Here's Rocket's slideshow. It's not the nice one I intended to use, but it'll do. After searching for hours for baby pictures and pictures from the hospital, I realized that those pictures were on the camera that was stolen when we went to King's Island. I'm so bummed. I have a few from when we came home, but no hospital pictures. There were also quite a few from his first couple of months. So, if you have any pictures of Rocket when he was 0-12 months, I'd love to have a copy!

So, once again...

Happy Birthday Rocket!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2008 was a crazy year. 2009 will probably be just as crazy, if not crazier! I've always been one to make resolutions. But, I've also been one to never keep them! This year might be different, might not. Who knows?! Here's a few to get me going:

• Get in shape. Isn't this on everyone's list? I still have some baby bulge left. I'm hoping to get rid of it so I can fit into more of my pants.
• Get on a schedule with school. We've been too relaxed. Although we've been getting our school done, it takes the majority of the day. I want to get out of that routine. I want to be done either by lunch or shortly after. It is harder since Bond is usually home during the day. We all just want to hang out with him.
• Keep up with the house. The last few days we've been doing okay. If everyone pitches in and does their chores, it stays pretty nice. The major problem is Dinodude not putting his toys away when he's done. He gets something out and plays for a while, then leaves it out. He keeps telling me he's going to play later, but he never does.
• Get out of the house. This one's really hard for me. I'm such a homebody. I'm completely content staying in the house all day. I'm hoping to do some nature walks with the boys and have them keep a nature journal.
• Help Pokemon King earn his Webelos badge.
• Do better with my church callings.
• Read more. I've been reading the Twilight series. I'm halfway through the third book now. After that series, I'll need some suggestions, so let me know what some good books are.

I think that's more than enough things I won't be able to 'resolute.' So, we shall see how it goes.

In the meantime, I wish you a very Happy New Year!!!

Happy Birthday Rocket!!!

Rocket turned 4 yesterday. Where has the time gone? And why did it go so quickly!!! He had a wonderful family birthday party. He got lots of nice things. Funny thing...he got 3 Little Einstein batons! Fortunately, no one was upset about it. So, he returned one today and picked out a musical instrument set with a drum, maracas, harmonica and tambourine.

I had a nice video I made of him to post here, but it's not uploading. I'll keep trying, cuz it's so awesome! But, in the meantime here's some pics:

Rocket, you are an amazing little boy. Your imagination astounds us. You always bring a smile to our face.

Happy Birthday, Rocket!!!
We love you!!!

Another Lego Movie

Here's the latest Lego Movie by Wally and his friend:

Weekly Report

For those of you who like to follow along in our school endeavors, this post is for you.

We have completely revamped our schooling. We basically were doing mostly traditional book work type things. It was going okay, but the boys were just rolling along. Pokemon King began to get a little difficult. Dinodude was okay, but nobody was enjoying it. I really want them to enjoy it, so for the next 6 weeks, we've put aside the majority of our curriculum (except Math & English). We are now following a Charlotte Mason type schedule. We're using the guidelines from Ambleside Online. We've already completed a week and so far the boys are enjoying it. Here's what we do:

I took a regular die & made it so it has 6 different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, & purple. Each color represents a form of narration:

red-drawing
orange-written
yellow-oral
green-art/craft
blue-skip narration
purple-student choice

So, after their reading selection, they roll the die. If they land on red, orange, green or yellow, then they pick a folded piece of paper from that category. They do whatever the paper says. Here are some examples:

red-draw a picture of a place in the reading & label it/draw a picture of a character from the reading
orange-write a letter from one character to another/write a multiple choice quiz of what you have just read
yellow-give a telling to mom about what you just read/be a TV reporter & give a report from a scene from your reading as if it is happening live
green-write & perform an original song that tells the story of your reading/make a poster advertising your reading so someone else will want to read it

Those are just a few examples. Here's what the boys did this week.

Pokemon King was sick Thursday, Friday and half of Wednesday, so we didn't complete everything he was supposed to do. But, here are a few things we did do...

This is part of his postcard from the Goblin from the reading "The Princess and the Goblin." (the other side wasn't scanning clear enough)
Here's his picture of Vasco de Gama. He wanted to draw it on the markerboard instead of on paper. He looks kind of like a rappin' Vasco de Gama, doesn't he?


This is his rendering of the first part of Marco Polo.



This is song about Paul Bunyan.


If you can't understand what he's saying, here are the words:
Chop, Chop, Chop the trees,
The tiny toothpick trees.
Hammer the stumps down with the maul. (that was our new word from the story!)
Smash 'em to the little ground.
Chop, Chop, Chop, Chop, Chop the ground with my ax.
Chop, Chop, Chop, Chop, Chop the tiny trees.

These are Dinodude's accomplishments. This one is from a story from "Parables of Nature." It talks about a caterpillar, a butterfly, and a lark.

This is from Aesop's Fable, The Tortoise and the Ducks. Here, he was supposed to make an ID for one of the characters. He chose Turtle and got a little creative with the info!

Here's his skit on Henry VIII.

And here's his puppet show on The Sword of Damocles.

Memories Meme

Got this off my sister's blog.

How to play: BOLD anything you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (DisneyWorld)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language-(only partially bold-I'm trying to teach myself German!)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (in general)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling-(does trying count?)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

My....How We've Grown

This was from December 2004:


And this was from November 2008:


Bond's side of the family went from 5 grandchildren to 11 grandchildren in 4 years. That's a lot of kiddies!!!