February In No Particular Order

Is it better to have one giant entry or several smaller ones?  I don't know but I am opting for giant today.  I spend most of my time with Daniel now that he is home schooled so most of the pictures I have are of him at some event we attended.  I love the others too, just not as many photo opportunities.  I can't get the photo below to move so the report is above.  

Sarah and Daniel and I attended the World Cup Long Track Speed Skating event today at the Olympic skate arena in Kearns, Utah.  To say it was awesome is an understatement.  Sarah really is enjoying herself, she just didn't want to smile in this picture.  

They were the only kids in our section at the beginning so the guy throwing stuff threw it all to them.  Daniel even got a T-shirt.  Jacob didn't want to come and miss school so they picked up a few things for him too.  The bleachers were right in front of the ice and so we really felt part of the race.  We were sitting right behind the entire German team and it was fun to hear them talk.  We even got to see Shauni Davis compete and he is the world record holder in the 1000 and 1500 m as well as the first African American to win an individual gold medal.  Pretty awesome.  Sarah is studying Black history this month in school but she was too shy to meet him.  He was standing next to where we were sitting in the bleachers just after the race and she stood there and stared at him the entire time.  He noticed her but wasn't quite sure why she was staring at him so intently.  He didn't understand her internal struggle. 

 Up next, a fun video of Daniel juggling.  He is actually pretty good. 

 I can't remember if I have posted this picture but Daniel and I went to the State capitol.  It is such a cool place and while there we remembered it is where Robert Carpenter works!  He met us for lunch and toured us around the back rooms where all the important people work.  It was very cool of him to take time out of his schedule.  Thanks Robert!  

 On another day, Daniel and I returned to the capitol to sit in on a committee meeting for SB65.  The resolution would provided further funding to enhance virtual education for high school students.  As I listened to the presentation I wasn't convinced they had a well written bill.  The woman behind be coaxed me to testify before the committee and tell them my thoughts.  I turns out the woman is the President of the Utah Education Association.  She liked me and gave me her card and asked me to contact her for anything I needed.  Who knew?  It was such a rush to be at the capitol.  I love teaching my kids about how the government works too.

Daniel and I were able to attend a partial showing of the ballet "Sleeping Beauty".  I wasn't sure if he was going to like it but we both enjoyed it and discovered there were parts of the ballet that were taking too long.  Apparently, Daniel and I are more alike than I thought and we both have a hard time sitting still for very long.  It was a wonderful experience and lunch at P.F. Chengs after was fun too.  Daniel and I have enjoyed some really fun outings since he started with the Utah Virtual Academy. 
Other events this month include a Valentine's Day party at our house for some other home school friends.  It turned out to be very fun and when the other two got home from school they joined in as well.  We decorated sugar cookies, played find the hearts, and made old fashioned valentine's.  Daniel even gave a little lesson the history of Valentine's Day! 

Daniel and I went to the Hill AFB Aerospace Museum this month too.  It was so cool to see all the aircraft.  Daniel learned about flying airplanes and about the history of the planes used in all the wars.  Daniel also got to fly a couple of the simulators they have in the kid's explore section. 

Playing Catch Up

I have finally come up with some time to sit down and catch up on pictures and journaling since being stricken with a type of food poisoning called Shingella.  It is insidious and you don't overcome it easily.  I will let you look it up because describing the effects of Shingella is pretty gross.  I think I will still be tired for some time but happy to be able to leave the house when I want.

 I have been working on perfecting my french bread.  The key to a good french bread is steam.  I have to spray it with water throughout the baking process but it is worth it in the end.  I would love a commercial steam blasting oven but the spray bottle is going to have to do for now. 

 Sarah enjoying the fruits of my labors. 

 These are blackberry window shortbread cookies I made for Christmas.  They are yummy and I could have eaten the entire batch myself.  I thought the little blackberry clamshells were cute containers to use to give the cookies out for gifts. 

  These are petite fours I made for a dessert contest at Alan's work.  I didn't win but I still think they turned out awesome.  They are devil's food cake coated in chocolate ganache filled with tart cherry filling.  Yum and very rich.

 Christmas Eve we usually let the kids open a present which is always pajamas.  You would think they would catch on by now. 

 What are these?  Oh, pajamas.  Thanks mom and dad.

