Home School Field Trip #1

This is our first official field trip. Going to their cousins house would make this the second!

The pictures will be out of order because I had some problems down loading them and it would take way to long to fix it. So here goes. Our first field trip! Here is field trip criteria:1# it must be within 30 minutes from out home, #2 it must be free (with this economy my budget fro such things is now ZERO $ and ZERO cents, #3 it must be out doors (this can be changed). So this is what fell in the 3 criteria. Going to Hart Park and Mansion! Here is Nina and Jack viewing the remains of the pool.

The kids stop for a much needed drink. We took the trail first and then the road. It is a lot easier than taking the steep road all the way.Here's the look out tower from Hart Mansion.

We have Bison in SCV. No need to go to another state!

Look at this huge palm tree! Nina wanted a picture with it :)

This is the bunk house for the workers/ranch hands of Hart Mansion. It's now used as a meeting house.This just makes my heart sing. Big brother Scott holding his baby brother's hand by choice!

I wanted to get out of the house and I wanted the kids to get out too! We had so much fun , I think that i want to do a field trip every week! We'll see after the baby comes if I am up to it...I hope so. The kids were so well behaved at Hart Park, it makes me want to do more and more!

The city renovated Hart Park and it looks great. It has a very small farm/zoo where they keep animals for people to look at. this was a warthog!This cow was the biggest cow I had ever seen!

You can't see it very well in the picture but in the cage is a massive pig.
My kids are so use to pictures that they often tell me to take a picture and pose. Even Charlotte at 7 and Jack at 2yrs. know the routine :)

The Trading Post was closed due to lack of volunteers and the animal food vending machine was broken. I could only eek out very small bits of food after depositing a quarter. The kids still had fun with their 5 tiny pieces of food to give to the animals. This male deer had hormone problems and had a mass growing on it's antlers and head. It looked like it's brain was growing on the outside. They are going to give him hormone shot next season to rectify the problem. A worker told us that these deer are Asian meat deer and normally do not live this long. They are also neutered. This combination apparently causes hormone problems.

We saw a Burro and Horse from afar.

There were also a variety of chickens, birds, rabbits and turkeys to see.

This was where Mr. Hart buried his well loved horse.
Scott insisted on a moment of silence for the horse.
Another moment of silence for the dogs.This is where all the dogs that Mr. Hart had were buried.
They stayed on the trail and we had a great time!

First Day of Home School

Charlotte's first attempt at writing her name in cursive!!! They do not do printing at ABEKA, only cursive from the beginning.Art class taught her how to make a cute bunny with grass and carrots to color!
Here's my little Miss Independent working hard :)
Scott is excited and fully engaged! No wondering off into space or stubbornly not finishing work. Yes, it's only day one but it gives me hope :)

Sam getting the job done and with a smile on his face! WOW!!! Hope it lasts :)

Our official start date wasn't until next Monday but we just couldn't wait any longer!!! Once my husband (the computer genius) set up all of the computers the kids wanted to start...Right then! I let them check out a lesson and then told them we would do a trial run Thursday and Friday. I wanted to find our groove and work out all the kinks.

So far it has been work (I can't sit around and do my own thing at all. Not even for a moment because I am checking on them, answering questions,getting them ready for the next lesson, occupying Jack and/or sitting in and being with them as they are taught their lessons) but it's been really nice! The first thing my 9 year old son said was that the teachers are all so happy and nice!

I have to help the two younger ones the most but my 11 and 13 year old need little to no help. I just have to correct their work and answer questions here and there. They also can rewind the video if they missed something.

It's only the first day but I am really pleased!

We started off with a little meeting of what needed to be done before school starts at 8 am. That included breakfast, rooms picked up, beds made (because someone is doing school in that room and need a clean environment around them), dressed from head to toe as if they were going to school (I think it helps them get in the right frame of mind), hair brushed, and teeth brushed.

