Jewels in Our Crowns

Aug. 23, 2007

6 Months to Catch Up

Oh Good Grief!! I had no idea it's been 6 months since I last posted on here! I was going to try to move to another site, but didn't have much luck over there either. So, I'm back over here. I need to do this more often. Maybe I'll be inspired to do more.

Well, I ended the year in May. I was starting to get burned out towards the end and didn't feel like I was doing a whole lot. The boys never finished their second grade work, but it was mostly done. The girls were done and I was struggling to get stuff for them to do to keep their interest. We did an ant study one day and that was fun. It really didn't warm up here until mid-May, so I was limited in our outside activities. Jazi moved away in June. I did however learn a lesson about myself homeschooling Jazi. As noble as it was for me to take her in and do the pre K stuff with her, which I hope did some kind of justice for her learning, I don't think it is something I will ever be able to do again. I ended up focusing on her so much, things swung out of balance for the boys. This year, I'm hoping I can get that balance back.

We did take a summer break. The week after school ended my mom and sister came to visit. The entire week was rainy, and so began the summer vacation. We didn't do hardly anything this summer. The boys got to go horseback riding a couple weeks ago, which I think was the highlight of their whole summer. I also learned this summer that really long breaks like this are not good for us. The boys can't get motivated, Hannah's fighting me on what we read, when we read, how we do our schedule, if someone talks before her. I was very tempted to enroll her in public school Kindergarten, thinking maybe she won't be that harsh for the teacher. But, then I started thinking how much I'll miss her, and she's really had some interesting conversations lately with me, and I think it would be better for her to stay here with us.

I tried to start back to school a week ago, but we were helping a lady out that was in a wreck on I-80. Nothing got done. Then, Monday came around, I had to deal with some kidney stones, and the kids all came down with allergies or summer cold, but we've all been miserable since then. We did school one day, did a small bit the next day, and tomorrow is Friday...nothing else got done. We move in one week now. I'm a bit stressed about it since I now feel horribly behind in everything and finally decided to just wait till we're settled in the other house. No one can concentrate effectively anyway. I'm changing our curriculum this year too. I really want to see how that goes and what it's like to have a curriculum. I'm going with Charlotte Mason method, which I found through www.queenhomeschool.com. I cannot wait to try it out, which will have to wait till next month.

And, our other big news, baby #6 is on the way. At 8 weeks they did an early ultrasound and found 2 sacs. I really started to freak out about having twins. Isaac is the oldest at 9 and I could not wrap my mind around having twins as #6 and #7. Not that I didn't want them, I've always wanted twins, but maybe 2-3 kids ago? Well, when I went back at week 10, there was only one baby and the other sac was empty. While I was sad and felt really bad I had freaked out about twins when God obviously thought we could handle it, I was also relieved.  Now we have turned our focus to if it's a girl or boy. If it is a boy, we are going to be struggling for names!! The excitement never stops.

So, for now, I will go, but I hope I can get motivated to get on here and post some more of our experience this year.
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Feb. 5, 2007

Busy, Short Month

Time needs to slow down. I can't keep up! This month (February) we plan to go to Omaha the weekend of the 10th. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I don't know if it's because we are getting away from here for a little bit, seeing something new, or being in "civilization", but I am counting the days till we leave and I think I might be more excited than the kids. When we get back, I'll put up some pictures of the sites we see.

Last week we slacked on school since Jazi had the flu and we all just sort of took a break. I realize Christmas was only a month back, but we were already burnt out! THis week is going better and we are getting back in the swing of things.

 

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Jan. 23, 2007

January Stuff

Yes, another month has nearly gone by and I've not updated once. *Sigh* One day I'll be more regular about this!

This month we have been struggling to get back on track after a 2 week Christmas vacation. I cut back the time I have Jazi with us, thinking that 2 hours is plenty of time, but actually it isn't. I have started trying to do more arts and crafts with them too, since I somehow seemed to have gotten away from that. Simeon has surprised all of us with his speech which has become more clear. We do get CARS! He watches that movie at least once a day. Sometimes more if someone takes pity on the little guy and puts it in again at his request. Joshua is 9 months old and is "traveling". He walks around tables, chairs, knees and other things he can pull himself up on. Every now and then we catch him practicing standing. We have gotten 4 snow storms in 4 weeks, so we seem to be housebound quite a bit. It's not been as boring as I thought it would be. I'm taking up quilting. My first project starts tomorrow. I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, here's what the kids have been up to.

