We hurried out first thing this morning to play in the snow. When we get snow at our house, we have to play in it quick before it's gone! We tried to build a snowman but it didn't work out. We built a nice snow pile instead. Grace's gloves got all wet and cold so I put socks on her hands. She thought that was very funny. Robyn's favorite thing was to snowball fight. Good thing you don't get in trouble for that at our school! :)

Colin has been busy building things today. He built a teeter totter and a flower with his Knex. Then I helped him combine his elevator from the Marble Mania extreme with the Discovery Toys marble run. Fun stuff!

Gracie and Oreo napping on the couch.

Colin has turned six years old! I cannot believe how fast the last six years have flown by! He invited the Garcias over for cake and presents. It was very fun.
Colin designed and decorated his own cake. He wanted a triangle cake with cupcakes around it. There is a lot of math involved in cake making - like geometry which I swore I would NEVER use in my whole life. (I am so sorry Mr. Smith and Mr. Golightly - I have learned my lesson and I am grateful for all you tried to teach me. Perhaps if we had used more food in class....) Anyway, we traced the cake pan and cut out the square. Then Colin turned the square into two triangles and figured out how to put them together to make a big triangle. We needed a place to put the cake to decorate and serve it so we got a big box to make a serving tray out of. Colin used the big paper triangle and drew circles for cup cakes in the pattern that he wanted to see how big we needed the tray. Then we had to measure the drawing and transfer the measurements to the cardboard we were going to cut. Then we took turns cutting the cardboard until we had the perfect size tray. Then we had to measure the aluminum foil to fit the cardboard and wrap the tray in it to make it all pretty. Then we got to decorate the cake we made. It was fun. I like that kind of math.
Actually we have been having a lot of fun with math lately. We got a math-u-see program for our math curriculum that is a lot of fun.
Colin got a marble run from Discovery Toys for his birthday and he hasn't stopped playing with it since he opened it. He hardly took time to eat his cake and ice cream in his haste to get back to playing. If you want a marble run - go with Discovery toys and be sure to get the Crank it up accessory. We have tried a wooden marble run in the past and the blocks don't stay together well enough to play. We tried a Marble Mania Extreme last Christmas and it was great for about five minutes. It takes FOREVER to build and it is impossible for a small person to even modify slightly by himself. We got it for it's elevator - which is totally cool and the only piece that ever gets played with, but a marble elevator isn't very cool with out a marble run to drop the marbles into. Anyway - go with Discovery Toys. It's easy to build and modify, sturdy and FUN!
The kids have been playing with the marble run all morning. Too many marbles got into the crank it up accessory and they got a bit stuck. Colin said, "The marbles are stuck" and Robyn said, "stuck in committee?" It was so funny. We haven't watched School House Rock in a month or two but apparently time hasn't diminished Robyn's memory. "I'm Just a Bill" is one of our favorite songs and sometimes bills get "stuck in committee." I love listening to their conversations! It is so fun to be a mommy. Oh and the marbles are easy to get unstuck - the kids just turn the crank backwards until the excess marbles get out.

Randy, Colin, and Robyn playing at Planet Kid. Robyn loved having her daddy go with her. Everyone had a blast!

The kids earned a date to Planet Kid with their points from the Miracle Music. We went last Saturday so Randy could go to. These are pictures of Grace jumping into the ball pit - her absolute favorite thing to do at Planet Kid.

Now that I have been blogging all afternoon, it's time for the REALLY BIG NEWS. We are having a new baby (for real, not just pretend). The baby is due in June. The kids and I went to our first visit with the midwife last week and got to hear the heartbeat. It was really nice to hear the heart beat and know that I am not just a nauseated, lazy person for no reason. I am counting on the morning sickness being over in about 8 days. (12 weeks is the magic number, right???) Hopefully that nesting instict will kick in after that and I will get all those half finished projects done soon.

Currently we refer to the baby as "Racecar" because someone thought that would be a good name and I don't have anything better yet. We will work on it for real later.

This is the kids "new car." It is a red and tan van. The steering wheel is grey. You might think that the chair in front of the love seat is a seat, but it is actually the TV for the kids in the back seat to watch. The front seat is the body pillow and the CD player is also the steering wheel. Robyn is such a good mom. She makes sure all the kids are securely buckled in. Grace is seven in pretend so she doesn't need a car seat - she gets to just use the pink seatbelt that in real life is a towel.

The really fun new game recently has been - Library.
Colin is the librarian. The girls bring him books which he scans into the computer.
The girls then take the books to their pretend house and read them to their babies. Colin lives at their house at pretend night. While he is there he reads the computer to tell them when the books are due.
Then they return them to the library and Colin reshelves them.
One special feature of this library is that if you want a picture of your baby, the librarian will scan the baby too.

Playing in the snow.

