On day one of our third year of homeschooling, we drove out to our friends’ house in (what we call) the country. The Alders expanded their chicken coop and have new baby chicks they are kind enough to share with their friends. We spent a good two hours at their house because it was so easy to stay and visit and laugh. Seth was incredibly excited about getting pooped on by a baby chicken. Boys and poop… I rest my case.

Seth was very excited to come home and write in his journal about his exciting day. He asked if we could go to their house every day or every week. Not sure our friends would go for that. After we had lunch and while Zoe was taking a nap, we got started on our science project–something I saw on Pinterest which was very cute and science worthy. Plus, it makes me cool that we made candy on our first day. (I am willing to admit that in the back of my mind I wanted to counteract any desires for him to go to public school like his siblings. I feel strongly that he should be home with me.) It has been really interesting to see how Zoe and Seth are reacting to having to wait a whole week before they get their chops on these rock candy sticks. Delayed gratification is good for building character, right?

Next, I introduced Seth to Gamma, the next MathUSee book for him. He is so glad to finally learn multiplication. It was good to sit with him and watch the lightbulbs going off. I love this curriculum. I think in the end, Seth will run circles around his older siblings in his grasp of mathematics. (That would be the perfect revenge for all their heckling. “What?! You don’t know how to multiply??” I could smack them both.)

We started Volume 2: The Middle Ages in The Story of the World. When we read the first chapter, it was nice to see that Seth remembered a lot about the Fall of Rome. He didn’t want to stop reading until we had read the whole chapter which was basically a review of the last chapter of Volume 1. Today we are going to review what we read and make a Roman Legion’s Signum. Then we will move on to The Early Days of Britain and the Celts. Should we watch Braveheart? No, you’re right… a little too brutal for his age.

I have a Charlotte Mason book called Simply Grammar that I decided to introduce to Seth. I’ve had it since last year, but could never bring myself to use it with everyone. It’s perfect for one-on-one instruction because it’s very gentle. You’ve seen the sterile grammar books that are cut and dry, but this one has a meandering-through-life-let’s-go-catch-bugs-outside-now feel to it. I feel like cozying up on the couch with him while we write sentences and make up stories about the old style pen and ink drawings in the book. It was funny when he first read the instructions and then looked at the picture of a girl with no shoes on and another girl, fully dressed holding a pair of shoes. He said, “But Mom, I don’t know this story.” I told him that he was supposed to make one up and to look at the clues. Immediately he rattled off a story about how the girl played at the park and then couldn’t find her shoes so she went home without them and that’s why the other girl was just coming in to return them.

Seth began reading The Indian in the Cupboard on his own. When he was done, he came and narrated back to me what he had read. He seems to really like the book and when I ask him questions about it, he has great answers. I started reading this book to them out loud, but I find that Seth retains information better when he sees it. He doesn’t do well with audio books at all.

For Citizenship, we will continue to work on his Cub Scout Bear Book. There’s always a chapter in the Scout books that has to do with Citizenship. He will also get to listen in on Zack’s Merit Badges (Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World). We will continue with learning the states and their Postal Abbreviations, the Declaration of Independence, and creating a notebook with details of each state. There’s also an educational program on the History Channel called, “How Did the States Get Their Shape?” which might be good to watch. I’ve recorded some, but haven’t viewed them yet.

For Spelling, he will continue with Spelling Power. I may go back to having him type his list online at Spelling City. This will give him some typing practice and allow him some game time that is educational. He will also get some computer time practicing typing skills online, as well as emailing letters to family. I’m going to stress the different parts of a letter even in email. We have already made it a rule that if they get on the computer they have to email a letter to someone. So far, Seth and Zack have only written to each other little sentences back and forth. We have to be very specific, it seems.

At least, Seth only has to fight with Zoe over computer time. Zoe can get online, install an app for a game, and then start playing it. Her favorite website is NickJr.com and she loves playing Dora Paint, Nehao something or other, and the Backyardigans. She does pretty well on the Plants vs. Zombies game, too. She has her own email address, but the emails she sends out are mostly gibberish with a few Zoe’s thrown in there. So if you have gotten one of these, just know that she told everyone in the household at least twice that she did her name.

