School time

Last Friday was the first day of Public School that my children have ever had. (Excepting McKay who did go to kindergarten and half of first grade.) A Charter school in our area created a Friday school day for homeschoolers and we decided to take part. So, every Friday my children will be going to school. They had a blast. That morning my girls woke up at 5 AM because they were so excited. They don't even do that on Christmas morning. My children are very heavy sleepers. The school day consists of various one hour classes that they sign up for and is actually totally seperate from the full time students who attend. McKay is in 5 classes. They are Math Motivation, Art, Language Arts, Basketball/Volleyball, and Technology. The math motivation class goes along with ALEKS math, which is an online virtual math program which he will be doing at home, and every Friday they will do fun math activities. He says it is a lot of fun but he loves the basketball/volleyball class the best, and he's so excited about the Technology class. Elena is taking 3 classes which consist of Art, Science Lab, and Children's Theater. She is most excited about children's theater as we have been to a few plays and she has been begging me to let her be in a play. She is extremely shy though, so we will see how it goes. Alexia is taking 2 classes this year. They are storytelling and Arts/Crafts/Math fun. The storytelling teacher is the same as the children's theater teacher and she is fabulous.

I think this will be a great experience as they will get to try many subjects, spend some time apart ( a big plus), and get someone besides mom teaching them for a change. These classes are free, because of going through the public school system, and that is great. I know I choose to homeschool, but homeschoolers still have to pay all the same taxes that public schoolers pay, yet we have to pay for everything ourselves, so it is so nice to get a few tax benefits also now and then.

We are still doing culture studies with some other families (see my first post) once a week. We are starting again Sep 3 and our first country of study will be Sweden, which my family is in charge of for the whole month of September, so hopefully baby boy will stay baking in the oven until October. My guess date is the 6th of October, and I have always delivered really close to the due date so we will see what happens. Still that's cutting it pretty close. I'm very excited about this school year and hope to be able to handle it all.

My baby is growing up.

My baby girl, Alexia has turned 6 years old! I can not believe it. Has that much time really passed? We had a small family party for her. She had a few friends come over for cake and ice cream. I used to do a friend party every year for each of my kids but it had become a time and financial burden that I really did not want, so I decided to give them a friend party at the ages of 4, 8, 12, and 16. This is much more manageable to me. A friend gave me the idea and birthdays are much less stressful to me now, and I think as a result, more enjoyable for the kids, and more special when they do get a friend party. I did not get any pictures. The camera unfortunately was misplaced that day. My sister took some on her camera. But I don't have them yet. I don't know what it is but Alexia seems so much younger to me than Elena and McKay did at that age. Maybe that will change when baby boy comes along, which by the way, is only 8 short weeks away.

Best Friends

Today has been one of those glorious days when everyone is getting along and peaceful. Elena and Alexia have been best friends since they woke up this morning. They have played peacefully and they are being very sweet together. They just finished their chores which they helped each other with, and Elena is going to take Alexia outside for a roller blading lesson. McKay got home this morning from a Father/Sons campout and has been much too tired to do any teasing or worry about the girls. He has just been minding his own business playing computer, reading, and napping. What a glorious day! I am ready for more of these kind of days.

What we've been up to

I think today is the first day that I have actually been home all day in 2 weeks. I am so exhausted. Pioneer Day is the big celebration time for Spanish Fork and there has been stuff going on almost every day for the past 2 weeks. We've been to 2 parades, the carnival, concerts in the park, and fireworks. Not to mention all the other things that went on that we heard anyway because we live so close to the city center. We have heard the rodeo going on every day for the past week and all the activities going on at the park. The kids have heard these things going on and have been asking to go to everything, so we did oblige them on a few things. I have to admit that yesterday morning when I woke up to everything cleaned up everywhere and all the cars gone that had previously lined the street, that I felt very relieved. It was fun and all but I am ready for things to be back to normal.

McKay turned 11 on the 18th. We went to Lagoon together as a family to celebrate and he also got to have a friend sleepover. He got a rubber band gun, a humongous Frisbee, and a really nice acrylic paint set and paper to go with it. I can't believe I have an 11 year old. He gets to go on his first overnighter for scouts next weekend and he is so excited, and I am so nervous. I don't know if I'm ready to let someone else be responsible for him, even just for one night. He has had sleepovers, but they have always been with cousins.