Another fun Christmas activity we did last week was to make a Gingerbread house. (I cheated and bought one of those kits so it was very easy.) We had a lot of messy fun building it. We took this picture as soon as we were done. Then I moved it so I could wipe off the table. I moved it before the frosting was set and the roof crashed to the floor. I decided that was the way to do a gingerbread house because we got to have the fun of making it, and then we ate it for desert after lunch and I don't have to worry about where to keep it or get after anyone for snitching. We snacked on it for a day and then I threw the rest in the garbage.

We curled all the ribbons on the candy chains and the kids wanted to do it themselves. Everyone learned to do it, even Grace. We had curly ribbons all over the house for two days because they did it all day the first day and when they woke up the next day, they wanted to do it again. They used the ribbons to decorate the tree some more and wore them in their hair. Unfortunately, the ribbon supply was exhausted after two days of curling so that activity had to end. Luckily, I did my shopping and my wrapping early this year so I am okay that the ribbon is gone. Scratch that, Colin was reading over my shoulder and said that I am wrong - he found a giant roll of blue curling ribbon - let the fun continue!

This is us making candy chains to count down to Christmas. Colin and Robyn's chains are pretty accurate, but Grace likes to speed things up a bit and cut a candy off a few times a day. She is her momma's girl - we both love candy and cookies. She tells me, "I hungry mommy." I ask what she is hungry for and give her some suggestions like yogurt or cheese, but she always says, "candy" or "cookies." She also tells me, "We should buy licorice at the store." And she always knows exactly how many candy canes are left on the tree.

Here are some pictures of our Christmas tree. We went with Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins up to the forest to get a real tree. It was fun. The kids loved it until they got cold, but Grandpa saved the day and all was well.

When I told Colin we were going to get a tree from the forest, he asked, "How will we know where to put the branches? If we get it from the forest, it won't have colors." My poor city kids. It is about time they had a real tree for Christmas.
We had a lot of fun decorating it. Colin insisted we get pictures of it right away.
They are still having fun decorating it. It changes every day.

It’s a Miracle!

A quick update of the Children's Miracle Music - Colin loves it so much that he says thank you for the CD in his prayers! For a while he had quit saying thank you for Mommy in his prayers because I asked him to empty the garbage everyday - now he is saying thank you for MORE work and I am back in the prayers. Happy Day!! I don't even ever have to turn it on; he asks Randy if it's time every morning as soon as he opens his eyes. No more fighting at bedtime even. At 7:30, I just quietly ask him if he will get the CD going and before I know it everyone is picking up toys like crazy, then next thing I know, we have the whole house tidied up and everyone has gone potty, brushed teeth, said prayers and are quietly waiting for family prayer. Then they lie down in their beds and listen as I read a chapter from Little House in the Big Woods while the 22 minutes of quiet music plays. Then we talk about the story for a minute, Randy and I leave, and the kids go to sleep around 8:30.

It’s pretty much like that picture you have in your head about angelic children laying quietly in bed in a tidy room listening peacefully as mom calmly reads a story.

Ok so Grace still struggles a bit but she is learning. The big kids are good examples for her and I help her with everything still. She does have a bit of a hard time being quiet during stories (she likes to sing a lot.) but Randy pats her back while I read and that helps. Another major plus for the program is it is helping her potty train! The CDs tell you to go potty as part of the routine and you have to at least try to get your point so she does it and has been dry all night every night since we started. She even kept her pull up clean and dry all day yesterday by herself. I tell you, that program is a Miracle!

We do pause the AM routine a few times – once for morning prayers just after make your bed and once at breakfast for breakfast prayer and while we read a story from the Friend. Breakfast is only allowed 10 minutes on the CD and that is not nearly enough for us so I leave it paused for about 15 minutes and then turn it back on when it’s time to get back to hurrying. The way we stretch out the AM routine, it takes about an hour to get through. It is supposed to be about 46 minutes. The night routine is 17 minutes of activity, 5 minutes already built in the CD of silence for Prayers, then 22 minutes of quiet go to sleep music. It lasts about 45 minutes.

Gracie's Guy




This is Gracie's letter to Uncle Brad this week. I am so excited! Last week, all she could do was scribble. She and Robyn draw ALOT together and she is apparently paying attention. A few days ago, Grace brought me a "guy" that was a head with eyes and legs. She was so happy. As she told me about the picture she said, "It need arms." Then yesterday I asked if she wanted to write a letter to Brad and this is what she came back with - a guy with a head, eyes, nose, mouth, arms and legs. Wahoo! I love being a mommy.

