It's All Relative Friday

Since it's Relative Friday, I'm going to jump and shout that....


WALLY IS HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

We picked him up from the airport on Wednesday evening. It was so awesome as we pulled up and there he was...sitting on his suitcase! I almost couldn't believe my eyes! It seemed like years, but also hours that we saw him last. He had some excitement trying to get here. First, he missed the first bus, so he had to get on a later bus. His directions seemed foreign to the bus driver, so the bus driver told him he should get on a train. So, he gets on the train, but shortly after realizes he left his ipod on the bus! He calls the bus company and they tell him he has to wait 24 hours. Wonderful! Not too much longer he gets a call from the guy who found his ipod! Yeah!! Only in Utah, right? So, he's going to send it to him. Then, he gets on his final bus to take him to the airport. On one of his rides, some lady starts talking to him like she's known him for years! Smile and nod....smile and nod! He gets to the airport with 4 minutes to spare! As he's approaching the terminal, the airport people are yelling at him. "Wally!! Hurry up!!! We've been waiting for you!!!" I guess they knew he was the last passenger and were cheering him on! So, he made it safely home!

As soon as we pull up in the driveway, 2 people approach us and it happens to be 2 of his friends from high school! Wally is extremely surprised! They came in and stayed for a while to catch up. I'm not sure how long they stayed, though!

Yesterday, he hung out at the high school visiting his friends and teachers. Then, later for the chorale concert and the tradition of Steak 'n' Shake afterwards. It's so nice to have him home...hopefully he can make some time for us, too!!

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday's Ten

Ten Things I Love About Christmas...

1. Although Christ wasn't actually born on Christmas, I love being able to celebrate his wonderful birth!
2. Wally comes home from BYU!
3. Giving gifts.
4. Baking and decorating cookies.
5. Giving away alot of the cookies we baked and decorated.
6. Eating the rest of the cookies we baked and decorated.
7. The smell of Christmas. Not sure what that means, but sometimes there's an apple/cinnamon smell, a pine smell, or mulberry smell that reminds me of Christmas.
8. Watching my boys open their presents.
9. Watching Christmas movies.
10. Spending time with family.

Tuesday's Ten

Top Ten Reasons to Homeschool....

I know there are tons more reasons to homeschool, but here are a few that I'd like to share:

1. We can take breaks whenever we need them. Doesn't matter if it's a few minutes or a few days. If we need it, we can take it!
2. We don't have to sit up straight at a desk for long periods of time. Who in there right mind can even do that?! Even adults need to get up and move around.
3. Along with #2, we are not confined to one room. We can do our school in the schoolroom, on the couch, on our bed, in the hallway, in the basement, in the bathroom (Pokemon King, LOL!) or anywhere else that we can think of. I have a picture of one of the boys sitting in a storage box reading. The possibilities are endless!
4. We can read scriptures, say prayers, and say the Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety and not worry about offending anyone!
5. Two words: Sleeping In!
6. If something is interesting we can learn more about it during school and not have to wait to do it on our time.
7. We can finish our math problems in class and not have to take them home for homework! This goes for anything. If we are in the middle of something interesting, we don't have to stop it just because the bell rang. We can keep going until WE are finished or ready to move on.
8. We don't have to wait for the rest of the class to finish before moving on. Since we don't have to do this, we won't constantly get into trouble because we can't sit still at a chair doing absolutely nothing. (This happened to Wally when he was in elementary school. He completed his test or assignment and kept making noises and shuffling his feet because he had a hard time sitting still. The teacher would not let him get up or even get a book out to read. He had to sit there and wait for the rest of the class. Seriously???? That is just plain ridiculous! What child, especially a boy, can just sit in a chair and do nothing?!)
9. We can move at a faster or slower pace.
10. One word: PAJAMAS!!!

Wordless Wednesday (with a caption, just so you know what it is!)

This year we are using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. We had just completed the chapter on digestion. One of the activities was to make a theme park of what we learned. Here is what Dinodude came up with:

From left to right, you have Saliva Out, Lung Drop and Urine Urout!

Black Friday

I know you are all wondering how I spend my Black Friday! Or not!

Well....I don't do the shopping thing. Yes, I know I can save tons of money. But, sometimes, it's just not worth it. Now, I might do the online thing. I will not go out and wait in line with a bunch of crazy people and fight over a good deal. That is just not me. If I want to fight, I will just call my sister up! Just kidding!

