Joseph's lovely reading voice

Ok, so my boys have to read 20 minutes a day. They like to read (mostly) so that's not a problem, except that they have to read the SAME BOOKS over and over each day for a week (per teacher assignment). This gets a little boring.

Joseph alleviates this boredom by reading in the weirdest voice possible. I'll just let you hear it. For the first 10 seconds it is kinda cute, for the next 30 seconds it is pretty funny, but thereafter it is pretty much just headache-inducing. But it keeps him reading so I'll go with it!

I love how Mosey just sits there so seriously listening to the story.

Words, words, words!!

At, am, and, cat, dog, rat, pan, pat, off, ox, ax, box, mom, dad, red, rug, lost, pumpkin, cup, dust, fat, fast, tummy, poop, soon, chin, chip, much, lunch, food, funny, cat, cast, silly, cow, igloo, pool, grass, tick, tock, pill, crab, sand, cheek, and, the, a, to, do, it, see, leg, hand, tap, clock, witch.

What are all these words? Why, they are all words Mosey has read BY HIMSELF since Saturday.
I'm not kidding. I've been working with him on sounds for quite a while, then on Saturday just for fun I wrote down some words and he READ THEM!!! So I've been adding some words, teaching him about ch, th, oo, ee, etc., and he is READING!
Yes, I am proud of my three year old.

L family pictures

I've been pretty busy lately. House stuff, school stuff, blah blah blah. But I've had some fun too. I've been editing the pictures I did for our friends a while ago, and helping another friend design a wedding invitation. So I'm still getting some computer time here and there.

Here are some of my favorites (so far) of the photo shoot I did on the 13th.

Beautiful mom, handsome dad

Sassy 16 year old



A more pensive pose

Out in nature



Love that smile!



He thought I was weird, making him stand out in the middle of the bushes...



Happy family



I think this is my favorite of the family portraits

Addendum to my global warming rant

It is my opinion that the human spirit has an innate need for religious expression. Every culture in the history of earth has had some form of religion or another. We live in an age where many secularists now perceive traditional religion as foolish and unscientific. Many have rejected religion as a consequence of this perception. And yet, the human spirit still craves religious expression.
In my observation, it appears that some people shift their religious devotion from God, to various secular causes, particularly physical health and the environment, although there are numerous other examples.
What strikes me is that both of these causes (and the other examples I can think of) *are* very important. We actually have religious responsibility to care for our physical bodies and our environment. However, when these causes become more important than service to God, or when they become substitutions for devotion to God, when they become ends in themselves rather than vehicles of coming to know God, the religious devotion to these causes becomes dangerous.
Not to be melodramatic, but I do believe that Satan is quite pleased when we begin worshipping good health and clean environment over God.
So, while I absolutely support any individual in their efforts to keep themselves and their families healthy, and our environment clean and beautiful, I get worried and scared when these individuals begin allying themselves, philosophically or actually, with groups and causes that have adopted health and/or environmentalism as their religion. I think this is the wrong path and will not lead to anything good in our society or world.
Does this make sense to anyone?

hot, hot, hot!!!

Ok. So my dad sent all his kids an article regarding Al Gore's recent Nobel Prize and a prominent climatologist who refutes most of his claims. My family has a range of political views, and this email sparked several different responses. Being the sucker I am for getting involved in family "discussions" of politics, I can't help but put in my two cents. My kids are in bed (not asleep, but at least in bed), and I now have time to respond to some of these replies and elaborate on my own particular views. I'm mostly responding to an email from my older sister where she states she is desperately concerned about global warming, because she must rely on the expertise of others and the general scientific consensus (which she implies supports the theory of human-caused global climate change). She also expresses desperate concern about sleep deprivation in children, although that was something of an unrelated aside at the end of her short note. So with that in way of explanation, here's what I have to say about the matter.

See, I, too am pretty convinced by scientific consensus in pretty much all scientific issues. But there *isn't* any scientific consensus when it comes to Global Climate Change. There is data all over the place. There is no way to determine whether the slight increase in global temperatures over the last decades is due in any degree (no pun intended) to human activity, particularly when one looks at global temperature variations during periods when there was no carbon-emitting human industry at all (unless you count breathing).

There are many, many scientists who do not attribute climate change to human activity. Some who do, yes, but many who do not. Unfortunately the whole issue has become incredibly politicized, which in my opinion completely corrupts the scientific process. Grant money is often determined by political persuasions. Scientists have come straight out and said they are afraid to contradict scientific "evidence" that they know to be false, or even questionable, because it is politically incorrect and would negatively impact future grants.

Call me a skeptic (and no, I don't call you weakminded Rosalynde), but I can't help but have serious doubts about a phenomenon (human-caused global climate change) that is most notably endorsed by Al Gore's "documentary." This film has so many falsifications, is deliberately misleading in too many ways for me to take it seriously in the slightest. This film is so obviously leftist propaganda, that for me it casts doubt on all proponents of human-caused climate change. Maybe he's just the bad apple that gives a whole group a bad name, but if so, then why hasn't there been an outcry by scientists who do have legitimate evidence for climate change, protesting Al Gore's film for precisely the reason that it's huge flaws cast doubt on their legitimate work? Unfortunately, not only has there not been any outcry of this sort, but he has now been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize!!!!!!! To me that indicates that proponents of global climate change *do* buy into his views, that his film really *is* the best they have to offer in the way of evidence for climate change. And that is precisely why I am so very skeptical of the whole thing.

NOW. This is not to say that I think we as human beings have no responsibility for this earth. This is something that makes me SO MAD. Conservatives who do not buy into the leftist hysteria about global climate change are therefore painted as these mindless oafs who hate the environment and care nothing about conserving resources or living responsibly. And that is a lie. As a *conservative* I believe we should *conserve!* I think it is totally absurd, our dependence on oil for all our energy needs. I also think it is totally absurd that we should therefore stop using oil and rely totally on solar and wind power. There are many other options, nuclear power being one of the best I think. And yet it is the same leftists who are wildly hysterical about global warming, that also get wildly hysterical about building new nuclear power plants (or even using existing ones at capacity). It is infuriating, and makes me think they are not truly worried about reducing our dependence on foreign oil, but are more concerned about political power plays. There are many ways to reduce our dependence on foreign oil (and oil in general), and it is beyond frustrating to see leftist politics thwarting any move towards solving this problem.

