Tissues please...Hilary Weeks giveaway!

If you haven't heard this song from Hilary's new album- grab a tissue and hit the play button.

We all face heartache and pain in this life. Much of who we become is determined by how we handle the trials that are given us. We were on a family hike a few weeks ago and came across a tree root. We discussed with my boys how all the twists and turns in the roots came when it encountered a rock or other tree and rather than stop growing, it bent and curved around it, and those twists and turns help it remain in the ground.This is a lot like life, when trials come we can choose to stop growing and become bitter and unhappy, or we can embrace those rocks and use them to dig our roots deeper and develop character and attributes to bring us closer to Christ.

In this season of thanksgiving, I am thankful for the life God has blessed me with, for my wonderful husband and three beautiful boys. I am thankful for extended family and friends who help life's journey be a little sweeter. I am thankful that in this world that is often full of fear, confusion, anger and pain, I can have faith in Jesus Christ, that he will guide my life and give me hope for the future. That is my thankful part, now for the giving part, I am giving one lucky reader a free copy of

Hilary Week's new CD album, Every Step!

To Enter, leave a separate comment for each entry:

1. What are you thankful for this season?

2. You are a public follower (click Join this Site in the sidebar on the right)
3. You have my button on your blog
4. You blogged or facebooked about this giveaway

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 8th. (Be sure to include your email address in one comment or have it linked to your profile so I can contact you if you win.)

U.S. Addresses only.
If the prize is not claimed within 3 days a new winner will be chosen.

GOOD LUCK!

Giving back

One of my favorite scriptures is Jacob 2:18-19 "But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted."

I can't help but think how God has blessed my life in so many ways. At times I feel like I could not possibly be happier. Yet I know there are those struggling in this world just to survive from day to day. I wish everyone could have the essentials of life so that they could enjoy this journey to it's fullest. While we make contributions to LDS humanitarian aid, fast offerings, and other worthy charities, it is wonderful to find new ways to help immediate needs and know exactly how and where your money is being put to use. What better way to thank God for our blessings than to help His children who are struggling?

The Chocolate on My Cranium blog is promoting a great cause to help single mothers attend college so they can provide for their children. 100% of donations go to these single mothers. When people join together much can be accomplished, even if each person only gave $5 or $10 it adds up to a significant contribution. I know most of us are barely able to cover the bills as they come in, but I'm sure we can all find a way to donate $5 and I can guarantee you will receive untold blessings for every charitable act, just remember the widow's mite, she was blessed above those who had much and gave much!

Oh deer!

Meet our new "pets". We have six deer that come to visit us every morning and evening. They are brave little guys and come right up next to the house. They love to eat all the apples that fall from the trees and one even gets up on his hind legs to pick his favorites right off the tree. The boys just love deer watching!

I had to sneak these pictures through the window...

P.S. Here are a couple more pictures of Grant on his birthday!

Are Mormon's Christians?

Amidst all the chaos in the world I keep hearing public statements questioning whether Mormon's are Christians (or rather claiming that they're not). I just want to add my conviction that YES! We ARE!

Jesus Christ- not Joseph Smith (as some claim)- is the founder of our religion. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he has called prophets and apostles to direct his church just as in ancient times. Joseph Smith was the prophet called by God who helped establish the re-institution of His church in modern times.

You don't have to believe it, but I do, and more than 14 million other people on the earth do. We teach of Christ, we testify of His love for us, we live by the teachings of the Bible. The Book of Mormon is ANOTHER witness that Jesus is the Christ. It does not replace the Bible- it confirms the truth of the Bible.

We believe in serving and loving and having charity towards all people. We believe in following all of the Ten Commandments (including the forgotten commandments like not taking God's name in vain and keeping the Sabbath day holy), we believe in being people of virtue (clean thoughts, speech and actions, avoiding the vulgar and profane), we live by a health code that prohibits addictive substances which rob us of our ability to have control of our life (drugs, alcohol), we donate of our own free will money to help build our churches and temples and care for the poor...Our Articles of Faith clearly state some of our beliefs and particularly the thirteenth article "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men...We believe all things, we hope all things...If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." We endeavor to follow Christ in all that we do and say. I think that makes us Christians.