Black Friday is our day to put up our Christmas decorations. Sadly, Bond has to work this year, so we will have to wait until he gets home to start. Which isn't all that bad anyway. He leaves early in the morning so he can be hom by 4:30. That's still plenty of time to decorate. So, today, I am taking down the Thanksgiving/Fall decorations and getting the house cleaned and ready to go!

It's almost lunchtime, too. I am debating on whether to eat leftover Thanksgiving goodies or my Ruby Tuesday leftover from Wednesday. It is a really hard decision and I know it shouldn't be. Hmmmm....maybe I'll just eat both. It is the holiday season, right? That's the time to eat whatever you want and worry about how it affects you later, right? OK...problem solved!!! I'm eating them both! LOL!

Wordless Wednesday-Fun with the DS

Tuesday's Ten

In honor of Thanksgiving this week, my Tuesday's Ten is a list of things I am thankful for, in no particular order!

1. My Heavenly Father-he knows me so well and what's in my heart. He has given me such wonderful blessings in my life.
2. My Savior, Jesus Christ-he gave up his life so that we might live.
3. The Holy Spirit-I try to keep him with me at all times. He lets me know what's true and right.
4. My husband, Bond-A truly amazing man who I am thankful for every minute of my life. He puts up with all my weirdness and is always there for me.
5. My wonderful children-They all have their own personalities. They also love to try my patience, but in reality, I would be lost without them.
6. My parents-They did a fantastic job raising me, because I am just awesome! They are always there if I need them, especially for those pesky 'you have a house, so you're going to have something wrong' kind of problems!
7. My Mother and Father-in law-They are always there for me as well. Always checking in on us to see how we're doing, or at least how the guinea pig is doing! LOL!
8. My sister-We are four years apart, which when we were younger wasn't such a good thing! But, now that we are older and more mature (at least, I am!) we get along much better!
9. My husband's brothers/wives-We don't see too much of each other because we are all so busy, but they are all wonderful and we would love to get together with them more often.
10. My nieces/nephews-I have 3 nieces & 7 nephews. They all have their own personalities, too. Each one is special and I love to see their smiling faces.

Monday's About Me

My favorite outfit is _______________ because...

I absolutely love wearing pajama pants! They are super comfortable. I have even been known to wear them out in public. Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to bother my kids. I've never been big into fashion, but for the longest time whenever I went out in public I had to wear normal, matching clothes. These days, I almost don't care anymore. Guess that means I'm finally growing up? Or it could be that styles these days are all over the place. I remember making fun of my mom when she went out wearing something.....weird. I will say that I will never be one of those Walmartians!

Thankful Thursday

Today (well, really, everyday!) I am thankful for my wonderful, amazing husband, Bond! He is such a great father and husband. Every day he wakes up at 6am so he can go to work and be home by 4:30. There is nothing he would rather do than to be home with us. Everything he does is for us. He is the greatest thing that has happened to me and I am grateful to be his wife.

I LOVE YOU BOND!!

Wordless Wednesday (with captions)

Chaos trying on Dinodude's Halloween costume.

I walked into the room and saw this Halloween candy dispenser/decoration. Chaos apparently thought he deserved to eat some Halloween candy, too!

Tuesday's Ten

Ten things that I carry with me at all times....

(no particular order)

1. Cell phone-I would be totally lost without it!
2. Money-Just like Mom always said, "Make sure you have a quarter in case you need to make a phone call!" Of course, that was eons before they had cell phones! But, you never know when you look at that gas gauge and find that it's on E and you don't have enough gas to get home!
3. Wipes-Travelling with children, someone is bound to get something sticky, dirty, muddy, yucky, etc., all over!
4. Band-aids-Yes...they do fix that owie!
5. Diapers-Hoping I won't have to travel with these too much longer. But, in a way, I don't mind because that still means I have a baby!
6. Snacks-Really, these are just for the kids. :)
7. Gum-It's very important to have fresh breath at all times!
8. Chapstick-Not just for the winter, either. I like to have one that has sunblock in it.
9. Hand Sanitizer (or as Chaos calles it...HANDITIZER...which I think is more appropriate anyway!)-After pumping that well needed gas, changing a diaper, and cleaning up those snack messes....well...that's a given!
10. Purse/Bag-Where else is everything going to go?

Monday's About Me

One of my scariest dreams was...

...when I was younger. I'm not quite sure how old I was, but I had a recurring dream for a few years of my life. I was being chased by a tree with an ax! It happened in my backyard and he continued to chase me to my friend's house across the street. This tree was very scary! I always woke up before he caught up to me, so I never really found out how it ended.