Another thing. I think we should all be concerned with being responsible. With conserving energy where we can, with teaching our children to live responsibly and conservatively, to respect the environment and the magnificence of God's creation. However, when it comes to things we should be "desperately concerned about" (sorry, but I have to use your words here, Rosalynde, since it illustrates my point so well), I worry a lot about the priorities of average Americans, especially those with left-of-center political beliefs. I am far more concerned about the imminent issues of radical Islam, for example, than I am about "Global Climate Change." I am far more concerned about the direction public education is going. I am much more concerned about how we are going to resolve the coming Social Security crisis and the sinkhole that is Medicare. I am desperately, desperately concerned about how honesty, hard work, self-sufficiency and personal responsibility seem to have melted away from America's consciousness. Which is ironic because if we could just bring these values back as distinctly *American,* as they used to be, I think America, with the ingenuity and creativity that has in the past been part of our greatest strength as a nation, could probably figure out how to be self-sufficient in terms of energy requirements! And if we could get individuals to prioritize and value personal responsibility, I think the social-security and medicare crises would also be quickly solved. I am afraid for America, but not because Florida might be under water in 3 years. I am afraid for America because the values that made our country great, that made our country God's chosen land where he chose to restore the gospel, are disappearing.

One final point about Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize. I found it rather amusing that just days before he was awarded this "prize," a court in Great Britain found the film to be misleading or false in 11 different areas, and therefore decided that if the film is to be shown in state-run schools, the "Government must first amend their Guidance Notes to Teachers to make clear that 1.) The Film is a political work and promotes only one side of the argument. 2.) If teachers present the Film without making this plain they may be in breach of section 406 of the Education Act 1996 and guilty of political indoctrination. 3.) Eleven inaccuracies have to be specifically drawn to the attention of school children."
(http://newparty.co.uk/articles/inaccuracies- gore.html)
Interesting, eh?
Oh yeah, I'm also desperately concerend about sleep deprivation in children, especially because it is 9:47 PM and one, maybe two of my children are still messing around upstairs refusing to sleep. :-)

Ok, now that I've offended and alienated everyone in at least one way or another, I believe I will close. I promise not to pontificate on Global Climate Change for at least one week.

Smiles and hugs from the most liberal city in Texas,
Gabrielle
P.S. I still do highly recommend Michael Crichton's "State of Fear." It is one of the few novels I have read that is extensively footnoted with scientific articles and other primary sources.

Monday musings

Hello Everyone,
It is 10:30 AM, I have the house straightened up, laundry going, and now I'm sitting here uploading the pictures I took this weekend. I did a family photo shoot for a family in my ward Saturday night. It was fun! Afterward we went to Countyline (BBQ restaurant), and waited almost an hour and a half to get seated, so we didn't even get home until after 10:00 PM. Ben didn't want to even go there, after we were told it would be a 50 minute wait. But usually they tell you 45 minutes and it's actually 25 minutes, right? That's my experience, anyway. But Ben was TOTALLY right this time. Sorry Ben! I still owe you that dollar.
So yesterday the boys were... just a little tired. Actually, they were up really late Friday night, too, for no particular reason, we were just hanging out at home and Ben started showing them some funny YouTube videos and anyway, we ended up staying up till 10:00 that night, too. And of course they were up early Saturday morning. Yawn...
Saturday we cleaned the house. I stayed up really late Friday night sweeping downstairs (which desperately needed doing), so I wanted to get the floors mopped and stuff before they got dirty again. Ben and the boys picked up the upstairs, then Ben cleaned the garage while I supervised the boys cleaning up the playroom and then they did reading practice and finished their first book report. Whew! Ben vacuumed upstairs (that needed doing even more than the downstairs! But I don't go up there much so it doesn't bug me as much), and I took the boys to RadiJazz. They had a good time there, although Mosey lost his Carebear AGAIN. He wanted to bring it in, I told him NO, he started to tantrum, so I told him, ok, but he STAYS IN MY PURSE. Well, when it was time to leave, Sunshine bear was not in my purse. The boys told me they saw Mosey carrying him around. We looked around, then asked the girl at the front desk if anyone turned him in. No, but she HAD seen it on the floor over by one of the play structures, but didnt' pick it up. So we went back and searched everywhere, but no luck. And then we had to go because it was time for my photo shoot. I'll call them today, but we didn't see it, and the place isn't that big. There are two possibilities: someone picked it up and took it home, or it ended up in the huge foam block pit. If it ended up in there, I think it may be gone forever. The girl said they never empty that thing out.
SOOO, I have ordered ANOTHER sunshine bear from ebay (found another one, yay!!), but this is the last time. For reals. And I am NEVER letting him take that bear into another entertainment type of place again. EVER.
Luckily this time around, he has gotten somewhat attached to his "white kitty cat" so he seems to be hanging in there. We did have lots of tears on the way from RadiJazz to the park, but he's been ok with things since then.
Yesterday was a tough day for me. Not enough sleep, as I was also up WAY too late Friday and Saturday nights. Plus it was fast sunday which, I'm ashamed to admit, always makes me on edge and not very patient. Ben watched the kids for a few hours while I took a nap, even, but I was still really grumpy when I woke up. I yelled at the boys too much and I feel bad. I'll do better today. I always get grumpy when the house gets messy just after it got all cleaned up, which happened. They got out playdough, and it ended up in little crumbs all over the floor, upstairs, etc. I yelled a lot about how THIS is why I hate buying playdough and tell them it can NEVER go anywhere but the kitchen table. But I think I could have conveyed the same ideas, probably more effectively, without yelling. Sigh...
But I went to bed at a good hour last night, and I'm feeling pretty good today.
Brigham has been praying that we find Angel in every prayer he says. It is breaking my heart. I really think we need to get a kitten.
Mosey is a funny little guy. He says every night, "Wow, I didn't know it was going to be night time again after it was day time!" Or, "I didn't know it was going to be night time after Tae Kwon Do!" Or, "I didn't know it was going to be night time again after it was church!" He seems genuinely astonished every night when darkness comes again. Oh, and he read his first words Friday! He was so cute, so proud of himself. Ok, the words were "me" and "see," but still, it was pretty exciting.
All right, I've got to get some more computer work done before it's time to get Mosey from preschool.

