We had a great family trip to the river last weekend. Way too hot for me this time of year, but I managed with a couple of solo trips to the hotel room where I cranked the A/C for an hour or so.

All of Lorin's gang was there at some point or another. That means besides the usual five of us we had: Matt and Roxane who stopped in for a bit, we kept Sean and Riley for most of the weekend, Katelyn along Caleb and Lysney with Kat and Brody for the better part of the time. We also took the RV so that we could accommodate all the sleeping arrangements.


The Shields family went

also. Thanks Shannon for

helping me keep my

sanity!! That's a lot of little

people to keep track of.......

Lorin and I had a blast having all the kiddos in tow. Probably the highlight of the weekend. Wish we could bring them all home with us. Seemed so quiet when we got home!

We have decided that the Avi is the place to stay. Rooms, food, movie theater, beach area, nice lagoon and a pool for when the water isn't high enough or the wind is too strong. Probably shouldn't advertise that as at the moment it is still a bit quiet and peaceful.

Home Schooling as a Family

If you decide to follow my blog, you will see much of it will revolve around school. Educating the kids flows into just about everything we do. All of our activities, vacations and the like are a continuation of school. Many of them are actually planned to enhance what we are learning in school.

I decided to share little about our schooling. I know many people think we are crazy to do this. Too much time! How do you know what to teach? Do you do testing? And then there is that annoying "What do you do about socialization?". Or I simply couldn't do that. And finally, when someone gets really honest they will say, " I really don't want to give up my own time."

The issue I like to deal with the most socialization. If you are referring to public or private school, I will simply point to you the schools themselves. Come on really? Harvey Milk Day? The Day of Silence? Evolution? How about Obama's current Indoctrination Day. History with no world view, specifically Biblical? Ah, then there is the Prom, for those women who say they want their daughter to go to Prom, Are you nuts??

Ok I will buy into friends, relationships and the like, but we are not putting our kids in a bubble. They take outside classes, are involved in many groups and activities where I am not standing over their heads. My kids probably get more freedoms then most.

I will stand my kids by any public schoolchild and I will declare mine socialized and the others not. Mine will talk to an adult, look them in the face, have an opinion and actually know what they are talking about. They can hang with their friends, they don't have to whisper and they don't have an attitude as soon as a parent walks in the door. They do not have the ideas that their parents or other adults know nothing. My kids love being with their family and would rather be here than at a friends house. At the same time they are fine to go just about anywhere. Enough said, socialization issue closed.

Next. I will hit them one at a time. 1) Yes it is crazy, but what would you expect from me? 2) Less time than if they were in school, I don't struggle over their homework and it is at my schedule not someone else's. 3) I believe in a modified Classical approach. Therefore, I know what to teach next. I am not guessing. There are less gaps than in a traditional school. 4) Yes we test, and they do great. 5) You can do that. 6) Get over yourself. God gave those kids to you to raise. How can you not give up your time?

Having said all that does not mean I think everyone should home school. I don't. I do not think you should home school unless you understand the reason. The reason is simply a Biblical world view. Another reason I do not think people should home school is that most are not willing to truly put into it what the children deserve. If you are choosing to home school so that you can shelter your kids, I would say you are causing more trauma. I have several other reasons why people shouldn't home school, but do not want to get into those conversations here. One on one I am willing.


Finally, please know I would love to talk to anyone interested in home schooling their own children. It is a passion of mine. If you have been there and done that, I am always looking for ways to grow and improve our system.

I am looking forward to comments on this issue. Really, I can take it. I can take it as we are convicted by God that we should train them up in the way they should go. Therefore I have peace in what we do.

No we are not part of some weird religious cult. We are Bible believing Christians. You know, those Right Wingers.

Back To School

Well, summer has come to end for us. School is under way. Brooke is in 8th grade. Jason 3rd and Faith officially in Kindergarten, even though she is almost through with the kindergarten curriculum. She, being a November baby will probably simply be half a year or so off for a while. No worries, we decided since we started Brooke on the young side, also being a Nov. babe, we would start older for Faith. We are seeing several things with dealing with Brooke's friends that are helping us with this decision.

Brooke really loves school, even if as a typical student she wouldn't admit to it. She really immerses herself in what she does and does it well. This year along with some pretty tough classes, she is going to be a Teacher's Aid for a Latin class where she takes her classes.

