Church Ball is Back

Our ward for the past 2 or 3 years has won the area championships in church ball (covers the entire stake first, then all the stakes around--quite an accomplishment). Our ward just went through a boundary change and one of Lou's first concerns was that it messed up his basketball team. Well. . .so far, they've won every game they played. Tonight was the first--and sadly, may very well be the last--game that the kids and I were able to attend. They won by too many points to really take notice (80 something to 20 something I think). I have always loved supporting and watching him play ball, but doing it with mobile children makes it nearly impossible. So. . .I post these pictures now because the children were so wild, I just don't think I can go to another game unless they make it into some championship games (and then I may have to get a babysitter). Anyway. . .it was fun to capture this shot of the four of them wanting to play ball before the game began. Someday they'll be more interested in watching their daddy--and then hopefully playing themselves. I LOVE watching my man play ball. I can only imagine how fun it would be to watch my boys play too.

I love this expression on Lou's face as he walked Isaiah off the court. Isaiah was actually so darling. When he discovered his daddy on the court with the ball, he began to giggle. And then when he observed other action on the court, he laughed his low little laugh and then said, "Nunny (funny)." I wish I could have had the video camera on him. He was also funny to watch whenever the buzzer went off. He'd always jump in surprise.

Life Science Lesson

I was excited to get a call from Lou today inviting us to his office for a Life Science lesson on RATS! His paralegal & her husband have pet rats and they were willing to bring them in for the kids to play with and learn about. Boy, did they have fun! Look at the different expressions on Damian and Isaiah's face. Damian was so excited and Isaiah was reserved. He really enjoyed it, but was a little hesitant about them.

Look at Emma & Damian's shoulders. They were so excited. I love Lou's expression too! And Gehrig's.

But. . .when it came to finding someone willing to hold the little critters, my prissy (NOT) little lady Emma was the most willing and excited! Lou had to watch her carefully so she didn't squeeze the stuffins out of them.

Damian was willing to hold them too--for a little while.

It took quite a bit more for Gehrig to be willing, but he eventually came around. . . for a second (bottom right picture). Look at his cute expression in the top left as he's taking the rat into his hands. Isaiah was always interested and touched them periodically, just didn't really hold them.Okay, I confess. . .I kept myself busy behind the camera. Too busy to hold a rat. And then I had to make sure their hands were clean before they started sticking their thumbs and fingers in their mouths. But for someone who isn't fond of rodents and creepy crawly things, I think I did pretty well to let my children handle them like that. Right?

The Poetry Festival

One of the perks of homeschooling is allowing opportunities like these. . .I had every intention to begin schooling first thing in the morning, but Damian beat me to it with his puzzle. When Gehrig woke up, he came to join Damian. It was so cute to hear them figuring things out together, complimenting each other and feeling success in their endeavor!

In an attempt to find 5 missing pieces, we took the opportunity to organize the millions of puzzles we had torn apart and find some toys we could donate to a charitable organization. Then, the highlight of our day, THE POETRY FESTIVAL. K12 seems to have at least one social gathering a month. This month is was an opportunity to memorize and perform a favorite animal poem. Gehrig did a fabulous job with Eletelephony by Laura E. Richards (a great poem that solicits laughter from the audience).

Damian seemed a little more nervous with his poem, but did an excellent job as well! He recited another funny anonymous poem called, The Grasshopper and the Elephant. I was so proud of them! Emma giggled after each of them received applause! What a great opportunity for them.

They were each given a beautiful collection of poems for their efforts (if you notice the book behind Gehrig and in Damian's hand, you'll see them). Gehrig's was Robert Louis Stevenson poems and Damian's was Emily Dickinson poems. The illustrations are beautiful! As if that weren't enough reward, they also each received a FREE sundae at Arctic Circle and a FREE kid's meal at Applebees! We're already enjoying reading the great books of poetry! Thank you K12!

Angela's New Haircut & Existent Eyebrows

I say existent eyebrows because on their own, they're so blond they're nonexistent! It's embarrassing to post more pictures of myself, but I know my mom and sisters want to see my new hairstyle & eyebrows! In person, the eyebrows are a bit darker than I'm used to (Lou says he can only see eyebrows when he looks at me!). I think they're better in pictures. Time to get a new family picture! :) So. . .if any of my hairstylist friends would like to give me pointers on how to actually fix my new hair, please help! I've tried several things, but am just not quite sure how to get the cutest style out of it. The first picture is the wet look--right after the shower with a little Biosilk & hairspray in it.

This is after the blowdryer.

Pulled back (obviously).

Straightened. Any suggestions on how to fix it or which way I fixed it looks best?

And Now. . .the REAL reason I haven't blogged for over a month. . .

After careful consideration and many personal promptings, I took the plunge and pulled the boys out of school to teach them at home. Technically they are still considered public school students because we are enrolled through K12 (an online public school--offered nationwide). Their curriculum is the same curriculum the charter schools around here are using. We received boxes and boxes of materials--everything we need for the courses the boys are enrolled in (Gehrig: Language Arts, Math, Science, History & Art; Damian: Language Arts, Math & Music)--FREE! The materials are wonderful and make it exciting!

