Hill AFB

The homeschooling school the kids are enrolled in has a lot of opportunities for the kids to go on field trips and participate in activities with other home-schooled kids.  One of these field trips came on January 27th.  The kids were able to sit in on a dress rehersal for a ballet performance in Ogden.  It was only for school aged kids so I couldn't take my youngest three kids.  I was trying to find some way to go when a friend texted me asking if I was going.  Cami is a friend from high school who has been homeschooling her kids for a number of years now.  She's the one who introduced me to Washington Online and she has been a wonderful example to me during our homeschooling adventure.  She volunteered to take Sarah and Hannah to the show, Gracie was too young and Ben didn't want to go.  When the show was over we were going to meet at Hill Air Force Base for some fun.  The night before I got a text from Cami saying her daughter was throwing up and she wasn't going to be able to go.  The kids were disappointed, but understood.  I decided, because they really wanted to go, that I would take them to Hill anyway.  We packed up after naps and headed to Kaysville to look at the airplane museum at Hill AFB.

Standing by a large helicopter

Ben sitting in a pilots seat.  (I have no idea what he's doing. Just being Ben I guess)

Dan wanted a turn too.

Standing by another helicopter. (This time I decided to include Adam.) 

Adam sat so well in the stroller.  It made it a lot easier for me.

Sarah taking one of her 100 or so pictures she took on her phone.

Standing by an airplane.  By this point Dan was getting tired of pictures.

Hannah telling Gracie everything she knows about this airplane.  So cute.

Hannah wanted a picture by the pilots clothes.

Because Hannah got a picture, Gracie wanted one too.  Of course, in true Gracie fashion, it was a silly picture.

Standing by an old Air Force One plane.  By this point we'd lost Dan's willingness to be in pictures.

Dan talking on the phone like the Navajo's did in WWII.

Hannah wanted to talk on the phone too.

We walked around outside for a few minutes, but it was getting dark and the kids were cold.  We'll have to do that another time.

Homeschooling! Are You Crazy?

The poster the kids made on the first day of Homeschooling

January brought about a huge change to our house.  Kenny and I have been debating on the idea of home school for years, well since Sarah started school in Virginia.  We were very unhappy with her teacher out there and really considered home schooling her, but after her kindergarten year we moved to Idaho.  Having the kids enrolled at Rimrock was so wonderful.  Of course there are always things about a school you won't like, but we felt that our kids were getting a good education, that they were being challenged, and that they were happy there.  Leaving that school was one of the hardest parts about leaving Idaho Falls.

We had high hopes for a good education at their new school in Salt Lake.  The kids took a long time adjusting to a new school and new friends.  The move and homelessness was a struggle and probably didn't help with school. Once we got into our own place the kids started doing better socially at school.  Academically was a different story.  Rimrock had done a wonderful job of allowing the kids to learn at their own pace.  They had a lot of programs for advanced learners and both Ben and Sarah were at least a grade level above in Math and Reading.  We learned quickly, after moving here, that this school didn't have any programs for advanced learners.  Ben and Sarah were bored and half way through the school year they were still relearning things they had learned last year, in some cases even things they learned the year before that.  The lack of learning was really bothering both of Kenny and I.  To top it off we watched a documentary on the education system in our country and things just weren't sitting well with me.  I prayed about it, talked to Kenny about it, and then talked to the kids about it.  We decided, over the span of a few weeks, that taking the kids out of public school would be best for everyone.  It was a hard decision and one that took some faith, but in the end I felt confident it was the right one.  (Now, I need to clarify that I don't have a problem with public school in general and this new school is not a bad school, it just didn't work for us.)

We have enrolled our kids in Washington Online which is an online program that helps me teach them.  They get their Math, Language Arts, Science, Music, and Spanish from them.  It's taken me awhile to figure out how to use the stuff that they've given us, but I'm slowly figuring it out.  I started by doing just exactly what the school says to do and having the kids do lessons one at a time.  I quickly learned that the kids were still bored and no one was learning anything.  Since then we've gone on to doing things at our own pace.  Things are moving slowly and we're figuring out together how to get things done.    So far it's been a pain at times, it's been wonderful at times, and it's definitely been a learning experience for everyone.  No matter what I wouldn't change it and the kids feel the same way.

Meeting Al Jefferson

Ben and Sarah down on the floor after the show.

 Sarah is suppose to have a basketball game every Wednesday night until the first part of March.  On Wednesday, January 18th Kenny took Sarah to her 6:00 game only to find out it was canceled due to a special meet the Jazz player event they were having at the Energy Solutions Center.  He called me from the gym and told me not to come (I was finishing feeding the other kids and then I was going to be on my way to the game) and he asked if we wanted to go meet the Jazz player.  We thought it'd be kind of fun for the kids so we headed out to downtown Salt Lake to meet the Jazz player.

Adam waiting for the show to begin.