Do they not look incredibly thrilled!  The funny thing is they wear them all the time now and love them more than all of their other jammies!

 Sarah got a Fashion Designer kit for Christmas.  She has been creating outfits ever since. 

 It came with all of these design you can create, the crayons and markers to color them,  even a portfolio to keep all of your designs in. 

She got that big bear too.  Jacob gave it to her.  What a little cutie pie!!

 Daniel has been up since 4 am.  The day has finally caught up with him.  He got a giant remote control Baja for Christmas and was out of his mind excited to play with it.  You can't tell from this picture of course, but he was all smiles this year.

Jacob got his own phone for Christmas and spends most of his time taking pictures and videos with it rather than using it as an actual device for communication.  I love that I can get a hold of him now when I need to and he loves the extended freedom he has because he is only a phone call away.

We have been doing a minimum of activities since then and trying to really spend some quality time together as a family.  We have spent so much of our lives really busy and involved in so many things.  I takes away from the family unit really growing together.  At the end of the day, I love knowing my kids would rather be home with Alan and I than anywhere else in the world by themselves. 

Christmas and New Year's

The holiday season came and went too fast this year.  It does every year but for some reason we all stand around lamenting the irony of how long it lasts and that is has come and gone so quickly.  I am sure the day you start noticing time warps is the day you officially become a grown up.  Life moves quickly. 
We had a very small yet meaningful Christmas this year.  It was the smallest we have ever had but the kids each got the one thing they really wanted and some great food.  What more could you ask for.  We were able to teach them about the deeper meaning of the holiday through fun family activities and opportunities to serve others. 
New Year's came quickly too and my parents came to visit us for the week.  For me it was particularly horrible because I contracted some unknown virus that laid me out for the week.  I really didn't get to spend time with my parents because I fluctuated between bouts of fever and unconsciousness coupled with way too much time in the bathroom.  It was the sickest I have ever been and I am not bouncing back well either. 
My sweet little Sarah came down with it too.  Thankfully it was a milder case but she has been just miserable too.  No one else was afflicted and for that I am thankful.  We spent a nice chunk of our grocery money on doctor visits and medicine.  Oh well, that is why we have some food stored up. 
I hope we are able to have a better visit with my parents next time we are together.  I really don't ever need to be sick again.  That did it for me for my life.  They did say they enjoyed taking the kids to do fun things while Alan stayed home to make sure he was there to catch me when I passed out.  It is a miracle he didn't catch this thing.  It is the curse of moms to get sick just when we have a chance to slow down!
Jacob got a sinus infection and missed New Year's along with the rest of us.  He was so upset when I told him he was staying up late on the wrong day.  I told the kids as soon as everyone was back to their healthy selves we would have a New Year's celebration with yummy food and everything.  The only problem I am having is where I can get a hold of some poppers. 

The 12 Days of Christmas

Every year Alan and I fill 12 nesting boxes with family activities the kids get to take turns opening every night until Christmas Eve.  It is usually a fun activity and the kids really look forward to it.  This  year has been somewhat difficult because we officially have a teenager in the house that is not only unimpressed with just about everything we do but equally busy with his own life.  You are supposed to raise your children to be independent and self sufficient but it makes us old parents feel so good when they gush a little bit about the things you do for them.
So far the boxes have been pretty basic.  We read Christmas stories and drank hot chocolate.  Only Daniel and Sarah and I got to do this one because Alan and Jacob were busy with their stuff.  We had a fun time curled up on the couch reading from our collection of Christmas stories.  We only get these  books out at Christmas time and I always find the kids huddled by them throughout the Christmas Season reading through them all and reliving their younger years.  Even the big one still likes them!
We always make a new ornament for our tree but it didn't go over very big this year.  They really weren't interested because the paint wasn't good enough.  Funny thing, we left it on the school table and they keep coming back to their ornaments each day to work on them.  I guess they really did like the activity.

We took the neighbors gifts and yesterday went to Temple Square to see the lights.  Alan and I thought it would be fun to take the high speed train down and it was fun.  The kids thought using the bathroom on the train was the funnest part!  What is it about bathrooms and kids?  They always want to see the bathrooms.  The trip was mostly fun.  In between cries of "I'm tired", and "I'm hungry".  Riding the train is always fun and when we got there and saw how packed it was, we were glad we didn't drive and have to try and find a parking space.

