and I headed to San Francisco and met up with Steve's boss' wife and their baby. She is such a super nice person and their baby is adorable! She showed us around and it was just a perfect day.
We went to the Legion of honor, which is an incredible art museum. INCREDIBLE.
The grounds there were pretty spectacular as well.
After that we hiked around Golden Gate Park which was also gorgeous. We went through the Botanical Gardens as well.
I noticed too late that the kids and I were getting too much sun and no sunscreen. I improvised with this little turban (aka burp cloth) for Charity. Too cute.
We then headed over to the beach for a bit. The kids love the beach. It was pretty windy though.
On Wednesday I took the kids to Great America amusement park. (Steve worked all day Monday through Thursday.)
Going to an amusement park with 5 children and only one adult can be kind of tricky, but it actually went as perfect as possible. I got a nice little tan.
The kids wanted to dry out after a water attraction soaked them. I got a kick out of watching them come up with this solution.
On Thursday it seemed I spent half the day getting the hotel room put back together and us all packed up to head to Bakersfield. I then took the kids to see "How to Train a Dragon" which they really enjoyed. We walked around the entire Great Mall and spent no money shopping! Then we picked Steve up from work and drove home to Bakersfield.
^^Charity Gene with her Grandma Gene.
We spent the next couple of days enjoying my parents, siblings, niece and nephews and grandparents, and taking hardly any photos. But it was a great time!
We arrived home late last night and are back to reality. It was good while it lasted.
On Saturday (3rd) we left home and drove straight through to San Jose. With having to stop and use chains with snow, it took us 15 hours to get there.
We listened to Conference in the car and I really enjoyed the morning session the most.
On Sunday we just chilled in the hotel room most of the day and watched Conference. It didn't feel much like Easter but the Easter Bunny did manage to find the kids while we were there. Our hotel was so nice!
On Monday Steve went to work there in San Jose while the kids and I got to go to Apple and have lunch with Sam, Michelle and Meghan. Apple's cafeteria was pretty darn impressive and being with Uncle Sam and his family was even better.
After that, Michelle, Meghan and the kids and I went to the Egyptian Museum. We were pretty impressed with this museum. It had stuff I never imagined they could have acquired. And it was fun to see things that went along with what we've been learning about in homeschool.
The grounds were very nice too.
It wasn't the warmest of weather, but still nice and warm enough for the kids to brave the outdoor pool a couple of times.
On Tuesday the kids and I headed to San Francisco and met up with Steve's boss' wife and their baby. She is such a super nice person and their baby is adorable! She showed us around and it was just a perfect day.
We went to the Legion of honor, which is an incredible art museum. INCREDIBLE.
The grounds there were pretty spectacular as well.
After that we hiked around Golden Gate Park which was also gorgeous. We went through the Botanical Gardens as well.
I noticed too late that the kids and I were getting too much sun and no sunscreen. I improvised with this little turban (aka burp cloth) for Charity. Too cute.
We then headed over to the beach for a bit. The kids love the beach. It was pretty windy though.
On Wednesday I took the kids to Great America amusement park. (Steve worked all day Monday through Thursday.) 
Going to an amusement park with 5 children and only one adult can be kind of tricky, but it actually went as perfect as possible. I got a nice little tan.
The kids wanted to dry out after a water attraction soaked them. I got a kick out of watching them come up with this solution.
On Thursday it seemed I spent half the day getting the hotel room put back together and us all packed up to head to Bakersfield. I then took the kids to see "How to Train a Dragon" which they really enjoyed. We walked around the entire Great Mall and spent no money shopping! Then we picked Steve up from work and drove home to Bakersfield.
^^Charity Gene with her Grandma Gene.We spent the next couple of days enjoying my parents, siblings, niece and nephews and grandparents, and taking hardly any photos. But it was a great time!
We arrived home late last night and are back to reality. It was good while it lasted.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Photo Dumping
It's time to do some dumping of photos from the camera and cell phone to the old compy. And to start off, we've got my personal fave- Charity sporting Eden's old glasses. Doesn't she look so smart?