Much has been said, much has been criticized. As a fairly intelligent person, I try to do my homework before forming an opinion about something, so I would ask before you judge, have you read the Book of Mormon? Have you read the Bible? Have you prayed to receive an answer from God? The Bible says:

James 1:5-6 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

Matthew 21:22 "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

One of the ancient prophets wrote a challenge to those who would read the words of his record found in the Book of Mormon: Moroni 10:4  "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost."

That is all mormon's ask. We don't want you to take our word for it- we want you to find out what's right for you. This is why thousands of young missionaries go into the world. To teach people about Jesus Christ and to challenge people everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, see if it testifies of Jesus Christ and to pray about whether it is true or if it is a work of fiction. We have nothing to gain other than joy in seeing someone turn to Christ and receive all that He has for them (eternal famililes!) Our clergy is not paid, they are regular people with full time jobs and provide service to the church out of love of God and duty to fellow men.

 

All the intellectual minds in the world may get together and decide what is true or what is not true, but the only one's opinion who ultimately matter's is God's. I testify that God does answer prayers and that he does guide and influence ALL who earnestly seek Him in faith and strive to obey His commandments. If you are interested in learning more about what we believe please visit http://mormon.org/  You can also request a free copy of the Book of Mormon or the Bible. If you have additional questions please feel free to email me, cariandanthony at gmail dot com.

Thinking about homeschooling?

I came across this video clip on the Teach Beside Me blog... It's a piece on homeschooling by Glenn Beck and it is very well done. It discusses parents who are considering or are currently taking charge of their children's education. The part about homeschooling doesn't start until about 30 minutes in- so just skip forward if you want.

I loved what the parents said about how once you get out of the mindset of public schools, learning becomes a way of life. Learning becomes the culture of your family. I love that! Everything we do in our home fosters learning. Even if you have chosen a single homeschool philosphy you really will cover all methods if you include your children. You teach Montessori methods when your children help around the house cooking, cleaning, working in the yard; Charlotte Mason when you read living books; Classical when you study the classics; Waldorf when you garden, sew or play make believe... Homeschooling really combines all educational methods over a lifetime and the real learning doesn't occur around a table or desk, it occurs in small moments throughout the day. I love the opportunities to share a wide variety things with my children that I would not be able to if I only had a few hours with them each day.

I also loved the advice from this video- if you are thinking about homeschooling- start by reading. Get the classics and read, read, read. This is what we spend a majority of our time doing and I think it is the thing that will make the biggest difference in the end. I don't want my children to just memorize and spew out facts, I want them to learn to think and be creative. Reading good literature expands the mind in a way few other things do. If you're looking for a great reading list to get started- check out these lists on Ambleside Online. For longer books- check out the audio books from the library and listen in the car or when you're doing housework (we did this with Little House on the Prarie series and my kids almost had them memorized because we listened to each at least three times).

Also, this Glen Beck clip talks about Richard Paul Evans new Michael Vey book. I have not read it yet, but it is in my Amazon cart and I can't wait to read it. They have created this homeschool guide to go along with the book. Awesome! It's available at http://www.michaelvey.com/pdfs/MichaelVey-HomeSchoolGuide.pdf  

Two years old!

My little baby turns two today! I just love his chubby little legs and his little fat fingers. He has the biggest smile and most adorable baby chuckle. He loves to cuddle and give butterfly kisses and loves being the center of attention. He brings such joy to my life. We love you Grant!

Fabulous dresses!

Gondola

If you haven't heard of Shabby Apple yet, you have GOT to check them out! They have beautiful dresses for every personality type and occasion. It really is impossible to choose just one favorite, but these are the three I've currently got my eye on...



Aintree

Bookworm

P.S. their swimsuits are fabulous too! I just got this one last summer and it is perfect for hiding that post-baby belly!

