Silver Dollar City 2009

Silver Dollar City was on the itinerary this year for our Branson trip. We bought season passes for less than it would cost to go twice, so we'll more than likely hit SDC two or three more times this year.

Jamie and Nathan went on a tour of Marvel Cave which is inside SDC. Kirsi and I weren't up for the task so we checked out the gift shop. Kirsi had fun trying on the hats.

Here's a pic of my cute little cowgirl!

Jamie is the only brave soul in the family. Here he is on Wildfire--in his opinion, one of the best roller coasters ever! It has five inversions, I think a 155 ft drop and is as smooth as butter. I'll take his word for it. I loved this picture because he is so much taller than all the other riders.

Here is Jamie again enjoying the thrills...all alone. This is one of the newest rides at SDC--The Giant Barn Swing.

Nathan is such a good sport...he rides the little kid rides with Kirsi. He said this one was actually fun. It was quite bouncy! (He got in trouble for having his hands up though. Oh brother!)

Jamie on the Electrospin with a bunch of kids. So funny!

Nathan and Jamie on the American Plunge. It was kind of chilly. Kirsi and I were in no mood to get wet.

Jamie talks Kirsi and Nathan into going on the Mighty Galleon. They had a good time...although they were a little nauseated.

WW I Museum

This is a full shot of the World War I Museum in Kansas City. The tower is called Liberty Tower. The kids and I went with LeeAnne and her kids on a visit there a couple months ago. I wanted do some "educational" things while we were visiting KC. This was a great choice! Pictures from the WW I Museum in Kansas City....The kids had a surprisingly good time there. We all learned a ton too!


Nathan and a Model T

Just a cute picture of Kirsi outside the museum

Liberty Tower "towers" over Kirsi

Zach awed by the artillery

Kirsi Gets Braces!!

Kirsi got her braces! She has a pretty bad cross bite. Her upper jaw was significantly smaller than her lower. They installed an expander that we had to "expand" every day for 40 days. She was quite the trooper. As of today, she still has the expander in, but has not had the wires put on her brackets yet. She will wear these braces for 16 months, then have another round when she is a teenager. She has done so well! No complaints and very few tears!

Waving to MamaI thought this picture was cute...she's all barefoot and scooched up in the chairNew brackets!Superstar!

Can you say cRoOkeD?!!

Notice how her upper jaw teeth lie inside her lower jaw teeth...they should be on the outside.

NOW two months later...notice the space between her teeth and how her uppers come down on the outside of the lowers now. Amazing!

Easter

Here are a few shots from Easter. Better late than never. Our tradition typically is to have an Easter Egg Hunt at our house for all the cousins Saturday morning, color eggs Saturday afternoon, go through Easter baskets and have an indoor chocolate egg hunt Sunday morning. Of course lessons and movies about the Savior are sprinkled in all throughout. If I remember correctly, this year we had the kids watch the talk by Elder Holland on the Savior on Easter morning. That was my favorite talk of all time on the Savior! Coloring Easter EggsJust a good looking kid!

The kids checking out their loot Jacob found all kinds of goodies...and my yard was clean when he got done too!Adam was so awesome helping Jacob find his eggs !

A great action shot of Joseph

Cute little Leah...looking very Eastery in her pink and purple

Hurray for Sleepovers!

We don't make it a common practice to have sleepovers. In fact, when we do have them, it is usually with cousins.

Jamie and Nathan are on a campout tonight (in the rain--poor guys!), so Kirsi invited her cousins to a sleepover. Here they are a cuddled up (in my bed) sound asleep. So sweet! I love those little girls. Hmmmm...where am I going to sleep?

St. Patty's Day

As promised...green shamrock waffles!

Grace Family Academy

I started a new blog to track our home schooling. I thought it would be a good way to track the kids' work and progress. If you want to get a glimpse of very nontraditional schooling, check it out! www.gracefamilyacademy.blogspot.com

The Birds and the...uh...Cows

So we are driving to Pea Ridge today and Kirsi says, "Ah, Mom. I just saw two cows playing together." I asked her what she was talking about. She said that she saw one cow on top of another one. Hmmmm. How do I proceed? She is almost nine. Now remember, my kids are homeschooled, so they aren't on the same sex ed. schedule that most kids are. They are told on a must-know basis. So I said, "Oh Kirsi. That is how cows make babies." She says, "Really! That's a weird way to make babies!" Silence... "Is that how you and Daddy made me?"

My response..."kind of."

Now this was a funny conversation that just tickled me to death. But, the best part about it was Nathan sitting next to me (who has had "the talk") uncomfortably shifting in his seat, counting the seconds until the conversation would come to an end.