This is what happens when you leave for an early morning doctors appointment and trust your husband to get the kids ready for school. I was obliged to write the teacher a little note of explanation about that for her to take to school the next day.
Below is from our last homeschool field trip. We went to the Natural History Museum.
A while back we had a fun mutual activity where we took the youth bowling.
Speaking of youth, we got our current edition of the New Era in the mail. It was a "Special Dating Edition".
Who knew my ELEVEN year-old would spend the afternoon devouring that "Dating Issue"!!! She loved it and had lots of dating questions she wanted to discuss with me about it. Yikes!
I have lots of moments lately where I feel like I've got so much going on that I am doing a crappy job of everything! So seeing this quote on the wall of Becca's classroom on Friday was one of those pick-me-ups that came at just the right moment. I read an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson recently entitled "Greatness" and that was also very inspiring! That was one smart guy.
Last night I had the opportunity to go to Salt Lake to attend the Young Women General Meeting at the Conference Center. I went with my YW Presidency and those ladies are always so fun to be around! We got to sit up very close. The meeting was perfect. I loved every moment of it. The talks were just what I needed. This picture was taken by my cell phone--and if you look closely, you'll see it's the First Presidency walking in to the meeting. I got this just before the lady behind me chastised me for taking pictures.
I finally found the time to choreograph a dance for some of my ballet students for their upcoming recital. I took this picture of them right after they finished learning it. These girls are the VERY BEST students because of their enthusiasm, and great attitudes. I adore them!
Charity snuggling my man. She loves her Daddy so much. Almost as much as I love him.
Our children make us so happy. Notice the way she lovingly caresses his belly.
We had our fourth Serving With Smiles Project recently. The group is a great success and so many good things are happening with it. We are really excited to be a part of it. This last activity, one of our projects was "Stillborn Sibling Gift Baskets". It was such a sensitive topic, but the kids really enjoyed it and loved putting the baskets together! Here's Celeste manning our table before all the kids arrived. Each activity has several projects for kids to do and we get a good turnout.
Our family appreciated this project as we were remembered the two year anniversary from the delivery of our baby Benjamin March 15. As a family we took the 28 baskets the SWS kids had assembled to a local hospital. The baskets were to be given to parents who delivered a stillborn baby or late miscarriage baby to take home to their other children as a comfort gift. The hospital was so touched and impressed by it. My kids walked out of that hospital on Cloud 9 and huge grins. So cute. The basket had a teddy bear, flower seeds, a frame that said "Families are Forever" with a spot to write the name and date of their sibling on it. It also had an Easter Egg and candy.
Here's Steve on a recent date. I remember when we first fell in love he said to me, very awkwardly, and in an attempt at being romantic, "You make my heart...[pause...thinking...] um,..beat." So yeah, I basically keep him alive. Literally speaking. But seriously, I am just crazy about this guy. So so so happy to be his wife.
This photo is a bit old. I took my homeschooled kids to meet this guy who I think is a political rock star. Congressman Chaffetz. He was so friendly and cool with my kids.
Well, have a great week everybody!
Later.
This is what happens when you leave for an early morning doctors appointment and trust your husband to get the kids ready for school. I was obliged to write the teacher a little note of explanation about that for her to take to school the next day.
Below is from our last homeschool field trip. We went to the Natural History Museum.
A while back we had a fun mutual activity where we took the youth bowling.
Speaking of youth, we got our current edition of the New Era in the mail. It was a "Special Dating Edition".
Who knew my ELEVEN year-old would spend the afternoon devouring that "Dating Issue"!!! She loved it and had lots of dating questions she wanted to discuss with me about it. Yikes!
I have lots of moments lately where I feel like I've got so much going on that I am doing a crappy job of everything! So seeing this quote on the wall of Becca's classroom on Friday was one of those pick-me-ups that came at just the right moment. I read an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson recently entitled "Greatness" and that was also very inspiring! That was one smart guy.