Pietra

Halloween Costume Ideas

Two years ago I made the boys' Halloween costumes for the first time, Thing 1 & Thing 2 and The Cat in the Hat. I have to say they turned out better than I expected and I whipped them up just before Grant was born. I thought they were cute, but I was surprised at how much attention they got wearing them!

I'm being lazy this year, they're going to be marathon runners. I'm not feeling up to the challenge of costume creating this year with everything going on, but here are a few ideas I'd love make costumes on in the future...

 

The Three Stooges

The Wizard of Oz 

Peter Pan

I'm not much of a dresser-upper, but this site has two ideas I think would be fun for me:

Rosie the Riveter via Miss Drea

Mary Poppins via Keiko Lynn

Here are a few other cute ideas on    What are your favorite Halloween costumes?

*Link up your ideas at Babblin' Brooke!

A day in the life, Part 3: Teaching small children...

The thing I struggle with most as a homeschooling mom is balancing my time between three demanding children (all born in three years) who all are at different levels and have very different needs.
For the ages of my children (2, 3, 4) it is impossible and impractical to do more than two hours of structured learning a day (math, history, writing, etc...) I have scheduled our structured school time from 9 to 11, and in the afternoon we try and do something educational that's more fun and creative like nature study, science or art.

If you've checked out the curriculum we are using for this year you'll notice quite a few books on our list. Most of these are books that will be repeated in older years so I'm not concerned about them remembering every detail, I just want to expose them to the stories so they will be familiar later and more importantly get them in a routine of learning so that it will be something they always remember doing.

I prefer doing math and history first because I think they are the most difficult subjects and if I wait until they are tired it won't be pleasant. I also find that it's nice to take a break after one hour and do something fun, music time, drawing, foreign language, something that they enjoy doing, then finish off with whatever else I can fit in until they reach their limit. In the afternoon we come back to do the fun things like art and science.

Schoolwork breakdown:

Here is an example of how much time we spend on each subject during our 9 to 11 timeframe (on a good day of course!):

Math U See (15 minutes)
History of the World, while the boys play with pattern blocks (15 minutes)
Burgess Bird Book, pattern blocks (10 minutes)
50 Stories retold, pattern blocks (10 minutes)
Alphabet floor puzzle while listening to Book of Mormon scripture mastery songs (10 minutes)
Kindermusik (15 minutes)
Now we are Six (5 minutes)
Book of Virtues and copywork (15 minutes) while my 3yr old works on SmartPad ABCs
Workbox System

I have seen this sytem on several sites, I just happened to run across the idea on this site and thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. I planned on waiting though until my boys were older and could do it on their own. However, after moving I was really struggling to get my boys motivated to do school again and thought this might help them to visually see what they had to do before going out to play. I picked it up from Overstock.com for around $50.

My three year old helped me put it together, he put all the knobs on himself. I gave him the bottom three drawers (ideally they'd each have their own set, but anything I buy now will have move with us in a small uhaul trailer next fall!) He was so excited to open his drawers the next morning. 

At night I put the things they will work on for the next day in their drawers and put them in order of when they should be done (for us math is always first and history second). Put things they will need like pencils or crayons in there too. They open each drawer and when they are finished they can move onto the next drawer. Both boys have really enjoyed this system and it is not such a struggle to get them to cooperate!

What to do with babies?

A few questions have been asked about what to do with younger children while you're teaching older ones. This is a struggle I'm sure all moms face and I haven't figured out the perfect solution yet (not sure there is one!) I have heard that moms of lots of children teach to the older child and let the younger ones listen in. Unfortunately my boys are not the sit-quiet-at-your-feet kind of kids... SO...I have been trying some new solutions and sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

Here are some of the other things I try:
#1, send the youngest to his room to play (or let him roam the house and deal with the messes later)
#2, let all the boys play in the sand box, with blocks, or some other hands-on activity while I read to them
#3, go out on the grass and let the little one run while I work with the older ones
#4, wait until the little one is sleeping (which works great except when he's boycotting naptime!)

#5, call it a day and go to a museum or park where they can at least learn something!

