"I Need to Paint. That is My Job."

May 9, 2017

So Kyrilene came to me this afternoon when quiet time was over. I had just finished telling all the kids to pick their next thing from their lists for school, and she says: "Mom, I need to paint. That is my job." I loved this and she had a great time watercoloring scribbles all over her paper.

It reminded me of a quote that I love and wanted to share: "We might as well declare that a child should not speak unless he put his words into poetry, as to declare that he should not draw because his drawings are not artistic." Anna Botsford Comstock

What an wonderful reminder that a toddlers self expression with paints is just as important to her as my own artistic pursuits and attempts are to me.

The Chicks Get Names

April 5, 2017

So the kids have been naming our baby chicks. I told each of them they could pick one to name and I even suggested thing like fried and nugget and BBQ. Haha. The kids were less then impressed. So far they have given me the following:

• Clarissa named a Java (black and white speckled) Dalmay
• Seriah named her Ameraucana - America
• Treysen named his Delaware - Dela
• Kyrilene named hers Tweet Tweet

and then there is Jeremiah's. He came to me and said mom I picked a name for my chicken. He also picked a white Delaware one and he said "That is Green Goblin" then he starts giggling.  So my thought for the day:

"Your son might be a superhero fan if...."

You Know Your a Homeschooler When...

March 24, 2017

You know your a homeschooler when....one of your baby chicks die and after crying and being sad all the kids are excited to have a dissection class.

"I Am A Child of God" in French

February 9, 2017

So we started learning "I am a child of God" last week in French as part of our foreign language studies. It is so fun to listen to my kids playing and singing that song. I even have one daughter who thinks we should sing it in sacrament once we know the whole thing. Of course whether her not as outgoing siblings agree with that idea could be a whole different story.

Jeremiah Stays Home Experiment

January 11, 2017

Oh man, what an intense day it has been.  Jeremiah has been asking to do "school with mom" for a few weeks now.  I finally gave in and let him join us for homeschool today.  It changed the way the whole day went having him home with us.

My emotions ran the whole gambit from delighted to have him home and enjoying how excited he was or certain things, clear to not being sure I would survive the "Are we done yet?" questions because he was hoping staying home meant video games and it didn't.

We got to singing time, calendar time, handwriting, phonics, scriptures, math, history, and poetry.  What a list.  Plus he has been getting up too early in the am for the last few weeks, so we are letting him stay up a whole hour later than normal.  I sure hope that a later bedtime will stop the 4:00 am wake up calls.  I am so looking forward to everyone going to sleep tonight. Especially me.

Survey Says

December 5, 2016

Clarissa is doing a survey for school today. Please take a minute to help her out and answer in the comments. Her question is: Which of these dangerous animals is your favorite?

1. Cane Toad
2. Shark
3. Snake
4. Cassowary
5. none of the above.

Wisdom from "Anne of the Island"

October 11, 2016

I am currently reading Anne of the Island with my girls before bed each night and this part really struck me as a beautiful thought and I wanted to share it with all of you. 

"There is so much in the world for us all if we only have the eyes to see it, and the heart to love it, and the hand to gather it to ourselves - so much in men and women, so much in art and literature, so much everywhere in which to delight, and for which to be thankful." pg. 217