Thanksgiving

I thought I would post a little about Thanksgiving before it was Christmas. It seems like every time I want to post I remember why it has been so long since my last post. I have tried 9 times, yes, NINE times to get a slide show together of my pictures of the week of Thanksgiving. After 2+hours I have given up. However, I did not want to put that much time into something without something to show for it. So I will post just a small sprinkling of the fun we had. For the week of Thanksgiving we had Zac and Max. We had such a great time. We went hiking and on the way home Max said, “Amber, that was really fun, thanks!” His cute comments made my day. The kids got to swim several times during the week. We went to the park a couple of times; the kids love the park where we could climb trees. I took everyone, but Mijken, to the Children’s Museum. It was a perfect time to go and not very crowded. The bubbles were the hit of museum. Thanksgiving was great. We had Mark’s parents and Pete and Vickey. It was wonderful food and company. Mark got the itch and had to decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving. With decorations and Christmas music, Thanksgiving was a little confusing of a holiday. But we had a great time. The day after Thanksgiving we took the kids to see Enchanted. Heather and Byron came back on Saturday. So on Sunday we lost Zac and Max, and then on Monday Mark’s parents moved back to Houston. Although I have five kids, Tuesday felt very lonely. We hope everyone will come back and visit soon!

I have tried 3 times to post individual pictures and they will not post!!!

Sorry no pictures I just can't take it anymore!!!

Maybe I will try another day.

What do your kids do when you send them to their room to clean?

When I went to check on how the kids were doing with cleaning their room, this is what I found... A TWO HEADED BABY!!! Sometimes the kids drive me crazy when they don't do what I tell them. However, when I found both of them in Madison's footie PJ's I had to laugh. Of course the younger ones had to follow suit.

So, What do your kids do when they should be cleaning?

I've Been Tagged

Emily tagged me so here it goes…

4 Places I have lived…
Las Vegas, Nevada
Provo, Utah
Winchester, Virginia
Colorado Springs, Colorado

4 Jobs I have had…
Banana Republic
RMI (Working for my dad)
Morris Travel (Travel Agent)
MOM! (Hardest job I will ever have)

4 Things I would like to do before I die…
See all of my children Happy and Independent adults
Go to Italy
Serve a mission with Mark
Fulfill my life’s mission (I am just not sure what it is yet!)

4 Favorite Desserts...
Brownies
Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies
Apple Pie
Ice Cream

4 Interesting Facts about me...
I have 5 kids and homeschool (Interesting or crazy?!)
I like to work on Math problems (I get a rush when I get the right answer)
I can’t lie
I have a hard time telling stories, if it is a sad story I cry, if it is a funny story I can’t stop laughing to tell the punch line…However, I am a good audience.

4 Favorite TV Shows...
I don’t watch TV, only movies so I will list movies…
You’ve Got Mail
The Family Man
Father of the Bride
Gone With the Wind

4 People I tag...
Heather
Megan
Kristen
Jessie

Halloween 2007

Halloween I must admit is not one of my favorite holidays. I know many love fall and Halloween marks the turning of the season. But, in Vegas it is still warm. That may be my favorite part of Halloween, not having to cover up your costume with a coat. I am not sold on the idea of buying $40 worth of candy that I like, to go out and exchange it for candy I don’t like. I still end up with the same amount of candy or more, but I am left with lollipops, smarties, nuts, and lots of tootsies rolls. And the good stuff like M&M, peanut butter cups, and snickers are now officially one of my children’s candies and I must now ask permission. They are quicker to offer the lollipops, smarites, and nut! And don’t get me started on costumes. With five kids and costumes costing $20 a pop I finally had to say no to store bought costumes. I just spent $40 on candy I am not spending another $100 on costumes! So if the kids want a store bought costume they have to buy it themselves. It usually happens for one year and then they are content finding what we have around the house. Madison and Sarah bought their costumes this year. (Which if you have not heard the story about the lemonade stand you’ll have to ask sometime. But, lets say it was a good lesson in economics.) It was a sad day in my life when my children figured out there was more to Halloween than the trunk or treat at church. Now we do Halloween twice!

