Changes

After much thought and prayer, we have decided to try home schooling this year!  Although, we are supposedly in the best school district of the area, it just hasn't met my expectations. I really was debating on just enduring one more school year that we have here, but I was met with the strongest impressions to try something else.  I never thought I would become a homeschooling mom.  It was never right for our family….. until now.  The kids have welcomed this idea and are onboard for the changes.  We are doing a free online public school curriculum called K12.



We just got our shipment of books and supplies for the year!  We are all excited to start this process.  For now, we plan to do this until we move next year and then evaluate the public schools in our new town.  Who knows, we may just love it so much, we will keep up with it after the move.


I was just called to be my ward's "Early-Morning Seminary Teacher!"  I will be preparing 5 lessons a week from the Book of Mormon to be taught at my house every morning at 6am!



Seminary was a time when the scriptures really came to life for me.  I hope I can make seminary a memorable and testimony-building experience for the kids I teach.  I have to sacrifice my early-morning workouts and sleep.  I'm nervous to fit in the preparation and adjusting everything else to make it all work.  I can only do it with faith.

So these two changes have been an answer to my prayers in a way.  Being a stay-at-home mom has brought the challenge for me to keep an "active" mind.  It's been hard for me to feel like I'm still growing in knowledge since I don't go to school anymore or have a professional job.  It's been hard for me to really push myself in learning something new.  Well, I took these concerns to the Lord.  Now I have 2 opportunities this year to push myself to study and prepare things so that I can share it with others.

1,2,3,4!

Sometimes I still can't believe I am at this point in my life where I am raising 4 kids!  Life is busy, messy, loud, and fun.  There is plenty of fighting, screaming, and crying, but there are times when they all get along and show some sibling love!

I just wanted to write down a little bit about each kid, more for family history, but you may read on if you want!

Makenzie:

Questionnaire  (with her own responses)

Favorite Color:  All of them

Favorite Food:  Ice Cream (more specifically- vanilla with chocolate syrup and sprinkles)

Favorite Toy:  Anything with horses

Best Friend: Malachi (a boy from school)

Favorite Summertime activity:  swimming

What do you want to be when you grow-up:  a Pet store owner, a zookeeper, or a horse trainer

Where do you want to go on vacation: Utah to visit cousins or the Kentucky Derby

Makenzie is very care-free and would prefer not to do any work!  She loves all animals and bugs.  She loves to read and will read all the children's books that we get from the library in one setting.  She is starting to conquer large chapter books.  She loves to read to her little sister.  Makenzie would be content to eat a bowl of cereal for every meal.  I have had to limit her now to 2 bowls of cereal a day.  Makenzie is progressing with the piano, to her dismay.  It is not her favorite thing to do, but she will thank me later, right?  She has decided to continue another year with her dance and gymnastics.  I believe she has plenty of talent in the arts and it will be fun to see how it develops more in the coming years.  She is wanting to try out soccer for the first time this fall. Makenzie is becoming a quite a deep-thinker and really has some thought-provoking questions about life and the plan of salvation.  Her knowledge of the scriptures and the gospel astounds me for her age.  Makenzie loves her little sister and is constantly commenting on how adorable she is.  She is a great helper.  Makenzie has discovered the game of "Minecraft" and is becoming addicted.  Mom can easily get more work out of her, so she can "earn" more electronic time.

Jordan:

Questionnaire (with his own responses)

Favorite Color:  Blue

Favorite Food:  Pizza (or any tomato-based food)

Favorite Toy:  Tanks

Best Friend:  Jeb (a neighbor boy)

Favorite Summertime activity:  Slip N Slide

What do you want to be when you grow up: a Doctor

Where do you want to go on vacation:  Kings Island

Jordan is an all-around good kid.  He is all about routine and staying on track.  He is constantly checking the calendar, the clock, and the weather. He is so aware of his surroundings and what is going on.  He is by far my best worker.  He just gets things done, so he can play.  Jordan just thirsts for knowledge and is just so interested in life.  He is LOVING the piano and will just sit at the piano and play on his own throughout the day.  Jordan loves to have a buddy to play with and is constantly outside playing with the neighbor kids.  Jordan has quite the sense of humor and is always looking for a good laugh.

Gavin:

Questionnaire (with his own responses)

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Food:  Cheetos

Favorite toy:  Cars

Best Friend:  Jordan (Ha Ha! It must have been a good day!)