Last night I had the opportunity to go to Salt Lake to attend the Young Women General Meeting at the Conference Center. I went with my YW Presidency and those ladies are always so fun to be around! We got to sit up very close. The meeting was perfect. I loved every moment of it. The talks were just what I needed. This picture was taken by my cell phone--and if you look closely, you'll see it's the First Presidency walking in to the meeting. I got this just before the lady behind me chastised me for taking pictures.
I finally found the time to choreograph a dance for some of my ballet students for their upcoming recital. I took this picture of them right after they finished learning it. These girls are the VERY BEST students because of their enthusiasm, and great attitudes. I adore them!
Charity snuggling my man. She loves her Daddy so much. Almost as much as I love him.Our children make us so happy. Notice the way she lovingly caresses his belly.
We had our fourth Serving With Smiles Project recently. The group is a great success and so many good things are happening with it. We are really excited to be a part of it. This last activity, one of our projects was "Stillborn Sibling Gift Baskets". It was such a sensitive topic, but the kids really enjoyed it and loved putting the baskets together! Here's Celeste manning our table before all the kids arrived. Each activity has several projects for kids to do and we get a good turnout.
Our family appreciated this project as we were remembered the two year anniversary from the delivery of our baby Benjamin March 15. As a family we took the 28 baskets the SWS kids had assembled to a local hospital. The baskets were to be given to parents who delivered a stillborn baby or late miscarriage baby to take home to their other children as a comfort gift. The hospital was so touched and impressed by it. My kids walked out of that hospital on Cloud 9 and huge grins. So cute. The basket had a teddy bear, flower seeds, a frame that said "Families are Forever" with a spot to write the name and date of their sibling on it. It also had an Easter Egg and candy.
Here's Steve on a recent date. I remember when we first fell in love he said to me, very awkwardly, and in an attempt at being romantic, "You make my heart...[pause...thinking...] um,..beat." So yeah, I basically keep him alive. Literally speaking. But seriously, I am just crazy about this guy. So so so happy to be his wife.
This photo is a bit old. I took my homeschooled kids to meet this guy who I think is a political rock star. Congressman Chaffetz. He was so friendly and cool with my kids.
Well, have a great week everybody!Later.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Family Favorites and other Randomness
What is your favorite part of being in our family?
Steve: "All the cool people in it."Amanda: "Being Steve's wife and having 5 children with him."
Celeste: "I love that we have a big family."
Jonah: "Playing with Charity."
Eden: "That I love them because they're nice and happy and great."
Becca: "Mom, Dad and Charity."
What is your favorite part of your dad?
Steve: Favorite part of being dad: "I like to talk to them and help them through the tough parts."Celeste: "He can be really funny sometimes."
Jonah: "He's a teacher." (Steve teaches Jonah's Sunday School class.)
Eden: "That he's great."
Becca: "He's nice."
What is your favorite part of your mom?
Amanda: Favorite part of being mom: "When my children are sweet and affectionate."Celeste: "That's hard because I like a lot of things about her....How she understands my feelings really well."
Jonah: "She's the best of all the Relief Society."
Eden: "That she's great."
Becca: "I like mom."
Who is your favorite: mom or dad?
Celeste: "I don't have a favorite. I like them both so much."Jonah: "Mom and Dad"
Eden: "Mom"
Becca: "Dad"
What is your favorite part of yourself?
Steve: "I like my sense of humor when it's working."
Amanda: "That I have a great husband and kids."
Amanda: "That I have a great husband and kids."
Jonah: "My organs."
Eden: "That I have a baby sister."
Becca: "I have toys and I have a drawer that's clean."
What is your favorite part of the week?
Steve: "Sunday because we get to relax together."
Amanda: same^^^
Amanda: same^^^
Jonah: "Saturday because of Family Fun Day."
Eden: "Saturday because it's fun."
Becca: "Sunday because I get candy sometimes."
What is your very most favorite memory?
Celeste: "When we have Family Reunions. I LOVE family reunions! They are so fun!"Steve: "Being at the temple when we got married."