UPDATE

It has been a while since I have gotten around to blogging. Obviously I am slacking on writting to our missionary. Sorry Brad.
We are very excited as to how the Idaho elections turned out. Hooray! I am a little concerned about Boise though - as a city, Boise votes completely opposite of the rest of Idaho. That's what happens when people move here for our way of life - first thing they want to do when they get here is change it. Silliness!!
We have been very busy with life. We have been on fieldtrips and had fiddle recitals and such fun things as that. I always forget my camera - ugh! I will try to do better. We went to Planet Kid for a fieldtrip with the homeschool group. It was a blast! (Think giant McDonald's playplace minus the ketchup and the smell.) Grace learned to jump very far into the ball pit. It was so cute. When she first started, she could barely clear the edge; by the time we left, she was landing in the middle of the pit.
I have been keeping busy with my 5 Pillar group. I have had two papers due for it already this month and one more still to come soon. It has been fun, but it will be nice to take a break in December. The book we just did was Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is very good. I actually wrote my own mission statement this time through! Hopefully I will be able to incorporate more of the habits in my life this time too. I have listened to it before on tape a few years ago and we have been trying to use some of his ideas but I still have plenty of room for improvement.
Randy ran a half marathon a few weekends ago. He did really well. We were proud of our dad. I think he got 9th place out of almost 700 people.
Last Wednesday, at fiddle lessons, the kids got Jingle Bells for one of their songs. They both have it pretty much memorized already and Robyn can play it on the keyboard too. If only every song were that much fun! Grace likes to get her violin out and say she is going to play Jingle Bells. We had a fun time practicing this morning, I learned a few back up chord to Boil Em Cabbage Down and we had a jam session. It was really fun to play together like that. Robyn even learned Shortenin Bread so she could play more songs with Colin and I. We aren't exactly ready for a real show, but we had fun.
A few days ago we got Children's Miracle Music. It is AWESOME! It is two CDs - one for morning and one for night. 46 minutes before you want everyone ready for the day, you push play on the morning CD and nice music plays for 2 minutes. Then a pleasant voice says, "Wake up, it's time to play our game." She then instructs everyone to make their beds and a song plays that you have to have your bed made before it ends. Then you go potty to a song. Then you "Do your act of kindness" or take a bath for three songs. Then you get dressed and comb your hair. Then you have 8 songs to eat breakfast. (That is not quite enough for us to eat in so I pause the CD for a minute to read a story from the Friend and of course to say the meal prayer.) Then everyone rinses their dish and then brushes their teeth. Then you get to record the points you earned by beating the songs done with each task. When you earn 100 points you get to go on a private date with mom or dad. The bed time one starts with the Act of Kindness (some job you choose when you started the CDs the first time) or take a bath. Then you get your jammies on, brush your teeth, and go potty. Then it has five minutes of silence for family
and personal prayers. Then 22 minutes of soft go to sleep music which I read chapter books to the kids in their beds during. We have only had it a few days, but I love it! My house has never been so tidy and my children more willing to get things done quickly before. It really helps everyone stay focused on the task at hand. It keeps me focused so I don't get sidetracked and makes it so I don't have to get upset at anyone for getting sidetracked themselves. I love it. It has made bedtime easy as pie. Everyone stays in their beds after the story because the music ends and thus so does story time. I actually read for the full twenty minutes instead of feeling like it has been twenty minutes and bailing early. Good Stuff. I found it at www.childrensmiraclemusic.com from an ad from Meridian Magazine. Check it out!

Hello

Mitt Romney for President

The kids and I went to a campaign rally for Butch Otter this morning. Mitt Romney was there and he spoke. It was so good. He talked about his going to Iraq and what the people want is the liberty to learn from other nations. He talked about all the threats that we are facing now and how grateful he is that we have a president who is facing them even though it is not "popular." He also talked about how important it is for us to get out and vote and to take a friend. Many races that were "in the bag" have been lost due to apathy.
It was neat to meet all the candidates. They all shook the kids' hands and squatted down to their level and took time to ask their names. We shook hands with Butch Otter, Jim Risch, Mitt Romney, Tom Luna, Steve Kimball, and some of their wives. Colin's favorite thing was meeting Tom Luna and shaking his hand. We had fun. The kids were great during the speeches, they were very quiet except when it was time to clap and then they clapped as loud as they could. Grace did sing "shave and a haircut, two bits" but it was only once and it was very quietly. We stood on the landing of the stairs in the back of the room during the speeches so we could see everyone and the stage really well.
Now that's socialization!

Two Bits!

Gracie loves to sing "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits." Lately she has taken to singing everything she says and then adding "Two Bits." She just said, "I want to read, Two Bits." She has also said, "I need the stool, Two Bits" "I am so hungry, Two Bits" "I got my shoes on, Two Bits." And many other things, Two Bits. It is very funny!

Primary Program

The Primary Program went great today. The kids did very well. I was proud of them.
I played my violin for Dearest Children, God is Near You. It went better than I expected. :)
Sister Farnes called on Monday to ask if I'd do it. I told her that I am only comfortable playing in the key of A so I didn't think so. She, of course, didn't let me out of it that easy. She transposed the song into the key of A just for me. She still had to arrange the music, so I didn't get my copy until Friday night. We had a 40 minute practice on Saturday morning and then we performed today. I have only taken three months of lessons myself and I was not exactly ready to play in sacrament meeting, but I spent most of my teenage years teasing mom because she wouldn't play the piano in front of anyone. She spent all that time practicing but couldn't play in front of anyone. So anyway mom, I did it. I am not a hippocrite in that area. Also I have a quote that I keep on my fridge that says:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Marianne Williamson

Go shine!