Jason is sailing through. We had to look for some areas to challenge him. For him school comes naturally, where Brooke really had to try at this age, Jason "get's er done". I pray that carries on as he gets older. Math is his favorite as he has a computer program that teaches his lessons. He likes science a lot also. I believe he thinks he is getting out of school when working on science.

Faith, well, she just wants to be a princess, a ballerina or a mermaid. What more can be said? We sit and read and she absorbs. Then she flits away and comes and visits us through the day. Then she will come up to us and announce something new, like "I can count by tens" and we find she can. Who knew? Who taught her? So far she has learned colors, shapes, numbers, letters, counting in various ways, and many reading skills. Would love to know who is teaching her, and if they can keep me posted. I really intended to use the books I have to teach her!

What a blessing! We were able to pull off another Mammoth trip this summer. Lorin had an inspection in Reno. He could buy a plane flight and rent a car,OR we could drive to Mammoth and he could drive in from there. We were only going to stay a few days, but ended up staying for a week.

We met up with a family we had met there 4 years ago. Brooke and Trevor have stayed in touch ever since. Trevor's brother Wyatt, their parents and grandparents were all there.

All but Faith and I went bike riding on the mountain. She and I hit Schatt's Bakery instead. I talked to one of the Schatt's family and got caught up with news of a childhood friend. I have a phone number now, so I hope to connect with her again


Faith was all about baiting her own hook. She only hooked herself once, "but it only cut a little bit of skin".

Jason likes the bike park.He learned how to ride a two wheeler when he was three years old while we were in Mammoth. He was only riding a few days when he first went to the park. Now he flies through the air.

Another highlight of the trip was visiting with a trolley driver. Lorin had ridden the trolley to go to the rental car. He talked with the bus driver, found out he was a mule packer. Lorin told him about my past with outfitting, and who to look for. Later that morning the kids and I get on a trolley, out of the blue the driver asks "is there anyone who had been in the Bob Marshall Wilderness?" I looked around me baffled and kind of raised my hand. Then he told me he met my husband earlier and that we had things in common. The kids and I sat on the trolley through his whole loop and talked mule packing, outfitting, dudes and cowboy ways for the whole trip. After that, every day we rode the trolley, we ran into him and had more visits. It was fun to run into someone who could hold the same conversations as you, conversations you hadn't had in years.

The Rest of July

Summer is still running at full speed. We have been able to fit in a few trips to the beach. We have a regular group of friends that we go with every year, mostly from the homeschool network. Although, I have yet to have my boogie board contest with Debra Jackson. We must fit it in soon.

We also met up with some of Lorin's family. I love going to the beach. Anything to get out of the heat of Temecula!

We have also had a great time with the Grandkiddos, Sean and Riley. Roxane is working nights and Matt has some day jobs, so we were able to help out a bit with the kids. I always have a great time going out with them and watching people's faces as they try to figure out the "Gramma" and "Mom" as the kids range From Brooke 12 yr old, Sean 9yr old, Jason 8 yr old, Riley 6 yr old and Faith 5 yr old. Last of all is Baby Brody, but he doesn't get to hang with us yet.

The kids had one over nighter party with Stevi and Natalie, David and Anna. Of course, as a good home school family should, we had a little reading time before bed. Oh did I mention Guacamole the Chameleon spent the night also? Faith is a fan of his, packed him around on her head for quite some time. Jason on the other hand really didn't want to hold him.

Brooke had the wonderful oportunity to go to Hawaii with her friend Stevi and her family. It is hard to let go of your daughter and send her off. She had a great time. No this wasn't a hotel or condo event, but at someone's private home on the Big Island. A little deap sea fishing on a private boat. Some swimming in lava heated waters, of course swimming and snorkeling in the clear water. She has always heard me complain about the murky waters of So. Cal. Now she is complaining about the local beaches. Like mother, like daughter...........HA! We all know that isn't true. She is a good kid. I am happy she had this opportunity. At the same time I was sure glad she got home just in time to help babysit the grandkiddos. Thank you Lassley Family for giving my daughter a wonderful experience.