This is Simeon. Passed out half way through the morning. Notice the permanent marker on his hand? Yeah, he's discovered coloring, just not on paper.

This is Hannah and Jesse and their Lego people. They created a whole family.

This is Joshua, performing his new tricks: climbing on furniture.

This is Isaac, getting ready to go outside to play in the heaps of snow we have gotten lately. His looks remind me of my dad.

These are the snowy trees beside our house.

 

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Jan. 23, 2007

Tagged: 7 Weird Things About Me

Thank you Stephanie, for reminding me I had this blog. I don't know why I keep forgetting to come here...

7 Weird Things About Me:

1. Rooms/Buildings with high ceilings where you can see their ductwork and hardware creep me out and sometimes I won't go in the store because of their ceiling.

2. Turtleneck shirts make me feel like I'm suffocating, so I don't wear them and rarely put them on my children.

3. I love asparagus.

4. I race to see how fast I can turn off the car and the lights, undo my seat belt and get the keys out of the ignition and open the door.

5. I like the sound of newborn baby cries. I don't intentionally make them cry, but it doesn't bother me when they cry.

6. I am stiff and monotone, but I would love to be an actress on a "medical" show, like Grey's Anatomy or ER.

7. I love notebooks and pens. I have to actually restrain myself from buying them everytime I go in a store.

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Dec. 23, 2006

Merry Christmas!

            This is our Christmas letter for 2006. It sums up our year pretty good.

            As usual, I start my Christmas letters off with January 2006 and hit all the milestones. This year has been full of blessings and challenges for us, but now as I begin this letter, I realize this year past quickly and we have accomplished a lot.

            In January, Curtis took a job offer from Prophet Systems, a division of Clear Channel Radio, and we moved to Ogallala, Nebraska. Of all the places we have considered living, I don’t even think this made the list, but we are always up for something new and so we made the move. Our first house here was an old farm house situated in 10 acres of wheat fields. At first I was excited to be living on a farm, out in the country, with a garden and very little noise; I had very romantic ideas about it. Those soon faded after the freezing nights, the septic tank backing up into the basement four times, some mice moving in and getting our car and van stuck multiple times on the dirt roads. After four months of this lovely paradise, we found a house in town. It is small and cramped, but it is suitable for us. Curtis walks to work every day and we have a park and pool four blocks from our house. We can walk just about anywhere we need to go here.

            April 10th, Joshua Dennis joined us after a fairly quick delivery. He weighed in at 9lbs. 1oz. and has been a pretty sweet and snuggly baby for the most part. He is the fourth boy for us, but Hannah reminds us almost on a daily basis that she needs a baby sister. We do know we will have at least one more baby, but no word on when. I have to say that the more kids we have, the more I enjoy them.

            Curtis and I both graduated this year with our bachelor degrees. Curtis is finishing his this month in Software Engineering, and I finished mine in November in Business Admin. Curtis is looking for jobs in his degree field, and so has applied to move over to another section in Prophet Systems, but he is looking in other states for jobs too. I don’t know what I plan to do with my degree, but I’m happy I’ve gotten it done. We have continued to homeschool the kids this year. I had thought about and even presented the option to the boys to put them back in public school, but everyone decided they would rather homeschool, and it is working well for us. The second year of homeschooling has taught me to be a little more relaxed in our daily grind. Both Isaac and Jesse are doing 2nd grade work together. Hannah is doing Pre-K. My neighbor asked if I would do Pre-K for her daughter, so she comes over every morning and the girls do their work, the boys do theirs, and for the last hour we usually do some kind of theme or project together. So far we have studied American Indians, Pioneers, apples, and our community. I have not mentioned Simeon yet, as he is still too little to really participate in school, but too old to be “a baby”. In August he fell off a small freezer we have and got a concussion. He had a seizure and in the next few weeks started regressing in motor control and speech. Going back to the doctor they said a concussion of that degree would cause some delays for up to year and we were advised to just “work” with him on various skills. His motor skills came back, but we are still working on speech.

            This fall was rather difficult for us health wise. Curtis was hospitalized for almost a week with a viral infection of the lymph nodes. They could only treat the pain, but had ruled out appendicitis, gall bladder or liver problems. The day he was released, I got sick with a sinus infection and then all five kids, all at the same time, had pink eye and ear infections. Apparently the flu season already hit us, and it was horrible. (Hint: get your flu shots).