Enough complaining. I did make a New Years Resolution to be a fun mom. It is true I actually wrote it down. So I did not complain to the kids. They had a great time. Madison brought a groovy girl outfit, Sarah was a witch, and Mijken was a princess. Lauren and her friend Heidi decided to be BYU students. However, after the trunk or treat they got asked so many times what they were, she decided to be a cheerleader for Halloween. Jared was a cowboy for the trunk or treat, but his pumpkin needed his cowboy hat, so he was a baseball player for Halloween. We carved pumpkins as a family and actually roasted the seeds. The roasted seeds were a one-time thing; they were not a big hit. We made pumpkin cookies and chocolate covered Oreos on a lollipop stick. It was a big mess, but the kids had a great time. We played different Halloween games like bingo and go fish. Add a few Halloween stories and it was a fun day. Halloween night we went to our neighborhood cookout. Our neighbor cooks up about 60 hot dogs, someone else brought chili, and we donated cornbread and drinks. Then the kids were off to trick or treat. All in all it was a great holiday.

The Story About Ping

We just finished a unit with the book Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese. It is a story about a little duck from China who lives on the Yangtze River. I based our unit on the story and then taught things that go along with the book. Here are some of the things we learned about…

We learned about where China is located, and memorized all the countries in Asia.

We colored pictures of the Flag, and learned about the people.

We made egg drop soup.

We learned to write and count to 10 in Chinese,
Sagwa help them pronounce them at
http://pbskids.org/sagwa/games/index.html

We learned about the Chinese New Year. The Chinese calendar rotates every 12 years. Every year is named after an animal. Lauren is a boar, Madison is a Tiger, Sarah is a Dragon, Jared is a Horse, Mijken is a Rooster, and I am a RAT! What are you?
http://www.phillychinatown.com/chinese_topic/chinese_zodiac/chinese_zodiac_index.htm

We learned about the Great Wall of China and built one of our own out of blocks.

















We learned about why some things float and why others sink. Did you know that an orange will float, but if you peel the orange it will sink?

We learned why the same object will sink in fresh water, but will float in salt water.



We learned all about ducks and we ended the unit by feeding the ducks. While at the pond, Jared commented, “Mom it smells like poop!” But despite the smell he loved it and wanted to go home for more bread.







It was a great unit and we had a lot of fun. After they learned in ancient times that the fathers would sell their daughters to pay taxes, the girls decided that China was beautiful but they would not want to live there. Jared enjoyed dressing up in his karate outfit and declaring it Chinese day! It was fun and now we are going to enjoy the holiday with a unit on Halloween.

The Wedding

Friday night after work we drove to Utah for the wedding of Ryan and Alexis. We left 90-degree weather and ended up in a snowstorm. I was not well prepared in my very cold sandals. The wind was so cold at the temple, I was afraid that I would not catch my breath. However, the wedding was beautiful and the sealer gave wonderful words of wisdom. After the wedding on our way to the reception, it started to snow hard. They moved the tables into the garage of the house. Despite the unexpected weather, it turned out great. They both looked beautiful and very happy.

Fortunately, no one hired me to take pictures. I usually take pictures as an after thought. So here are a few pictures, but there are many people and moments that I missed. You will see how great the bride and groom looked, the kids willing to help at the reception, part of the family watching the football game, and in the end Jared shows us how we felt. It was a lot of traveling in a short amount of time. However, it was worth it to be there for such a special occasion and to be with family. It was a great weekend.

Snorkel Anyone?

Jared had the chance to go out with Mark on a Father/Son date. They looked all over for a special surprise. What he really wanted was a snorkel. Why? I am not sure. After much searching since it is the end of the swimming season, Mark finally found one. He had so much fun swimming today. He could swim the whole length of the pool without coming up. The other girls tried out his snorkel and they could not get it to work. They kept getting water in it. When Sarah asked why it worked for Jared, Madison replied, “Because he is a boy!” I guess because Jared is the only boy, when there is a strange phenomenon that they do not understand, the girls always default to gender differences. Jared is always grateful for the distinction. I just had to take a picture and share.

Motherhood Craziness

As I have read many motherhood troubles on your blogs, I thought I would add one of mine. This week in less than 24 hours we had a few problems. Of course, everyday around here is crazy. However, Jared and Lauren were fighting the other day. Lauren insists that she is completely innocent. Despite the fact that Lauren did not antagonize Jared at all, Jared got extremely angry. To release his frustration he took a bottle of paint and threw it across the kitchen. Now if I had blogging on my mind I would have taken a picture. However, my thoughts were more on the mess that now faced me in the kitchen. So you will have to picture in your mind, blue paint on the cabinets, stove, oven, floor, rugs, refrigerator, and all over Jared and Lauren. With each person that tried to help, they produced more and more smeared blue paint. It was a little like cleaning up soap. The more you tried to clean the greater the mess. I even had to unscrew the refrigerator door handle it get it all off. When I asked Jared what he thought would happen when he did that, he thought it would only go on Lauren.

