I Heart Homeschooling

School has been a struggle for Isaac from the beginning. We have had ups and downs, but things became especially bad during his 3rd grade year. I made the decision to pull him and Katie (Kindergarten) out of school that spring to try homeschool. We all loved it! But, a new job made me decide to send them back to the neighborhood school in the fall for 1st and 4th grades.

I didn't feel I could do their education justice with my attention being split. If only I could send them to school one day a week!--I thought. I looked into a private program for homeschoolers that provides exactly that. But, I decided to abandon the idea due to cost and the fact that it was 20-minutes away.

It turned out to be the biggest blessing because Isaac's 4th grade teacher was the exact perfect person for him in his life at that time. We had the BEST year. I also adored Katie's first grade teacher, but when I found out about a charter distance program in Ogden that provides homeschoolers with all kinds of support including ALL curriculum and supplies plus 1.5 days of school per week, Katie wanted to try it. I transferred her right away (halfway through her first grade year). Isaac didn't want to make the change and I fully supported his choice since I loved his teacher so much.

I tried to persuade Isaac to join Katie's distance program at the beginning of this school year (2nd grade for Katie, 5th for Isaac), but he is at the age now where he doesn't want to be "different" so he refused. It has been a miserable school year for him and hard for me to watch him struggle so much and be labeled by his teacher as a bad kid.

At the beginning of February, I sent him to one day of school at the DaVinci Distance program. He complied, convinced he would hate it, and letting me know he was only doing it so he could get out of a day of going to his own school. But, when I asked him how his day went, he was speechless. He could not put into words how he felt about his experience. After everyone in the house had gone to bed, he came into my room and woke me up to say that he felt like he was going to cry because he loved DaVinci so much, but going there would mean he would have to leave Polk and that made him want to cry. And not going there also made him want to cry.

I asked him why he loved it so much and he said, because it made him feel generic. I asked him what that meant and he said that every day when he went to school he just wanted to blend in like "the generic kids who did what they were suppose to do." But, instead he was always getting embarrassed by the teacher calling him out for his behavior. "When I was at DaVinci, I finally felt generic."

He decided to remain at Polk. I said, "I know you want to stay at Polk because of your best friend." He said, "I never get to see him at school because he is in the other class." I said, "I know you want to stay at Polk because you love recess." He said, "My teacher always takes all of my recesses away." I knew the answers to these and other questions, but I asked them anyways and I knew it would be a short time until he chose the distance program. I wanted it to be fully his decision. It was fine because I had already signed up to be the room mom for the Valentine's Day party, so I figured I should see that through. The day after Valentine's we went on vacation to Denver and while I was sitting quietly by the pool the spirit told me that I needed to get Isaac out of his current situation at school. I took him on the next DaVinci Distance field trip right after we returned from Denver--to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point--and while he was there having the time of his life, I lowered the boom by saying, "Don't you wish you went to DaVinci Distance so this could be a school day?" At last, he conceded.

He has been so much happier since we made the switch and that makes me happy! We are definitely sticking with it next school year too. My boy is finally where he needs to be. Both he and Katie are loving it. On Tuesdays, Isaac takes an art class, Karate and wilderness survival from the coolest lady ever. Wilderness survival! How awesome is that?

On Wednesdays, Isaac has the most kind and patient teacher. He is in a class with about fourteen 5th and 6th graders and I think he feels "generic" because the other kids are like him. They are cutting and gluing and drawing or folding paper while the teacher is teaching and as long as they are not being disruptive, she compliments them on whatever they are doing instead of making them put it away. It is such a supportive and wonderful environment. This teacher already has my heart for being so kind to Isaac. I told his previous 5th grade teacher, "It's really hard for Isaac to be Isaac. He has a lot of struggles. It's nice to acknowledge that and not make his life harder." But, I think he thought discipline would mold Isaac into being just like all of the other kids. I am here to tell the world--it will not. Punishing him will not bring out the best in him, but loving him might.

Yesterday we took a field trip to Loveland Aquarium in Draper. I had the most magical day exploring those wonderful enormous tanks (and the penguin exhibit) with Katie and Isaac. As we sat for a long time in the calming shark tunnel, I felt pure joy flowing through my whole body. I love this homeschool program for these two SO much.