Favorite Summertime activity: playing in the water

What do you want to be when you grow up:  A missionary

Where do you want to go on vacation: Disney World

Gavin is quite a character.  I often refer to him as our "fireball" or "firecracker."  I don't think the kid can ever shut his mouth.  He is so animated and there is always some kind of sound effect coming out of his mouth to help satisfy his imagination.  He is a very-stronged willed child and will put his mind to anything he wants, even when mom says "no." He has been our biggest trouble-maker and mess-maker yet.  Gavin still has no desire to sit and do many learning activities for more than 5-10 minutes.  Learning his alphabet and numbers are going at a snail's pace.   Gavin learns plenty from his siblings though- the good and the bad.  He is notorious for telling very believable, but not true stories!  Gavin is most often the instigator when it comes to fights with his siblings.  He just loves to bug them.  Every night before bed, Gavin must have the "Temple" song sung to him.  He still sleeps with his blue baby blanket.  We actually had Grandma make a new one to replace because the other one wore out and unraveled.

Ellionna:

Ellionna is our sweet and mellow babe.  She rounds out all the kid's personalities in a perfect way.  She is often the center of attention in our house.  She holds a special relationship with all of her siblings.  No words are coming yet, but she is full of expressions.  She loves to be outside.  She will grab her shoes and sit on the stairs to tell me she is ready to go out.  She loves getting a wagon ride.  Ellionna is becoming a picky eater already, just like Jordan.  We discovered that one of her teeth came in deformed.  She has a tooth and a half in place of just one.  Ellionna is really liking books and also discovered coloring.  Unfortunately, our walls have been the victim to her drawings.  Ellionna just loves to be with her siblings and be included in all the fun.  

Horseback rides

We got to enjoy a fun evening with Tyler's co-workers.  One of the girls hosted it at her home, which has some acreage and is by a State Park. It was beautiful and peaceful.  She saddled up her horses and we all enjoyed a few rides.  

Gavin held a death grip on the horn and didn't get too far before he wanted off. 

Jordan may have found a new love.

Makenzie was a natural and did not want to get off.  

She was in dreamland all night long. 

Ellionna was in "awe."

Water Baby

This girly loves outside and the water.  

Give her a bucket and the hose and she is entertained for hours!

Goodbye party

We had to say goodbye to some really great friends who were moving to Georgia.  We decided to have one last get-together and celebrate one of the girl's birthdays.  

The kids had a water balloon fight.  

I just love this picture of the kids.  So classic!

Ellionna was content to just eat some watermelon and avoided any water, although they were being thrown all around her.


She did not avoid the dirt though and face planted it in the sand volleyball court.

Rain, rain, go away!!

We had a rainy few weeks.  And when it rains here, it pours.  We had a damper of a 4th of July because of it.  I don't ever remember having bad weather on my favorite holiday!  Everything was cancelled… no parades, BBQ's, or fireworks.  We made the most of it.  In the evening, the kids played out in the rain and throughout the drizzle we lit off sparklers and other small fireworks.

Here's the crew with a neighbor boy.

Gavin wasn't so sure of the sparklers.  Can you tell by his fake smile?

He for sure wasn't liking the firecrackers Tyler was lighting off.  He hid in the garage with all the chairs around him for safety.

Makenzie is showing off her shirt she decorated with permanent markers and rubbing alcohol.

Enjoying some festive popsicles. 

 Yep, it's amazing…. I snapped a picture of myself!

June

It's summer!  The kids are living in their swimsuits with the water constantly running here.  Popsicles are endlessly requested.  The fireflies are starting to make their appearances at night, too.   I'm forgetting to capture a lot of our days in pictures.  I need to get better.  Here is just a piece of what's been going on around here.

Makenzie finished out another dance season with her final show.  She did two dances this year.

Striking a pose with her cute little dance friends.

 

We decided to take the kids to Kings Island, an amusement park, in Cincinnati.  (About 2 hours away.) Ellionna discovered a "finger holder."



Gavin taking his traditional nap in the car, but with Mom's sunglasses.

Gavin throughly enjoyed himself on all the rides.

Ellionna even got to go on a few….

Jordan and Makenzie were tall enough to ride most of the roller coasters.  They both went on them with no fear!  They loved every minute of it.

Waiting in line to go up the "Eiffel Tower"….

 To see the fireworks at the end of the day!  What a sight!

Here is Tyler with his work bag.

Oh!  He found a stow-a-way!  I was quite surprised he could fit in it!

I took the kids up to the COSI children's museum.
Why didn't they have these things when I was a kid?

Our library has a fun summer program that is held once a week.  The theme is "Dig into Reading" and the kids learned about worms this particular day.

 Ellionna loves being outside.  This day I caught her slurping the rain water that was on top of the sandbox.

And that is what I got!