Joseph is a thinker

This morning Mosey and I went to the school's Principal's Pride Awards. Joseph was awarded for being "a thinker." Yay Joseph!
I can't help but think that since this is the first Principal's Pride of the year, he must have really made a good impression on his teacher. :-)
This is a very good thing for Joseph, so I was very happy.
Monday the boys had no school. Well, Brigham and Joseph had no school. Mosey still had preschool, so after I dropped him off, the big boys and I had the morning to ourselves. It was really great! They helped me clean up the whole house, and they did a great job. Then we did some reading practice and math practice and read a little more about Ancient Sumeria. Did you know they invented the potter's wheel? So we watched some Youtube videos on pottery throwing, and then the boys got out the playdough and made their own pots!
After we got Mosey from school, we came home and decorated the house for Halloween. It is very spooky now. Brigham and Joseph decorated their room, too. Later in the evening Ben took them to the dollar store to redeem some of their responsibility stars, and Joseph got some more little halloween decorations for his room, and to decorate the fake spiderwebs on our front porch. They are so excited for Halloween!
It is October and so the boys are beginning to get homework. They have 4 book reports due on the 31st. Not very involved book reports, just 5 sentences about a book they read, and then a picture. BUT, it all has to be in their own hand writing, and I'm supposed to make sure they form their letters correctly. I admit to not paying that much attention to their handwriting until now. But they are not doing lots of the strokes correctly, so now I have to nip that in the bud. Yesterday afternoon all we did was come up with sentences for their first book, and then I had them write the date, title, and author on their papers. And that took about 20 minutes for each child!! So we're going to have to get cracking. They'll need to do at least two sentences tonight. Not a big deal, but it is TKD this afternoon, and then I have mutual, and Ben is in Louisiana today so they'll have to come with me, so we only have about an hour this afternoon for them to play and get their homework done, so we'll have to work fast.
In a few minutes I'm taking Mosey to the Austin science and nature center. It's free and supposedly pretty cool, so we'll check it out.
Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Starry-eyed boy

Just for fun...

Video: Half-tiger, half-human boys attack own mother!!

Post-Conference Blues

Hi everyone,
Well, conference is over now. It was great. I really enjoyed exactly who I thought I'd really enjoy-- Elder Holland, Elder Scott, Elder Eyring, President Hinckley. Plus lots of others. I loved the "Good, Better, Best" talk, I really liked Sister whats-her-name's (RS Gen pres) talk (it was almost the same talk she gave in the RS broadcast, but worth hearing again!), and several others that I will look forward to reading in next month's Ensign.
I always feel a little let-down when conference is over. Another six months!
This was the first general conference that our boys really let us watch/listen in relative peace. It was so nice!! They played really well together upstairs, outside, in the playroom, occasionally came into the living room and listened/watched with us. Very few interruptions, I hardly had to yell at them to be quiet at all! They must be growing up. Not long ago and trying to listen/watch was just an exercise in frustration.
This afternoon we went over to a ward family's house (the dad is our home teacher) for lunch and then to watch the afternoon session. That was nice too. We had a great dessert, two kinds of pumpkin pie and a spice cake I brought. Uh-oh, the calorie-season is upon us!!
Let's see. What else happened this week. I've been busy. We tied a baby quilt for mutual on Wednesday, so I went with Mosey on Monday to pick out some fabric. While we were there he spotted some care-bear material that wasn't overtly feminine (purple, yellow and pink carebears on a green background), that he *had* to have. So I bought it for him and tied a quilt for him too. Got those bound on Friday, and he hasn't been without the blanket since. He may turn into Linus, as Ben commented this afternoon.
I made a really good dessert for mutual, too, and it was really easy. I wanted to make an ice cream cake, so I looked on allrecipes.com and found this one that was rated high and really easy (two prerequisites for any recipe I make). Layer the bottom of a pan with ice cream sandwiches, then spread a layer of hot fudge sauce, then a layer of cool whip, then another layer of ice cream sandwiches, then I did a layer of caramel sauce, and a thicker layer of cool whip, and then topped it with crushed oreos. I got lots of compliments and no one guessed it was just ice cream sandwiches until I told them. Not low-calorie though! I will try it next time with the reduced fat ice cream sandwiches and fat-free sugar-free cool whip, and maybe top with strawberries instead of oreos.
The boys had an early release day on Friday so after picking them up we went down to the Austin zoo. Aunt Pat got us a membership a few months ago but we didn't get the chance to go until Friday. It was really cool! This is not a typical zoo, it is more of a refuge for animals that have been rescued from various situations. It is quite small, but we spent 2.5 hours there and didn't look at the whole thing, so it is plenty big enough. The great thing is that you can get WAY up close to the animals. The enclosures are right there where you can walk right up to them (except the dangerous animals where there is a fence around the enclosure). We saw prairie dogs which are soooo cute up close, all sorts of monkeys (these were also really fascinating to watch up close), a whole bunch of parrots and mackaws, giant tortoises, leopards, bears, tigers, lions, and more. The zoo is located in the middle of nowhere sort of, amidst the rolling hills of Austin's hill-country, so the terrain is really beautiful. It was pretty awe-inspiring to get up close (6 feet) to a grizzly bear, and probably the same distance away from a couple of bengal tigers. I took some pictures and video which I will put on my blog. We stopped half-way through to rest for a while and observed a whole bunch of ants trying to cart off some goldfish crackers someone had left on the picnic table. Then the boys had fun imitating the tigers and showing me their fiercest tiger yowls and pounces. Mosey got a little carried away and actually started biting me (not too hard though). Anyway, it was fun and we'll definitely be back. I think I'll plan outings like that for all of the boys' early release days.
On Thursday the boys and I went to the Spicewood Elementary fun-run. The boys ran a couple of laps around the park next to the school and then we ate hot dogs and chips and popsicles in the cafeteria. There was a guy in there all set up with a sound system, playing the guitar and singing some oldies rock and roll songs. I was thinking it was pretty cool that the school hired someone to entertain during the dinner, and then the boys told me that was Mr. Steinburg, their music teacher! Wow, I never had a music teacher as cool as him when I was in elementary school! No wonder Brigham comes bounding into the car when I come pick them up on music days shouting at the top of his lungs, "I LOVE MUSIC! I LOVE MUSIC!" (He really does this).
Ok, one more story from the week, and then I'll close. I am convinced that I really must be the angel of death to toads. You remember all of my past attempts to raise tadpoles have ended in mass death of said tadpoles? Well, some of them actually did make it to toad stage, but none of them left my house alive, sadly. So on Wednesday I was in the backyard with Mosey, trying to catch a butterfly with Joseph's butterfly net. I couldn't get the butterfly, but did catch a little toad. We put it in Joseph's bug cage thingy (this little case with a handle, and mesh sides), with the plan that Mosey could look at it and show it to Brigham and Joseph when they got home from school, and then we'd let it go. So we did that, and Mosey carried it around with him most of the day. I wanted to let it go before we took Brigham and Joseph to TKD, but Mosey wanted to take it along, so I let him. Well, at TKD, Mr. Toad got man-handled a bit too much in his cage, both by Mosey and another little boy waiting there for his big brother. Mr. Toad ended up on his back on the bottom of his cage, after being tumbled about in the cage several times. I hoped he was just stunned and playing dead, but when we got back home and took him out, no, he was indeed dead. So we buried him in the side yard, yet another toad we've sent to an early grave. :-( Maybe I will have really learned my lesson this time to LEAVE TOADS ALONE!!
Ok, on that sad note I will close this letter.