            The Fourth of July was rainy but I insisted we go up to the part to watch the firework displays, which were awesome! Our summer was spent playing and swimming and having a BBQ here and there. It didn’t get as hot as Texas though, which I actually missed. Halloween was fun for the kids. They got to walk in a parade and then did their trick or treating through the businesses downtown. It was brutally cold that day though, so we didn’t spend much time outside. Thanksgiving was spent with our friends from church and the missionaries and was very enjoyable. Christmas this year will be spent here in our home, unfortunately we won’t be able to get to either of our families this year. We did survive the Blizzard of 2006 this week though. We got about a foot of snow and even four days later, the roads are still pretty bad. I think we will have a White Christmas!

            One other very significant thing has happened this year. Isaac turned 8 in December and so he was baptized on December 9. It was wonderful! He seems so grown up now, and I hate that time passes so quickly and only seems to get faster as time goes by.  Curtis serves as 1st Counselor to the Branch President in our small, but growing, Church Branch. I’m a Sunday school teacher for 8-12 year olds. We also started working with missionaries. Our area has not had missionaries in 8 years, so they are just new to the area now. It’s been an awesome thing to watch how they are helping the community. We have had many opportunities for missionary work since they arrived, and I have to say I’m very much out of my comfort zone, but I try to put that aside.

In April, both Curtis parents and my parents came to visit and see the new baby. The visits were enjoyable and I only wished we could have spent more time together, but schedules did not permit it. My aunt and uncle also visited in May and it had been a couple years since we had seen them, but they were only here for a day and again, I wished we could have had more time together. This fall, my dad visited again and this month Curtis’ parents visited again. I told Curtis we should have moved to Nebraska years ago! If you are coming through, feel free to visit!!
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Dec. 4, 2006

Joshua Stats

 

Shiloah said it the best tonight: He is a little TORNADO!!!

 

Joshua is a few days shy of 8 months old. He is still so sweet and happy, but he's speedy and not staying a baby for long. So far he can:

Crawl, fast!

Open cupboards and get into all the treasures behind the doors

Crawl up onto steps.

Will make a break for outside if the door is open.

Has two very white, and very sharp, teeth on the bottom.

Stopped taking naps because with all this new found mobility he can now play with the older kids and that is so much more interesting to do than take a lousy nap!

Waves bye and hi

Says mama, dada, kitty, baby, and nana (for hungry)

Explores the bathroom, pulls himself up to standing position beside the tub.

Pats my back when I pick him up and gives me kisses..big, sloppy, wet ones!

And, everyone's favorite: scrounges off the floor. So far he has taste tested lincoln logs, old cherrios, crayons, pennies, pencils, and scraps of paper.

 

I'm just not ready for him to be doing all these things right now! Isn't he supposed to stay little for a LOT longer than this? My word, at this rate, he'll be walking before a year!!!


 

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Dec. 4, 2006

Links

I wanted to share these on here with you of some sites I'm using over the holidays and, well, for other times too!

 

Make paper toys

http://www.thetoymaker.com/2Toys.html

 

Arts and Crafts:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

 

Jan Brett printable stuff

http://www.janbrett.com/activities_pages.htm

 

Curriculum

http://www.oldfashionededucation.com/

 

St. Nick site

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=166

 

Make 3-D snowflakes (gorgeous!!)

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-3D-Paper-Snowflake

 

Phonics site

http://www.mes-english.com/worksheets/phonics.php

 

Enjoy! Hope you find something fun to do or good to use!

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Dec. 4, 2006

Your Child's Advocate

Last night I called my sister. She has 4 kids and all four are in public school. Two of the kids have some learning disablilities, dyslexia, and so they are in, or have been in, remedial classes for most of their school career. She was called up to the school a few weeks ago in which they discussed the possiblility of taking her oldest daughter out of the remedial classes and putting her full time in her 6th grade classroom. My sister went back this past week to oppose it and was told, according to Texas state laws, they were doing away with all remedial classes and that all children would be expected to do grade level work, regardless of disabilities or execptions. In Texas they do the TASP or TACS test for grade placement. My neice would have three chances to pass it or would have to repeat the grade. Still disastified, my sister continued to protest, until one of the remedial teachers approached my sister and told her that if she wanted to fight this new law, then she would need to become an activist, but even then, it would not help her kids, but it would help other people a few years down the line. Even so, her best bet would be to homeschool her daughter.

