not back to school

Monday August 30th is back to school day for children in Nevada. The kids in my home spent the morning singing silly songs and teaching the baby how to bob his head to the beat of "I wanna hippopotamus for Christmas" while I tried to vacuum around them...
The baby was opposed to listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving (he gets that from his mother) and wanted to explore some place else. But he was quickly wrestled down... The big kids made him sit still because bad behavior in our school can get you in big trouble.
After several short lessons in math, spelling and reading it was time for recess. And because it was Simon's first official day in school, he was a little too shy to ask the popular kids if he could play.
I held his hand (and the rest of his body) and helped him join his brothers on the trampoline. They gladly welcomed him into their cool club and he didn't feel so alone anymore.
Homeschooling isn't for everyone. Sometimes I wonder if it's for me and my kids. Last night we all received Priesthood blessings to start out the school year and I felt the peaceful reassurance that it IS the right thing for our family. Ben and Luke are starting 4th grade together and Zack begins Kindergarten curriculum. Simon will soon learn that this is what we do in our family. We sing songs. We add numbers together every so often. We read great books and talk about them. We eat and play and laugh. We make big messes and we clean them up together. It's a lot of work... but I believe, deep down inside this crazy head of mine, that it's worth it.

san clemente beach

We spent a long weekend in beautiful California. We camped at San Clemente beach (just outside San Diego). The weather was chilly, but that didn't keep us from getting in the water-- or getting terribly sunburned! We invited a family in our ward that we didn't know very well. They've decided to homeschool this year and we thought our boys would have fun playing together. Little did we know that they would be the best camping partners EVER! They insisted on making a few meals and it would be safe to say those were the yummiest camping meals I've ever had... pizza by fire, steak that tasted like candy, and bacon, eggs, sausage & pancakes for breakfast. And they also just.so.happen to be champion Rook players. We had a couple of serious card playing evenings while the kids climbed trees and played in the "glitch" ditch. Oh, and have I forgot to mention that we were on the beach? We were and it was beautiful. We survived Simon crawling everywhere and eating his body weight in dirt/wood chips/rocks/sand. And both nights we had little stinky black and white creatures visiting our camp! Yes... there were skunks! Luckily they didn't spray us-- even after Steve hit one with a baked potato.

Sometimes I think good things happen because you plan them. Other times I believe good things happen because they were meant to happen.. specifically and divinely set aside to happen at that time and place in your life. This weekend was spiritually therapeutic for me. Maybe it was spending 4 solid days with my family, maybe it was being out in nature, maybe it was the deep, meaningful conversations we had over the fire with friends who were mere acquaintances just a few days ago. Whatever it was, I came home knowing that God loves me and He knows me personally. San Clemente, I will remember you for always.

summer field trips

some days, I was smart enough to bring my camera... others I wasn't. Here are a few of our summer adventures.

California Pizza Kitchen:

Nevada Highway Patrol:

The Natural History Museum:

The Mormon Fort on Pioneer Day:

Because it was Pioneer Day, we dressed in costumes.... the boys were soldiers. The girls were "pretty" pioneers. I just "loved" my silk dress.

Cindy wondering if her flip-flops go with the outfit. they do.

The Children's Discovery Museum:

Hiking at Red Rock:

The Shark Reef:

ode to my sis

Believe it or not, this post is not about Cindy (although I do miss her dearly!)
This is my older sister Kristy--- with her two girls Corah and Addison. Yesterday was Kristy's birthday and our family answered questions about her on the birthday blog. Aside from my own mother, Kristy is the best mom I've ever met. She is fun, playful, lighthearted, creative, energetic, spontaneous, silly, organized, sassy and so much fun to be around. She marches to the beat of her own drum. She is beautiful inside and out. She spends her day serving others and is passionate about everything she does. There is nothing this girl can't do. She lives far away from me but that doesn't keep us from being close. Kristy and I have THE BEST phone conversations. We can talk for hours and each phone call ends with personal goals we've set-- and we hold one another to them! She makes me want to be a better sister, wife, mother, neighbor & friend. Happy Birthday, sweet sis. I am so lucky to call you mine.

no tinkertoys for this guy....

do you know what Simon's favorite toy is? A bag of chips. But not just any bag-- it must be the super crinkly biodegradable Sunchips bag. He makes a lot of noise and then stops to point at something...

Check out those lashes!

I put a hat on him to get him to look at the camera.. but he quickly took it off.

So I took it away... leaving him alone with the bag of chips.

I'm trying to keep him occupied with whatever it takes so that I can read The Hunger Games trilogy. I decided to re-read the first two before getting to the third. I am so afraid it's going to end--- and then what will I have to look forward to? a camping trip on the beach, I suppose.