Later, I shared the story of Isaac loving DaVinci because it makes him feel generic to a very insightful person. I thought it was lovely that he feels generic, but this person responded, "You see, that is part of the problem. Isaac will never be like everyone else but he describes being generic as a positive thing because he thinks it is good to be like everyone else and he thinks he has to be like everyone else to be loved and to love himself. Isaac will never be O.K. until he understands his uniqueness and accepts it. You have to let him be O.K. as he is so he can accept himself as he is." Not only is this special time with my kids one of my greatest joys at this moment in my life, I also feel like this program will have a healing effect on Isaac. Keeping that in my prayers.

Sweet 16 and a Tonsillectomy

Friday, March 3 was a strange day. In the morning, my iPhone 6 worked fine. But, a few hours later the screen was dark and it was completely unresponsive. I took it to the phone store with no luck. I took it to Bad Apple and they replaced a bunch of parts and told me it was a very rare case where they could not find any signs of life at all but also no signs of damage. They even waived the diagnostic fee. No one knows why, but my perfectly good iPhone 6 bit the dust unexpectedly.

There are two sad parts to this story. The first is that, back in October, a mere 5-months ago, I walked into the phone store with Brian to pick up his new iPhone 7 and the salesman told me about a promotion that was going on and I could have gotten the full price of the iPhone 7 in trade-in value if I upgraded my phone. We had just given Sophie Brian's iPhone 5 and I declined the offer thinking it would be better to give the paid off iPhone 6 to Ian in a few years and I could upgrade to the 7s or the 8 at that point in the future. They were going to give me roughly $700 of trade-in credit. Instead I got $64.

The other sad part is that I hadn't downloaded my photos off my phone in approximately 2 years and it turns out, I lost them all.

I really can't think too much about that or I will feel sad. Luckily, there are a precious few saved here on my blog! Luckily, my mom and Brian have also taken photos of my kids in the past two years. And, although I would be lying if I said I'm not sad to lose all those photos. Another truth is that it feels like there are millions (at least tens of thousands) of digital photos that we have never printed that I will someday need to go through, print and organize. So . . . I guess this will just make about 1200 less photos in my archives to worry about.

The next day, Saturday, March 4, my mom took Sophie shopping all day and then to her house to make fudge. She bought Sophie a Belle dress with shoes and jewelry to match.

On Sunday, March 5, my baby girl turned sixteen.

SIXTEEN!

 Oven pancakes and bacon with balloons and yellow roses at breakfast.

 My lovely princess daughter

Sunday dinner at my mom's with a tower of fudge instead of a cake

On Monday, March 6, we found out unexpectedly that Ian would have his tonsils removed two days later. All four of my kids have complained of allergies, etc. that prompted me to take them on separate visits to the ENT. 

The first was Sophie. The Dr. ordered a sleep oxygen test and nothing came of it except a prescription for allergy medicine and a recommendation that we consider allergy shots. Next was Katie who complained about a persistent ringing in one of her ears. A hearing test showed that everything is normal. So, when the Dr. ordered a sleep oxygen test for Ian, we returned the monitoring equipment and it immediately left my mind since I thought nothing more would come of it until we got a phone call late on Monday telling us he would have his tonsils removed Wednesday morning. Shock!

He had been telling me that he felt like he was drowning or being strangled in his sleep and was waking up feeling like his tonsils were choking him. When the Dr. looked down his throat, he said Ian's tonsils looked perfectly normal. But, the sleep test showed that his oxygen was very low while he was sleeping and he recommended taking out his tonsils and adenoids right away. So we did.

 The nurses had fun messing with this big teenage guy by having a teddy bear with a note waiting for him when we checked him in.

 This is taken right after he woke up -- still smiling!

There was a slushy machine in the recovery room.

This was the first time one of my kids had surgery and things went well. He felt pretty good days 1-3 and got worse on day 4 and even worse on day 5. This is what the Dr. told us would happen. He spent the weekend feeling pretty miserable and running a fever, but said he felt slightly better today (day 6) so I am hoping he has turned a corner. What a trooper!