I post this story not to make fun of my children, but to tell them that they can talk to me and ask me anything!!! I hope they are never afraid to ask me any questions! I love you Kirsi and Nathan!!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I started a gratitude journal a few years ago. I thought I would post a list of some of my favorite things to kick off my rededication to writing in it everyday...

1. The sound of my children playing together

2. Getting everything on my list checked off (Rarely happens, that's why I rarely make lists)

3. Brownies and ice cream...which I can't eat anymore

4. When the socks come out even in the laundry

5. Days when I get to stay home

6. The feeling I have after I've completed a daunting task

7. I Love Lucy...of course

8. Searching the web for fun school ideas

9. Eating a meal without someone begging for a bite

10. The Reach flosser

11. Game Night

12. Eating M&M's one at a time (can't do that anymore either)

13. Cuddling up with Jamie in front of the TV

14. A clean house...I've forgotten what that's like.

15. Disney World...it just makes me feel like a kid.

16. Scrapbooking overnighters at my mom's house

17. Finding a bargain!

18. Learning a new craft...learning how to make jewelry right now.

19. Actually having the right sized battery when I need it (the batteries just died on my cordless keyboard)

20. Getting stains out

21. Taking the perfect picture

22. Eight straight hours of sleep

23. Cold cereal...can't have that anymore either

24. A groomed Sammy

25. Rainy days...if I get to stay indoors

Waffle Full of Love

For 15+ years we have enjoyed heart-shaped waffles for Valentine's Day. Jamie and I got this waffle iron as a wedding gift and it is still giving. I'll be so sad when it dies. It makes great Valentine waffles and St. Patick's Day four-leaf clover waffles. This year the waffles turned out exceptionally pink. Love it! Of course, with my weird diet I couldn't eat any of the waffles. But they were fun to look at and kids love them!

17 Years of Bliss

Jamie and I are celebrating our 17 year anniversary today. We have know each other for 23 years. We first met in middle school. I was in 7th grade, Jamie was in 8th. We had the same gym class. He sat in front of me. I thought he was obnoxious then. I was the quiet goody-two- shoes.

A couple years later he moved into our ward, and my neighborhood. He hung out with my big brother and I got to know him better. Before long we were the best of friends. We were married in the L.A. Temple. Four years later we had Nathan...and four years after that we had Kirsi.

I never would have imagined how great life with Jamie would be. It just gets better and better all of the time. I can't imagine being happier with anyone else!

Happy Anniversary Jamie! I love you!

I Really Love Lucy

I watch a lot of I Love Lucy. I own all of the seasons on DVD. I love that I can find myself laughing even though I have seen every episode a million times! I love that it is good clean comedy--so hard to come by these days! I love that many of my real life experiences can be related to an I Love Lucy episode! I thought I would share one of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes.

In this episode Lucy buys some new furniture without asking Ricky first. He won't let her have the furniture until she earns the money to pay him for it. So, Lucy sews her own dress and gives herself a permanent to save money. The results are hilarious. My favorite line..."It's alright. I've always wanted to look like a chrysanthemum." (Be sure to pause my playlist before you watch.)

"Now I know my ABC's"

Okay, so I've decided that my life is just not interesting enough to post everyday. How much can you really say about cleaning, cooking, cleaning, disciplining, cleaning, grocery shopping, cleaning...?

I have been thinking a lot about my homeschooling techniques lately though, and thought I'd see what kind of feedback I can get about a book I've been reading. The book is called The Unschooling Handbook. Unschoolers have the philosophy that children are born with a natural drive for learning and we need to let them follow their own interests and just gently guide them. In other words, no textbooks, no tests, no grades, little structure...

When I first heard about unschooling, I wasn't feeling it. After reading this book though, it makes sense to me. If you think about your children when they are small for minute...they basically teach themselves to walk, talk, eat...some even teach themselves to read, write, count...so what keeps them from teaching themselves algebra? Well, we stick them in public school and tell them that they only can learn what, when and how the teacher tells them to. That is when the thirst for knowledge becomes stunted--especially if you have a gifted child being taught things they already know.

Anyway, just food for thought. I certainly don't have all the answers. I actually have very few of them. I just want what's best for my kids. Tell me what you think--but be kind. : )

A sampling of unschooling activities---

Fieldtrip to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

Canoeing

A game of chess

Soccer

Dog training

Arts and crafts

Boy Scouting

Tie dyeing

Sewing

Baking cookies

Making pilgrim hats

Baby-sitting cousin...playing piano with him

Making dog costumes

Building tents like in the King Benjamin story and listening to General Conference

Exploring outdoors after the ice storm

Unloading the dishes with friends

Watching a live show about birds

Playing Monopoly

Visiting a replica of Germany

Riding bikes and scooters

Bowling