To start off school we have family prayer and scripture study. Then they go off to their computers and get their books to start class. They get a break at 11:30 for lunch and a little running around for about 20-30 minutes. Then off to finish the rest of the classes and homework. They'll all be done with class/classwork and homework as early as 12:30 and as late as 3:00. It depends on how fast they do their work. Then they have the rest of the day to play and relax. I told them that when everyone is done with their work for the day that they can have 1 hour to play a video game or TV. The rest of the time has to be filled with chores, reading, drawing, or playing in/outside.
That's our day so far! It sounds perfect and has been running smoothly but it's only day one! I hope it continues :)
All those people (including the Valencia Valley receptionist) that said I was crazy... Hah!!! And there were a LOT!!! So far it's a lot better than stressful public school that makes me feel like a terrible parent for having so many kids. They are respectful, kind, hard working, and have a desire to follow Jesus Christ and choose the right! I call that wonderful having a lot of kids :)

Filling Our Home With Art

Since I changed the colors of our home I had the children change some of the art we had on the walls to better suit our new decor! So for a couple of hours they worked on some fun and colorful art. Some (they will be remain nameless) did not want to be photo graphed because their hair did not look beautifully coiffed. I am buying frames today and will post the final results :)

Jack enjoyed painting so much that he wanted to work on it more the next day. He is sooo ready for the pre-school activities that I have planned for him through ABEKA books! I am so excited to start him when the books arrive!

Hi Ho! It's Off to Work They Go!

The kid's outdoor swing set desperately needed to be re-sealed and stained. I have been so crazy painting the entire house from top to bottom I thought that I'd never get to it, so the kids volunteered!!! They did a pretty good job and got 1/3 of the way done but had to stop. It has been just tooo hot here lately. I was just so excited that they were willing to do that much!

Yosemite

Me , Jenn, and Belinda on my first girls trip with friends and first time at Yosemite.

Not a lot of wild life so it was cool to see and I had to take a picture. Almost all the wild life we saw, I got them on film (some deer, squirrels, and birds). It was a really short trip there and back when you don't have a car full of kids. We never listened to the radio. There was just too much to say! We stayed for 2 days and that was perfect for me. I didn't have to worry about the kids and Jenn + Belinda are in such great shape I would have died if I went on another hike. They were totally fine and I was so soar.

This was a Difficult hike for me to Yosemite falls but to in shape people it was a "nice hike":) Jenn and Belinda's love for Yosemite was catching and I find myself wanting to go back every year with my family.

We got pretty close to the falls and did a little off-roading to get closer.


See that little speck in the upper-left hand corner? Someone was actually going across the falls on a rope. There are no climbing restrictions in Yosemite!

Maybe next time when I'm not pregnant I will hike Half Dome.

Mirror lake was beautiful. The hike was really easy but after having gone on a hard hike the day before and a day of bike riding, anything seemed hard.
Jenn contemplating going over the rock slide instead of going back...Belinda said that she was fine scaling rocks but she didn't trust the pregnant lady...we walked back.

Yosemite was so awe inspiring I felt a great spiritual awakening. It didn't make me feel insignificant among God's creations. It made me think that if God spent this much time contemplating down to the atom how awesome and what a masterpiece this place would be..What a great amount went in to putting me here at this place and this time?

My purpose as well as all our purposes must be great indeed. Down to the Atom!

FREEBIE TIME at CraftersGuru!!!

I'm having a FREEBIE give away at http://www.craftersguru.blogspot.com/ in honor of my very first product review! Check it out and sign up there to enter. The whole wheat products are really good, easy and convenient! My daughter made the muffins herself!

My favorite products are the muffins and zero calorie sweetener! The sweetener has no bad or weird after taste and is the best zero calorie sweetener that I have ever tasted! It's not made from chemicals, but from fruit extracts! Cool :)

Why Do Pregnant Women Feel the Need to Paint?

For every pregnancy I am compelled to either paint or drastically change my hair style! After my first 2 kids I changed chopped off my hair and painted a little. I moved to strictly painting after that because it takes me too long to grow my hair out. So guess what? Since I am pregnant again I had to paint almost my entire house! I have to admit when I take on this much I usually get help. My sister usually rescues me from my folly. I always go into it thinking, "It's such a little house! It will only take me a day or two!" Hah! Ha! Haaaa! Is all I have to say about my clouded and crazy pregnant mind! It took almost a week of hard work..and I had help too. I went from a dark color to a light color and that requires priming and then painting. That is twice the work!Now for the next challenge! Looking for fabric for curtains and giving my home a face lift. I want to simplify, have a totally new and clean yet artsy look. Will show pix when I'm done :)