Cutie Mosey at the zoo.


Ducky Joseph.



Brigham studying some ants moving goldfish crackers.



This is Mosey "being a tiger." Well at least that's what he said he was doing! Not quite sure I see the resemblance myself...

Now Joseph has to show me how *he* can be a tiger.

Don't leave out Brigham! I think he actually had the most realistic tiger imitation of the three of them.

All three boys "being bears." If you look in the upper left corner, sort of above Mosey's head, you can actually see the *real* bear in the background.

Another bear. We could get closer to this one. I think this is a brown bear. It is a lot bigger than it looks in this picture.

One of the Bengal tigers (they have two tiger enclosures). This one was pacing around his enclosure and came right up to the fence to take a look at us! We were literally only 5 or 6 feet away! These are enormous creatures.

The other tiger enclosure. This tiger made eye contact with me and we had a staring contest for a few minutes. I won.

One of the many monkeys we saw there. I think this was a "Patas monkey."
He was reaching through the bars to pick some cedar foilage as a snack.

The King of the Jungle himself. Isn't he gorgeous?

A leopard lazing in the sun. He/she lay there looking at us for a minute or so until Joseph threw a dandelion at him (Joseph thought the leopard would like to eat the dandelion, don't ask me why, but it hit the fence and didn't go through), then he stood up, looked at us really disgustedly (yes, cats CAN get disgusted looks on their faces), and stalked away.

must... clean... house...