Scary Thought!

Saturday Fun

We had a fun day today. We went over to Shelly’s for a Halloween party with our cousins. Joan brought crafts for the kids – they built spiders and monkeys and tigers and lions out of beads, strings, and, our personal favorite, chenille stems. (Perhaps I will blog about chenille stems someday – for now I will just say they are GREAT for sacrament meeting.) Then we ate donuts off of strings and just played. Then pumpkin carving took place and more playing. Everyone had a fun time. The kids love playing with cousins. I, of course, forgot my camera so you will just have to take my word on how fun it really was.

On the way home I intended to get more yard signs, but we were having too much fun at the party so we were too late for signs. Oh well, maybe Monday. Anyway, Randy decided to take us all out for dinner and what kind of wife would say no to that?!! Not me. So we tried out the new Sizzler that is very close to our house and we decided it was average + (they left us a survey to fill out – so we used a crayon and filled it out). While we were enjoying our meal, an older couple stopped by our table to tell us what wonderful children we had and how well behaved they are. I like that (especially because it was true and well behaved children always make eating out more fun).

When we got home, we all went to walk the dog around the block. The kids got to ride their bikes. Colin is getting pretty good at his bike these days. He did actually fall down and skin his knee, but over all he is getting pretty good at it. Grace got tired half way around and said she was going to walk. So I asked who would ride her bike home if she walked. She thought about it for a second and said, “Nobody.” Then she got back on and finished the trip.

After everyone was jammied, we snuggled on my bed to read “Winnie the Pooh.” Then Colin and Robyn wrote in their journals and we all laughed at the fun things they have written about in the past. (Their journals are comp books we found at Walmart that have blank space at the top and big lines with the dotted line between them at the bottom. The kids draw a picture on the top and then write about the picture on the lines and date it. Some of the entries are pretty funny. It is fun to see their progression in drawing and writing ability over time.) Then Robyn read “Green Eggs and Ham” to herself. Colin read “The Giving Tree” and Grace and I read “Peak a boo Pooh”. It was really fun to be a mommy right then and see all your kids reading together on the bed and having fun. Not to mention how proud I am of Robyn for being able to read all by herself. She still asks on a few words but usually figures them out as she is telling me the letters in the word. After everyone was done with their books, we snuggled some more and somehow got talking about how glad we are we have lights and what we would do without them. Robyn decided we would need five lamps and Oreo would just have to always stay with someone. Then we talked about how Grandma Reeder didn’t have an indoor bathroom when she was a kid and how Grandma Murphy‘s dad had to haul their water to the house in the truck. They want to ask Grandpa Byron about tipping outhouses over.

Before the party this morning, Colin and I went to the church to practice for tomorrow’s primary program. I have been asked to play the violin in church – YIKES! I hope it goes well. The song is pretty easy, but I get kind of nervous and then I squeak. Colin said I did okay and he would be proud of me. He loved watching Sister Farnes play the organ and has added that to his list of instruments he wants to learn to play someday. The list is getting kind of long. He has been having a lot of fun with music this week. He started writing repeat symbols in his handwriting. He writes “Noo :II Goo :II Zoo :II” and you are supposed to say it, “noo noo, goo goo, zoo zoo. “ It’s pretty funny. He and Robyn have both been figuring out how to play their violin songs on the keyboard and working on reading music. What fun!

I really like being a mommy and having all my kids close to me.

Interview with Church Leaders

Question:What is the position of the Church on same-gender attraction and same-gender marriage?

This interview can be read in it’s entirety at

http://www.lds.org/newsroom/issues/answer/0,19491,6056-1-202-4-202,00.html

 

PUBLIC AFFAIRS: On the issue of a Constitutional amendment prohibiting same-gender marriage, there are some Latter-day Saints who are opposed to same-gender marriage, but who are not in favor of addressing this through a Constitutional amendment. Why did the Church feel that it had to step in that direction?ELDER OAKS: Law has at least two roles: one is to define and regulate the limits of acceptable behavior. The other is to teach principles for individuals to make individual choices. The law declares unacceptable some things that are simply not enforceable, and there’s no prosecutor who tries to enforce them. We refer to that as the teaching function of the law. The time has come in our society when I see great wisdom and purpose in a United States Constitutional amendment declaring that marriage is between a man and a woman. There is nothing in that proposed amendment that requires a criminal prosecution or that directs the attorneys general to go out and round people up, but it declares a principle and it also creates a defensive barrier against those who would alter that traditional definition of marriage. There are people who oppose a federal Constitutional amendment because they think that the law of family should be made by the states. I can see a legitimate argument there. I think it’s mistaken, however, because the federal government, through the decisions of life-tenured federal judges, has already taken over that area. This Constitutional amendment is a defensive measure against those who would ignore the will of the states appropriately expressed and require, as a matter of federal law, the recognition of same-gender marriages — or the invalidation of state laws that require that marriage be between a man and a woman. In summary, the First Presidency has come out for an amendment (which may or may not be adopted) in support of the teaching function of the law. Such an amendment would be a very important expression of public policy, which would feed into or should feed into the decisions of judges across the length and breadth of the land. ELDER WICKMAN: Let me just add to that, if I may. It’s not the Church that has made the issue of marriage a matter of federal law. Those who are vigorously advocating for something called same-gender marriage have essentially put that potato on the fork. They’re the ones who have created a situation whereby the law of the land, one way or the other, is going to address this issue of marriage. This is not a situation where the Church has elected to take the matter into the legal arena or into the political arena. It’s already there. The fact of the matter is that the best way to assure that a definition of marriage as it now stands continues is to put it into the foundational legal document of the United States. That is in the Constitution. That’s where the battle has taken it. Ultimately that’s where the battle is going to be decided. It’s going to be decided as a matter of federal law one way or the other. Consequently it is not a battleground on such an issue that we Latter-day Saints have chosen, but it has been established and we have little choice but to express our views concerning it, which is really all that the Church has done. Decisions even for members of the Church as to what they do with respect to this issue must of course rest with each one in their capacity as citizens.