Amanda: "My wedding ceremony"
Amanda: "My wedding ceremony"
Jonah: "Playing with Skyler Hodges"
Eden: "Probably Easter in San Diego last year"
Becca: "Family Fun Day."
What is your favorite subject in school?
Steve: was: "Computers, Physics, Math...a lot of them."
Celeste: "Literacy."
Jonah: "Math"
Eden: "Computers"
Becca: "Math."
What are your favorite words to hear?
Steve: "I love you"
Amanda: "You did/are doing a great job."
Amanda: "You did/are doing a great job."
Jonah: "Every word"
Eden: "I love you."
Becca: "I love you."
On a totally different topic--here are a couple random bits from our week.
Friday night Steve didn't get home from work until about 1:30+ am. Soon after we finally both got to sleep, he had an apnea episode and stopped breathing momentarily which really startled him. I was asleep but got an instant image in my head that somebody was standing next to my bed ready to murder me and that's why he was gasping. I screamed twice so loud that I was shocked that screaming like that could even come from my mouth! My heart was racing and I was panting in fear for a long time afterwards. It's been a couple of days, but my throat is still sore from that screaming. Frightening. It all worked out ok though, because actually, someone wasn't there and I didn't get murdered after-all. Phew!
On Monday I was offered a dance teaching job elsewhere. I was offered a lot more than I get paid now. I turned it down immediately because I just don't have the time. But "$50/hr", has been running through my head all week... sigh... This is where I'm supposed to say "I don't teach for the money" which is actually true, but the money sure is nice!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Headlines from our days this past week
Monday- Steve works at home on Mondays. We love this!
Eden gave us our FHE lesson. Cute.
Tuesday- It was a triumph to see Jonah blog about manners instead of Pokemon for his writing assignment.
Day 3 of being Vegan. Not too hard after-all.
Wednesday- Found a really pretty dove sitting upright in the corner of our garage with wings spread. And dead. :(
Got our passports in the mail!
I did a quadruple pirouette while teaching ballet. That was a first for me in a few years.
Thursday- My big brother Tim came to town on a surprise visit. Made for an exciting day, and night, and next day... Good to see him though. Such a good guy.
Friday- Got to go out to breakfast with some friends and just enjoyed it a lot!
My Dad flew into town this evening.
Saturday- Took Dad and Tim to the airport to go home. (I hate the emptiness you feel when family comes to town, then leaves.)
Eden won getting to choose FFD and decided to go shopping. So we had a big shopping spree as a family, at the Dollar Store.
Got to go out on a double date with some friends in the evening and really enjoyed that too.
Eden gave us our FHE lesson. Cute.
Tuesday- It was a triumph to see Jonah blog about manners instead of Pokemon for his writing assignment.
Day 3 of being Vegan. Not too hard after-all.
Wednesday- Found a really pretty dove sitting upright in the corner of our garage with wings spread. And dead. :(
Got our passports in the mail!
I did a quadruple pirouette while teaching ballet. That was a first for me in a few years.
Thursday- My big brother Tim came to town on a surprise visit. Made for an exciting day, and night, and next day... Good to see him though. Such a good guy.
Friday- Got to go out to breakfast with some friends and just enjoyed it a lot!
My Dad flew into town this evening.
Saturday- Took Dad and Tim to the airport to go home. (I hate the emptiness you feel when family comes to town, then leaves.)
Eden won getting to choose FFD and decided to go shopping. So we had a big shopping spree as a family, at the Dollar Store.
Got to go out on a double date with some friends in the evening and really enjoyed that too.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Bishop Family Culture
Just a couple of images from our last homeschool field trip. We went to the Family History Library and learned how to do Genealogy work. The kids actually thought this was pretty cool. Especially Celeste. After that, we went over to the Church History Museum. They found this to be pretty interesting. I'm looking forward to next months field trip being able to do something outdoors with Spring coming.