How to keep young ones motivated:

Since we've moved in with Grandma & Grandpa, the boys would love to wake up and go ride their bikes or play in the sand box first thing in the morning. After their daddy left and we finally stopped traveling every few days, I knew we needed to get back into our routine. It was a fight to get them to come sit for school rather than run around and play all morning long so I tried several things. What seems to work the best for us is to get the boys started on an activity at the table such as pattern blocks, puzzles, drawing, building blocks, etc... so their hands are busy but their minds are relatively free. Then I read to them from our books. I find my boys do SO much better when they're able to multitask and things are much more interesting this way.

And you may think they aren't listening- but they are. Today my son asked me "what's cuneiform?" We've been studying Egyptians in SOTW and last week we talked about the different ways they kept records. He might not remember what it was, but he remembered the word several days later!

The workbox system (above) which has worked wonders. And kids love stamps and stickers. I have a date stamp and when they finish any written work (the only written work at this age is math, copywork and any worksheets) I let them stamp the date on their paper and put a sticker on it. This is their favorite part about finishing and they get so excited about it.

I also try to do something fun in the afternoon if they get all their schoolwork done. Usually a trip to a museum, park, a special craft or game, computer time on Starfall More or Learning.com, and occasionally PBS Kids cartoons.

I think the most important thing to remember with small children is that it needs to be FUN. If they are bored or unhappy it's time to try something else. I do not want school to be a chore, I want it to be a way of life.

What do you do to with your little ones to prevent them from destroying the house while you're doing school?

Did you miss Part 2: Our Homeschool Schedule?

Continue to Part 4: Organizing it All

Fall!

I absolutely love this time of year! I really gained a great appreciation for the seasons when we lived in Concord, New Hampshire for almost 5 years. I never knew what green and red looked like before moving there. And the smells! You can literally smell the fresh air when you step off the airplane. Then we moved to Kentucky for the next almost 5 years. The fall colors are absolutely amazing.

I love the smells of fall- the crisp air, the pumpkin and nutmeg, I love the crunch of leaves under my boots and a scarf around my neck. I wish it could be fall all year long. Here are just a few of the yummy fall dishes I've been baking to celebrate fall:

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

These are better than cookies at my house, they are gone as fast as I can bake them! They can be baked into a bread loaf or into muffins (which are more fun for the kids). They are super delicious and pretty healthy too!

New World Chili

This fall stew is so yummy- and it's one that actually tastes better the next day when the spices have all melded together. It's a great way to use pumpkin and it also freezes really well.

Soft Sugar Cookies

One of our fall traditions is to make Halloween sugar cookies. The kids (and I) just love it. This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I've tried quite a few and have heard people swear by the sour cream kind, but I always come back to this one because it never fails and the texture is perfect, soft but not too crumbly. They taste similar to the store bought kind except sooo much better. 

The winner of The Entitlement Trap is Emily!

Congratulations! Please contact me to claim your prize.

Link up!

A day in the life, Part 2: Our homeschool schedule...

As anyone with small children knows, a daily schedule is a continual work in progress (whether you're home schooling or not)! I am constantly revising our schedule and rearranging or eliminating things that just aren't working for us. Our schedule has changed a lot more now that we are living in a new place and the boys are still trying to get used to all the changes.

The most important thing I try to do is get up before the boys so that I have time to exercise and read scriptures before the chaos begins. I find that if I don't do this I feel like I am playing "catch up" the whole day. I have also tried to limit my computer time (I don't watch tv but I do love my computer) to times when the boys are sleeping or having quiet time. This helps me to focus on them during the day rather than being sucked in editing photos or blog surfing all day long...(although I do sneak in some on my iphone from time to time!)

So...this is the schedule we *try* to go by. Some days we actually follow it and other days we just do whatever the boys feel like (which is usually riding bikes or digging in the dirt). I try to stick to the schedule for a week or two and then make changes if it's not working for us. We follow this schedule four days a week and reserve one day each week for learning at a museum (we have passes that let us get into four different museums and I love supplementing their education this way). And if you haven't seen my free homeschool daily planner yet-check it out here.