 

(I bolded a part that I found particularly interesting in light of my previous post. The Church chooses to follow God’s Plan. )

Politics and such

Now on a more serious note...I have been very preoccupied with the up coming elections and studying the candidates and the issues this past week.  I pretty much have my mind made up on most of what will be on my ballot.  The kids and I have even spent a few days campaigning for a few of our favorite candidates - very effective government lesson!  We have signs in the yard and have distributed pamphlets to the neighborhood.  We visited the campaign headquarters of a few candidates to pick up the stuff and the kids thought that was cool.  One wonderful lady delivered her signs and pamphlets right to our home and visited us for a while.  I have called several candidates to get first hand information instead of relying on second-hand biased news reports and have enjoyed talking with them very much.  I just finished watching tonight's debate for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  To me the choice is clear in that race.  I would encourage all who missed it to watch it online at www. Idahoptv.org.

The thing to remember in politics is that the Great War in Heaven was fought over agency. As much as Heavenly Father wanted all of his children to enjoy the blessing of a God like life, he rejected the use of force and gave us the eternal principle of agency. The war is still going on today on many fronts. Remember this from one of my previous posts – “the two belief systems are 1 - People are free to choose for themselves in life and will, therefore, learn to avoid pain and seek happiness and that they are responsible for the consequences of those choices. And 2- We people are not capable of making the "right" choices in life and must therefore be controlled and forced to do what others believe is best for us.”

Whether in parenting skills or government, we need to judge based on what (and who’s) plan we choose to follow.

Studying politics has strengthened my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I understand Alma 31:5 better. “And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just – yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them….” Some things just can’t be legislated.

I say, “GO BRAD!” Imagine how many social programs could be cut if people believed. Even just following the word of wisdom would change the world – but we know that legislation can’t force that (think Prohibition, bootleggers and moonshine), only desire to choose the right and knowledge of what is right. Difficult in a world of relative values.

We recently started fiddle lessons instead of violin lessons. We are LOVING it. Even Gracie gets a little lesson. The other day, we were all occupied with various things not particularly paying any attention to Grace. She went over to the violin cabinent and got out her violin. She carefully tightened her little bow and got into playing position herself. I usually get a little nervous when she practices on her own because she likes to take apart her fiddle - I am getting pretty good at replacing her bridge, fine tuners and her frog. So I was watching all this from a distance. She played a little bit, then she dropped her bow and violin on the carpet and started jumping up and down and waving her adorable little hands and yelling, "I play Shave and a Haircut, I play Shave and a haircut!!!" It was SO funny to see her so excited. I wish I had it on camera. I am also glad she told me what the song was, because I didn't quite get it when I listened. We practiced together for a minute and she is pretty good at the rhythm now. Fun Stuff!
We got to go to a fiddle Halloween party last Saturday that was so fun. Our teacher and a few other teachers invited their students to get together for a jam session and just play together. Colin and Robyn got right up on stage with the guitar players and played every song they had memorized. Colin was bumed that he didn't know more songs so he has been very motivated to practice since. It was lots more fun than a recital because it was so relaxed and the audience could talk or dance or eat or color together while they listened. The kids who wanted to play stood by the stage and the guitar guys would say come on up and then they would play for as long as they wanted to and then someone else would play. Even Grace got to do her bow song and "play" Shave and a Haircut with the guitar players. We all had a blast! I can't wait to do it again.
We are having a formal recital on November 11 at 10:30 in the morning if anyone is interested.

