Please Don't Judge Me

So I have been a member of the Church for just over twenty seven years now and I have a confession.  I have never read the Book of Mormon.  I am proud to say that I am less than 200 pages from erasing this embarrassing truth!  Anyhow, that's not really the point of this post.  I am constantly amazed at how many of the stories and warnings that are given in the scriptures still pertain to today.  Why do we not get it?  It is literally written in black and white.  That is one of the many beauties of the Gospel...things are so black and white and so plain and simple.  Recently I was reading Alma 60.  Wow!  What an eye opening chapter that is.  Do you see some resemblance in today's world?  If not, go read it again! :)  I am just so grateful that I have the truth literally in my hands.  I am grateful for the knowledge and testimonies that I have.  I am grateful for a loving and forgiving Heavenly Father who still cares for me and wants me to succeed despite the dumb choices I have made.  I love reading the scriptures and am so grateful for the prophets of old who took time to write them so that we could/would learn from their trials.  

Oh Joy....

So just about two weeks ago I was up at the church playing some volleyball.  Well, I went for a ball and my left ankle decided not to follow.  It really didn't even hurt but what scared the crap out of me was the undeniable tearing sound I heard.  It all happened on a Tuesday and the next day Saige and Gage had appointments with their eye doctor.  I knew something was wrong when I couldn't even walk down the stairs or simply walk for that matter.  So after the appointment and therapy for Mason I headed over to urgent care.  They took x-rays and found nothing and recommended I follow up with an ortho.  Well we already had a trip to Sea World planned for that weekend and you know stubborn old me I was not going to miss it.  So we went!  I saw a podiatrist last week and on his x-rays he found a fracture and was worried about a tear to the ligament.  So off to get an MRI I went.  I had a follow-up appointment this afternoon and I have torn two out of the three ligaments in my ankle.  So, needless to say surgery will be here sometime in the near future followed by several weeks of rest and therapy.  When asked how long of a recovery we are looking at I was given 2 weeks of no weight bearing in the boot, followed by 4 weeks in the boot, then to a soft cast and still on crutches.  Next comes 9-12 sessions of therapy.  All in all no jogging even for at least 6 months.  

If you haven't guessed by now life has been rough here for the last couple of weeks.  All that I can say is that we would not be making it if it weren't for the help of my mom, dad, and sister. My sister has practically been living here, when she can, and my parents have been filling in for her.  Don't get me wrong, I love having them over and being able to spend time with them, but not under these circumstances.  I feel so helpless.  And to make matters worse, as you all know, we, or maybe I should say, I am homeschooling.  Considering I cannot get around very well it all has been quite challenging lately.  

Just for the record, people are not very nice and/or polite at all to people with crutches or in a wheelchair for that matter!  It has been an eye opening experience for sure.  

Homeschool Blog

I have decided that we will keep all of our homeschooling information on a separate blog.  The name of our homeschool is officially AZ Sunshine Academy and you can check it out here.  So if you are interested feel free to check in on us.  I also put a link over to the side.  

Sharing Time

Well, I feel like I haven't blogged in a long time.  So much has been going on lately and our days are so full now that it has been hard to keep up with this "blog world".  Oh well.  Here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately.  School, school and did I mention school?  All things considered things are going really well.  I was even able to make 2 dinners, 4 loaves of bread, brownies, do a couple loads of laundry, and bathed all four kiddos!  It was nice to finally feel productive!   

First up, I have to take a moment and brag about Michelle.  You see I had the children starting on the BOB Books but I have come to realize that they are starting to guess on words and not sound them out.  Not at all what I wanted.  So we have switched to some sight words and more common words that they can sound out.  I showed these words to her Friday and she was able to sound them all out on her own!  I could not believe it.  Luckily Lonnie was home and he too got to join in on this celebration....to see her beaming with such pride was awesome!  None of these words are her sight words, because those ones she cannot sound out and are thus sentenced to the red pocket chart because they don't follow the rules!  :)

Here is little Miss Saige doing one of her favorite things....reading!  Yes, I know the books behind her are a mess, but hey everyone has to pick their battles and frankly if they want their books messy who cares?

Love this one of Michelle and Gage!  Getting some loves after working hard on a puzzle together!

Mason working independently on his 100 piece puzzle, which I might add he does all by himself!

I LOVE these next two photos!  You never know what you are going to see around our house and here is the proof!  Yes that is Gage with his night shirt on and a pink TuTu!  Gotta love it!