6:00 am mom read scriptures
6:30 am mom exercise or attend temple
8:00 mom and kids shower & get ready for day
8:30 breakfast
9:00 to 11:00 structured school (more details below)
11:00 snack, outside time or errands
12:30 lunch
1:00 quiet time, read stories (CM literature) until they fall asleep, then mommy computer time
2:00 school time (something fun like nature study, science, music or art)
3:00 structured playtime (computer, blocks, art, reading, puzzles, etc...)
4:00 outside time, mom dinner prep
5:30 dinner
6:00 free time or reading
7:30 clean room, jammies, brush teeth, stories (library books) and prayers
8:30 lights out (I wish it were that easy!)

Daily Devotional:

We used to do our devotional around the breakfast table, but have just changed to doing it at our child-sized school table as a way to start our day. Here is the outline we follow:

*Song (we try to sing songs they are learning in primary)
*Prayer
*Scripture memory and family study
*Article of Faith (my boys have learned them by listening to the songs from lds.org)
*Poem (we are working on Robert Louis Stevenson right now)
*Foreign Language (word a day or play language cd)
*Pledge of Allegiance (the boys love to take turns waving a little flag)

I have a devotional chart laminated and I use photos of the boys to show who is in charge of which part of our devotional. I've created these in Word so you can modify them to fit your own family, click on the image to download. Just print out a picture of each of your kids and use either magnets or velcro to attach the photos to the appropriate space. Thread ribbon through the top and hang!

Structured Schooltime:

If you look at our curriculum for this year you will see an awful lot of things on it and I've actually purchased several more nature books to supplement. We do not do everything every day and sometimes not even every week. I rotate the things I feel are most important each week and if we have time for the others, I add them. These are the things we try to rotate in each week during our 9 to 11 time we read our literature books and biographies during afternoon storytime and fit the others in where we can:

Monday: Math, History of the World, Nature, Burgess Bird, Character Building + copywork, Kindermusik
Tuesday: Math, History of the World, Nature, James Herriot, Artistic Pursuits
Wednesday: Math, History of the World, Stories of Great Americans, Great Composers, Library
Thursday: Math, History of the World, Nature, Paddle to the Sea, Drawing

While my older son is doing written work (math or copywork) I work with my three year old on reading (starfall and bob books). He also has a few preschool books he works in on his own. I also try to give them each time on the new Starfall More (absolutely the best site to help kids read early!) when they get their schoolwork done and if we have time they can choose to watch a baby can read dvd (although they usually just run outside to play). More on teaching small children in the next post...

Of course, all this is on a *perfect* day which doesn't happen very often. If we can make it through math and history I consider it a success! I do struggle with my overly ambitious side wanting to teach them everything now versus letting them be kids and just play. So on those days when they just have too much energy, I just have to let go and play. Even if it's not formal or structured, they do learn a lot by playing.

Structured Playtime:

To me, structured playtime means the kids are doing something that engages creativity. I think preschools call them "centers". Some of our favorite things for our structured playtime are pattern blocks, architectural building blocks, Build it!, puzzles, learning cards and games, drawing, finger paint, playdough, reading books, Wikki Stix, More Starfall, Learning.com, and, and much more...

During structured playtime I usually play a cd that will engage their mind, either spanish, poetry, scripture mastery songs, articles of faith songs, or classical music. I also play these things when we are in the car. I am amazed at how well they are able to remember things when they hear them over and over. My three year old can recite the entire Robert Frost poem The Road Not Taken and when my oldest son was three he could recite all 13 articles of faith. It really is the easiest way for them to learn things that you want them to remember.

During this time I let them play on their own and am usually in the kitchen baking something- it gives me time to think my own thoughts (plus I can't live without fresh baked bread!) And, you may have noticed I haven't scheduled much cleaning time...I try to clean up the kitchen as soon as I finish baking, and have hired a wonderful cleaning fairy to take care of the vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and such. It saves me a lot of stress (and back pain) and gives me more time to spend with my children (I don't plan to do this forever- when my kids are older I will have them help out more- but right now I feel like my time is better spent elsewhere!).