Quote of the Day -

If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

--Antione de Saint-Exupery

Tickets to the Show
The card stock supply has been reduced to scraps due the the production of countless DVDs, CDs, Videos, and casset tapes by "Card Studios" so this week the only thing left to create was tickets to see the shows.
Colin and Robyn made many tickets to many different shows. They had two theaters - one that showed prerecorded movies and one that was live plays. They made the tickets and then came to sell them to Grace and I. We bought several tickets (with our pretend money, of course) but we didn't know what time to show up for the show. The ticket vendors took our tickets and sent them back to printing to print times on the backs. Colin brought me one back that said 7.99 - this lead to a perfect opportunity to discuss time. I showed him the clock on the stove so he could see the colon (not a period) and then we remembered from a library book we'd had last week that time was a base 60 calculation not a base 100 like money. He remembered that time could only go to 59 and happily fixed the ticket to say 7:30.
The ticket was to "Teddy Grahams Eat Honey" which was a live show so it was in the theater in the family room (the movie theater is on the landing of the stairs so everyone can see with the stadium seating). Colin, Robyn, and Robyn's Sleeping Baby were in the show. It was so funny. They sat around a plastic drawer and pretended to eat honey while singing a little poem they made up about eating honey. I loved it so much that I asked for an encore to film. The camera had bad batteries (Randy fixed it when he got home.) so I had to drag out the old video camera to capture the play. Then we plugged the camera into the TV (Colin showed me how) and watched it repeatedly on the television and laughed and laughed. The kids LOVED being on TV. After that they played their fiddles for me to make a movie of to watch on TV. (That was a great way to show Colin that his bow is too close to the bridge and that's why he sounds so squeaky sometimes. I should have thought of that weeks ago! He sounds much better now.) Then they watched a bit of an old movie we'd made of Colin's 2nd birthday and baby Robyn. They loved seeing themselves when they were little. We had a very fun morning.

so‧cial‧i‧za‧tion  /ˌsoʊʃələˈzeɪʃən/ Pronunciation[soh-shuh-luh-zey-shuhn]
–noun
1. a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position.

SOCIALIZATION OF HOMESCHOOLERS

Lest anyone think that my children are perfect, I should remind you that I generally only blog the good stuff about them. :) They are pretty darn awesome though!

I have a few tricks that work for us pretty well (at least I think they do, I will have to do a follow up to this report in about 15 - 20 years).

The first comes from Richard and Linda Eyre. It is our rules. We have only four LAWS in our house that must be followed. They pretty much cover everything that I need them too and they are easy to remember because we made them into a song. It goes, "Peace, Order, Asking, Obedience - These are the Reeder's Laws." Pretty easy, huh. Even the neighbor kids can learn our laws pretty quickly and they can choose to follow the laws or go home, so far everyone has choosen to follow the laws. (We don't usually introduce the laws to the neighbors unless one is about to be broken, at which point it is nice to have quick easy to learn laws.)

The second is our "Reeder's Quest for Zion" ladder. I think it is the Articles of Faith Scripture Scouts CDs that talk about Zion (AofF #10)- We love Scripture Scouts! They are great to introduce Gospel topics that are tough for a mom to pin down. Anyway after we learned about Zion, we could try to make our home be like Zion. I dug out an old corkboard and painted a ladder with 9 rungs on it. The ninth rung is Zion of course and everyone starts there and tries to stay there. I will try to describe it as best as I can - it' too big to scan and I did something to the camera filming an original play called, "Teddy Grahams eat Honey" this morning so I can't take a picture (perhaps I will blog more on the lessons learned in drama later).
Rung #9 = ZION
Rung #8= Friends, trips, and treats
Rung #7 = Computer/TV
Rung #6 = Play outside or do crafts
Rung #5 = Games or writing/drawing
Rung #4 = Play legos or babies
Rung #3 = Read Books or do Workbook pages
Rung #2 = Chores and Thinking time
Rung #1 = Puppy Line

We use push pins in the cork board to mark where each kid is on the ladder (Colin is blue, Robyn is Red, and Grace is green - Grace hasn't exactly learned cause and effect yet so it isn't as effective for her, but she likes to be big so we let her.)
You can do whatever you are high enough on the ladder to do. For example if you are in Zion you can do anything on the ladder, if you are only on rung 6 and a friend wants to play you have to say "sorry, I am not high enough on the ladder right now."
I get to decide how many rungs are moved either up or down depending on the severity of the disruption from Zion. The kid who takes us out of Zion by breaking one of the laws has to move his own pin down how ever many I say (usually two rungs). When someone helps make our home more like Zion by following the laws (coming when called, doing jobs without being asked, reading stories to Grace.....) then I will ask them to move up rungs. Sometimes if someone (usually Robyn) is already at Zion and is caught being extra helpful then I give them a small treat or a snuggle in the rocking chair to read a favorite book or something. When we are out (like at a doctor's office), you can still lose or gain rungs and I remind them of that when I need them to be especially good.
At first there was a lot of moving up and down rungs, but lately everyone has been staying up near 8. Its very nice. It has also helped me to recognize when the kids are being good and reward good behavior at least as often as I get after them for poor behavior. The main advantage is that it really helps everyone to recognize that they are responsible for their our choices and how they use their agency deterimes what they can and can not do (it's not just that mom is being mean). It is fun on a Friday night to occasionally say, " Hey, everyone is high enough on the ladder for a special trip - let's go out to eat." I think it helps everyone feel that they earned the trip instead of feeling entitled to a trip.