We broke down and bought a really old 3rd car, so that Clarence doesn't have to drive his gas guzzling truck to work anymore. We seriously have been spending as much on fuel as we spend on groceries. Crazy. Clarence also did another concrete job this week. He is the man. I helped him screed again and the kid's played in their fabulous back yard. Elena got bitten by their dog though. That's what she gets for teasing him and throwing a Frisbee at his head numerous times. It was very HOT! I drank tons of water and sat in the shade when I wasn't helping, which was most of the time. I think it must have been a humorous sight to watch a 7 month pregnant lady bending over a screed rod, screeding concrete flat. To screed concrete means to run a 2x4 across the wet concrete to make it level and flat. That's basically all he has me help with, he does everything else himself. There is actually a lot involved in making concrete look good.

We also have been trying to fit school and playgroup in, and my friend Mindy taught me how to bottle apricot jam and butter. Thanks, Mindy. You are so inspiring to me.
Those are some of the things we have been up to and why I feel that I can not move today. Hopefully next week will be a little more laid back.

What did you say you are selling?

Have you ever had the experience of teenagers going through the area knocking on doors trying to sell magazine subscriptions? It happenned to me last night for the second time since I've been married. The first time I actually obliged and bought a subscription for a magazine I never read which cost about 3 times the regular newsstand price. I was not about to oblige a second time. I figured out after listening to the sales pitch last night that these kids use guilt, manipulation, and flattery to get you to buy. I did not hear anything about the quality of the magazines or why it would be a good idea for my family to make this purchase. Some of the things this young salesperson said to try to convince me to buy went something like this:

1. After finding out that my occupation is "domestic Goddess" (his term not mine) he told me that is the hardest job in the world and I deserve to put my feet up and read trashy magazines. (yay for me.) These magazines were pretty much garbage except for maybe "Family Fun" and "Parenting" which incidentally gave him the most points, which also means most expensive.

2. He is so close to winning the most points to be able to win a vacation and if I help him out he will for sure win.

3. All of my neighbors have helped him out by buying a subscription. (let's rub on the guilt.)

4. If I buy from him, he will put a sticker on my door that says "Don't bug me" so that none of the many, many other teenagers in my area will not knock on the door and bother me again. ( and this is a good reason why I should buy? Give me a break.)

5. He entertained me with some extremely lame jokes and asked me many personal questions and shared personal things about himself so that by the end we were on familiar terms.

6. He talked so fast I couldn't even get a word in edgewise.

7. Oh and my favorite: He told me that he is from a national group that is teaching teenagers positive communication and social skills.

I succeeded in not buying, and as he left he said "Please don't buy any magazines from anyone else." So what are they actually selling? Magazine subscriptions or the chance to further the education of the future leaders of our country by teaching them to get away with manipulation and con artistry. (If that is even a word.) Whatever happenned to selling things for the purpose of providing a useful service to someone? Well, that's how I feel about that.

12 More Weeks

I feel like a balloon that is about to pop but I still have 12 more weeks to go. I have no real complaints though. This pregnancy has gone by so fast. I don't know if I am ready for this change. Alexia is so cute. I have a box of baby clothes and blankets that I have not figured out where to put yet. She has gone through every article in that box atleast 5 times. She pulls everything out, sorts them very neatly, and then throws them all back in haphazardly. Elena, I think, shows the most outward excitement. She constantly hugs and rubs my belly and talks very sweetly to the baby. The other day we were at a park and there was a scottish festival going on. Elena and Alexia went off to play and I decided after awhile that I better go find them as there were quite a few people there. I found them in the middle of the festival looking at all the booths. They then showed me all the things they wanted to buy at the different booths. At almost all of the booths we came to, I heard from the attendants that Elena had told them all about her new little brother. I think we need to have a discussion about talking to strangers again. I think McKay is very excited to have a new brother, but he is also beginning to understand that it also means more responsibility. I depend on him so much and all the kids really, because my energy level is not quite up to par, and they really do a lot around the house. McKay is really a great help but he has expressed to the girls that there are going to be a lot more responsibilities when the baby comes. He's such a mini adult. I think Clarence is ready to end the 9 month emotional roller coaster, although he has been very supportive. I know that it has been hard for him to deal with a wife who breaks down every few days and totally loses it. I also have a much harder time with meals, laundry, and just general maintenance, but he never says anything and pitches in to help with housework a lot. I have a great, supportive family. I am so grateful for my husband and each one of my children. Somehow we will all get through this, and be blessed with a beautiful baby.

4th of July Festivities

This year we opted not to take the kids to the balloons and parade like we normally do. We did have a fun family/friend BBQ at Clarence's brothers house on the 3rd. We ate some great food (thanks to Marilee and Howard) and the kid's put on a fabulous firework show, although I was very nervous the whole time as all the kids were lighting them simultaneously. Then, last night on the 4th we went to watch the Provo firework display in my husband's work parking lot. McKay has been with his cousin Jake since the 3rd and I am sure he has had and is still having a blast. I am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country and for the opportunity to celebrate.