Roller Skating

We had our first home school activity on February 10th.  The school we get our curriculum through was having a Valentine's Day get together at a roller skating rink in Layton.  The kids wanted to go so we made valentine's for everyone and headed to the rink after our school work.  It was a lot of fun.  I met some nice people there and Sarah made a friend.  The kids had a blast roller skating and I'm really glad we went.

Luckily we were able to bring scooters to the rink.  All the kids tried the skates, but Sarah was the only one who decided to stick with the them.  Ben loved riding his scooter and racing me on my roller blades.

Sarah on roller skates.  She started on roller blade, but changed her mind and went with skates.  I guess I haven't been a very good parent because none of my kids know how to roller skate.

I pushed the boys around in the stroller.  Adam really enjoyed it, Daniel got a little bored.

Gracie riding her scooter.

Dan preferred to run around instead of ride.

Hannah riding Sarah's scooter.  She had a blast on the scooter and was very happy Sarah wanted to roller skate.

Gracie trying to sit down on her scooter.  She quickly learned it doesn't work very well  while sitting.

Sarah and her new friend both on skates.

I found Dan laying down on the rink at the end of the day.  I guess that means it's time to head home.

Sick Kids

This winter wasn't too bad for sickness at our house, but we did go through a few yucky periods.  Here's Dan in February just getting over the flu.  Sometimes keeping warm in your blanket with your favorite blue monkey while watching Backyardigan's on mom and dad's bed is a great cure.

This

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.