We talked some about homeschooling and what is out there as far as resources and groups and curriculums. She still didn't seem very sold on the idea, and as a person with severe dyslexia, I could understand why she wouldn't have very much confidence in herself. After Curtis and I talked today about it, we offered to do homeschooling for my neice, but I think that is a ways off too and a big chance.

 

But this did get me to thinking. What is going to happen to these children that need remedial help? Are they going to be fed to the wolves, bound to repeat classes 2 or 3 times and end up somethinglike 19 years old and still in the 10th grade? How is this going to affect society? How many angry and unconfident children will this produce? But while I'm thinking about these things, forgive me if I step on some toes or hurt some feelings, are you not suppose to be your child's advocate? And if you are not your child's advocate, really, who is going to step in? I have met some real fruitcakes out there homeschooling, but this is not the norm and I dont' understand why there is such a taboo feeling about homeschooling. For us, it has been one of the best things we did for our kids. Our stress levels have come down, our children are intelligent and moving forward, they have manners, do chores, and go to bed at night and rise in the morning pleasently. There have been wonderous changes in all of us because we homeschool.

 

I don't quite know how to end this article, except to say that the more I read, the more I see, the more I hear about what is going on in public schools, and though not all of it is bad, I become more pro-homeschooling everyday, just because I see more benefits of homeschooling than I do cons! I wish others could see that. I wish others could see what happens when parents take charge and are their child's advocate!!

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Dec. 4, 2006

What? I missed an entire month?!

I didn't realize a whole month had passed and I haven't updated or written on here at all. Where did the time go?! Part of the month was time spent finishing up my civic project for my degree, and I am now officially graduated with my bachelor degree in Business Admin. I don't know what I'm going to use it for, but it's done at least, and it only took 15 years to get it.

We had Thanksgiving at some friend's house and it was very good and very nice, even though I lost all ability to cook holiday food. Her dishes were wonderful. I especially liked the cranberry relish! The kids loved the day we spent with them. Unfortunately, Curtis had to work, so we didn't get to spend the whole day with him.

So, now we are in December and I have a lot planned already. The holidays never stress me out, I love every minute and every opportunity to do something fun or social, so this is our holiday "schedule":

3-Christmas devotional. We did this last night and after watching the devotional, we read the story of the World War I Christmas cease fire, had wassail and chocolate cake and tried to sing some carols. We suck at singing.

7- My birthday

8- Isaac's birthday and my in-laws are arriving that day also (will be here until the 14th)

9-Isaac is getting baptized. He's so big!!

11-Help my neighbor with a house cleaning project

16-Church Christmas party

18-Christmas party with kids and neighbor kids.

22-Last day of school (plan to play bingo and some other fun things)

25-Christmas and nephew's birthday. We plan to stay here for the holidays.

 

So, it will be a busy month and I guess I do it so that I don't miss my family and friends that we have always spent the holidays with. I will try to keep up on here as much as I can. Didn't realize that time goes by so quickly!

 

 

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Oct. 31, 2006

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Salisbury Kids!!

 

They walked in a parade today for about 6 blocks and then walked some more to trick or treat through the downtown businesses.

 

Isaac was a wizard. Thought the glasses added a great touch to the costume! He walked in the parade with the 2nd graders and his friend Ava; he held her hand the entire time. It was so cute!

 

Jesse was a mummy. It only took about 30 safety pins to get the "wraps" to stay on. He walked with the Kindergarten class (even though he is technically 1st grade) with his friend Logan. I caught him marching in time to the band. He marched so naturally, unlike his dooky stomper mother. (Story from Air Force basic training...have to tell that one later).

 

Hannah was a fat cat. Well, fat only because her coat was under her shirt. Reminded us of Missy, our big cat.

 

Simeon was a crusader. He carried his sword the entire time. He held my hand and walked half the parade too. I was so proud of our little 2 year old...he was great!! He even said trick or treat a couple times and always remembered to say thank you.

 

Joshua was a lime flavored marshmellow. He made it through the parade and fell asleep for the trick or treating.

 

The weather was freezing!! Only about 35 degrees today, so we were pretty cold by the time the parade was over. The last stop they made was to the library to see their favorite librarians. Then Curtis took the kids through his work and they raided everyone's desk. We were in by 6 pm, it was just too cold to keep going and the cat and crusader were out like a light anyway.

