silly kids, dentist, science and friends...

Oak came down dressed like Mac. 

Both kids went to the dentist and as always did great! 

We were getting ready for bed and the kids came downstairs dressed as each other. It was pretty funny.

Mac's aquarium!

The cleaning fairy DOES exist!

We spent a whole day cleaning for homeschool (life skills) and Oak dressed like this for the day and she is such a great helper because she likes to feel grown up. 

I made a goal to do Oak's hair everyday. I was so proud of myself for this one. I am terrible at french braiding and I thought it looked really good. 

One afternoon we wanted to watch Toy Story and we ate popcorn and Ovaltine. 

Mac doing school work. He just looked so grown up.

We invited some friends to come over and make flubber with us. 

Friday we went to Ashland to the science museum and it was so fun to go with friends.

These circuts were fun. I would love to make a set for us. 

The kids loved the bottle rocket.

Then we went outside and ate lunch and played for a few more hours. The kids didn't want to leave. It was such a blast. 

Oak loved these bears.

Saturday morning we went to Big R (the farm store) and Oak found this hat and horse and she is now asking Santa for the hat and mom and dad for the horse. 

Daddy's big pumpkin fell out of the car when he opened the trunk and it broke in half. So daddy decided to make a pumpkin pie. And boy was it yummy!

My adorable kids before church. They had their primary program and they did great. It was Oak's first and I think a first for Mac actually sitting reverently. 

When we got home Mac was laying down and Oak got down and started scratching his back. It was really sweet. 

Dressing up silly!

Pumpkin patching!

So there is only one little pumpkin patch where we live now. And that is all it is, just a pumpkin patch. No tractor ride, no corn maze, no hot chocolate or apple cider, no cow train. Just a small patch in a beautiful spot. Even though it didn't have all that stuff we usually love, we still loved going because it is our tradition. And we love every minute. Next year I think we will go the hour and half to the fun one in the "neighboring" town. 

The kids were so excited to get their pumpkins and have been talking about the pumpkin patch all week. It's been overcast all week and just before we left to go the skies cleared and it was beautiful and warm. 

Then the kids wanted to hold them all the way home. 

When we got home Hubs opened the back of his car and his large pumpkin fell out and broke so now we are making pumpkin pie with it. 

Why we chose to homeschool...

I realized that I have never written about why we chose to homeschool. There are a lot of reasons why families choose to homeschool. Their kids may be struggling to learn, getting bullied, don't like the school, don't like what they are teaching, just to name a few. Our reason is none of those.

It first came on my radar when Mac was pretty little. Before he was even old enough for preschool. I don't remember exactly why I started thinking about it seriously, but I remember it being on my mind a lot.

I did not grow up being homeschooled. I was an average student who does not really have a love for learning. I did the very minimal just to be average. I loved grade school, hated middle school and tolerated/enjoyed highschool.

 I kept thinking I wanted more for my family. I read a lot of articles and blogs of those who homeschool and just kept thinking I love their family dynamic and I want that for our family. But I couldn't wrap my mind around ME homeschooling Mac or any of our kids. I tried a few times to do some learning things with him, but he hated it and it was frustrating and discouraging. I just kept thinking there is no way I could do this. But I had this feeling that I really needed to homeschool Mac.

When I talked to Hubs about it and told him my thoughts about why we should homeschool he agreed and then I would go into reasons why I couldn't or shouldn't. And Hubs answer was always the same. "It sounds like you have your answer, why are you trying to fight the spirit on this."

So I sent Mac to preschool and spent a lot of time researching homeschooling. And I have to say, for us, the benefits FAR out weighed the cons. And I started getting more confident over time with the idea that I COULD actually homeschool our kids.

I continued to send Mac to preschool for two years. Although I was seriously looking into homeschooling, I had no reservation about sending him to preschool. But as soon as it was time for him to go to Kindergarten. I was torn. We lived next door to his two best friends who would also be going to kindergarten. And to be honest I still didn't feel quite ready to homeschool. But for many reasons, it was so hard to send him. And I worried about him every minute he was there. I worried about his allergy, I worried about his influences, I worried about him not learning enough or getting bored. To appease that worry, I volunteered in his class once a week. And it was a great way to ease my worry, but it still didn't feel right him being there.

One day as we were getting ready for school I had this feeling he shouldn't go. I took him to school anyway and walked out almost in tears because I felt like he shouldn't be there. I texted Hubs about my feelings once I got home. And he said, go back and get him! So I did!

My plan was to use the year to prepare to homeschool him starting in first grade. But about two months after he started Kindergarten we found out we would be moving. And we decided it was the perfect opportunity to just jump right in when we moved.

Thankfully everyone has been very supportive of us homeschooling. And we know that for now it is the right choice for our family.

being sick, rewards and just a bit of fun...