Here’s another thing I found on Pinterest… Bugles + strawberry cream cheese = little ice cream cones.

Take a look at our science project… the crystals have formed on the sticks, but also on the bottom of the jars and in a crust at the top of the jar. I am thinking of pouring the rest onto pans to make the liquid evaporate faster. I think the rock candy sticks are enough to make the kids happy.

And that’s a wrap. Thanks for all of your support and prayers. We need it/them. Here’s to a good school year!

We decided during registration that Zack would benefit from going to public school full time. Playing cello in the Varsity Orchestra and participating in UIL competitions would be uncomplicated if he were fully enrolled. He expressed an interest in running track and I was pretty sure that all the sports competitions are UIL. The athletics class begins with football and track comes later, but he decided to try football also. We sent him to a four-day camp at the beginning of August and he got a brutal introduction to the world of sports in the heat of Texas. (He threw up on the first day and one of the coaches told him not to do that on the field, but to go “over there” and do it. He didn’t really want to return, but I had already told him not to judge his experience from the first day. He made it through the camp and ended up liking football.) When I asked the counselor what it would take to enroll Zack full-time, she said, “Let me go and find out.” We were sitting in the lobby for quite a while when she finally returned and said, “OK. He’s fully enrolled.” I was a little taken aback because I had not asked her to enroll him, but decided to just go with it because we were there to sign up for football and I couldn’t sign the forms and get a uniform for Zack unless he was a full-time student. Long story, short, Zack reports that he no longer feels sick and his helmet doesn’t hurt his head as much anymore (this after two weeks of school). His favorite classes are Orchestra, Math and Reading Strategies. I can tell you that we hit the ground running with this kid and we haven’t stopped… just as I suspected, he has not felt the stress of it in the least. He is well suited for this constant changing and running ragged.

The first week of public school, Sarah started her first year of Seminary–at 5:40 am (!!)–and continued with band at the high school as a part-time student. We began to consider whether or not she would benefit from attending full-time. It would be good for her to be able to compete in UIL competitions and get to display the skills she worked so hard for. The seriousness of the high school band, the commitment and dedication needed, first brought to my mind that I should consider a public high school experience for her. Plus, I could not see myself devoting much time for homeschooling the two youngest if I was driving her back and forth from seminary and back and forth from school and back and forth for after school practices. Wayyyy too much driving. Sarah didn’t want to at first, but wanted to wait until next year. I told her that if she had any desire to go to high school, she should start at the beginning of the high school curriculum. I emailed her counselor and the reply confirmed my thoughts. I gave Sarah and us (Josh and me) a week to pray, ponder, and pro/con list the idea of her returning. At the end of the week, we all felt good about it. Sarah was enrolled that Friday afternoon with a phone call from the counselor later that day asking us to come in for her full schedule on Monday morning.

Something I love about her schedule is that she is the only girl in her Architecture class. Her teacher seems really on the ball and his website is the most developed out of any I’ve seen so far. Sarah thoroughly enjoyed her first week doing something she actually shows some passion about. Architecture was a spur-of-the-moment choice while on the phone with her counselor. All the options for Sarah to choose just one more elective didn’t sound interesting to her. I was surprised when Sarah chose it. It’s moments like these that make me feel like we have discovered/uncovered a bit more of who she will become.

Another pleasant surprise is that she chose French. I had no idea she wanted to learn French and it has been fun busting out my limited knowledge from when I took French in high school. She also has English Pre-AP, Symphonic I Band (with the option to move up to Wind Symphonic if she works hard), Biology Pre-AP and World Geography Pre-AP. Her math class on the first day was Algebra I, but Sarah insisted that it was way too easy, so we asked for her to move to Geometry. The counselor asked for some paperwork and went ahead and changed her schedule on the second day, but Sarah had a doctor appointment and missed it that day. She would eventually have to take an exam and pass with a 70% or above in order to get credit for Algebra I, but it takes a while for the test request to be filled. Sarah has been to the Geometry class twice and has been lost both times. The class was taught by a substitute teacher who apparently did not give any instruction at all. The counselor asked us to talk about it over the weekend and then see how we feel on Tuesday. I think it would be best for her to go back to Algebra I even though most of it will be review. She has a lot of other Pre-AP classes and not a lot of time between band practice and bedtime.