The third is that we spend time as a family studying and talking about scripture. Randy and I read the BOM each morning before he leaves for work. The kids are welcome to join us if they want to but we don't require it and if they choose to come they have to be reverent. (They usually do chose to join us if they are awake. But before when we required it - let's just say scripture study wasn't all that spiritual.) I usually talk about what we read that morning at breakfast when they are eating so I have their attention and yet they are busy. I also read the BOM with Colin at night if he askes me too - some nights he does, some nights he doesn't. We listen to Scripture Scout CDs and talk about them when we need to.
When issues or questions come up, I try to use scripture to address them. Like when agency issues come up, we talk about stories like Jonah (he didn't have a lot of agency inside the whale) and Nephi (Helman 10) where he was so righteous that God gave him power to bind and loose on earth and in heaven.
Or when we were having issues of Colin "fertilizing" the girls' "eggs" when they were playing house so babies could come out of their tummies. (YIKES, I was NOT ready for that one! He didn't know exactly how it worked and everyone stayed fully clothed, but I was not comfortable with that kind of play.) Colin and I snuggled on the couch that happened to have a proclaimation on the wall behind it and we talked. Luckily we had been listening to scripture scouts Proclaimation on the Family so we were both familiar with it. We talked about that God made boys and girls different and Heavenly Father wants us to make babies but that the "sacred powers of procreation were to be employed" only by married moms and dads. We talked about how that was too sacred to play in pretend. He actually asked me (he's 5!!!!) exactly how a dad fertilizes a mom's egg, so I told him. I am really glad to have my first "Birds and the Bees" talk over with. It wasn't as bad as it could have been and I really feel like the spirit was with us as we talked and used the prophet's words so it was sacred not nasty or something.
It is nice to use scripture so it not just some crazy idea that mom has! We all want to follow Jesus, not Satan and the scriptures pretty much tell it like it is.

I have read A LOT of parenting books and I have found that many of them are written by people who's kids did not turn out so they are writing what they should have done - not very credible sources in my mind. One parenting book that actually helped me was "Your Children will Whistle while They Work" by James J Jones. The more helpful part of the book is about three paragraphs in the introduction on page 6 where he talks about "The Two Great Opposing Beliefs about the Nature of Man." He says that the two belief systems are 1 - People are free to choose for themselves in life and will, therefore, learn to avoid pain and seek happiness and that they are responsible for the consequences of those choices. And 2- We people are not capable of making the "right" choices in life and must therefore be controlled and forced to do what others believe is best for us. I had an epiphany when I read that about my own parenting and just who's "plan" I was following in my home and who's "plan" that I wanted to follow. Life has been MUCH better since we started following the Great Plan of Happiness.
(Dr. Jones book also helped me to help the kids learn cause and effect, which has to be learned before the ladder will work - we liked the star charts to help us focus on ONE behavior that was driving me crazy at a time. For example, when ever Colin is difficult to get a long with, he crosses his eyebrows. We made a starchart to help remind him not to cross his eyebrows about two years ago and he has been much more pleasant since! Funny how focusing on not crossing your eyebrows when you speak also helps you sound more pleasant.)

Anyway this got kinda long. Hopefully it is helpful to someone.

Have I ever said how wonderful my kids are? Well, they are. Apparently they are a little abnormal as they seem to amaze people wherever we go.
Today I took the three of them to the doctor's office for an appointment I had to get a mole checked out. We determine that the mole had to go and Dr. H asked if I'd like to reschedule for a time when the kids weren't with me. I told her that I didn't think they would be a problem and we came with the intention of having the mole biopsied. She said she was ok with it if I was, so away the mole went. I now have four stitches on my belly and the mole is in a little jar being shipped to the lab.
The children were the normal, wonderful kids they are. They passed the time eating their little boxes of raisins and laughing together and playing trucks, they hardly noticed the surgery going on above them. When the last stitch was stitched and clean up commenced, Dr. H said, "I can't believe I just did that with three kids in the room, I love to hear the sound of children's laughter."
It is nice to have kids you can take anywhere without worrying too much about behavior!

House of Learning

Microwave Caramel Popcorn - Cracker Jack Style

We like this caramel corn because it is not sticky! Oh, and because it tastes good.

You need:
3 Quarts popped corn in a PAPER grocery bag
(you can add peanuts to the corn if you like.)

1 C Brown sugar
1/4 C corn syrup
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp salt

Microwave these four ingredients for 3 minutes, stir, cook 2 minutes more.
Add:
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
stir until foamy. Pour over popcorn. Fold top of bag over and shake until all the corn is coated with the caramel sauce.
Microwave 1 1/2 minutes. Shake. Cook 1 1/2 minutes. Shake. You may need to cook one more minute.
Cool on cookie sheet.