 

We all got a kick out of standing between cars on the TRAX trolleys because the circle moved when we turned corners.  It was a fun ride.  When we got off the train riding the TRAX system was included with our train tickets within the Temple Square district.  So it made getting around really easy.  From suburbia to the urban jungle! 

 

Daniel was playing with some of the big toys at the Children's Museum.  They have some pretty fun things to manipulate there. 

We walked around the Gateway outdoor mall area and took the kids to the planetarium.  There was a group of people standing on one corner giving out free hugs for Christmas.  People were kind of ignoring them so Alan hugged one of them.  It was a good effort to try and spread some love for the holidays.  Don't you love how thrilled they look?  My headband is really doing nothing for me either.  It is 20 years old, perhaps I should retire it now.  The planetarium is playing Tron on the IMAX in 3D.  The kids wanted to see it so bad!  Maybe another day.  

 

We headed off to temple square after the mall and walked around after getting a yummy treat at the Cafe inside the Joseph Smith Memorial building.  The kids wanted to get pictures with Joseph and Hyrum.  

 Walking around.....

Walking around some more.  

The reason for our trip.  It was beautiful!  We were sitting outside in a courtyard waiting for the lights to come on and then wow, they all came on at once.  It was magical.  And there are millions of them.  It was amazing!

We took a break in the tabernacle before heading home.  The kids were done with pictures by this time and the thrill of the trip had worn off.  We stopped to see the guy playing bagpipes before loading ourselves on the train to come home.  There should always be a guy playing bagpipes at any community event.  It just makes the trip worth it!

 

Going home.  

I suppose this will be one of those things the kids talk about later and remember as being fun.  Alan and I had fun anyway! 

Technology doesn't make our lives easier!

I completely skipped November and I have no pictures to post for anything that may have happened last month.  I am officially a full time teacher and it just takes up any speck of spare time I may have had before I began this home schooling adventure.  It has been entirely worth it to have Daniel learning at home and getting a much better education than the public schools could ever offer.  They are just too overcrowded and too committed to politics rather than teaching children. 
Alan and I got a new video camera and are excited to be able to use it.  We have learned that with new technology comes new ways to manipulate it and more time needed to further edit and crop to turn every memory into a Hollywood production.  I have fallen so far behind on my blog scrapbook I don't know when I will come up with the time to finish last years let alone this years book.  Oh well, what I do accomplish is wonderful and fun to look at.  I figure when I am in my 70's and my grandchildren are getting married, I will finally get around to finishing all of the scrapbooks I have planned.  Perhaps by then, I will be able to simply plug into my brain and it will all happen instantly. 
Daniel just asked me what booty is.  He is reading "The Swiss Family Robinson" for literature.  He has a bad habit of asking me what things are without qualifying the source.  It makes for a startled mom wondering what on earth he has learned now.
The annual Christmas letter is hanging over my head and I can't think of anything interesting to say.  In our day of instant messaging and all access, what could I possibly say that everyone doesn't already know?  I'll think of something. 

Jacob was recently inducted formally into the Junior National Honor Society.  He is doing so well in school.  We are so proud of him.  He has also joined a wrestling club at school to learn all about wrestling.  I don't know if he is going to stay with it but he seems to be enjoying himself currently.  He reports each week that he got his butt kicked less tonight than last time so he feels he is improving rapidly.  He really wants to participate in a match but we are trying to convince him to get a little bit better before embarking on that challenge. 

 

Daniel has been doing very well in school.  This week there was a school wide gingerbread house contest so he decided to enter.  We planned out his design, created a template, made dough and proceeded to create.  It was great fun to make!

 

Daniel got a little bit tired of standing there holding the walls so they would dry.  It is the hardest part of the gingerbread house project.  

We made a castle.  It is filled with little minions celebrating and creepy little soldiers guarding their party.  Sarah was very helpful putting all the candy on too and their efforts were rewarded at the competition.  Daniel placed in the Peppermint category and was thrilled to have won a  new hot chocolate mug.  Sarah was denied a mug because she wasn't there to accept the award and so we got her one too.  It was a fun event and we now have a gingerbread castle adorning our table for Christmas!

