March {madness}

Weekly Update: Another week has flown by! Time is really going fast, I'm staying so busy home schooling the kids that there doesn't seem to be much time for anything else. We are having fun and learning a lot. We are still learning about ancient Rome and it's been so fabulous, I am learning SO much. I wish I'd gotten a better education when I was younger, as an adult I absolutely love learning. If only there were more hours in the day.

Kade did an awesome job on his talk in primary. He read the entire thing himself without any mistakes. He had a lot of pictures and was stressed about keeping them in order. It was so funny because at the end of his talk he accidentally dropped them and they scattered everywhere. He yelled this loud UGH!! into the microphone. He's such a loud kid and that was just so classic.

Sophia's first ever knee scrape is finally healing. She has really milked it for all it's worth, crying and whining every time she remembers it or when she's in trouble. LOL She is sure a beautiful girl, I hope someday we can meet her birth mom. I am so blessed to be her mom and can't imagine life without her. I am so grateful for the promptings we can recieve when we pray.
Scouting: Kimball did a super job on Jaxon's Pinewood Derby car, unfortunately he didn't get to go due to his cheating and lying incident. Kimball's best friend Adam Bevell has a son who is also in scouts. Since Adam is blind, Kimball had Colby over and helped him build a car. He used the a secret weapon he found on the Internet for Jaxon's car. Anyway, Colby kicked butt at his race. He won all six times out of 25 kids. He was So happy and so was Kimball and Adam. It really made Jaxon wish he would have been able to race.

Growing

Inspired: Inspired is the word that comes to mind when I think of this last week. We've had several homeschool group activities and I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting with all the moms, soaking up all their goodness and being inspired by them. I am so lucky to have found such a great group of women to rub shoulders with, bounce ideas off and learn from. I truly believe if we want to be great people we should hang around with those better than ourselves. I am so much more motivated and excited about homeschooling and happy I have the opportunity to do it. Sure, Jaxon's still giving me a run for my money and throwing some attitude but with consistency and much effort, I know he'll come around. He is such a sweet and smart boy, he is just testing the waters right now to see what he can get away with. I am also grateful for an older sister who has been through all of this before and helps me whenever I call. I don't know how she made it w/ out the huge support system I have!?!

Friends: Today was soccer day and again, the kids all had a blast. It really has been an answer to prayer. I was starting to feel like the boys needed to see the same kids more often in order to develop friendships, and this has really helped. We also attended a play date at Andee's house last week, the boys loved it SO much that Jaxon came straight home and wrote a huge blog post about it. They had a Nerf gun fight w/ tons of other homeschooled boys ages 3-17 or so. I wish you could have heard them on the way home!! I look forward to getting to know those ladies more as well. Andee lives on 3 1/2 acres, and it's all fenced in so it was perfect for that type of group. Sophia was being super shy and very scared I was going to leave her (I think she thought it was a daycare) but by the time we had to go, she too was having a blast.

Improvements: Jaxon was so pleased with himself today when he compared his copy work to some he had done earlier this year. His cursive has improved drastically! He told me last week he didn't think it had, but I knew better and he was so happy to see all that practice is paying off. Kade's reading is fabulous, he's over the 'hump' I guess you could say. He's known how to read for a long time but he's finally getting faster and can go for longer periods. We finished our read aloud Eight Cousins and started reading Little House in The Big Woods and though Jaxon has been hesitant all year with this series, he likes it already. What a great way for them to learn about pioneer life and how easy we have it!

Changes: I'm trying to create a better learning environmentand make an effort to provide them with fun learning tools, ideas and projects. They seem to be liking it. This week we've had very little t.v. (like 1/2 hour a day) and it's making life so much more enjoyable,I can't believe the difference it makes. Since the television's kind of the focal point of our main living space, it's been hard to keep it turned off. I'd LOVE to move it upstairs but w/ the surround sound being downstairs, I can't imagine that would fly with Kimball. That's OK, I will just have to be strict w/ the kids about keeping it off.

Projects: We have been studying Julius Caesar and Ancient Rome. The boys are all over it and last night when Kimball got home, he found some materials and began helping them make their Roman soldier shields. They drew up their designs and we will hopefully cut and paint them in the next day or so. It's so fun to see their eyes light up and the wheels in motion. It's awesome when kids learn because they want to and to find them still studying even during their 'free time', that's what homeschool is all about!

Spring Break...Sort Of

While most kids have been on spring break, we have not...at least not in the vacation, no school sense. As I've mentioned, Jaxon's had some school work to catch up on and we aren't exactly on schedule so I just couldn't feel good about taking a week off. We've still managed to pack a lot of fun in this week as Kade said, "How could it get any better"? St. Patrick's Day was fun, soccer day was a blast, our field trip to the dairy was a success and today we had a fabulous time at our new play date out in Queen Creek. It makes me so happy to see them enjoy these social functions. I feel like this week Heavenly Father has definitely been hearing my prayers. Things are going very well and I am happy to say I'm feeling a lot better about homeschooling or by ability to homeschool than I was last week. I feel a strong desire again to continue on with it and feel it's what I am supposed to be doing right now. It's amazing what recommitting myself to God can do. For the past 3 weeks or so, I've set aside my own quiet time to pray and read scripture. This is something I really need in my life and feel so much better in doing it. It's crazy when we start thinking we can go it alone, like we don't have time because we're busy cooking, cleaning, raising kids and blogging...I mean journaling *wink *wink that we forget to turn to the Lord for our daily strength.