It took me years to figure out why I would dream a silly dream like that. As I was growing up, I must've watched 'The Wizard of Oz' a bazillion times! It dawned on me that I was dreaming about those talking trees and the Tinman's axe! I was never afraid of that part in the movie, but I guess my mind continued to dwell on them.

It's All Relative Friday

When I am sad, I find comfort in knowing that...

...My Heavenly Father loves me and one I day I will be able to return to him. The beautiful gift of life is very short. I try to cherish it as much as I can. There are days when I am just exhausted with my daily duties of being mother, wife, daughter, teacher, cook, housekeeper, chauffeur, nurse, etc...but I know that I am where I am supposed to be. I'm doing what my Heavenly Father wants to be doing. Although it is hard sometimes, I like knowing that my family and I can one day live with Heavenly Father again.

Thankful Thursday

Obviously there are many things that I am thankful for. I could spend the entire day listing them.

As I sit here in the early morning of peace and quiet, something that is usually not present in our home, I am thinking how wonderful it is that I have the opportunity to homeschool my children. Granted, we don't always have good days. There are also those days where I seem to doubt I am doing the right thing or using the right curriculum and so on. After reading and hearing many of the things that go on in some of the schools these days, I realize my kids don't need to be around that. Too much wasted time. Too many bullies. Too much homework. Too much sitting at a desk. Too much boredom. Too much language they don't need to hear. I could go on!

Lately our school days seem to take up the entire day! I was hoping it wouldn't come to that, but the fact is that Chaos CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be left alone! At this age, Dinodude would just play with his toys or watch dinosaur shows with his 'goldfish and juice.' Rocket would just play or sit on my lap. Chaos....well, he still likes to get into things...draw on walls, play in the bathroom, climb on the counters. So in order to get anything done, the boys need to be assigned to watch and play with him. So, it adds more time to our day. I just remind myself that it'll all work out. Eventually there will be a time where we can all be in the same room working on school. Or, am I just kidding myself?

Regardless, I love being a homeschooling mom. And on the days I question that...I just remember what I saw on the news or what I read. Then, I remember how much I love my children and that I would do anything for them and to protect them.

Wordless Wednesday-Halloween Edition

Tuesday's Ten

I think today's ten will be ten places I would like to visit or vacation. I'm ready for a vacation anyway!

1. Hawaii-Bond and I went to Maui and Kauai on our honeymoon, but I'd love to go back to some of the other islands.
2. Italy-Well, I am Italian...need I say more?
3. Germany-We went there in 1997 to pick up Bond's brother from his mission. I was pregnant with Pokemon King at the time and Wally was only 4 years old. We got to visit Bond's grandparents and other relatives as well. It was a very nice experience and I'd love to go back.
4. Stonehenge-I'm not really sure why I want to go here. Could possibly have something to do with Clark Griswold knocking it down...I want to make sure it's still there, I guess!
5. Australia-Crikey!! It looks like it would be a very nice place to visit. From movies, it looks like the scenery is gorgeous!
6. Egypt-What can I say...I love studying Ancient Egypt. I think it would be awesome to see the pyramids in person.
7. Japan-I know Pokemon King would love to visit Japan since that is where Pokemon originated! I think the architecture would be especially neat to see.
8. Bahamas-Oh yeah!! Beach, sun, sand, etc. What could be better?
9. Ireland-Mostly for the scenery. I've seen a few movies that were filmed in Ireland and it looks so beautiful and peaceful!
10. Russia-The only reason I want to visit here is to see if there is snow all year round. Every single movie I see, there is ALWAYS snow in Russia.

Wordless Wednesday

Chaos and Bunny Rabbit in the jungle.

Tuesday's Ten

When I started this post it was going to be Ten Things That Make Me Happy, but as I was listing them, I realized they were things I love, so this post is....

TEN THINGS THAT I LOVE!