Hello Everyone,
Ok, it is 10:36 A.M. and an hour and a half of my precious no-kid time is gone, with no cleaning of the house to show for it. Ugh. House cleaning is really and truly the bane of my existence. It's not so horrible, but it takes so much time and then I don't have time to do the things I really want to do. I was whining to Ben yesterday as we were frantically cleaning up before our home-teacher came over, that I feel like my skills and talents are totally wasted on cleaning the house, which is all I seem to have time to do during my discretionary time. It just puts me in a very bad mood. And my legs are getting bad again, which just makes it that much harder. I can't do very much before I have to stop and rest. And I'm not used to working that way. I'm used to just attacking a project, no matter what it is, and pushing as hard as I can until it is done. If I stop to break, I lose momentum and motivation, and the work tends to not get done. So it is exceedingly frustrating to not be able to get a job finished in one fell swoop.
I'm depressed about my legs. I'm hoping they've taken a turn for the worse because I've been sick the past week. Maybe. But I never did get back as much function after this last round of steroids than I have before, and I think things now are probably as good as they'll ever be, and that is depressing for me. It's going to take me a long time to adjust to my new limitations. I used to not HAVE limitations, so just having them at all is a big adjustment. I've noticed my spasticity is coming back, and generalized weakness and how quickly I reach muscle fatigue. Things are still better than they were before the steroids, but I've noticed some deterioration over the past week and that scares me and depresses me. But it is what it is, and I can't change it, so I'll have to just get past it! My next doctors appointment is October 31, so I'll just have to see how things go over the next month.
I sort of just feel like my whole life is not quite how I want it, and I'm not sure how to get it where I do want it. I'm frustrated with how long the boys' school hours are. After they get home, almost all their time is taken up with TKD twice a week, reading practice with each child, piano practice (they're only doing like 5 minutes or so), I also want to work on one other subject each day, and then I have to get dinner ready and then the afternoon is over. Everything is too rushed and I don't feel like we are able to really enjoy each other. And I would like them to get involved in a couple of other activities-- actual piano lessons, maybe soccer, Brigham's been asking about gymnastics class, Joseph wants to join a science club. But there is NO WAY we can do that unless the boys completely give up any free play time at all. And that doesn't seem right for 6 year olds. So the idea of home-schooling has been popping into my mind again. I've always wanted to homeschool, in fact, I always planned on it. And then I got diagnosed with M.S. and I just didn't feel on top of things enough to start, so I sent them to public school. And then we moved and decided to live in this area specifically *for* the public schools, and my life has been crazy since then as well. But I just can't see us doing this for the next 12 years. I could absolutely get the boys through all their formal school lessons before lunch. Then after lunch all the way until dinner they could play, take lessons, go to practices, we could go on outings and field trips, and take the time to be *kids.* I know I could do it. I totally don't mind being a chauffeur in the afternoons, if we've had the rest of the day to be together, enjoy each other, the boys have had time to play, they don't have homework hanging over them, etc., etc. They could be as busy as they want in the afternoons, because I'm not trying to squeeze in all these other things-- play time, homework, family time, etc.
What is holding me back is just fear of the unknown I guess. I'm not afraid I couldn't do it, or that I couldn't do a really good job. I know I could. There is nothing I have ever tried to do, that I've felt passionate about, that I've been committed to, that I have failed at. Is that arrogant of me to say? Maybe. But I guess it feels weird to live in this part of town, much more expensive than other areas we could have moved to, specifically FOR the public schools, and then not have the boys *attending* those schools. But if I could do a better job than the public school, then I guess it shouldn't matter how good the public school is. I'm afraid of pulling the boys out because I don't do well with confrontation, and I'm afraid of a confrontation with the school. And I genuinely like the boys' teachers, and I'm afraid of making them feel bad. Ok, I know these are dumb reasons, but they still worry me. And, ok, I'll admit it, I'm a little afraid of what people will think of me for pulling my boys out of school. Homeschooling is becoming more common, but is far from mainstream. I also worry that the boys will really miss some aspects of public school. Comeraderie with the other kids, their "specials" classes, recess, lunch with all the other kids. I think they are really, truly enjoying 1st grade. 1st grade is fun, why shouldn't they enjoy it? If I pulled them out, they'd be working harder academically, and probably wouldn't have as much fun, at least for the school part of things. I hope they'd overall have more fun because they'd have more time to do things they really enjoy. And I know as the school years progress, things get less fun. I remember being *so* bored by the time I got to 3rd grade. School wasn't fun anymore because it was so repetitive and slow and boring. And socially things got more confusing. As kids get older, they are more driven to obtain acceptance and approval from their peers. As 6 year olds, my boys are still oblivious to all of this, but I know it will happen. In 4th grade I was betrayed by my former best friend, and went through the entire school year pretty much with no friends. It was horrible. My boys don't need that. So I guess I could let them stay in school for the next couple of years and then pull them out, but I don't know if that's a good idea either. If we really are going to homeschool, I should just start now so we're not playing catch-up in a couple of years.
I have all sorts of other reasons *to* homeschool. I have no doubts about it being the best path academically, and there's no point in even comparing public schooling to homeschooling in terms of moral training, instilling values, and producing young adults who are self-sufficient, self-disciplined, and very comfortable and strong in who they are.
Ben still has some doubts, which makes sense since he sees how hard it is for me to keep the house clean. And that part of my life certainly wouldn't be made any easier by homeschooling my kids. Quite the contrary. But at least I would feel like the majority of my time is being spent in something truly worth my time, my energy, my talents. And if we ever get our Florida house sold, we could afford to have a cleaning service.
I just feel like I'm allowing my dreams and passions for my kids to slip by me because it just seems like a little too much effort to pursue them. And I don't like the way that feels. I don't want to look back in 12 years and regret that I didn't have the courage to chase my dreams. This is the ONLY childhood my kids get. I want to make it as rich and as wonderful as it can possibly be. I only have 3 children, and probably will only ever have 3 kids. It is not an impossibly daunting task to homeschool 3 kids, especially when 2 will be in the same grade! Lots of people homeschool very effectively with a lot more kids.
There are lots of other things I could do to fill my time, and even lots of things that would be a worthy use of my skills and talents. But I can't think of anything ultimately more important or more fulfilling than being an intrinsic, important part of my kids' lives, and helping them to train their minds and spirits for the rest of their lives.
Ok, so that's my little pep talk to myself, I guess. I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm trying to slowly introduce the elements of homeschooling to my kids after school and on weekends. Maybe after Christmas break we'll talk about pulling the boys out of school. Or maybe doing stuff after school and on weekends will be enough. It could be, but then the boys wouldn't be able to do all the other extra curricular after school stuff that they'd like to do, and I'd like them to do. So I don't know. I think it might take some time for Ben to be persuaded that I really *can* do this, and that it really *will* be better for the boys. So I need to get myself organized and disciplined over the next several weeks so I can convince him and myself that I can do this.
SO, on that note, I really MUST get some housework done so that after school I can focus completely on the boys and not be stressed and distracted by chores that need to be done.
Have a great week everyone.
Oh, and here is my promised note to Abraham. You are the kind of kid and student that I would like my boys to be like when they are 18. But I'm sure you recognize what kind of an exception you are among the vast majority of your peers at LCHS. And LCHS is one of the top public high schools in the state. It's a little scary when you look at the average student at LCHS and realize that they would be considered elite among the average high school students in the rest of the state/country. I hope you're not freezing up there in Utah. Usually the end of Sept, beginning of Oct. is one of the hottest times of year in Southern Cal! It's nice to actually experience fall, isn't it? Too bad fall has to be followed by winter...

Singing mom video

I don't know how long this video will work, it is already disabled on YouTube for some reason, but it was SOOOOOO funny. My mom sent me the YouTube link and it didn't work, so I did some googling until I found it somewhere else. Make sure to turn up your sound so you can hear all the words!!!
I can't figure out how to embed this type of video, so you'll have to click on the link. Sorry!