Waiting for the show to begin.

Mr Jefferson introducing himself.

The player who came out to meet the kids was number 25, Al Jefferson.  I'm not familiar with him, I haven't really followed the Jazz since the days of Stockton, Malone and Hornacek, but I have since learned he's a pretty good player, even if he was born in 1985 and should be way to young to be playing professional basketball.  :)  Anyway, Sarah and Ben really enjoyed listening to him teach them a little about basketball.  They were able to go down on the floor and do some warm-ups with a bunch of other kids.  It was great for them and they really enjoyed it.  The other 4 kids got bored about half way through and I had to take them out.  We wandered the walkways in the Energy Solutions Center until they were done.  Even though they got bored, everyone enjoyed themselves and I'm glad we went.  Ironically I ran into my cousin, Natalie, whose son is also part of Junior Jazz.  It was fun to see her and was a great way to end the evening.

Gracie "watching" the show.

Al Jefferson showing the kids how to do warm-ups.

A bunch of kids doing warm-ups.  If you look close you can see Gracie (in the purple shirt) in the
back and Sarah a little in front of her.

Basketball Begins

We put Ben and Sarah in Junior Jazz this year.  Ben was very disappointed last year when he didn't get to play basketball and so he was really excited to play this year.  Junior Jazz is quite a bit different than basketball in Idaho Falls was.  For starters they begin in 1st grade not Kindergarten, which Hannah was really disappointed about.  Also 1st and 2nd graders do an instructional thing and don't actually have a team or games.  It was kind of a bummer for Ben, but for the most part he enjoyed it.  He is, however, looking forward to next year when he gets to play on a team of his own.

Sarah has wanted to play basketball since Ben played back in kindergarten.  We couldn't afford it last year and she was pretty bummed.  When I asked her if she wanted to play this year she was very excited up until it was time to register her.  At that point she wanted to back out because she was nervous.  Kenny and I both felt it would be good for her in many ways so we encouraged her to change her mind.  Thank goodness she did because it has been wonderful for her.  Her team is fairly new at the sport and her coach has never coached before.  Kenny took Sarah to her first practice and noticed quickly that her coach really had no idea what he was doing. Kenny offered some suggestions and then asked if the coach wanted any help coaching.  The coach said yes and they've been coaching together ever since.  Kenny has enjoyed coaching Sarah and getting to know the other girls on her team and Sarah has enjoyed having her dad there teaching everyone.  

Sarah's first game was on January 11th.  It was a rough game that they sadly didn't win.  The girls had only had one practice and didn't really know what they were doing.  The next Saturday at practice Kenny helped them with their defense and taught them to be more aggressive.  It worked wonders and they have improved so much since then.  Here are some pictures from Sarah's first game.  There'll be more pictures to come as the season progresses.

Hogle Zoo

We may have had a not so wonderful New Year's, but the kids quickly got feeling better, just in time for warmer weather.  This winter has been far from a typical winter and that was very evident on January 2nd when the sun was shining and the temperature were in the upper 40's. We started by taking the kids to see a matinee showing of The Muppet's.  It was awesome.  We have all become big fans of The Muppet's.  It was the best kids movie I've seen in awhile.  

We came out of the theater smiling and singing Muppet songs only to discover the warm temperatures and beautiful sunshine.  We figured it was the perfect day to use our new Zoo pass we got from Kenny's parents for Christmas.  We headed home real quick, got the camera, stroller, zoo passes and some snacks and headed to the zoo.  It was a great finish to a great day.  The kids had a great time and loved looking at all the animals.  I'm excited to go when it's a little warmer and more of the animals are outside.

Adam watching the elephants.

Gracie and Hannah watching the elephants from a distance.

The kids liked playing with this monkey.  He was very entertaining.

Watching the big rhino through the window.  He was kind of intimidating.

New Years Disappointment

After Christmas I headed to Logan with the kids to spend a week with my family.  My cousin was in town for the week from California and I wanted to spend some time with her.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with family, so fun in fact that I didn't take any pictures.  Oh well!  Maybe next time.

We were suppose to spend New Years in Grace.  I headed up Friday night and Kenny was going to come up Saturday morning.  However, Friday night didn't go smoothly.  I'll spare you the details and just say that I slept about an hour thanks to multiple kids throwing us ALL over the place.  It wasn't pleasant for any of us.  I decided, rather than stay with sick kids, that I'd drive home the next morning.  So we spent our New Years at home with sick kids and an exhausted mom.  Oh well, it happens.

The kids were all VERY disappointed that they didn't get to stay and play with their cousins.  So once they were feeling better we let the 4 youngest get in mom and dad's bath tub.  It's totally like grandma's hot tub, right!?!  It wasn't our most favorite New Year's ever, but we're hoping the new year will be wonderful.

Love this picture of Dan.  I don't know what he's doing, but I love his face.