Getting Prepared

I've been spending all my spare time (and my not-so-spare time heehee) getting things ready for home schooling. It's been so much fun! Of course, organizing everything is fun for me ;). I'll have to get pics up of my file system soon. There aren't any lessons in it, but when I actually have lessons, they will for sure have a place to be stored. I want to be all set so when the kids ask, "What's that cloud?" (and they will ask....again), while they go check for the answer (again) on the internet or in books, I will have worksheets or something already for them to do on the subject. One of the things I've been "stressing" over is my lack of immediate resources.  So I've been haunting many sites, printing pages, writing down book titles, collecting equipment. The best place EVER is our local libraries book store. They sell all kinds of books for a buck or less. I now own all kinds of US and World history books, at least one copy of each of the most popular Shakespeare plays, a ton of books on animals. Now I'm looking for books on basic physical science (gravity, magnets, energy...), and basic biology. I have to say too that I LOVE kinder thru 3rd grade subjects. So much fun to be had! And while I really like what we'll be doing with Brooke and Kelsie in English, the other subject are still freaking me out lol. OK, dinners ready, I'll update again soon. :)

You're All Gonna Think I'm Crazy

The year (school year that is) is half over and I am D.O.N.E.! There have been so many ups, downs and turn arounds that it has taken me a while to see which way is up. I "think" I've got an idea now. School has been the source of my stress these days (not the only source, but the one I can do something about). From #1 being so far advanced in math that the school cannot provide her with the materials she needs to #3 being the exact opposite in reading and the school still not having the ability to provide for her to #2 being (literally) a straight C+ student and given no motivation, other than me, to try harder. #4 is the only one to be completely happy in school. Of course what does a Kindergartener that already knows how to read have to do but finger paint?

So why are you going to think I'm so crazy? After years of saying "NO WAY! Absolutely NOT! There is not a chance in...I could ever muster up the patience for it", Mark and I have decided (after much prayer and discussion) that next year, we are going to **gasp** home school! To be honest, I have been thinking about it since we moved back to Simi. We were hoping, still am, to be moving and didn't want the kids to go from school to school not knowing if they were going to stay or leave. I really owe a huge thanks to all my friends that showed me their routines and have given advise and to the friends who, even though we never talked about it, showed by example that home schooling can work and you won't royally screw your kids up. I also owe the State of California a "thanks" for approving the most ridiculous curriculum change for elementary schools next year.

Last summer the kids kept asking, "Can we learn to build this..Can we go there...Why/how does this happen...maybe we can look up this and learn more about it...". And while I would tell them that it would be great to do all these things, reality was that school was about to start and I knew there was no way we would have time to do it all in the couple of hours between homework, dinner, and bed time. Which I find ironic that we couldn't really learn these things because they were busy receiving a sub-par education at school.

The weeks of Christmas break sealed the deal for me. I realized that I have awesome kids that I hardly knew. And they have needs that are kinda sorta being met. Our family was getting lost in the daily routine of fast breakfast, run out the door to school, pick up, go home, pick up again, go home again, do homework fast (but neat) before dinner, maybe get some tv or game time, go to bed, repeat in a few hours. Did I mention trying to remember fitting in story time, cleaning, scripture time, FHE (that lasts longer than 10 mins), Activity Days, cleaning, girl scouts, boy scouts for Mark (it is his calling after all), cleaning, and on and on. You all know what I'm talking about and most have the same day as me, even with fitting in a full time job of your own. I have reached the point where it's just not ok with me anymore. I want something more for my family and spending time with them and helping them grow is the solution. 

With all that said, I have been doing a ton of reading...blogs, books, websites. There are so many great ideas and ways to teach the same subject  I am both itching to get started and freaked at the same time. I decided that we are going to do a summer school as a sort of trial. #1 and 2 are going to do math, #3 and 4 will do reading, #5 will learn ABC's, and #6 will distract us all. :) This will be my time to set the ground rules, figure out how we work best together, make sure I can do this without completely destroying my in-laws house and drive them insane, the basics. When August rolls around we will use the K12 program. Not because I particularity like it but because it is free and they send you everything from books to crayons. Then when I get my barrings, we will set our own curriculum. 

So there you are. Our "grand plan" for the future of our family.

GEOCACHING TOURNAMENT!!!

I have so much fun geocaching I decided to create my own tournament! I'm hoping it will have a good turn out so I will have motivation to really make it an annual event. It will be on July 30, 2011 here in Simi. I sent an invite to everyone I know on FB (at least I did if I created the event right) ;). This year we are sticking to one park (Rancho Simi Park or "Duck Pond" for you locals). Next year, assuming we will still be here, I want to make it a whole town event getting local businesses involved. Sound like a lot, but I need a project to work on since I don't have a house to rearrange my furniture in or Red Ribbon Week to prepare for. :)

So here is a link to the events blog. Check it out and register if you want to come!