1. My husband, Bond-He is awesome and amazing! I would be totally lost without him. He has put up with a lot over the years because of me, but he is always by my side.
2. My children-My 5 wonderful boys. I love them so much. They are each so very different. Obviously there are times when they don't make me happy, but they are far less than when they do. I love spending time with them and I am truly blessed that we homeschool, so I have more time with them. They grow up way too fast!
3. My Heavenly Father-He sent His only begotten Son to die for us that we might live.
4. Jesus Christ-He willingly gave up his life so that we might live.
5. My Scriptures-Life's little instruction books! They have answers to all my questions! I find so much peace when I read!
6. My computer-Absolutely love my computer! My MacBook Pro...awesome! It's so easy to use and gives me a wealth of information!
7. My piano-I don't get a lot of time to practice these days, but I could sit there for hours playing. As I was growing up, if I had a rough day I could come home and sit and play and relieve any stress.
8. Birkenstocks-Absolutely love these shoes! I bought them in 2001 in Hilton Head. They are still going strong. I wear them mostly in the summer, but I admit that I also wear them with socks and jeans sometimes. They are the most awesome shoes ever made, other than Sketchers, which are great too!
9. My bed-Our mattress is the most comfortable mattress! It is so hard to get up in the morning because of how comfortabel this mattress is. Even right now I am lying in my bed typing this and I don't want to get up!
10. Farmville-Laugh, laugh, laugh! I love Farmville! I am addicted to Farmville! One of these days I will kick this addiction, but right now I am satisfied that I have made the first step...admitting I am addicted.

Monday's About Me

I really should stop.....

Playing Farmville! I am so addicted to that silly game! I have recently resigned myself to play just the weekends. But, lately they came out with their Halloween stuff and I LOVE HALLOWEEN! So, that makes it harder! Then, just when I think I've accomplished everything, they come out with something new. After Halloween, you know they do something with Thanksgiving and Christmas. What's a girl to do?

Something New-Tuesdays Ten

My sister at http://threeblessingsacademy.blogspot.com/ started doing a journal theme each day for her munchkins. I have adopted that for my kids. I also noticed that she started to do it on her blog, so I've decided to adopt that as well!

So, here goes! For Tuesday, it's a list of ten things. Today, my sister happened to list the ten thinks that irk her. I'm guessing she had a hard time narrowing it down to ten. Am I right?

Since my favorite holiday (next to Christmas) is Halloween, I'm going to list my ten favorite Halloween or Halloweenish-type movies. These are in no particular order.

1. Abbott & Costello Meet Dracula
2. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
3. The Munsters Revenge
4. A Disney Halloween
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas
6. The Haunted Mansion
7. Casper (the movie)
8. Practical Magic
9. Halloweentown
10. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Treat

Summer Update

Well, it's been some crazy summer!!!

GRADUATION!!

To start...Wally graduated!!!! I can't believe that I am the Mother of a high school graduate!! Where has the time gone?

Here's a picture of him right before he sang "God Bless America." He did an amazing job!!!

Right now he is across the country at BYU. We miss him so much, but I have no doubt that he is doing well, even if he might be a little homesick.

SAN DIEGO!!

Bond and I had the opportunity to go to San Diego, CA this summer! We were invited to my cousin's wedding and decided it would be great to celebrate our anniversary as well! Bond served his mission in San Diego and loves it there!!

One of the beaches (I can't remember which one) had seals all over the rocks. It was so awesome to sit there and watch them.

We also went to Sea World. Haven't been there for a long time!!

We also went to check out where the Mormon Battalion site was. Bond got to dress up like a soldier.

And, of course, we had to visit the San Diego temple! Bond's favorite!! They just finished building it when he was on his mission, so he was able to go on the walkthrough. Lucky him!!

And here's us together at the rehearsal dinner.

This sign cracked us up! We were walking through one of the outdoor malls and saw this sign. Look closely at the operating hours:

Sunday, they are open at 12:00am! Now that's service!!

VACATION-CEDAR POINT

Before Wally left for college, we decided to try to get in one last vacation. So, we headed up to Kalahari Waterpark and Cedar Point.

Here's Rocket and Chaos driving around town!

Rocket and Chaos loved this ride!! It gradually goes up, then drops you, then goes up higher and drops you, and keeps doing that. We didn't think they'd like it, but they kept wanting to go on it!

Top Thrill Dragster...That is a ride!!! I didn't go on it this time, but when Bond and I went last year he made me go on it! I'm glad I did, because I probably won't ever go on it again! This is Wally and Pokemon King. Even though it looks like we know that crazy guy sitting behind them, we don't. He saw me taking the picture and decided to take advantage of the photo op!

Rocket, Chaos, Bond, and I squeezed into this child-sized train. It was so cramped in there, but the boys had fun!

VACATION-KALAHARI!!

Wally loves having his picture taken!

But, not as much as Pokemon King!

I don't think Rocket likes his picture being taken!

What can you say about Chaos!

Dinodude was excited because he got goggles with his new trunks! He was rarely seen without them!

Chillaxin!

Mommy & Rocket.

Bond and Chaos.

Chaos made a new friend!

Worn out!

It was a great vacation!!