With two in and two out, I have already noticed a difference in the household. Family scripture study is a lot easier to hold when everyone is present. Hopefully, the last two years will stick out in my children’s brains as a time of less stress and more abundance of the Spirit in the home. I’m hoping for Zack to rely on his new priesthood responsibilities as an extra layer of protection while out in the world. Things are so busy all the time, perhaps they will appreciate more the last two years. I miss them a lot and marvel at how little time I have with them now, but ultimately, I think this is a good thing for our family at this time.

As of now, I have no intention of returning Seth to public school or letting Zoe go. In the past, I entertained the idea that Kindergarten would be good for her, but I have since learned that my favorite teacher has retired, so I’m reluctant to let her enter the system. I am excited to devote more time to my younger ones at home. Seth is way more excited this year just from the first two days (which I will blog next with pictures). It seems that each new year of homeschool will be nothing like the last.

My days are still full. I have my day job. I have my church calling. I have my two younger ones to educate at home. I have driving to Seminary and football practices in the mornings and picking up from orchestra sectionals and band practices in the afternoon. There’s homework assignments and tests to make up (for Sarah since she technically missed the first week of school). So far, I have bus chaperoned for two Fridays at football games for the band with the promise of middle school games to start this week. I have to remember not to schedule anything on Thursday mornings because the two older ones have a late start on school. My brain cells have had to adjust to the new schooling demands.

“Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. This is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it.” -Thomas S. Monson

Zoe got invited to her first tea party ever. Being the princess-obsessed, three-year-old that she is, she knew instinctively that a tea party was something she wanted to go to. I didn’t have to explain it to her. She went to the door immediately to put on her shoes. I had to call her back because it wasn’t time to go yet. The thing that’s puzzling to me is that Mormons don’t drink tea, so how does she even know what a tea party is?

I don’t know that I would know how to throw a tea party, so I was looking forward to seeing how they do it in Stewartville–home to three princesses. My own Sarah had no interest in dolls or princesses or tea parties. Maybe I didn’t give her a chance because she was too busy throwing aliens around the house. The only time she wore pink was when she was too young to protest. And then there was Zoe. She loves baby dolls, kittens, and pink. She covets all things with the Disney princesses on it even if she doesn’t know what it is. I don’t know how or why she is like this, but it had nothing to do with me. She came this way. And now I’m experiencing all kinds of new adventures… like tea parties.

It was such a perfect day for an outdoor déjeuner with other princess-obsessed girly girls. Zoe rang the bell and then ran to stand back, holding her purse and doll, a few paces out from the door. I guess she thought that’s what princesses do. I felt like she was following some higher law of good manners while waiting to be received. If there is any proof that your clothes dictate your behavior, this was it… dress like a princess and your manners become refined. And then she entered the house, took off her shoes, and ran to the back yard in her bare feet. (Elegance could not be upheld with her Hawaiian-style upbringing of removing shoes upon entering a house.) Princess B and Princess Sweet P were seated at the princess table in their finery and graciously received her. Zoe then began sharing the contents of her purse with them. (That’s what princesses do.) Then they colored Princess place mats, picked out princess bracelets, and played with play dough while waiting for Princess Emily to arrive. She gave everyone magnetic dolls. Zoe was in princess heaven.

The feast was brought out and everything was beautifully decorated. Cheese and crackers, orange wedges, pink candy corn, fudge, and water in little tea cups–the simplest of foods– was made gourmet in its presentation. Princess B, being the oldest, was the most elegant. I loved watching these little girls enter a world of imagination come to life with a few props. And then they got down on the grass and played princess soccer (kicking little colored balls around with reckless abandon). Such fun! A great way to spend an hour with friends.