http://cncgeocachingtourny.blogspot.com/

Camping at Middle Lion Camp in Ojai

So instead of back tracking, I am going to start fresh....Welcome to my blog! heehee. For our first (and hopefully not last) camping trip of this summer we went to Middle Lion Camp in the Los Padres National Forest. It is a small, 8 site, no water, vault toilet campground back in the mountains. And for being basically free, it  was pretty darn cool. I say "basically free" because you need an Adventure Pass ($30 a year) to camp there, thats it. The pass is good at 5 different National Parks and dozens of camp grounds at each of those. You can go as many times as you want for up to 14 days. Which explains the homeless couple that was there. We were initially going to stay at a different camp, but this one had much more shade and a stream that ran right next to it. It was quite nice. We were kind of the only ones there. There was a (suspected) homeless couple at one of the back sites. We are totally assuming, but with the broken tents, almost not operational van, and lack of any real camping gear, I'm pretty sure they were living there. But heck, if I was homeless, I'd much rather be in the beautiful mountains than in a smog filled city. We are also thinking that they are growing marijuana somewhere back there. Each night the guy would carry a jug of water out of the area. And for an "off-the-beaten-path" camp site, there was an insane amount of traffic. Cars coming and going constantly. But no one bothered us, we didn't bother them, and we are all happy. :)

We got there Sunday afternoon, set up camp and hung out at our portion of the stream. The kids had a blast and Chip was in heaven running through the water. It was a hot 80 degrees (I say hot because it seemed hotter than just 80) when the sun was up, beautiful and comfortable as the sun fell, and dang cold when it was dark. Perfect! ;) Monday morning we went on a short hike up to Rose Valley Falls. It was simply beautiful. We packed in lunch, stayed and played in the water for a while, and around mid afternoon a couple of NPS Rangers showed up to have their lunch. It was actually perfect timing because we were just getting ready to hike out when they came and a few other groups were hiking up as we were heading out. I did have a mighty big scare on our way tho. Becca, feeling brave, wanted to meet us at the car. It was only a 1/2 mile away and if she had told us her plan or at least had a buddy with her I would have been ok. But she didn't tell anyone, and was alone. Needless to say we started yelling, running, freaking. When I caught up to her she was sheepishly walking back up the trail. Apparently she heard us yelling and couldn't decide if she should yell back, fearing she was in huge trouble. After I was sure she understood how dangerous it was, we talked about the rules of safe hiking, again.

When we got back to camp we got our bathing suits on and played in the stream some more. Very relaxing. :) So relaxing in fact that I don't have anything else to say about it. We had fun, chilled, and that was it. Perfect. That night we all stayed up to star gaze. This is a first for the kids. In the past they have been so exhausted from the days activities they were asleep before it got dark. A true sign they are growing up. ;)

In the wee dark hours of Tuesday A.M..... very, very, A.M....Kelsie wakes up feeling sick. Luckily she gets back to sleep w/o incident. Unfortunately Becca became sick in the morning, when day light started to show itself.   So we decided to end our trip then rather than have vomiting kids in the wilderness with no running water or real toilets. Even tho it was cut short, it was a fun, much needed get-away. And the place is close enough we can head out there just for day trips if we wanted. :)

Our camp...

 The stream behind our camp.

 Going on our first hike. The trail actually ended about 5 mins in so we went to the falls.

 The next two pictures aren't loading right so I'm not sure whats going on :s The 1st is us heading out to Rose Valley Falls. The 2nd, I asked Austin to turn and smile...this is all he would give me ;)

 The "V" is our destination (the waterfall)

 For about 5mins Austin decided it was a good idea to walk sideways. So funny, I wish I took video.

 Another picture that didn't load

 Becca at the falls. We made it!

 Kelsie...

 Brooke...

 Austin...

 Another didn't load right...this is getting annoying...

 A pool of ice cool water closer to the top of the falls.

 A tried Ty

 Now happy to be out of the carrier :)

 Chip

 Shay playing in the top pool

 Back at the stream by camp.

 Dirty boy :)

 Shayna

 Hide and Seek :D

House Party. com

 A friend told me about the site houseparty.com. It is a place companies use to help advertise their products by giving packages of free items to a chosen few. If you are one of the chosen, you use the items to have a party revolving around the product. I was able to do the Diginorno Pizza Party. We got 6 free pizzas, a nerf basketball game, some noise makers (the red things the kids are running around with) and a bunch of cooking stuff for me, the host. It was so much fun to get together with friends!

Brookes 10th Birthday

 In February Brooke had her 10th birthday. We did a How to Host a Mystery Party. It was just like a Nancy Drew story "Who stole the Diamond" :)  Some of the girls were a bit too immature to get into it but there were a few who really got into their roles. In-between the mystery part we had mini games for the kids to play.

The missing diamond

 Because 10 was the magic age, she got to go shooting with Dad for the first time. We have a .22 Chipmunk that  fit her perfectly. She got some pretty good shots in with it :)

 For her main gift we gave her a violin.

Helping Hands

 The girls and I were so excited to be able to be apart of the Mormon Helping Hands this year! We went to the local Homeless Shelter and did some landscaping. Because it was super hot the girls hung out under the tree most of the time :). I loved that there were so many people out there helping!

While Brooke, Kelsie, and I were working, Shayna, Becca, Austin, and Ty were hanging out with
Sis. Bystrom. She is the most wonderful lady to take on the kids for the morning! With grandkids of her own, her house was perfect for them :) When we were done she even invited us to stay and go swimming to cool down from the hot day. SO much fun!

EEEWWWW DIRT!!!

 

 

 

 

Kelsie braving the diving board :)