This popcorn should store ok for about two weeks, but it never lasts more than an hour at our house so I haven't tested that theory. :)

Here are a few pictures of the girls riding the horses. I took Robyn on the first ride and we did fine - she was on the back of me so I could use my knees to hang on. Then I put Grace on the front of me for the second ride - mistake! I couldn't use my knees anymore and the stirrups were a smidge too long. After our incident, Grace went for a good ride with Grandpa holding her. That was more fun than falling off with mom! It is very cute to see Grandpa with his grandbabies!

House of Learning
The kids and I have been planning a trip to "Grandma Murphy's" for weeks now. We made it on Wednesday, but not without some adventure. Randy sold his car the night before we were leaving. Then by some crazy chance, he found "the Jeep" that he has been looking for on the internet and it just happened to be in my own home town. So he took the afternoon off work and came with us. He bought the Jeep at 9:00 PM when Jay was home to act as Notary for the signing of the papers. Then he slept for a few hours before heading back home to make a 10:00 AM meeting at work. It was CRAZY! I always said I was going to marry a guy with a green jeep - now seven and a half years later he finally got the Jeep. :)
The kids and I are staying for a few days to visit Grandma and Grandpa. It has been fun. We set up the bounce house this morning, then we rode the horses with Grandpa. This picture is of the kids who got left behind on the first horse ride waiting for their turn. It was lots of fun. At least it was fun until Grace and I fell off Perla - that was kinda scary! Grandpa saved us before we actually fell to the ground. Perla ran a bit down the little hill to the hay field and my foot slipped through the stirrup. I had to hold on to the saddle horn with one hand and Grace with the other for dear life until we were rescued. All is well that ends well. The valuable lesson that was reaffirmed there is - always wear your cowboy boots when riding a horse!

Learning with TV and Media

The kids were sick early this week so they spent a lot of time watching TV. They were, of course, watching good stuff like PBS, Veggie Tales, and The Magic School Bus. They learned a lot of stuff and I deep cleaned the kitchen so it was all good.

On Thursday we were all tired of TV and so they began playing their favorite game of "Pretend Breakfast" first thing after real breakfast. Pretend Breakfast is a very messy but fun game that they made up last year and still haven't tired of it. As far as I can figure out the game it goes like this: They line up all kinds of stuff up the stairs and all over the house and then move each thing down a certain number (they change the number every time - last time I noticed they had move in numbers that added up to six) of stairs until they get to the bottom of the stairs were that thing pretends to eat breakfast. Usually they use all the babies and stuffed animals they can find, but sometimes they get more creative. This particular time they were using CDs. I was not exactly excited about using CDs so I told them they couldn't use CDs and Robyn said, "We're just pretending." So I told them they would have to use pretend CDs then. Ever since that moment they have spent every waking moment possible to make pretend CDs out of cardstock. Making pretend CDs led to making pretend cassette tapes, which lead to pretend DVDs and then pretend videos. They used a shoe box to create a CD/cassette/video/DVD player and a little can as the video camera. They even turned their desk into a pretend computer with which to burn copies of the CDs and DVDs and to order them from pretend Amazon.com so the pretend post office could deliver them to the pretend houses.
What a great game! They are practicing their cutting skills (even cutting the holes in the middle!) in making the stuff and of course each movie or album needs a name so they are practicing their writing and spelling. After the title, each movie says by: Card Studios - because Colin noticed that Wiggles is by Lyric Studios and the kids are making their videos out of cardstock = Card Studios. Pretty creative, I think. It is very funny when they "watch" each movie because they act out the movie they are watching. Gracie's favorite is "Teeth and the Stinky Feet." Very funny! :)

We went to a violin workshop Saturday morning and they didn't want me to turn on any music in the car because they couldn't hear their pretend music from the shoe box if I did. Colin took the can with him and made "movies" of everything we did that day.
On our way home from the violin workshop, we discovered a free harvest party in our neighborhood with real live ponies. They did not advertise this party very well at all so we pretty much had the party to ourselves (we wouldn't have know about it ourselves had we not driven by). The kids loved riding the ponies over and over again. Colin got it all on "video", too bad it wasn't real video. We did get still photos of the kids on the ponies taken by the Realtors who are trying to sell the houses in our community. Gracie's pony neighed while she was on it - she thought that was hilarious! I thought Gracie was hilarious. They also had a hay bale maze that Colin and Robyn went through A LOT! Robyn was excited to tell Dad about the real live maze for people not just pencils.

Despite the illnesses, we had a great week with much learning taking place. Not to mention my fabulously dejunked kitchen!

Welcome to House of Learning. Kindergartens around us started last month so we are now officially homeschoolers.
We use a Leadership Model for our education best described in Oliver DeMille's book, A Thomas Jefferson Education. Colin, Robyn, and Grace are all core phasers and Randy and I are beginning scholars.
We started our "school" off with a bang by inviting some neighbors over for a science party. This is a picture of one of the neighbors doing the "coke and mentos" experiment. We also had the classic baking soda and vinegar which we used to pop corks off bottles and make volcanos in the sandbox. Fun was had by all!