Like Lori mentioned in her comment, this picture takes on a new meaning, so I thought I would post it.

After I had gone to the grocery store, Mijken loves to help bring in the bags. So she came to help and I gave her the bag that had a box of panty liners in it because it was so light. Well, they looked familiar to her and I guess in her mind she knew just what to do with them. She took them upstairs into my bathroom. That would have been great if she had stopped there. But I suppose she had seen them used in there and decided she would use them too. So she opened the box and stuffed them down the toilet. A WHOLE box! Then she flushed. Needless to say, Mark asked as we were all putting way the groceries, “Do you hear water running?” He went upstairs to find our bathroom flooding and spilling into our bedroom with Mijken in the middle.

Life is never dull around here.

I might be doing something right

I told Mark the other day that I am the worst mother in the world. I even had proof because at least one of our children told me every day. Regardless of what they say I have a few moments of light that give me hope that I might be doing something right.

I signed Lauren up for a Young Statesmen Club. It is a group of youth learning about government and leadership. It is in its infancy and the first club meeting was coming up. The book for this month was The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour. She only had a little over 2 week to read it and it is about 480 pages long. She got a very slow start. With only about 3 days before club, she still had about 400 pages to go. Mark was reading it also, and said there was no way she would finish by Saturday. She became very determined and asked me if she finished by Saturday would I buy her the next Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites book. I said absolutely! One, I thought I was pretty safe, and two, the reward she is asking for reading a book is another book! I figured I won either way. With 10 minutes to spare before club started she finished. I was very proud of her. Not only had she finished, but she did not fall behind on her other schoolwork. More and more I find her reading instead of doing other activities like watching TV. Last week when the other kids were watching TV I found her in her room reading one of her historical fiction books for school. I asked her, “Didn’t you finish your school work today?” She said no and keep reading. Then a little while later she came into my room. Mom I had finished my reading for the day, but I just had to keep reading. She finished the book 2 weeks earlier than scheduled.

Madison’s interest level is higher than her reading level. To encourage her love of reading, I have given her some books on tape. She listens while she follows along in the book. This week she was reading Peter and the Star Catchers. She was getting hooked. I kept hearing comments like “I just can’t put it down; I am going to get my school work done fast so I can spend the rest of the day on my book.” On Friday she came begging, “Mom can I please just have the time to finish my book.” After giving her the right to be left alone, she sat in the family room for almost 3 hours to finish. It was wonderful to hear her gasp and the suspense, and laugh at the humor. Once she finished she could not stop talking about it. Her only regret is that now it is over.

Sarah after seeing everyone else read wanted a book of her own. She said mom, “Don’t you have book that I could read.” I just “happened” to have a book on Christopher Columbus that I wanted her to read. I said I thought I had one that would be just right. She started the book and then we went to the map. We talked about where he was born in Italy and how she had been shipwrecked on the coast of Spain when he was a kid. I explained where the Indies were and how he was trying to get there. Then she went back to her book. She looked up at me and said, “I want to read this book, then write a report so I can share it at my girls club.” I said that was a great idea!

Jared loves learning his letters. He stands up and gives a “touch down dance” every time he writes a perfect letter. And Mijken is right in the middle of everything. I love watching her concentrate on trying to color or “read” her own books. She wants to be as big as everyone else.

So in the dailyness of my life, it is hard to see any progress. Kids are laughing, crying, yelling, playing, making a mess, asking for food, and arguing about what I have said, however, if I step back and take a look I can find small baby steps in the right direction. I just had to share, so on those days that tears start to well in my eyes because I don’t think I can do it another day, I can read my own blog and be reminded of the small moments of success. Thanks of listening.

Just for Emily

1 Gallon=4 Quarts=16 Cups=8 Pints

1/4 Gallon= 1 Quart=4 Cups=2 Pints

1/8 Gallon=1/2 Quart=2 Cups=1 Pints

1 Cup=8 Fl Oz=16 Tbsp=48 Tsp

3/4 Cup=6 Fl Oz=12 Tbsp=36 Tsp

2/3 Cup=5 1/3 Fl Oz=10 2/3 Tbsp=32 Tsp

1/2 Cup=4 Fl Oz=8 Tbsp=24 Tsp

1/3 Cup= 2 2/3 Fl Oz=5 1/3 Tbsp=16 Tsp

1/4 Cup=2 Fl Oz=4 Tbsp=12 Tsp

1/8 Cup= 1 Fl Oz=2 Tbsp=6Tsp

1Tbsp=3Tsp

Grandkids!