Destruction follows

Swooshing, sucking water

In, over Earth’s wounds

Enourmous, indestructable force

Pure power pushing, claiming land

Barely a warning

All shores fear

Cruel

Merciless

Almighty

Leaving nothing

Save those who quake and tremble with terror

No room, no time

For sick fascination

This moment, nothing’s sweeter than life

Move

Out

Of the way

The sea. Pulling, calling waters thick and black

With dirt and dark sorrow

Back to the depths, to calmer waters

Taking all which ripped from the ground

Loved ones washing away.

TSUNAMI

Seth and Zack are fascinated by poop. I attribute their love of toilet humor to their being boys. It’s just funny to them.

After I decreed that Captain Underpants, Pokemon and other manga books were no longer acceptable forms of reading, Seth came home from the library with this book, Jurassic Poop. He thought it was hilarious and tried to explain to me about the dinosaur that made a huge poop in the water and– I had to stop him. I was fighting my gag reflex. I mean, I can’t handle poop. I’m the chick who will jump in her car and track down a runner with a dog to make sure that he will come back and pick up the dump the doggie did on my lawn (true story) because I can’t stand to look at it, and I’m even more fearful of stepping in it. UGH!

I came across the book again while cleaning and I kept a firm hold on my stomach contents to brave turning the pages to find out what exactly Jacob Berkowitz has to say about ancient poop. It’s filled with pictures, graphics (Illustrator Steve Mack must have had fun with this one), and interesting facts about coprolites, cololites and the people who study them. I learned some amazing things about all kinds of crap. Particularly noteworthy is how volcanic ash and water can transform poop into gemstones known as agates. They have beautiful streaks and swirls of color that when polished turn from “turd to treasure”. (Go Pele!) I was also grossed out by the eight thousand years worth of caribou poop in Yukon Territory–like I needed another reason to fear global warming–discovered when some of the patches of ice melted. I had to stop reading when we came to human poop and the wonderfully preserved finds that ancient outhouses are. That’s a little too close to home for me. Before I shut the book, I did chance to read that Romans had peach pits in their latrines which signifies someone sent them a care package because peaches weren’t grown in the region, but DANG. They ate the peach pits? What is up with that?

I must stop now. My will to keep from vomiting is wearing thin. Still, I see the value in the knowledge and wisdom my boys can gain from reading Jurassic Poop. I just don’t want to hear about it. If they must narrate their wisdom, I will direct them to their Daddy who has no problems with the potty talk. It must be because he’s a boy.

I bought a jar of Nutella in the international aisle of HEB early last week. I made a double batch of rolls and I figured we could go European and eat chocolate for breakfast. The kids were out of their minds with happiness, dying and going to heaven every morning. And now the jar is almost gone. It’s times like these that I have to concede that our family is big. I told the kids that bigger jars of Nutella exist. I know because I saw it in Lance Armstrong’s photo book. Now all I need is to get my hands on it. Anybody know where to buy obscenely huge jars of Nutella in America?

It’s our second year of homeschooling and the picture above is from our second day. The boys are getting a spelling test and Zoe is just happy to have her own pencil, paper and clipboard. Sarah is at band, so we have an hour to do a bit of spelling and then play at the park for some exercise. I’m finding that this fits our schedule nicely since Sarah is not doing Sequential Spelling with the boys, so she’s not missing a lesson. The park nearby the school keeps me from having to go all the way back home. It’s a nice way to get out of the house, get the baby tired, and burn some calories.