Well, we're never perfect at getting everything done, and I'll probably overhaul my entire philosophy in a year or two...but I figure as long as we are doing the most important things like developing spirituality, giving them love and attention, the other things will come one day at a time...

What does your day look like?

Missed Part I? Click here for some of my thoughts on homeschooling

Continue to Part 3: Teaching Small Children

And don't forget! One more day to enter to win The Entitlement Trap! The winner will be announced Monday.

I heart Bountiful Baskets!

Wouldn't it be awesome to eat healthy for half the cost? I heard a few things about Bountiful Baskets before moving back out west and was super excited to try it since they didn't have it where I lived in Kentucky. This week was my second pickup, and I have to say I couldn't be more ecstatic!

My first pickup I arrived with a small box, not expecting much for $15. I walked in to the school gym where they are distributed and saw the huge round laundry baskets brimming with produce and looked back down at my small box...the lady directing people said "um...I think you're going to need a bigger box..." I didn't realize that for $15. I got TWO baskets of produce! One full of vegetables and one full of fruit. I typically pay $5 for grapes or apples alone...I just love that I can get an entire week's supply of fruits & vegetables for $15 (or $25 for organic).

The fun part is the produce is different every time, the week before included corn, limes and pomegranates. I was also pleasantly surprised at what high quality produce it is, there were no fruit flies or bad spots and the grapes are the sweetest grapes I think I've ever eaten. I also got the tortilla pack which is about 15 pounds of tortillas- plate size, small size, corn...they are fabulous. The only commitment is to help distribute the food once every six pickups. Two hours of my time every six weeks is sooo worth the savings!

They recommend that you wait to go shopping until after you've picked up your basket and then plan your meal around the vegetables provided and with the savings you can afford higher quality meats. I am making a large veggie tray and a large bowl of fruit salad (stir in a little vanilla yogurt to prevent browning & some pecans because they're delicious) to keep in the fridge for the kids to snack on during the week. So not only will my family have healthier options, but we're saving a bundle of money at the same time!

So, if you're like me and don't have access to fresh home grown produce, check out Bountiful Baskets!

And...I just have to mention that I have THE best mother in law in the world! She is amazing. I know you're going to hate me because it's very rare to have such an awesome MIL, but mine is. Just one example of how amazing she is... Thursday when I was preparing for Ethan's birthday, I tried making a cake. I've made hundreds of cakes, but for some reason I thought I could use this yummy confetti cupcake recipe and make it into- not two layer cakes, but one round cake. Well, as you can probably guess it overflowed. Making a huge mess in the oven and ruining the cake. But optimistic little me I thought I'd just scoop half into another round pan and that would fix it. Nope. Two flat multi-colored pancakes came out of there. I should have taken a picture but it was just too pathetic. So I decided he didn't need a birthday cake. We'd have another one at the end of the month for Grant's birthday and that would just have to do.

The next morning after breakfast I saw the pans sitting upside down on the cooling rack and thought I'd better take care of my mess. I lifted it up the pans and underneath were two perfectly baked yellow cakes! I have no idea how she found the time to bake them since she had to leave around 7:30 that morning, but there they sat. I found this adorable monster cake on and set to work. I will certainly never win a contest for my decorating skills, but it made one five year old quite happy!

He had a fun birthday- we went to Thanksgiving Point's corn maze during the day and managed to only lose one of them (temporarily), and Chuck e Cheese in the evening. He saw a commercial once and kept saying he wanted to go because "it's where a kid can be a kid" so I figured I'd take him once and he'd see that it really wasn't all that fun. Wrong. He loved every minute of it, and so did the other boys. 

When we got home he opened his presents... Grandma & Grandpa got him some footie pajamas and I've never seen a kid get so excited! He was literally jumping up and down saying he always wished he could have some like that (he's outgrown all his and gets jealous when his little brothers are wearing them). He then announced that he thought it was time to get ready for bed.