singing mom video

Fire ants bites and strep throat

Hi Everyone,
I have strep again, ugh. But I found an old bottle of Keflex in my medicine box which I started yesterday and in the last couple of hours I've started to feel a lot better. I'm sure I'm a strep carrier which is why I get it all the time (this is what, my 3rd case this year?). I didn't even bother going to the doctor, decided to save myself $35 when I know this is what I have. I have the leftover Keflex from a previous case of strep. I took the first course of Ab's, then went in for a re-swab, which came back positive again, even though I was symtom free. So I was prescribed the Keflex, but I decided not to take it, since I didn't feel sick. I never did get symptoms, so I had the full bottle leftover. This is another reason I'm sure I am a carrier, since carriers will test positive even when they're not sick.
AND, last night at mutual I got attacked by fireants. I have about 20 bites on my left foot. Anyone whose had fireant bites know how annoying they are. They've all blistered up and my foot is nicely swollen. But I won't complain too much because I heard a story last night of a lady in our ward who got bit by a huge centipede IN HER BED. The centipedes they have out here in central Texas are like from a horror movie, I'm not kidding. They are like 8 inches long, black, with RED heads. They are the creepiest looking things ever. Thankfully for us they seem to only be a problem if your property is adjacent to some open space, or new construction. None of that in my neighborhood, and I've never seen centipedes around here. Or scorpions. Out in Steiner Ranch (yeah, now I'm glad we don't live out there), they regularly have centipedes and scorpions. I just could not handle that. The occasional roach I see scuttling around is no big deal compared to centipedes and scorpions.

So, I have re-instated our responsibility charts. Here is my list for the boys:
Get dressed
Put dishes in sink/dw
Brush teeth AM/PM
On-time for school
Reading practice
Other school practice
Piano practice
No T.V. Mon.-Thurs.
Clean up toys/artwork/experiments
Dirty clothes in Dad's closet
Personal prayers
Quiet, no getting up after lights out

So the deal is that they get 5 cents for each of these that they do without complaint. BUT, they still have to do them. So, they can either do them cheerfully, and get paid (they could earn $3.60 per week or something like that), or, if they give me a hard time, still have to do them, and not get paid. When we did responsibility charts before, it worked quite well, so I have high hopes for this. The boys have been pretty good, actually, I just think we need things to be a bit more systematic around here.

Ok, here's some funny things Mosey has said the past couple of days. We have a treat box that the boys can choose from after their reading practice. Mosey has been doing reading practice, too, but he still wants treats between times (imagine that). So yesterday he was pestering me about letting him choose a treat, and I was telling him no, unless he wanted to do more reading practice. And he said to me, "But mom, it's no big deal if I get another treat!" That made me chuckle. He get's these funny little phrases from me and Ben, and he actually uses them correctly! Here's another example of that. The boys tend to ask me where things are, as if I have this supernatural power of knowing where any and everything is at any particular point in time. So at times I get a bit exasperated, and I'll say, "I have no clue where xx is, sorry!" So now, Mosey has turned this around on me. He came up to me and asked me where his movie was (he carries around the DVD's he checks out from the library everywhere, don't ask me why). So I asked him, "Well Mosey, where did you last have your movie?" And he answered back, "I have no clue, mom!" Ha ha ha. He's been using this phrase for lots of other things too, and it always makes me laugh (where did you put your shoes? Where did you drop that apple core? Why did you draw with marker all over your legs?).

Ok, I better close. Mosey's pestering me to come play with him and I feel way too guilty being on the computer when he's asking to play with me.

It is Fall!!

Fall is here. So why is it still so hot outside? LOL
Yesterday was Church day (as the boys call Sundays). We were there on time!! Hurray. Thank you Ben for helping so much.
Ben got a new calling, he is now the Webelos pack leader (is that the right name?). So he will get to go to Sunday School with me and Priesthood meeting, instead of wrangling hyperactive 7 and 8 year olds. Hopefully this isn't an out of the frying pan, into the fire sort of move.
Yesterday afternoon I cooked up a storm. Made chicken enchiladas, which I love, although they are not low-calorie. Also made an apple pie with the boys with some apples that were past their prime (always a good thing to do with produce before it goes bad). The boys had a little too much fun helping me make the pie crust and flour pretty much got everywhere. And then Joseph thought it would be fun to pour flour into a couple of water glasses, so then there was paste everywhere. Oh well, we're making memories, right? The pie was good. Also not low-calorie. The crust takes a cup of shortening, and the filling called for 1/2 cup of butter, although I reduced that to 1/4 cup. Still lots and lots of fat grams, but I've been pretty good, only eating about half a slice. Of course I did have 2 wedges of the cookie cake served at the Standards Night fireside last night. That went well, although a lot of work. We had displays along the walls of the cultural hall, for each of the topics in For the Strength of Youth. I was in charge of the music and dancing display, and the entertainment and media display. I helped set up before hand, served out the cookie cake during the reception beforehand, and then helped clean everything up at the end. It was fun although my legs got pretty bad by the end of the evening. Too much walking around, dragging tables, carrying chairs, etc., etc. I really like our new bishop (liked our old one too, but I'm just getting to know the new one). He spoke about half the time-- the first half of the program some of the Laurels and Priests spoke. I told Ben when I got home that his mannerisms remind me of a general authority, maybe Elder Eyring. Anyway, it was a good night.
That's it for today!! This afternoon I'm taking Mosey to the library right after preschool, then it's TKD later on for the boys, then FHE, then bed!! (I'm already looking forward to going to bed, not a good thing for a Monday!)

Brigham reading

I think he's doing pretty well, don't you?

6 year old portraits

Here are their six year old portraits. Ok, only a month late... Yesterday after church I took the boys in the back yard for a few pictures. Would have tried some more varied positions/backgrounds, but the mosquitoes were pretty bad so we had to be fast. As you see they're getting a little too manly for many smiles. Gotta be fast with the shutter finger to catch them!

I sure love these boys!

Joseph!!

Brigham!!

I have more pictures of Brigham only because overall I have more pictures of Joseph (he is typically a lot more interested in getting pictures taken than Brigham!), so I'm trying to even things up a bit.