Oh man!  Mom caught me on camera!!! :)

This next one melts my heart.  Mason has always been so loving and gentle with his younger brother.  We truly are blessed to have such amazing children in our home.

My beautiful Saige Michael.

Another one of Gage.  He always is squinting in photos...so annoying!  But he's still cute.

The next couple of photos are of the children digging for dinosaurs.  This stinkin' toy we bought at Marshall's and it was such a waste and so frustrating for them.  They were supposed to dig for fossils.  The sand was so tough.  We even got out the electric knife and had problems.  So, needless to say, it has gone with the garbage man.

I am so fortunate to be able to be surrounded by such pure love and joy everyday!  Don't get me wrong we have our moments, and even days but it is all so worth it.  I still get a bit overwhelmed when I think about this homeschooling journey we have taken, but I have seen so much progress with each child and to be there when they are learning and to see it "click" with them is priceless.  I love the fact that we can start each day with a family prayer, work on songs for the Primary Program, and just learn together everyday.  Even when we aren't officially at school there are so many learning opportunities all around.  Here's to another fun couple of weeks of learning!

Just Because

I can NEVER get a good picture of Saige.  Mission accomplished!  

School Has Started

This past weekend Lonnie and I attended a homeschooling conference and it was great!  There was plenty of information and curriculum galore.  Our official school year started yesterday and we are doing school on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  We have chosen to do a workbox system and each child has 10 boxes to complete each day.  It is taking about 3-4 hours, which is not bad at all.  I took some pictures today (just for you Michelle) and thought that I would share just exactly what we are doing.

First up, here is the main curriculum we are using.  As you can see it's a mix.  I've had the A to Z book for several years and there is some amazing stuff in there!  Each letter has a unit on math, science, social studies, fine motor, music and arts.  We are using Saxon Math, BOB books to read along with sight words and phonics.  For handwriting we are using Explode the Code, Handwriting without Tears, and journals.  

These are their credit cards that they get to earn money on to choose a reward with a certain game.  When we play it I will share it too.

These are prompts that go in their workboxes, which I will share soon.

Here is all of the work, aside from class work and reading, that Michelle did today.

Here is an example of a journal.  I loved this idea that a great friend shared with me and this has been the children's favorite so far.  They have to draw a story on top and then tell me about it.  For now I am having them trace the story.  Next they will copy what I have written and finally they will write it on their own.  This is such a perfect example of Mason's work.  You never know what you are going to get.  He was upset because I wouldn't let him turn the page of his journal and when I asked him what he drew a picture of this is what I got so he wrote it!
Here's Mason's journal from yesterday!  Much better work!
Here is Michelle's journal!

This is what I am using do display their artwork.  It is so simple...a 12x12 scrapbook paper with a clothespin.  

Here are the workboxes.  Each child has their own row.  The numbers start out on the left and when they have competed a workbox they move the letter to the right.  

Here is Mason working on his Handwriting without Tears workbook.

Another simple idea...alphabet mat and children have to match up magnetic letters. 

Gage usually plays with toys while we are doing school, but hey they are numbers at least!

Michelle could look a little bit happier.  She is very focused and is doing so well!

Here is Saige working hard to put her basket back the right way!

Alphabet mat in action with Mason.

Numbers mat in action with Gage (he even got it right!). 

Michelle working on cutting out her kitten for her patterns worksheet.

And the best part of today..... shaving cream!  They loved it and we are discussing our 5 senses this month for our theme.  After going on a "field trip" around the house and backyard touching different things we came back in the classroom and got busy. 











So far our school year is off to a great start.  I've already had to do some rearranging of some things in the classroom but no big deal.  I love watching them learn and there is no feeling like when they get it!  Thanks for looking!  

PS - We are still working on coming up with our official name!

Quick Post

I have not been good at posting lately at all.  I'm trying to finish up Lonnie's cousins' wedding pictures from months ago.  After a little bit of editing tonight I truly do miss photography.  It is so fun to create and capture moments and beautiful people such as this handsome guy!  Trust me we have been so busy doing lots of good stuff.  The school room is pretty much ready to go and our conference is this upcoming weekend.  I'm looking forward to it.  Also, on Tuesday we are going to take the older two children to the water park and have an amazing sitter for the younger two.  We are also planning a short (just the way I like them) camping trip with Lonnie's brother and his wife before school starts too.  Lots of fun things planned and good quality time being spent together!  Oh, and I should mention that the Lord does answer prayers.  Case in point church starts at 8:00 for us this year.  However, we start at 9:00 now starting tomorrow!  Oh Happy Day! :)