A couple of months ago we started a new system in the house. I don't post this to try and show off or push my style of things on to people. You probably all do it better anyhow. *Had to add that little disclaimer.* I post this because we've had trouble with this kind of thing in our family historically. We have been doing Family Fun Days for 6 and a half years now. We started doing FFD's because we were noticing that Family Home Evening on Monday nights was great for spiritual instruction, but not great for real fun together. There just wasn't enough time for Gospel learning and fun activities on a Monday night. We needed FHE and FFD. We are pretty good about having fun together as a family. But we haven't been as good at teaching our kids to work. Lots of other families seem to have this down to a science and we were a mess! I was realizing that our kids were just down-right lazy. We needed a better system. Actually we needed a system, period.
I typed up some schedules and such, and pasted them on this poster board. (Don't zoom in on it because it will only show you just how bad our predicament was prior to this. The things on these lists are pretty basic stuff.)First we've got the "Bishop Family Schedule". Not everything is on it. But a lot of it is. And we don't stick to it 100%. We probably stick to it about 80% of the time. I think schedules are pretty important. It's a way to figure out how to logically fit everything in that you need to accomplish. On the other hand, you need to have a reasonable amount of flexibility and not be a slave to the schedule. This is certainly easier said than done and it's something I'm still trying to get the perfect balance of... I also find that there are things on here that have needed to be adjusted or have already been adjusted but haven't been changed on the posted document yet.
Next is the Homeschool Schedule. Same idea as the above. Just making sure that most of the important stuff gets all scheduled in there. On Fridays we try to make homeschooling a bit of a fun atmosphere and learn in more hands-on unconventional ways. I've planned on taking them on field trips one Friday a month.Homeschooling is still going quite well and our system of learning seems to be working pretty well. I was thinking that their education at home was as good, if not better than what they were getting at public school--except for math. I was concerned their math was not going anywhere. I finally hired a young mother and former teacher who got her teaching degree from BYU to come in 3 times a week and teach the kids math. I'm so glad I did because she really is better at it than me! I feel confident now that their quality of education is better at home than it was at public school. I'm excited as I watch them progress and learn! However, I still have some mixed feelings about the homeschool/public school issue and am wondering how long we will continue this. We're waiting until the Summer to decide.
Next is the "Chore Chart". Again, don't zoom. It's embarrassing how basic I had to make this for my kids. Like I said- laziness was a big issue in our home. But having it so simplified has made it a lot less overwhelming to them. They know exactly what is expected of them each day and it is consistent and geared to their age and abilities. I am responsible for the cleaning of the upstairs mostly. The kids are in charge of the basement. So the basement is usually not very clean. But they are doing it and it's done in a quality that I think is good for a child their age.
Finally, we've got the "Weekly Progress Chart". This is last week's chart. There was no school on Monday and no homework so that spot has no star for each of the kids, but it was our first week of 100% gold stars! It was quite the thrill! In this photo here, you are seeing last weeks chart posted on the wall next to the poster. All of our former charts are there behind it. We keep them all for record keeping purposes.
Now the stars are a whole other system in and of themselves. We give the kids a star for completing each of their responsibilities. They get a gold star if the quality of their work is good. If it was sloppy or they whined or complained about doing their jobs, they get a red star. If there was an excessive amount of whining or complaining, or the work quality was pretty bad, they get a blue star.Getting stars is important because we made a rule that in order for a child to go on our Family Fun Day activity, they had to earn a minimum of 10 stars for the week.
But they have motivation to get a lot of stars because the child that earns the most stars gets to actually choose what the Family Fun Day Activity will be.
The colored stars have been important because we've had several weeks where they get the same amount of stars. At that point, we look at the color of the stars to choose a winner.
Last week when all the kids got 100% gold stars, it was a first for us. We were pretty excited so we had a meeting to decide a special FFD that all of them would really enjoy. They all decided they wanted to have a slumber party with some of their Bishop cousins.
So we invited them over and we had treats, movies and popcorn. They came to church with us the next day too.
There you have it. A big time glimpse into our Bishop Family Culture. Weird, I know.
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