So, now to what's going on now:

Sports! Sports! Sports!

Broken bones! Broken Bones! Broken Bones!

In a period of 2 days, Dinodude broke his thumb playing football and Pokemon King broke his wrist playing soccer.

Those are my crazy boys!!!

Pokemon King broke the same wrist about 5 years ago by jumping off of a swing. That time, he actually had to have surgery to put pins in. He had broken both wrist bones and every time they popped one bone into place the other would pop out! Fortunately, this one is not as intense.

Right before football season this year, Dinodude broke the pinky on his same hand! So, he went into football with a broken pinky and came out with a broken thumb!

So, now it's time for the holidays to begin. My house is all decorated and ready for Halloween. All that's missing is the candy!

Thanksgiving is around the corner and it'll be the first time Wally is not here to celebrate with us.

After that comes Christmas. What do I want this year? Other than Wally coming home, how about no broken bones? LOL!!

First Day of School

Well, we started school yesterday and it was a major flop!! I decided this year that I was going to crack down! We have been too lax and let things slip through the crack the last few years due to Chaos and moving. So, I decided we were going to buckle down and get back on track.

First day comes along and we go over our expectations for the year. Here's a copy of our expectations. Too harsh? Like I said, we have been pretty relaxed the past few years and I really want to get back on track. And we've had problems with the boys skipping their assignments even when they are clearly written on their assignment sheets.

2011-12 School Year Expectations

• All work must be written neatly and properly, otherwise it will be redone until it is deemed acceptable.
• No privileges until chores and schoolwork are done properly. If bad habit continues, loss of privileges until the end of term will result.
• Poems are to memorized by date due. If not, privileges will be revoked. Privileges will be reinstated AFTER that poem and the next poem are memorized.
• Math Problems: ALL work is to be shown. If not, entire assignment will be redone.
• Writing Assignments: Please take the time to do it right the first time. Sloppy work will be unacceptable and assignment will be redone until it is acceptable.
• Complaining will not be tolerated and will result in loss of privileges and/or more work.
• If Mom is working with someone and you need help, please wait your turn. Mom will give you the attention you need, but please remember, there are 4 students that all need Mom at some point.
• Please help with brothers while Mom is working with someone. That way she can focus on the child at hand without interruption. If you don’t want to be interrupted when Mom is working with you, don’t let her get interrupted when she is working with someone else.
• New expectations can and will be included later as necessary.

Privileges = video games, tv, movies, computer, friends, facebook, phone games, ipod touch

So, of course they weren't too happy with that!

Pokemon King didn't do well on his Math or English. So, we went over them together. I don't understand how he does fine when we go over the oral section together, but when he goes to do his assignment, he doesn't do well at all. Math he always seems to make the silly mistakes. He understands the concepts, which is good, but he still needs to be able to do well on the assignments. For English, I'm debating on switching programs. We've been using Rod & Staff. I know it's a little dry, but it's always seemed to get the job done. Now, it's almost like a foreign language. (even for me!) Any suggestions? I was looking at Abeka yesterday and considering that.

Dinodude did ok, but his work wasn't very neat, so he got upset when I told him it needed redone. (Mean Mom!!) The only one that did well was Rocket and he actually had more than his brothers! Go figure!

So, today is now messed up, because I said they could have a sleepover with some friends. Their friends aren't starting school until next week, so I thought it would be nice of me to let them have one last sleepover. Plus, it seemed like we all needed a break from yesterday's fiasco!

So, we shall see how tomorrow turns out! Wish us luck!!!

Babymoon's New Name

After much thought and consideration....Babymoon is now Chaos! We found that to be more fitting than Houdini. Even though he is very much a Houdini, Chaos seems to describe him a lot more!!!

Babymoon Needs a New Name!

Now that Babymoon is almost three, I think it's time we change his name. Those of you who know him pretty well, I want your opinions! Lately, I've been thinking of naming him Houdini, just because he is getting into everything...even things we thought he couldn't! So, start brainstorming and leave your ideas in the comments!

Washington DC Trip

We took the boys on a quick trip to Washington DC for Spring Break. Sadly, it was rainy and gloomy, but we still had a great time!

It was so packed in the Lincoln Memorial because the minute we got inside...it started to pour!!! We waited patiently for it to stop before we ventured out. It only lasted a few minutes.

Babymoon just loves Jesus!!

We ate at an Italian restaurant where you could draw on the table. Here's some of the boys' artwork.

While walking around, we spotted this sign posted. We are guessing it was an April Fool's Day prank!