Not only are we hitting the park daily, we are taking walks in the morning. I’ve downloaded a pedometer to my phone to keep track of our progress. The first day, we walked for twenty minutes and almost a mile. The second day, we walked for a mile and it took twenty-two minutes. We’ll build up slowly as the weeks progress. Seth wants to get up to 3 miles and Zack is shooting for 5 miles. (I haven’t asked Sarah for her goal yet.) We’ll see how it goes. I don’t want to walk all day. We’ll have to cut it to 45 minutes, tops. I’ve found the perfect place to walk, but we have to jump in the car to get there. It’s worth it if we can walk in perpetual shade and keep out of the way of cars. We’re walking on a bridge. We have a friend who lives near there who has extended an open invitation for a glass of ice water after our walks. This does wonders for my motivation!

There’s more new stuff we’re doing this year that we didn’t do last year. Like writing to pen pals, a drawing class using the book, Drawing With Children, copy work, and notebooking. Seth is learning cursive. I’m still getting situated–the whole year isn’t planned out yet. I needed to see how our schedule would pan out with two kids in middle school part time for electives. I was grateful for the week and a half when public school started before homeschool to get a better handle on how to map out the day. Things are just falling into place as I tackle them.

Even Zoe has started formal reading lessons using the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I had not planned on starting her in formal lessons, but she seemed to wake up to books this past summer. She never wanted me to read books to her before, so I’m jumping on it. We are skipping the writing tasks given with each lesson because she’s not ready to write, but she does the sounds well so far. She pretty much knows her alphabet in sign language and we sign them together while singing the Alphabet Song, so we’ll see how this translates into reading. If she’s anything like her older sister, she’ll be reading by this time next year.

I’ll try to keep the blog updated as the year progresses, but I still have a day job and I’m trying to up my hours so that means less blog time. I’ll find a way. I could just give up sleep. That would work.

I Googled “jello toast” for recipes, but could only find one. I figure I can forgive myself for never having heard of it until last month on a friend’s blog. It seemed pretty straight forward… buttered bread with jello on it, bake it, and eat. Right? I was dubious, “So… just put pour the powder on? How much is too much? A thick layer, she says. How thick is thick?” I decided to go with the flow and let Arwen correct me in the comments.

Need: Sliced Bread

Now that we’re back from Grandma and Grandpa’s house where we were spoiled with fresh bread daily, the kids have been running the bread machine ragged. We have the same bread machine that they do, thanks to our Zojirushi connection in the family, but there are two differences between them and us. 1.) We are lazy, and 2.) We lack counter space to keep it out and ready to rock.

I asked Sarah to make bread. The recipe for white bread is right on the side of the machine for convenience and she has done it before so I had complete faith in her. (I did, however, remind her to put the paddles in the bottom of the pan before throwing in the ingredients. She has forgotten to do that in the past, and I don’t recommend it. Notice I didn’t say that we threw away the deformed, unmixed rock that came out. We ate it. Oh, yes, we did.) The next day, I asked her to show Zack how to do it. And then the next day, I asked her to let him do it, but shadow him to make sure he didn’t forget anything. I asked her to do the same thing with Seth.

Now every Haley kid save Zoe knows how to make bread in the machine. They are having their way with it! Seth has made bread for several days in a row. His first loaf was so beautiful that we all went nuts. It was enough positive reinforcement for him to keep me in bread indefinitely… or until the 102 pounds of free flour runs out. That’s going to be a sad, sad day, but let’s not go there. Moving right along…

Need: Butter

I’m pretty sure that any ol’ butter or margarine will do. Not sure about the vegetable spreads, but that’s an experiment that one of you readers will have to undertake.

Need: Jello

Any ol’ flavor of Jello will do. I used strawberry. Big surprise, right?

Don’t Need: Sugar

That one recipe that I found said to add sugar. Jello is all sugar, so I just trusted my friend’s version and did not add sugar.

Bake

When in doubt, I always use 350 degrees fahrenheit. I was in doubt. I didn’t time it either, so I’m not sure how long it took for the Jello to get crispy.

Eat

I tasted this when I had a sinus infection. I couldn’t taste my meals at the time, but I did taste this. For the taste to have broken through to my deadened taste buds just shows that you really don’t need sugar. The crispy parts are the best, and I would venture to say that there is no such thing as too thick when layering on the powder. In fact, don’t miss a spot on the bread.