 

Hope you all had a very safe and happy Halloween!

 

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Oct. 28, 2006

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch today: Armstrong's Purty Punkins. They had two patches, and they were huge. The first patch we looked at was just rows and rows over several acres of pumpkins.

 

 

Then we went to a circle patch about a mile down the road the other way, and it had all different kinds. Hannah particularly liked the white ones. The boys were in search of the biggest pumpkin they could find, and we did find it. It weighs 46 lbs! Our plan is to make a two faced jack'o'lantern for Halloween. We also dug through some bins for green gourds, but Hannah and Simeon found mini pumpkins out in the patch.

 

Simeon on a perfect seat:

 

Hannah with the Ghost Pumpkins:

 

 

Isaac and Jesse on the Great Hunt:

 

Found the right one!

 

Here is Joshua with the ones we have at home.

 

 

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Oct. 25, 2006

Prairie Schooners

We started this week learning about pioneers. After learning about the Indians for a couple weeks, Isaac suggested we learn about the pioneers, so we began. I don't have an already made lesson plan for this one, but that's okay. Yesterday, they made a wagon out of the kitchen table turned upside down. Packed it with boxes, blankets, a rocking chair (thank you Aunt Linda), and a water cooler. Hannah had a baby she brought along. Isaac made a quiver for arrows (loves the Indian history) and Jesse made a gun out of a paper towel tube. Jazi made sure Simeon was comfortable, since he was the smallest and would have ridden in the wagon back in the day. This lasted a couple hours that they played with the wagon.

 

 

 

Today they are going to be making yarn dolls. Days like this are great!

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Oct. 19, 2006

Back on Track:Our Schedule

Today we finally got back into gear! After almost three weeks of hit and miss school days because of illnesses and hospitalizations, we are all stating to feel good enough to get back to work. The boys need some improvement, but I'm working on that. I lucked out a few weeks ago at a garage sale and I found these old beginner books for phonics. I just wanted those, but the lady made me buy the whole box I found them in for 1.00. Well, what a jackpot I hit! It was filled with Kindergarten to 2nd grade worksheets for phonics, letters, basic concepts, shape matching, holiday activities and crafts. It's stuff that I remember having in 1st grade. We just finished up a Native American theme unit and I found some Indian villiage worksheets in the box which were a nice addition to todays work to close that unit. I feel so lucky!

I'm always curious how others homeschool their kids, what curriculum they use, how they schedule it, so I thought I would share ours. I've pieced it together and learned a few things along the way.

 

For Pre-K

Books:

Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons

Manuscript handwriting (to go with the reading book, at this site): http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/100ez.htm

Hooked on Phonics Math workbook (Kindergarten)

 

For 2nd Grade

Books:

Flash Kids Books for:

    Reading, Spelling, Math, Language Arts

BNB (Basic not Boring Series)

    Science, Social Studies, some math and supplemental reading and spelling  

    activities)

Alpha Omega Horizons Math (Jesse prefers this book)

 

Beginning Excercises:

Right brain, left brain activities

Weather chart

Pledge of Allegiance

Read one library book outloud to all

Scripture

 

Girls:

Reading

Writing

Math workbook or activity (lace cards, sorting, bug pattern charts, or counting bears)

Theme activity (craft, story, activity)

Science and social studies are done about 2 days a week, and usually included in the Theme activity

 

9:00 They watch Little Einsteins for music.

 

Boys:

Reading

Writing

Math

Spelling or Language Arts

Theme Activity

Science and Social Studies/History switch off every other day.

 

Themes we have done or are preparing to do:

Jungle Animals

Farm Animals

Apples

Native Americans

Pioneers

Holidays (theme for the month or week in advance)

Explorers

 

I'll add more as we do them. I really love doing the themes, it got the kids excited and I even learned stuff too. We start at 8:30 and by 11:30 we are done, then the boys work for one more hour on stuff they didn't get to and need more one on one help with. I try to reserve afternoons for nap time and errands and clean up time. After 3, when the school kids get home, then all the kids go out and play with the neighbor kids. We have now started moving scripture time to evenings and I'm really considering getting the boys up earlier to do their academics before 8:30, which is when Jazi arrives for school. We all seem to be pretty good morning people, and most of the time Hannah and Simeon sleep in so it gives us some nice uninterrupted quiet time.