While she was off in Hawaii, we called on Grammy to watch Jason and Faith so we could go to the CHEA convention. This is an annual convention for home schooling. Two days of alone time for us, while I have a chance to be rejuvinated in the teaching department. Lorin has gone a few times with me now, and he even said he was looking forward to next year. Oh, he has come so far!!! He even heard bits of info I have tried to share with him regarding the original design for public school, seems he only hears that from me, but hearing it from Voddie Baucham is a bit more impactful. Thnx Voddie!

Mammoth

As some of you know, Mammoth is my favorite vacation of the year. We tease and say it is a part of our prenuptial agreement. The other part had to do with my phone bills to Montana when we first got married. Those were before the days of flat rate phone bills. HA! Poor guy, oh the bills! Anyway, we have been going now for 15 years. I think we have missed only two of those. We have been going so regularly to the same area that we have now made friends with 4 families that do the same thing. Now it is a treat to get together with them each year also. Although, this year we only met up with two of them.

For the last two years we have brought Brooke's friend Stevi. She is a treat to have with us! We usually do the same routine, fish, hike, campfire, mountain bike down Mammoth Mountain, zip lines and rock climbing, gondola rides, oh yes there is the parade, and fireworks. In past years we have searched out the volcanoes and did some "home schooling", we have gone to Bowdie, Mono Lake, Yosemite, 4 wheeling and oh so much more.

This year the highlight was probably the fishing, we borrowed some kayaks and were able to fish in the middle of Twin Lakes rather than only from the edges. Lorin, Brooke and Stevi all caught several. We had 2 great fish dinners.Other highlights were; Jason got his first pocketknife, and yes he cut himself. Faith, well, she was making friends with the squirrels and butterflies. As for me, hey I was in the mountains and it was cool,who needs more than that.

We are starting a co-op for History, Literature, and Science this year. I found it very interesting to realize how much easier it is to see God in such a beautiful place as the Sierras, (don't get me wrong, I am still loyal to the Bob Marshall in Montana) than it is to see Him in the city. Yes, I know that people in the Temecula Valley don't see it as a big city, but it is.
There is so much to wonder considering God's handiwork. As the focus of our school year will be Biblical Worldview, I felt especially drawn to look around me while we were in Mammoth. I am feeling pretty motivated for the new year to start.

To sum up this year, it was fun to see Brooke and Stevi as they are maturing, the Independence they were able to have because they are such good kids. It was great to see Jason enjoying an area I so love, especially when I know he really is only about motors and wheels and speed. I am seeing that Faith will probably always be Faith. We really like to visit her world, it seems so pristine as she flits, and twirls and listens to the fish.

I am already looking forward to next year, even though Lorin once again said on our way home, maybe we should do something different next year.

Summer Activities

I thought I would start off by letting you know what we have been up to so far this summer.
Most importantly Brooke and Jason finished school on time. WHOO HOO! Of course there is always a little summer reading. Summer meant that Faith was able to start Summer School. Ok, really, she is excited, she is always so patient to get her time to do school. So many times we simply can't give her the time she is needing. So we made a deal that she could "Do school" this summer. We are working on her reading skills and of course catching up on all those books we couldn't fit in to read aloud to her.
Our first activity was a trip to the river. We went to Laughlin via Las Vegas so Lorin could do an inspection. We decided to make a stop at the Hoover Dam. A fun year end field trip, don't you think?
We then went to Laughlin and stayed at the Avi. The Shields family met us there. We spent some time on the beach at the hotel and we also went down river to Lake Havasu always a pretty ride.



Faith has had a busy time. Along with summer school, she has been taking swim lessons. She swam on her own for the first time the day before we headed to Mammoth. She is starting up again tomorrow. Hopefully she will take off from there! She also was in her first Ballet Performance. To think, I have a kiddo wearing a tutu.........How did that happen??? We will post some performance pics when they arrive from the studio....... no flash photos from the parents. She did a great job! I wasn't sure how she was going to do on stage in front of everyone, she definitely surprised us.

Starting our Family Blog

I have been using Facebook for a couple of months now, and realize how much fun it is catching up with everyone. I also realized that many people who sign up as "FRIENDS" are not really interested in our family, and probably do not want to be hit with my daily non sense. At the same time, there are some who enjoy catching up. Rather than sorting through what and how much to post, I realized the "Blogging" idea may be more fun. I also hope to use this for a family journal as I understand there are ways to have if print and bound. Scrapbooking at it's best I would say. Pray for me, I hope the Blog will be a blessing to those who check in on our family.