Josh was not a fan. He said it was too sweet. (See?) The kids loved them and devoured them up and wanted me to make more on the spot. I didn’t, but I have made Jello Toast two times since. The snack reminds me of when I was seven or eight, a latchkey kid, coming home from school to an empty house, and scrounging up something to eat. I used to eat things like Swiss Miss hot chocolate powder, Kool-Aid powder, and Non-Dairy Creamer out of paper cup with a spoon. I’m fairly certain that Jello Toast was created by a latchkey kid who was allowed to turn on the oven.

What do you think? Wouldn’t it be great if someone would step forward with proof and tell how they created this simple and delicious snack? That’s a story I think I’d like to hear. Until then, I’ll just thank Arwen and give her credit for her brilliance. Thank you, Friend!

I forgot to bring my camera the first time we went on an extremely sunny day, but remembered to bring it today and it was overcast. In fact, it was raining on us by the time we left. We were out in the water when it started to rain and Grandma said to the boys, “Oh, no, we might get wet!” They just laughed. She’s a funny gal.

One of my favorite things to do at Grandma’s beach is make dribble castles. The sand is so fine that you can dig a hole, fill it with water (or let the waves do it for you), grab a handful of wet sand, and dribble it in a pile. I like to make bridges between two spires and make a bunch so the king and queen have plenty of places to cross. What can I say? It sparks my imagination and I’m a kid again.

I was way too excited about my creation and took pictures of it before it could get destroyed (either by natural disaster or the toddler).

Hope y’all are having a great summer!

The last one we did was from an actual poem that Sarah wrote last year. None of us have ever heard it before. She has it memorized and with our encouragement, she recited the whole thing for us. One of her friends from 6th grade used to share her poems between friends and Sarah said they were kind of depressing and emo, but one day this poem just came to her. She said I could blog it.

Drops of rain fall to my face.
I wipe them off to leave no trace.
People drive by thinking I have no fears,
But they can’t see
That the rain’s really tears.

Another flash of pain strikes through my chest.
I stumble back inside, thought I know
I can’t rest.
In this house I turn away from everyone I know
I hurry to my room to pack up everything and go.

“I don’t know where to flee”
Thinks the voice inside of me.
Then I find
That I can’t.
‘Cause the hatred’s pointed at
Not him,
But only me.

We were pretty impressed, and I made a mental note to read more poetry to my children. Zack and Seth became inspired and started rhyming about poop and stuff. They thought they were hilarious. I asked Sarah to write her poem down with the date so that I could have a record of it. The boys decided that they would write theirs down, too. Here’s Seth’s:

Poo fell on my face. I Die.
Chicken’s Die, too.
(this dosn’t Make Sence)
Chickens poo on my face
From this day on…

After that, he wrote another nonsense poem, crumpled up the page to make it look old, and then gave it to Josh to read aloud. It went like, “Ugaa Ugaa tuagar par ma. are tee pee po pa.” Silly kid. We thought it was funny that he tried to make it look old, but then the date he had written at the top was 4-25-10.

I thought Zack’s was going to be just as silly, but it wasn’t bad. Josh said, “What’s it about?” and he answered, “It’s about a guy who comes in the house and shoots everybody.” Josh said, “Ok, now read it again.”

I heard footsteps on the floor.
Then I heard it on the door.
It was at a bad time.
And it was no friend of mine.
I tried it slow at first,
but it ended with a big burst.
I can not write any more.
I just lay here on the floor.

After hearing it in context, there was a little silence after he read it, and then all at once we said things like, “Whoa” or “Wow” or “Holy cow”, and then, “Good job, Zack!” It didn’t have a title when he read it to us, but after typing it up, I noticed that he put a title on it, “Just a Man”.

Now there is just one thing I would like to know… where is he getting his inspiration? He wrote it in ten minutes and then drew a cartoon picture on the back that had nothing to do with the subject of the poem. As Zoe would say, “What heck?”