So, this is our schedule, most of the time. Hope it helps you in your schooling or gives you an idea of what we do.

 

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Oct. 16, 2006

Fire Station Field Trip

We visited the Fire Station today and the kids had a great time. They said they would set up another time for us to come back so the kids get to ride on the back of the trucks. Hannah was fascinated with the "Yellow" truck. I think it was her favorite. They got to tour all the trucks, the ambulances, the gear, and then they watched a video on fire safety. The one to answer all the questions: Hannah! This fire department is also starting a new program called Explorers. Kids from ages 14-18 can volunteer and train with the fire department. I thought that was pretty cool. We joined up with the Hollands, another homeschool family here, and Jazi also was able to go with us. Here's the pictures:

 

This was Truck 34, their old truck from the 30's they restored.

 

 

Joshua, Hannah and Jazi getting off the water truck.

 

Isaac and Jazi on the ambulance

 

Jesse in the gear area

 

I couldn't leave Simeon out. His favorite was Truck 34, but he's so short you can't see him in the picture, so here he is in the water truck checking out the inside.

 

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Oct. 14, 2006

Letter to the Tooth Fairy

This is a letter to the Tooth Fairy from Jesse written on grey crayon on a white piece of paper "secret code".

 

dear tooth fairy

I loste my tooth sumwar in ar house can you please give me sum muney

 

Ok, so the spelling still needs some work, but he is sounding things out phonetically and doing a pretty good job of it.

Wish we could all get some money for a letter like this.

 

"Dear Mind Fairy,

I have lost my dang mind somewhere in our house. Can you send me money? I don't need a replacement, just money."

 

It could happen, how about the letter to the job fairy.

 

"Dear Job Fairy,

I lost my job, it was probably my fault, can you give me money?"

 

 

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Oct. 13, 2006

To Jesse

This was from Curtis on Jesse's birthday in August.

 

Tomorrow, my second son Jesse is going to be 6. Wow! every time one of these rugrats have a birthday, that just means that I am getting older and older. AARRRGGGH!! I would like to share this space with a little tribute to Jesse.
Jesse was born 9 August 2000.


Jesse,
You are a joy to be around. Your mother calls you an old soul. This must be true, because you seem to take everything in stride. Whether it be learning to read, or hatching "dragon" eggs, nothing really surprises you, yet you have this wonderful gift of wanting to learn as much as you can. I hope that you can keep that. Education and learning are life-long achievements.
You are a sweet spirit. You care so much about others around you and seem to always make sure that your brothers and sister are taken care of before your needs are met. I hope that you can keep that up. The world needs caring people. Please do not let selfishness get in the way of your kindness.



Jesse, you like to have fun whenever or where ever you can. Your laugh is such that when you laugh other people want to laugh as well. Keep your sense of humor. Life is entertaining, whether it be an inappropriate body noise at the dinner table or poor knock-knock jokes told over and over. There is entertainment to be found everywhere. Look for the lighter side of every situation, and you will go far.
I love you Jesse, I probably do not tell you that enough, but I do. Stay the way you are.
Love Dad

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Oct. 13, 2006

A Case of the Sickies

This is week 2 of a round of illnesses affecting us. Last week Curtis was hospitalized with Mesenteric Adnosis (viral infection of the lymph nodes) and this week we have had croup, Pink Eye, three ear infections and runny noses as guests. I hate getting sick, and its even worse to see my kids sick.

 

This morning, I took my shower early with the intention to take the kids to the doctor. Joshua was coughing and wheezing all night and I was worried about him. When I got out of the shower he had coughed so hard he threw up, had blood down his front and poop up his back. I cleaned him up and we were at the doctor's office by 8:45.

 

The diagnosis: Croup. Joshua got breathing treatments and a steroid shot and antibiotics to combat any secondary infections from the croup, but he also has Pink Eye and an ear infection. Jesse has Pink Eye and an ear infection. Simeon has the same thing. Hannah and Isaac were the only ones that made off without anything. I even have croup.

 

So, we are home now, with everyone laying down and drugged. I'm thinking this weekend will be quiet and stationary. There are so many cool things going on this weekend, I hate missing it all.

 

School was skipped 3 times this week. I feel bad I kinda got onto Jesse for dragging on his, but how could he have concentrated with an ear infection? Poor Jazi was upset she couldn't come to "school" because we were all sick. Hopefully we'll be back on track next week.