Sarah was in her school's Christmas play and played the part of "Glitzy the Snowflake".  It was a parody of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and she did a wonderful job singing her part with the other snowflakes.  It was so much fun to see her perform and she really loved participating in the play. 

It was required to get ice cream following the play but by this time, Sarah was pretty tired and done with all of the adoration.  I love my little snowflake!
Thanksgiving was wonderful this year.  We had Nick and Andrea and Kent and Bekka and their families up for the day.  The food turned out better than I could have imagined.  I made a maple butter with marjoram roasted turkey stuffed with stuffing created from home baked bread and my own homemade stock.  I was able to create a meal without opening one can or using any pre-made foods from the grocery store.  It was very satisfying and I look forward to creating an equally yummy Christmas dinner.  

Halloween is Upon Us

Our ward Halloween Party was tonight and our family did not disappoint with the costumes.   I was really surprised by Alan's commitment to the holiday this year.  I took Jacob and Sarah up to the church because I was taking food and needed to be there early.  Daniel was supposed to come with Alan right after us.  However, he they didn't show for a while.  Alan had enlisted Daniel's help in a very ambitious costume.  Can you guess what he is?

Alan was a member of the "Blue Man Group" and he did in fact paint his head blue!  Jacob was a computer virus.  He took apart our last hard drive and wanted to use the parts some how.  We thought it turned out pretty cool.  The back of his costume is below. 

 Sarah was the cutest little paleontologist ever!  She said everyone thought she was She Indiana Jones but she was quick to correct them.  I thought it was great!  She decided how she wanted her costume and everything.  We found her shoes at the DI today in the nick of time!  She is with her little friend Adelle and Adelle's sister Monty.  Monty was having a difficult time not looking at Alan.  Especially since he is their home teacher!

 I was going to be Julia Child but ran out of time helping everyone else get ready.  So what do you do for Halloween when you are the mom?  You put on way too much eye make-up and a funny headband. 

 The crew at the end of the night!  That is the back of Jacob's costume.

 

Daniel was a zombie and very irritated he couldn't wear his mask.  He isn't in to trick or treating anymore and he and Alan create a haunted house in our garage now each year.  So his costume is geared towards scaring others in the dark.  He said he wanted red hair this year so we put red gelatin  in it and blew it dry.  Once he started running around at the church, his hair sweat red drops down his face. 

I can't wait to see what they all come up with for next weekend!

Awesomeness

My kids are loaded with awesomeness.  They are doing so well in their lives at the moment.  Jacob won his flag football championship on Wednesday night.  They have only lost two games the entire season and kept pushing forward even when their coach got sick and wasn't able to attend the last couple of games.  A couple of the other teams got really frustrated with them to and would talk smack but these boys just played their own game and ignored it.  I am so proud of him! 

 

Jacob is in the middle of the pack here.  Last night he had his Fall Orchestra concert.  Alan went and said they did really well.  He is coming along with his cello and we are so glad he has stuck with it all these years. 

Daniel is doing awesome in his homeschool program.  We love the flexibility to just get up and go check out something that has to do with whatever lesson he is on.  We were passing by the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City the other day and the kids yelled, "Stop Mom, let's check it out!". So I stopped and because they were almost ready to close we got to go in for freeeeee!  I love free and they had a blast.  It is a really cool museum.  It was really awesome because they had real life examples of stuff Daniel had just learned.  I love homeschool.    I have some pictures on my phone I will have to add later.  

Sarah has been practicing for the upcoming Christmas play at her school.  She is a snowflake and I can't wait to see her in it.  She was really happy she got to have a named part this year instead of "being stuck in the chorus" as she puts it.  I love that she has gotten braver as she has gotten older.  She wants to learn how to clog now!  It cracks me up!  I love it though and because we are in Utah, they have clogging classes!  

Alan and I are coming up on our 20th wedding anniversary and can't believe that much time has passed.  We are excited to go to the Salt Lake Temple finally and have a good steak dinner.  Our grand desires for extravagant celebrations went away when we had children and got a mortgage.  We figure when they all leave home we'll worry about traveling to exotic places.  

I have more pictures on my camera but the batteries just went dead.  Oh well, I'll have to add them later....always later!