We had to convince him to stay and see what other presents he had ;)  His aunt and uncle got him a fun game- Zingo- and we spent the rest of the evening playing it. It was a pretty fun (and exhausting) day.

Five!

I can't believe my oldest son is five today! I was showing him some of the videos we made of him when he was little...I forgot how hilarious they were!

Check out the classic wall smash (you may have seen this on America's Funniest Videos) http://carianthony.blogspot.com/2008/10/ethans-2nd-birthday-television-debut.html

And him saying articles of faith at two and a half- I completely forgot how adorable his little voice was! http://carianthony.blogspot.com/2009/07/articles-of-faith.html

So I got this fabulous idea from to interview your child each year and scrapbook a page about it. What better time to interview than on a birthday? Here's Ethan's five year old interview:

Tell me three words that describe you:

I have two eyes, and I have a body, and I walk.

What are your favorite foods?

Like…umm…I like cake. I like to eat Life cereal…I love cheese…

What are you afraid of?

Bats…and pirates…

What makes you happy?

Daddy does.

What are your favorite things to do?

Color, fingerpaint, ride my bike, take a bath, have my birthday.

What is your favorite thing to learn about?

Math, about telling time, caterpillars, bugs and butterflies.

What college are you going to attend someday?

BYU

What are you going to study in college?

Computers

What are some things you’re going to do when you grow up?

Get married and go to work.

What’s your favorite scripture?

Helaman 5:12

What’s your favorite poem?

Robert Frost, The road not taken

What are your favorite books?

Magic Tree House, A to Z Mysteries, Danny and the Dinosaur

Who are your hero’s?

Abraham Lincoln and Nephi

Tell me a joke:

Knock. knock. Who’s there? Police. Police who? Police turn off the lights when you leave the room.

What are your favorite animals?

Hippopotamus, Giraffe, Elephants, Parrots

What places do you want to travel to someday?

China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and London

The Entitlement Trap Giveaway

I absolutely LOVE this book! If I could choose my favorite parenting book it would probably be this one. The Eyre's have such great ideas about raising responsible people and emphasize the importance of starting early. I love the overall concept of this book- to allow your children to learn from their mistakes while they are young and the stakes are low, rather than when they are adults and the stakes are high.

This applies not only to financial decisions but moral, ethical and other important decisions that must be made in life. I purchased the book to learn how to teach my children good financial responsibility, but found that it offered so much more.

My children are a little young to implement the full household economy, but I have gotten so many great ideas that I can start implementing- such as being paid for doing certain tasks around the house and rewarding them for good behavior rather than just handing out an allowance.

I also love their ideas for establishing and writing down traditions in a prominent place where they become an important part of family life and the idea of keeping family stories to read to the children at bedtime. Their ideas for teaching children how to make responsible choices about drugs, sex, and life goals is invaluable. Helping children make these decisions before they are ever faced with them prevents those spontaneous bad decisions. The whole idea is to prepare your children for the things they will face in life and to do it while they are young so that they can learn how to make intelligent decisions and avoid the confusion and frustration most teens and young adults face.


Here are just a few of my favorite quotes:

• "It is parents, by not saying no and by giving kids what they demand, who become the ultimate enablers. We pour unearned praise over them, protect them from criticism of teachers and coaches, give them everything from toys to automobiles, and make no connections between their freedoms and their responsibilities. We seem to be working for our kids' approval rather than their working for ours."
• "As our lives get busier...we give our kids things instead of time.
• "Entitlement really is a kid trap...it stifles children's initiative, encourages self-centeredness, and mutes their natural and healthy fear of consequences. It makes them feel like the world owes them a living and destroys the connection between effort and reward."
• "...Indulgence...[and] anti-responsibility...holds them back from their potential, from adventure, from their independence, from their creativity, from their fulfillment, and from their happiness.

I love this book so much that I am going to be sending one lucky reader a free copy of The Entitlement Trap!

To Enter:

Leave a separate comment for each entry:

• You promise to read the book if you win!
• If you blogged or facebooked about this giveaway
• If you are a public follower and/or have my button on your blog

The winner will be announced on October 17th. (Be sure to include your email address or have it linked to your profile if you want me to email you- otherwise you will have to check back to see if you are the winner!)