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Oct. 11, 2006

Tagged

Shiloah tagged me... had a hard time figuring out what I was supposed to do..duh!

 

What do you like most about where you live?

 

I like that it is a small town and I don't have to worry too much about my kids when they go outside to play (across the street or next door). I like that the grocery store lets me pay tomorrow because I didn't have my checkbook, my realtor offered to help me with a suppository for the baby and the pizza delivery guy fixed my dryer. I like that a lot of the town reminds me of how I grew up, and surprisingly, there is a lot to do here for the kids.


 


 

What's one of your favorite music albums and why?


I don't really have one, although I mostly like to listen to 80's and 90's music. Reminds me of good times!

 

Do you have a passion for something as a kid that you still have now?


Babies. I loved babies at 3, 12, 16 and even still at 32. By 13, I knew everything you needed to know about pregnancy and birth and care of the baby. I sometimes think my family thinks I'm crazy for having 5 kids, but I couldn't see myself any other way.


 

What do you like most about having a blog?


I've been wanting to keep a journal for a long time, and it's always been sporadic, so since I spend a lot of time on the computer anyway, it's nice to do this. I also do it in hopes of my extended family keeping up with us, since we live spread out from everyone.

 

I'm tagging LittleSkipper next!!

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Oct. 11, 2006

Get one of these!

One of the reasons I love homeschooling: all the cool toys you can get!!! We went to a Children's Museum and they had a magnetic marble run you could create. I found it one on Amazon just like it (Frigits). It's been quite entertaining and not just for me! Nemo, our cat, really likes it too. The kids played with it for hours yesterday and I think it's Simeon's favorite now. He likes to hoard stuff though, and yesterday I found pieces of it in the cat box, his new hiding place for "stuff". So, it's already been washed!!

 

 

 

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Oct. 11, 2006

Stuff we have been doing

About two weeks ago we started a Native American unit. I think it is awesome! This is where I got the idea from: http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/units/native.htm  Our library didn't have all the books, so I improvised with one I was able to find and a few I had laying around here. The kids have been loving it. We made vests last Monday out of the paper bags, yesterday we made moccasins, and I was going to do the bead necklaces and feather headresses (not on there) the rest of this week. Unfortunately, we lost our momentum as Curtis was hospitalized 4 days last week and this week I'm sick. I'm trying not to complain too much.

 

Yesterday we made Dinner in a Pumpkin. Pumpkins are native to North America and the Indians used them in their cooking, they even made the first "pumpkin pies" in them. So, I found a recipe yesterday they helped me prepare. This is the recipe:

 

1 large pumpkin, top removed and insides scooped out (kids did that for me)

2 T. butter

1 onion, chopped

1 c. walnuts, chopped

2 eggs

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 c. sour cream

1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup

2 lbs mixed veggies

Season to taste: season salt, pepper, garlic powder)

1 pkg. herb stuffing, already made

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Saute the onion and walnuts in butter. Mix together in a large bowl: onions, walnuts, eggs, mayo, sour cream, soup, veggies and spices. Place half the mixture in the bottom of the pumpkin, layer half the stuffing ontop and then add the rest of the veggies and top with the rest of the stuffing. Place the pumpkin on a cookie sheet. Cook for about 3 hours, until veggies are heated through. Place foil on top of the pumpkin to keep it from browning.

 

We ate it for lunch and the kids all ate it too. I would do this again any day!!

 

For the Indian theme, everyday we read a little bit about the life of Red Cloud, and Ogallala Souix chief. We made teepees out of construction paper and decorated them. We assigned all the kids Indian names and made a little folder for them to put all their Indian papers in. I also took them up to Boot Hill, a old cemetary for cowboys and it had small trails leading from it, so they hid in the trees to see how camaflouge you can get in the woods, drew pictures of things they saw and then we drove out in the country to see what the land looked liked before a town or railroad came through. I was exhausted, but I don't know about them.

 

Isaac: Walking Wolf

Jesse: Tough Salmon

Hannah: Happy Shark

Jazi: Thunder Hamster

Simeon: Shooting Daisy

Joshua: Dancing Moonlight

Curtis: Chief Red Bobcat

Me: Princess Bright Snake

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About Me

"You are the trip I did not take; You are the pearls I cannot buy; You are my blue Italian lake; You are my piece of foregn sky" Anne Campbell, 1888 How we raise and homeschool 5 children.

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