Sorry for the Spam....

To those of you who receive email when I update this I am sorry for all the junk you have been receiving. Apparent I was hacked. I have changed my password, and hopefully that will solve the problem.

I can't believe I have not blogged in a year. That is NUTS!! I guess its time to decide it I keep this up here, or if this phase of my life, (keeping an online journal) is past.

Hmmmm, lots to think about.

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Been a while

It's been a while since I've been up here. I've been reading Amys blog and am always inspired to spend more time keeping this up to date. But there just never seems to be enough hours. But just in case I needed one more thing to do, I started another blog. It's about our homeschool journey. I've had lots of friends ask me questions about how we do it and thought that it would be fun to share it up here.If you are interested in following that part of our life, it can be found at http://ourfamilyhomeschool.blogspot.com
On another front. We had a great vacation in Utah. Things didn't go quite as planned, (Do they ever?) and we had to purchase a new car, everyone got sick and the weather kept us a couple extra days. But it was great to spend time with family. The kids loved being with their cousins, and dearly miss them now that we are home. We must find a way to get together more often. I don't know what we will do when they all finish school and take their families back to Alaska.
Mom and Dad got their mission call while we were there and are headed to South Africa in June. CRAZY!!! It will be strange not to have them here with us the next 2 winters. But I am excited for them and they will love it.

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I hurt

I sprained my back on Friday. I have spent the last 5 1/2 days unable to move. I have slowly gone from on the floor unable to move and screaming in pain, to unable to get out of bed, to laying on the couch, to slowly making short walks across the house. Today I was able to drive myself to the chiropractor. By the time I got home, I needed to layback down.
My husband and kids have been great. They have REALLY stepped up and taken over many of my responsibilities. I have also been blessed to have great friends here who have been a huge help. One of my good friend came over twice daily, early morning and late at night to massage my back and help with the spasms. Her support and help has been priceless, and I can never repay her. Thank you!
The ward has brought in dinner, and Brady work has been sending home the left overs from training lunch to supplement our meals.
We are very lucky to have so much support and love from those around us.
I am frustrated by the number of things that have had to be put on hold. I do not do well when I am unable to accomplish the things on my list. I can't even sit at my desktop computer and work on vinyl orders. I am in charge of the blue and gold this friday, but have had to hand off all planning and preperation to my committee. I signed up for the gym last week and have not been able to go back. I have bif plans to reorganize my craft/dining room....paint the family room/theater.... plans for life that for now are put on hold. But we have plans for a MAJOR road trip in 2 weeks so I need to take it easy and get better.
Wish me luck.

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My computer obsessed children

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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That was fun!!!

Have you been here?

BrainPop.com   &  Brainpopjr.com

My kids are HUGE computer people. Who can blame them? Brady and I live our lifes, both professionally and personally, on the computer. Between our 2 laptops, 2 desktops, iphone and blackberry, we live via the internet in our home.


We are also a TJed family. We are trying hard to control the information they come in contact with, allow them to explore and learn at their own pace and surround them with the classics. For me this doesn't just mean books, though that is a HUGE part of it. We have spent the last 6 months building up a library of classics. Some of our favorites include Legos, blocks, Megaformers, Chess, Yahtzee, and many others. We play SpinUSA, read the Little House series and the Boxcar Children, cook, clean house and play outside.


But one constant remains, the desire to get on the computer. Don't get me wrong, there are some GREAT educational sites out there. The problem has been many are "too boring" or it's too easy for them to get led off to a place that is not so educational. What starts as building a city quickly becomes chasing bad guys around that city and shooting them. (Yes, I have 2 boys)


So yesterday during a meeting with our ES (educational supervisor) she mentioned a site she uses with her kids. Brainpop.com. We quickly looked it up and signed up for a trial membership. I LOVE IT!!!! Our new house rule is if you are on the computer, you are either blogging or on BrainPop. They can learn anything they want. There are cartoon videos for EVERY topic imaginable. Katrina is into health and diet and spent an hour learning about oral hygiene. Tyler spent time studing Benjamin Franklin because he's been reading about him in 39 Clues and Carter, last I checked was watching a movie about "The Twilight Zone" of the ocean. Apparently it's a real thing.  While showing them around the site this morning I even learned some things about JFK that I didn't know. Not only does it have videos but it has quizes, activities, experienments and games to go with each topic. And with each topic is a list of related topics.

I enjoy homeschooling the kids. Everyday brings new challenges, but it is exciting and VERY rewarding. I was afraid it would be a nightmare. That not having several hours away from them everyday would drive me nuts, VERY QUICKLY. But I was wrong. The more time we spend together, the more I learn about them and TJed, the better we all get along and enjoy eachothers company.

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An epiphany

We love homeschooling. Katrina Loves school and begs to be allowed to do school work. Carter loves that he is in core phase and gets to play at learning all day. Tyler... well, that has been a struggle. He does school during school time. But he doesn't love it. He wants me to tell him when and what to do, and does the minimium. He doesn't give me grief or argue. He just wants to be directed. Him and I have talked a lot about the phases, he says he is in love of learning, and I pointed out he doesn't "love to learn."

I was listening to a seminar while getting ready today. It was about adult phases. She made a few interesting points. I've always thought I just needed to jump into my own scholar phase and have really struggled doing this. From her suggestions I realised I need to go back to core phase, get some good core phase books and soon I will be in Love of Learning and move forward from there.

She also said that in love of learning it's not about mission, it's about talents.

**LIGHT BULB**

"Hey Ty- what are your talents?"

This started a great discussion that led to everyone making a list of their talents and things they would like to be talents.

"So how about instead of school, we work on our talents."

Out came the talking globe as one of Ty's talents is geography. Katrina went to the computer with her scriptures to listen to the audio scriptures. Listening is one of her talents. And Carter pulled out the art supplies because coloring is one of his talents.

I think we may be on to something. Developing talents not School.

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Dressed to the shoes....

I love Fly Lady. There was a time in my life, I COULD NOT  manage my house. I suffered from a serious case of CHAOS.  As the children have gotten older, things have become a little more controlled. We have a schedule and I no longer have to do it all alone. As a matter of fact, I do very little. I am a supervisor not a laborer when it comes to cleaning our home.

Yesterday I downloaded some Tjed Seminars. I listened to one called "Home Management." She talked about several tools to help around your house, but the one that struck me was, "get dressed to your shoes." This is the same advice FlyLady gives. I had forgotten. So this morning I did it. I got up, got dressed, and put on my shoes.

My children watched in confusion.

"Where are you going?"

"I am going to be productive."

and I am.

Chores are about done, thanks to my well trained children.
Drapes and blinds are open to let in the sun, if it decides to make an appearance.
Breakfast is eaten. Mountain Dew in hand. (Don't judge me)
Emails are answered.
Blog is updated.
Now I will make my list and get busy with getting productive.

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