U.S. and Canada Addresses only.
If the prize is not claimed within 3 days a new winner will be chosen.
GOOD LUCK!

A Day in the Life...Part 1: Thoughts on Homeschooling

A few people have asked me to share a peek into a typical homeschool day with three wild boys. Rather than have a single 10-page post, I've decided to break it up into several posts.

I thought I'd start off with a little bit of my thoughts on homeschooling which have completely evolved from when I first started and which continue to change the more I learn.

I originally started out doing regular preschool activities with my oldest son. However, when he started reading at age three I felt I owed it to him to help him learn more. He quickly improved his reading and just a few months later had all thirteen articles of faith memorized, could locate almost all of the 50 states, knew all the planets, many facts about dinosaurs and lots of other things.

There are many stereotypes about homeschoolers and I admit I did tend to pre-judge or label homeschooling families prior to becoming one myself. I have seen it done the wrong way where parents do a disservice to their children by failing to prepare them for college and a future career, however I have also seen it done the right way with incredible and amazing results. My goal of course, is to get those incredible and amazing results. So I've been something of a homeschool scholar over the past few years, researching different methods, trying different ideas and learning all I can about the best ways to prepare my boys for college. Mind you, they're only 1, 3 and 4, but I like to plan ahead!

Just to make my position clear, I have nothing against public schools! Do I think the system is perfect? No. Do I think they work well for most people? Yes! If I could choose my perfect public school would I send my kids there? Probably... BUT we are in the military and have very little control over where we live and what kind of schools we can choose from. Not only that, but my oldest is not quite five and is reading at a 4th grade (or higher) level, doing second grade math. He is not eligible for public school until he is 6 because his birthday is mid-October and if I sent him to kindergarten in another year he would not only be bored out of his mind but would be a major troublemaker. So this was the logic I originally used when deciding to homeschool, but have since learned that there really is a spiritual aspect to homeschooling and without receiving that confirmation that this is best for my family, I would have called it quits a hundred times.

Anyway, decision made (at least for this period in time) I had to figure out how to go about schooling. At first I tried to make up my own curriculum but this took WAY too much time and planning. Next I got the "What Your ____ Grader needs to Know" books by E.D. Hirsch. They are awesome at providing an overview and even short lessons, but I still felt like I was missing something. I looked at several curriculum packaged sets but couldn't find one that offered everything I was looking for and some didn't provide the same views I have about science (I believe in evolution, meaning things evolve over time, and that the earth is much older than 6,000 years)...

I finally came across Charlotte Mason (Ambleside Online) and The Well Trained Mind. These are the two resources that provided the best foundation for me. The Well Trained Mind has so many resources that I refer to it as my homeschool "bible". I can choose the individual curiccula I want for each subject and then supplement with great literature using some of the CM recommendations.

Because my children are so young, my primary focus right now is literature and art. We read a lot. I want my boys to be familiar with the words and language used in these books so that they will always have a love and appreciation for good literature and fine arts.

I love the freedom that homeschooling provides, to help my children learn through their own experiences and not solely through books. Right now our focus is on developing a love for nature. To be able to take them places where they can learn from firsthand experiences is priceless. I look forward them studying the ancient Romans where we go on a family field trip to Rome, or study about American history by taking them on a cross-country tour to visit each site.

My primary goals in schooling my children are of course to prepare them for college and a future career (my oldest son already talks about studying computers and my three year old says he's going to be an engineer) but also to provide them with opportunities to experience a wide variety of things in life from intellectual pursuits to high adventure activities to international aid missions, and teach them to give back by helping others.

So...those are my thoughts about homeschooling...Next post will be about our daily schedule...

BTW...if you're hungry after being a trooper and reading this way-too-long post, check out this fabulous cinnamon roll recipe! It will be well worth your time...

Continue to Part Two: Our Homeschool Schedule

Did you miss my post on Why I Homeschool?