Sophia is a little over 2 now so she's obviously a handful. It's been hard teaching the boys because of all the messes she creates and things she gets into. I've been praying for more patience with her and feel like it's working. Jaxon even told me today that since I've been reading my scriptures and praying each morning, he's noticed a big difference in my behavior. He thinks I'm showing more patience and getting upset less. I am so thankful for a Father in Heaven who knows each one of us and hears and answers our prayers. Sophia is such a blessing and joy in our home, I don't want to take one second for granted.

Kimball is on another scout camp out. He has really been doing great with the boys and enjoying his time with them. I am glad to see him take them under his wing and treat them as his own, he truly cares for each one of them. I'll admit, I get a little jealous and wish I could go on fun camp outs and activities. It's sometime hard to always be left at home but then I remember what a blessing it is to be a mother and how there's a time for everything. For now, I will be completely satisfied and grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mom to 3 wonderful kids. I am so lucky for the chance I have to stay home with them and the ability to homeschool is just icing on the cake. Since it's Friday night (movie night), the boys borrowed Harry Potter The Order of The Phoenix from our neighbor. Jaxon just finished it for the 2nd or 3rd time, only this time he read it aloud to Kade. They are ecstatic to watch the movie!

It's now a few hours later, I just returned from our homeschool planning meeting where we discussed a lot of stuff...it's late, I'm glad I went. There's so many great mom's who I can learn and grow from. We are definitely lucky to have so many great resources and an amazing support system. I don't know how I'd keep motivated otherwise.

Organic Dairy

Today we went on a fun field trip to a local raw/organic diary. The kids had a great time meeting the big cows, small cows and even one giant prego cow. We toured the various fields and buildings, learning the process of how milk is made and sold. They even let us taste test it and we bought a few gallons before leaving. I don't drink milk, never have but the boys (Kimball included) says it delish and it is much healthier than the pasturized stuff they are used to drinking. Too bad the good kind is so expensive. They recently had to raise their prices to $10 a gallon!! Luckily, they gave us two for one. Other than that, we had a productive day here at Riverside Scholars.



Devotional: Ephesians 3:20 for discussion and copywork

Kade: is on spring break but still did a spelling chapter, penmanship, read aloud, exercised and did assigned reading.

Jaxon: Is playing 'catch up' w/ math and did around 4-5 assignments, with much help from me, finished The Wind In The Willows, took a spelling quiz and went to martial arts.

Read Aloud: We finished Eight Cousins today, we were all so glad to finally be done with it. It was a good book but we let it drag on too long. I think we started it in December.

One Last Hoorah!

I'm so sad to be going private, I'm already regretting it. I tried going private a while back and then changed my mind, maybe I'll be the 'girl who cried wolf'. I don't know, it's hard because I love all my online friends who I won't keep in touch with otherwise...and it's fun and helpful sharing homeschool ideas. I'm so indecisive. Maybe I'll try it for a while and switch if I don't like it?? Anyway, I just wanted to show you this cute craft we did and give you the link if you want to do it. The day's not over yet and I'm sure you have paper plates and construction paper.

Click HERE for the pattern.

The kids had a lot of fun and I learned I'm not cut out for crafts 'n kids. I'm such a frustrated perfectionist, I don't know how school teachers do it with 30+ kids...bless their hearts!!

Our day has been fun, we started out w/ green lemon muffins and then went to our homeschool soccer day at the park. The kids had a blast and the weather was perfect. Sophia is definitely into soccer, she shadowed the goalie for the longest time and got quite a bit of exercise runnin' the field. The dad who coaches it is very good with kids and makes it totally fun for them.

We had devotional, learned the history of St. Patrick's Day and some fun Irish facts, I'm learning right along with them! We've also been enjoying some beautiful Irish folk music. Jaxon has gotten in a lot of trouble lately, it finally dawned on me that maybe his 'laziness' is actually caused by boredom. I just don't think he's been challenged enough so today he's doing some free online placement tests. Looks like I need to move him up a grade in each subject. Let's hope this does the trick or else he's TOAST! Other than that, we are pretty much taking it easy. Kade is on spring break, Jaxon...notsomuch!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March Mardness

Weekly Update: Another week has flown by! Time is really going fast, I'm staying so busy home schooling the kids that there doesn't seem to be much time for anything else. We are having fun and learning a lot. We are still learning about ancient Rome and it's been so fabulous, I am learning SO much. I wish I'd gotten a better education when I was younger, as an adult I absolutely love learning. If only there were more hours in the day.

Kade did an awesome job on his talk in primary. He read the entire thing himself without any mistakes. He had a lot of pictures and was stressed about keeping them in order. It was so funny because at the end of his talk he accidentally dropped them and they scattered everywhere. He yelled this loud UGH!! into the microphone. He's such a loud kid and that was just so classic.

Sophia's first ever knee scrape is finally healing. She has really milked it for all it's worth, crying and whining every time she remembers it or when she's in trouble. LOL She is sure a beautiful girl, I hope someday we can meet her birth mom. I am so blessed to be her mom and can't imagine life without her. I am so grateful for the promptings we can recieve when we pray.
Scouting: Kimball did a super job on Jaxon's Pinewood Derby car, unfortunately he didn't get to go due to his cheating and lying incident. Kimball's best friend Adam Bevell has a son who is also in scouts. Since Adam is blind, Kimball had Colby over and helped him build a car. He used the a secret weapon he found on the Internet for Jaxon's car. Anyway, Colby kicked butt at his race. He won all six times out of 25 kids. He was So happy and so was Kimball and Adam. It really made Jaxon wish he would have been able to race.