So we were all sick this week, me being the worse off so we didn't do a whole lot and I didn't take many pictures. We all still have some runny noses but are doing much better. So hopefully we can get back in to our normal weekly routine. 

Mac finished his first reading chart! He was really proud of himself and he was very excited for his reward which was to go to Jump N Jax. Pictures towards the bottom of the post.

The kids are loving writing their penpals. I brought in from the mailbox their penpals letters one evening and they got right to work at writing them back. I was really impressed with how neat, straight and how his letters were consistently the same size. Best I have seen him write!

I thought Oaks cheetah was adorable. She is always wanting to know how things are spelled and is great at copying words I write for her. 

So I registered Mac with the homeschool center here and each child gets a $1500 budget per kid, per year. There are some guidelines but I ordered all of this and only spent about half my budget. Mac is especially excited about the science kits.

My parents were in town for a super quick visit. This boy simply adores his grandpa Dick!

We went to the children's museum.

Mac loves playing on the keyboard at the children's museum.

Saturday morning our stake had their cub scout fundraiser pancake breakfast at Applebees. It was yummy and fun!

The kids loved Jump N Jax.

They added some new stuff since we were there last. This and a kinect video game room, which was my favorite. The kids were nice and tired when we were done. 

After Jump N Jax we walked a block to the farmers market and bought some yummy local honey. The kids had a huge meltdown from being tired and hungry all the way home. 

Mac has been asking for his train set which has been packed away for more than a year. We finally found it! It's like getting new toys. 

Saturday night the kids had fun playing outside with the neighbor kids.

It was cold and windy. But a good way to burn more energy. The kids fell asleep with in minutes of being put in bed.

I have been super lazy about doing Oak's hair. She pretty much looks like a ragamuffin because I let her dress herself and rarely put much work into her crazy hair. But I bought her some new bows and hair ties and we both have made a resolution to do her hair more often. Oak was very excited about her hair today for church. 

Some other things I can think of that happened this week:

We saw a friend from our Ward at the bank and she offered to take my kids home with her so I could go grocery shopping. It was so nice. And I noticed later on FB that it was her birthday. So I made her and another friend (who also had a birthday this week) a little something. I bought some little succulents at the store and planted them in some little punch glasses I had from Oak's birthday party and added a little washi tape flag and a tag and it was adorable. Wish I would have thought to take a picture. 

TKD, grandparents, train ride and general conference...

Some girls helping Oak with her form before class started. 

During quiet time one day I went to check on them and they were both sitting in their beds looking at books. I loved it!

Hubs car has been in the shop since he hit a deer. So on Tuesday since we had no place to be we let Hubs take the van and we were homebound with out a vehicle. So we went out exploring near our house. It was cold and windy but it was fun to explore. 

When we got back we tried to make flubber but I didn't have the right kind of glue so it was more like goop. But he kids had a blast playing with it. 

The kids got to run around and play with the neighbor kids for a few hours before bed. They had so much fun. I thought this was adorable. That is Mac helping his friend up onto the mailboxes. 

Grandma and Grandpa took the train down here and it was quite the ordeal. The train hit someone and so their train was stopped for 6 hours. So instead of getting into town at 10pm they got here at 4am. It was crazy. Anyway, mac was adamant that him and grandpa find a project to work on and he chose a catapult kit. 

I thought Oak looked so cute in her sparring gear. Seriously!

Thursday we took my parents up to Crater Lake and we happened upon a cattle drive. It was so fun to watch. 

On Thursdays they always spar against each other. It was so cute to watch the little ones. 

So my parents took the train down here so they could take the kids home on the train, just for fun. The kids were so excited! They left Friday morning.

They gave the kids a little bag with a book, crayons and these hats. 

The train was an hour late and the wind was a bit cold say they wrapped up in grandpa's blanket. 

My mom said they liked it, but that it was a bit long for them.

Saturday morning Hubs and I jumped in the van and drove to my parents house to watch conference and pick the kids up. We were able to listen to most of the first session in the van. 

This is mac playing conference bingo.

Mac's lego Temple.

He loves, adores and is obsessed with his grandpa Dick.

This was my set up for Sunday morning. They were able to earn pennies for listening, being reverent, for getting bingo on their bingo card, for pointing out in the photos who was speaking, by writing their name down, coloring a tie, and singing the songs. 

In between conferences they were able to purchase their snacks for lunch with their pennies. I got snacks that I rarely buy and they were so excited. They did great figuring out what they wanted and counting out their pennies. 

This was Mac's "note taking".He hates coloring if you couldn't tell. 

The sunday afternoon session we did the keyword bowls but instead of candy I picked out some more snack foods that I never buy and they stuck with it for about half the session. 

I don't feel like I took very many photos and it was kindof a crazy week.