"Blubby Ell"

Hi All,
I need to get back into the habit of the more frequent, *shorter* updates. So I will try.
Yesterday was the boys' TKD belt graduation, they are now senior yellow belts. Next up, green belt! Green belt is when they start sparring, memorizing patterns, and all the real fun stuff. I didn't take any pictures. Tried, and then when I turned on my camera realized I didn't have a memory card in it. Oops. But they were cute. Joseph still got all wide-eyed and distracted with all the big kids around, but at least he wasn't doing his hook kicks across his leg! And he answered a couple of questions correctly, too. Afterwards we went to Piccolomo, an Italian gelato place which was very good, although expensive. $2.50 for a small cup. Once in a while is ok, though, and I've always wanted to try gelato.
Today was a clean-the-house and run-errands day. Typical Saturday. Our van needed new front tires. The tires were only maybe a year and a half old, but the alignment was off on the front tires and they both were pretty bald on the outside edges. Makes me nervous driving on bad tires. I was once on the freeway, back in Simi Valley, with all 3 kids in the back seat, and a car in the lane *right* next to me had a blow out, and it was so scary. The guy was thankfully able to regain control of his car very quickly, and everything was fine, but it sure scared the dickens out of me. A week or so ago I was driving around town, just doing typical stuff, and during the course of that day I saw 4 serious car wrecks, including one that I'm pretty sure must have been a fatality. Did I already mention that? I can't remember. That last one really, really shook me up. It was really terrible. One of the other ones was pretty bad, too, and we saw a guy being carried away on a stretcher. Pretty weird, all that in one day. Anyway, it got me thinking about my van, how we need new tires, how I skipped the 30,000 mile tune-up, and I decided we better do something about it. We're going to drive out to Phoenix for Thanksgiving in a couple of months as well, so we may as well get the maintenance stuff taken care of before then.
Tonight Mosey was in fine form. I love the things 3 year olds say. We were working on some letter flash cards, and then later I was quizzing him, saying a word and then asking him what letter it starts with. He kept saying, "Mmm, ahhh," (he always says "mmm, ahhh... mmm, ahhh" when he's thinking about something, it's really cute), "I *fink* that's a weird letter A!" It was always, a "weird letter" something or other. "That letter makes a weird sound like aaaaa." Everything was weird to him I guess! Then I was putting him in bed, and he was wiggling around like usual. I kept telling him to lie still, but he just cant. He turned over on his back and stuck his arms and legs up into the air and said, "Mom, what shape am I curled up into?" I said, "That looks kind of like the letter U." I thought he was still thinking about letters. Then he said, "No, this is not the letter U. I'm curled up into the shape of a dead cockroach!" Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! He's seen too many of those in his short little life. But he wasn't done yet. He kept wiggling around and talking, and I finally said to him, "Mosey, you need to lie still and close your eyes so that sleep can come to you." A few seconds later a car passed by on the road outside our house, sending a flash of headlights through the window. Mosey excitedly said, "Mom, I just saw the shadow of sleep go out of my bedroom door!" I think he thought some mysterious object "sleep" was literally going to come to him if he lay still and quiet. Funny kid.

I had a parent-teacher conference with Brigham's teacher on Thursday afternoon. That week she was doing evaluations of each student to sort of see where they are academically. He's doing fine socially (she told me that day the boys in the class were having some sort of discussion about who was Brigham's friend-- they were all vying for the honor I guess), he has good phonemic awareness, his math skills are good, his writing and art work are very good. Except she said he was behind in reading. It is true he is not as excited about reading as Joseph is, but still it bothered me a lot to hear that. So we're practicing very diligently. But then Friday afternoon he brought a book home from school (Fridays are their library day), and he sat down on the couch and read the whole thing quite easily, no help from me at all. So I don't really think he's that far behind, if at all. I'll make a video of it tomorrow to post here and you can tell me if you think he's behind. Brigham is just so single-minded, if he was thinking about anything else at all during the time the teacher was evaluating, she could easily think he's behind, when really he was just distracted thinking of something else. But still, reading is so important, and being a good reader is so vital to everything else they will do in school, I have recommitted myself to working with both boys much more than I have been doing.

Joseph has been watching Harry Potter, the Goblet of Fire. There is one scene in which Ron Weasley opens a package from his mom containing his dress robes which are really awful. He is horrified and says, (excuse my french, I'm just quoting), "Bloody hell!" Joseph, not having any idea what this means, has started using the phrase now and then, sort of as an exclamation mark to what he said before (although he pronounces it "Blubby-ell"). So I had to have a talk with him yesterday before school about not saying that around other people because those aren't such nice words. I'm not sure exactly why "bloody" is vulgar in Britain, but I understand that it is, and certainly "hell" isn't a nice word for a 6 year old to be saying. I told him that when people say "hell" in that way, it comes from the phrase "go to hell," which is a *really* mean thing to say. We should never wish that someone goes to hell. He seemed to understand that. I never know what is best to do in this situation. Do I ignore it, trusting that he'll soon enough get tired of it and stop on his own, or do I say something about it and bring it to his attention that it isn't a nice word, running the risk of him saying it even more to get attention or to shock people? A couple of years ago he and Brigham were really into the potty talk, and the more I told them not to say potty words, the more they seemed to delight in saying them as often as possible! I finally told Joseph I didn't mind if he said "blubby-ell" around the house since I knew he wasn't *really* saying bad words (once I told him those were bad words, he emphatically told me he wasn't saying "bloody hell," but actually "blubby-ell"), but he shouldn't say it at school or around other people since it sounded a lot like those bad words, and they might get their feelings hurt if they thought he was saying bad words to them. Hopefully that will be the end of "blubby-ell."
Well, this wasn't much shorter than my normal updates. Oh well. Sorry about that. I'll be shorter tomorrow! (Maybe).