Gehrig's showing the boxes that most of his materials came in. Thanks to Brinn for helping me move a great piece of furniture from Lou's office that we've been storing in our garage for the last 5 years. It's solid wood, so it was quite the task for the two of us to get it in the house without hurting our backs. I am so grateful for it because it fits most of the materials quite well!

Damian's expression shows the optimism that I feel. If only they were always this excited and cooperative!! Honestly, I'm VERY overwhelmed by the task at hand, but feel optimistic about it, which gives me courage and confirmation that I'm doing the right thing for my children. If anybody wonders. . .I did not desire to teach my children at home (it's so much easier to have their bundle of energy somewhere else during the day), but I do desire to do what's best for my children. The desire is great enough for me to sacrifice even more of my sanity to do it. I pray that they will be blessed by this experience--that our whole family will be blessed by it. Heaven help us! :)

Yes, I had to share this picture of less cooperation. It captures just a small part of the challenge at hand. . .

Thank heavens for the little ones that bring me back to the sweet things in life when I feel discouraged and frustrated. On this particular day, I had about had it when I saw Isaiah walking around the room with Damian's boot on one foot (backwards) and his own shoe on the other foot. It was so cute, I had to laugh. He brought my right out of my mood!

There are so many things that I have to figure out to make this experience work well for our family. . .the curriculum itself, how to teach with toddlers wanting attention or searching and destroying, how to inspire the desire to do their work rather than force it, how to get anything other than school done around the house, how to keep my emotions under control. . .and the list goes on. This schooling will not only be a learning experience for my boys, it will be a learning experience for us all! Here we go!! Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up on my blogging a little better as I begin to figure out some kind of order to our life!

More Louisiana Collages

I stayed up until nearly 1AM last night trying to get our Louisiana trip blogged and sadly found this morning that none of the collages came through in order as I had placed them! And for some reason today I couldn't add them on to the post where they belong. So. . .here are the last few collages after much sleep deprivation and hair pulling!

Our most adventurous meal they called, "The Wild Thang!" (Raccoon). I fed the children without telling them what kind of meat it was (just looked like roast beef). They loved it and asked for seconds. When they were all finished, I took them to the pot and let them look at it. Gehrig said, "Cool. Can I have the head?" When Damian saw it, he asked for the teeth! They are so funny. Not one bit bothered by it--just excited and interested!

Traveling with 4 children and 10 pieces of luggage with one layover made us MORE than ready to be home! We had a great time in Louisiana and loved our time with the Harris family!

Favorite Pictures & Random Louisiana Collages

Emma can do the splits!

We found this out on the slippery tile floor at her Grandma Harris's home!

I just love this shot of Isaiah holding onto his daddy's finger.

I have seen a picture of my mom (Emma's maternal grandmother) that look so much like these two photos. What a cutie! And so fun to look like her Mimi!

It's the eyes and the lips!

LOUSIANA COLLAGES

Christmas 2008--

I know I'm a month late, but hey, at least I'm finally posting some pictures from our Christmas!

MORNING AT HOME IN UTAH

Waiting to see what Santa brought. . .

AFTERNOON IN LOUISIANA

What an adventure! We were able to enjoy a quick Christmas morning at home and then the 6 of us with 10 pieces of carry-on luggage and coats boarded the plane for Louisiana (with one layover).

The majority of our stay was spent with these two great women, Lou's sister Kay and his mother. They must have planned a menu in advance because every day they knew exactly what they were cooking and got it ready for us! We were so grateful for the great meals and great company--and PATIENCE, as we added a LOT of action to a usually quiet home! Len & Lou

Cousins from twins. . .

(Len holding Damian, Xavier; Lou holding Isaiah, Emma; Gehrig (Jr.) & Gehrig (III)

Isaiah may not like that I posted this picture, but I thought it was too hilarious to pass up! We tried to get a picture of Xavier, Emma & Isaiah to show how they compare in size. This was the best I could come up with. Xavier is 3 months older than Emma (if I remember correctly).

I still can't get over how big Gehrig III is! He's only about 3 months older than Damian, but he's much closer to our Gehrig's size! Lou's nephew, Donnell, came to visit the night before we left. He's on the rapping scene (even has some radio time with some of his raps).

Lou's niece, Crystal, was so kind to do Emma's hair. There was a catch though--Emma wouldn't cooperate until she did MY hair! So. . .she was kind enough to do BOTH! We were excited to spend a little time with Crystal!

Lou's other niece, Erica. We were glad to see her the day before New Year's Eve.I love the expression on Xavier's face in the top left corner. It was fun to find Isaiah asleep with his little football, basketball or soccer ball (whichever he happened to have at the time).

The lemons were larger than the oranges! I love the bottom right corner where Gehrig III and Damian are visiting.


When Lou and I were first married, we would often go to the park to fly his airplanes. I loved to watch the children gather around him. I imagined his own children being as excited about it as the little strangers, but by the time our children came along, he was too busy with his career to repair his planes and fly them. So. . .I love the top middle picture with all our children gathered around him to watch him fly. Sadly, the battery wouldn't hold a charge, so they never got to experience, but at least they tried! Someday they'll get to experience what many little children got to experience 10-12 years ago!We chose a beautiful day to visit Papa's (Lou's father) gravesite. The top right and bottom left pictures were taken there.