Lori is amazing! Thanks for all the wonderful pictures. It is so hard to choose.

The joys of teaching a 5 year old boy to read

Today Jared came up to me and asked if I would help him read Rory the Lion. He climbed up onto the couch and snuggled in close. We opened the book and looked at the pictures. Then I would slowly read each word with him repeating. He would point to each word as we worked our way across the page. After a few pages we read the following passage,

"Then one night, Rory heard a real lion roar.

He ran to the window but the lion had gone."

Jared got to the word but and looked at me. Then he said in a questioning tone, "but?" He started laughing so had he could hardly stand it. He tried 5 times to read the page, however, when he got to the word "but" he could not help himself and would laugh hysterically. As everyone should know the word "but" to a five year old is hilarious. Even when I tried to explain it did not mean that kind of "but". Jared thought it was even more funny because mom had said it. We did not get through the whole book, BUT we sure had a good time.

We Finished the Book of Mormon

"Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great."

D&C 64:33

This scripture rings true at our house. Each night we gather to read scriptures and pray. With five small children this is can be very "weary". However, little by little we have made progress. It has taken us almost a year, but with just a few verses each night we have finished reading the Book of Mormon. It has been fun to see the kids progress in this tradition. As we take turns reading, Jared insists on "reading". He starts everything he says with "And it came to pass," and then he would tell us in his own words a story from the scriptures. The brother of Jared is his favorite. He refers to the story as "The brother of Me." Even Mijken needs her own set of scriptures. It seemed each night we made very small progress but we have accomplished a great goal! After we finished Mark asked what do we do now that we are done. Madison enthusiastically replied, "We start over!" And we did, the next night. However, Monday night we all went to cold stone for ice cream to celebrate.

Toothless Sarah

Sarah Keeps Loosing Teeth

The tooth fairy has been very busy at our house lately. Sarah has lost about 3 teeth in 3 weeks. It seems like everytime we turn around she has lost another one. We are hoping she will still be able to eat. I am sure she will getting two front teeth for Christmas, if not before.

Is that homemade fresh grounded wheat bread? YES!

While I was in Utah I was able to buy a wheat grinder. I was so excited to make fresh grounded wheat bread. It turned out great. I know to some the smell of fresh baking bread and homemade jam gives you a warm fuzzy. And to others you simple roll your eyes, wondering why take the time. However, to all of you that enjoy the work that goes into homemade bread, I wish you were here to share it with me. And to all of you who roll your eyes, don't worry I may only do it as often as I blog!

Beach Slide Show

Fun Pictures from Lori

Lori was able to come the beach for one day and took all these great pictures. She is amazing and I love how she sees a story in every picture. Jared loved his so much that he carried a copy of his picture around for days. We are looking into blowing it up and hanging it as a poster in his room! How great to be your own superhero!! If you click on the pictures they should pop up larger.

Jared's love of bowling

Jared's favorite part of the fair was the area where he could bowl. He played for about 20 minutes, and I had to give him the hope of returning later in the day so we could move on to other things. He was so into it. When he would knock them down he would jump up and down and yell "yes!" He was so excited that he also entertained those who were manning the area. He has made up his mind to go bowling for his birthday next month.

Logandale Fair

In my efforts to be a more fun mom I loaded up five kids in the car, drove an hour north, and attended the Logandale Fair. A friend that met me there thought I would back out attempting to watch 5 kids by myself, but I was determined. Someone else asked where my GPS was for Sarah, since she tends to wander. Sure enough there were a few moment when I was screaming her name, but we always found her. The kids had a great time. There were booths to look at, animals to pet, shows to watch, and rides. It was more involved than I realized. I thought we would see and do it all in about 3 hours. However, we stayed for 6 hours! The highlights were a magician the kids loved, pig races where Sarah was a cheerleader for our section, and the rides. I thought for sure Mijken would finally lay down and fall asleep. I was correct she fell asleep in the stroller from the fair exit to the car. The ride home was very quite. Which was a sign that fun was had by all.

Shark Dissection

As part of our oceanography unit, we dissected sharks. Lauren has been talking about how much she loves ocean animals and her desire to be a dolphin trainer. I thought she would find this very interesting, however, it was Sarah who was my amazing dissector! She loved it and was the last one still going after everyone else had quit. She would cut away asking what everything was. We had a great time seeing the huge liver, opening the intestines, and finding the heart and brain. The several rows of teeth were also neat to see. If the truth be told I have come a long way since my high school biology days!