September 19 update

Hello everyone,
I don't have much to update this week, for some reason. But I haven't written anything for a week, and Benjamin will be getting his mail tomorrow, so I figure I should write something.
Things have been moving along pretty well around here. School is going fine for the boys. Mosey is doing well at preschool. On Monday after school he told me, "Mom, preschool was pretty short today," which I figure means he was having fun! I've been reasonably productive at home, I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm totally on top of things, but I guess that's just life. I think I finally have all my artwork on the walls, although I can't find the Noah's ark and animal prints I had in Brigham's room. They are pretty large, so shouldn't be able to hide very well, but I can't find them. And I still have a few boxes of odds and ends to unpack, and all the garage stuff to organize, so I can't get too complacent here.
Here are a few tidbits about my week.
Magnetix are very cool toys, and my boys love them and play with them all the time, so all that is good. But they are a pain to clean up. The little metal balls (size of marbles), roll EVERYWHERE on my tile floor, underneath everything. Last Saturday night I spent probably an hour moving couches and chairs, swiping underneath heavy pieces of furniture with a broom to try and round up all the pieces. I'm tempted to put them up, because they are just so hard to clean up, and the boys can't really help the pieces from rolling around, but they play with them all the time, so I probably shouldn't...
Mosey is in love with his Shrek shirt he got from Grandma Jackee. He would wear it every day if I let him. We've had a few battles over this shirt already, when I've had to wash it, or simply don't want him wearing it day after day! He was pestering me all day about it yesterday, and as soon as the dryer cycle was done, he was in the laundry room fishing it out of the laundry basket. And he's wearing it again today. I'm too tired to fight him on it.
Brigham takes after his uncle Brigham in so many ways, one of them being his absent-mindedness. Christine, is Brigham still as absent minded as he was as a kid? I hope not! Brigham just can't do more than one thing at a time, since he gets so focused on that one thing he is doing. Getting dressed in the morning can be tough. He is also my most vociferous talker, so he gets involved talking about something while he's supposed to be getting dressed, and he'll take off his pajamas and then put them all back on again! Or put on his shorts forgetting about his undies. Or put his shoes on without his socks. Or simply forget about getting dressed altogether and just stand there talking and talking about something or other. So I'll (as gently as I can) remind him to get dressed, and then he gets really mad! "I AMMMM, mom!" This morning he was getting dressed and he was putting on his shorts before his undies, so I said to him, "Brigham, put your undies on first." Out of habit he started to say, "I AM putting my undies on, mom!" Then he looked down and said, "Oh. These aren't my undies." Made me laugh! Seriously, though, he needs to work on his multi-tasking skills! He also desperately wants another cat. I've been scouring Craigslist, but the right one just hasn't popped up yet. And Ben doesn't really want to get another one. But last night in his prayers he said, "And please bless us to get another cat," and afterwards Ben and I just looked at each other. So maybe he's changing his mind.
Joseph is doing well. He keeps Brigham's tall tales in check. Brigham loves to tell tall tales (last week one of them was how his teacher had a zoo with every animal in the "entire world" in her backyard; this morning it was one about how a kid in his class fell and hit is head and died), but Joseph can see right through them. He is my realist. Except when it comes to his "club house" in the back yard. He has big plans, and has been asking me more and more when I'm going to start building his club house. I hate to shatter his plans and dreams, but most of what he wants just isn't going to happen (electricity, furniture, a secret basement). But I really should spend some time with him and do a few things. His "club house" is really a small wooden structure out behind the pool. It has a swing attached, and a rope, and a couple of ladders leading up to a platform. Except most of the rungs of the ladders are broken, there's no slide, so it's really not all *that* fun. Maybe this weekend we'll repair the ladder rungs. Joseph has also learned to snap his fingers! I guess this has been a big thing among the 1st graders because every day the boys come home with different snapping techniques, and stories of who can snap their fingers, who can't, etc., etc. Joseph can do it pretty well! Brigham's still working on it.
Ben is still enjoying work, mostly. No talk of leaving and interviewing at different companies, which is a GOOD sign, and also a record for the longest he's kept a job before thinking about leaving. He's reading the Harry Potter books in Spanish. Ben is NOT a fiction reader, and I think the only fiction books he's read in the past 15 years have probably been in Spanish! He's on Book 2. The boys and I are still making our way through the audio books, we're on book 5 now.
I think I'm over my steroid withdrawal, which is good. It wasn't as bad this time as last time. The physical effects were still pretty yucky, but emotionally it was a lot better than last time. I had a followup appointment yesterday, and I did gain 2 pounds during the whole thing, but I guess it could have been worse. I've seen definite improvement, although I still hope to see more. I think it took probably 3 weeks to see the full effects last time, and it has only been 2 weeks, so I hope I gain back even more over the next few days. Everything is a lot better, although nothing is totally better. Which is fine, I probably can't expect things to completely go away. My strength is a lot better, although not where I'd like it to be. I can make it up the stairs, but it is still difficult, and I still can't go up and down more than a few times a day. Last weekend I was sweeping the floor in the downstairs. Before, I probably would have been able to do only one or two rooms before running out of steam. Now I can sweep the whole downstairs, but afterwards I really had just had it. I couldn't really even stand up anymore. It was a little discouraging, because I was hoping to really get all my strength and stamina back. But still, things are so much better than they were. I have some residual spasticity, but that has improved a lot. That's probably where I've seen the most improvement, and it was also what was making walking so very difficult. I think I'll probably always have a limp now, which is fine, but I can get around mostly without my cane now, which is doing wonders for my self-esteem. LOL. My doctor said he thought he'd have to put me on anti-spasticity meds, but after seeing my improvement, he's going to hold off on that, which made me *very* happy. My right hand is still numb, but the spasticity is totally gone in my fingers, so I can type normally again. So that's the news on the medical front. I have another appointment in 6 weeks.
We will hopefully be starting on our new roof this week. The city has the permit ready and is just waiting for approval from our HOA (I have been calling them about this for 2 weeks, but yesterday I really pestered some people, so hopefully they'll get the approval faxed over today). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good weather over the next few weeks, so they can get it done fast before any hurricanes come.
Well, this ended up being pretty long for a week with no updates! I'll leave you with a couple of pictures I found on my old computer's hard drive (I've been transferring files onto my new computer). It's amazing to me how much my boys have grown. I spent probably half an hour last night with the boys looking through old pictures.

Joseph and Mosey, 1 week old. This was the morning after Joseph fell against the sliding glass door and cut his forehead open. He likes the scar, now, 'cuz it's in the same place as Harry Potter's scar.

Look at that little toddler-belly on Brigham!! He has NO belly on him now.

Just look at this chubby bub. I shouldn't look at these old pictures, they just make me wish I had another baby so bad!