The Saturday after Sophie's birthday (and the Saturday after Ian's surgery), she had her birthday party. When she was a tiny girl of about 3, I promised her a big Sweet Sixteen party because that seemed like a great idea at the time. Over the years, we have had some huge parties! We have rented the Treehouse Museum (when she was little), a huge gymnastics facility. We have had parties with outdoor movies, karaoke, custom cakes . . . Boy oh boy was I getting stressed about how we were ever going to top the over the top parties we've ended up hosting over the years. How would I ever meet her very high expectations? 

After some difficult conversations about reeling in the expectations that had grown over the years (like that we would host it at a park decorated in twinkle lights and Owl City would make an appearance), she settled on the most simple birthday party we've ever hosted. About 10 darling friends came over and hung out. We had party food and more fudge and in my opinion, it was about the best birthday party ever. Yay for simplicity!

Colorado Vacation 2017

It was a spectacular vacation with a kidtacular theme. Much like Disneyland, every minute of every day was geared toward our children's happiness.

Last week was one of those crazy times when everything seems to happen all at once. On top of the usual madness, there were doctor appointments, Valentine parties and science fair all happening in the same two days as I was packing for our trip. Our adventure began around 10am on Wednesday as soon as the last load of laundry was dried and packed.

First stop: Mountain Green, UT for lunch. TripAdvisor listed approximately 9 restaurants and Ray's Tavern ranked #1. The menu is almost exclusively hamburgers and we all ended up ordering the bacon cheeseburger with fresh cut fries. The burgers have 1/2-pound of meat--huge! I opted to split one between Katie and Isaac who traditionally only pick at their food anyways. 

Isaac polished off his half (1/4-pound) burger and asked for another. I could not believe it! We watched with amazement as he polished off the whole thing! It was fun to see him enjoying his meal so much and he said all of his vacation dreams had already been fulfilled in that burger--haha.

Brian had been frantically trying to wrap up some freelance work before we left but he wasn't finished and we were heading out of wifi service. So, we stopped at a rest area on the San Raphael Swell. That was my first time hanging out in that area of Utah and I have to say, it was a very pretty place to bide our time. The kids and I hiked around a little and enjoyed the view.

Another 45-minutes down the road, we rolled into Goblin Valley around 6pm. Five years ago, a friend stayed in a yurt there and I have wanted to try that ever since. I was so excited to get my chance. When I called to reserve our yurt, I was told that they strictly enforce a limit of five people per yurt. I couldn't believe it! There are two yurts, so I decided to reserve them both. When we arrived, we found that the yurts are pretty huge. They could easily sleep eight or even ten comfortably--in beds. And, compared to how cramped you are sleeping in a tent, they could sleep a lot more. The ranger didn't seem to care at all if we wanted to sleep six people in one yurt. Even paying double--totally worth it!

The yurts have beds for five, a table and chairs, hardwood floors, a/c (for summer), a pot belly gas stove for heat, a ceiling fan, a skylight for stargazing and windows to view the gorgeous scenery. Outside they have a wooden deck, more chairs, a gas grill, a picnic table and a fire pit. They are true luxury! There is a pit toilet right next door and a bathroom with flushing toilets and hot showers a short walk away. Absolutely beautiful location and lots of space for the kids to explore. 

The only thing I overlooked--kind of a big thing--is that the yurts do not include any bedding. Oh boy was that a shock when we first opened the door! We were two hours away from any stores. It was either make-do or head down the road until we found a hotel and of course we all wanted to stay.

The ranger kindly loaned us a hodgepodge of sheets left behind by previous campers plus we had three pillows and five blankets in the car. It certainly added to the "roughing it" side of the experience. Ian and Isaac slept in the extra yurt and in the morning told us their heat wasn't working. It got down to 45-degrees! They survived and we all agreed the yurts and Goblin Valley were a fun addition to our vacation.

The campground was practically vacant and the daytime high was in the mid-60s--perfection!

After we figured out the bedding solution, we ate cold cereal for dinner and by 7pm it was pitch black outside. We sat on the deck staring at the heavens and I do believe it was the most stars I have ever seen in the night sky. Pure magic. 

The next day we drove to the Valley of the Goblins to hike around for about 2-hours. I find it amazing that the kids are allowed to climb all over everything. The sky was so blue. I felt like we were exploring Mars. After a few hours though, I felt like we were trekking through a desert. So, we headed to the shady pavilion for a picnic lunch and got back on the road to the Merrill's house in Centennial, CO near Denver.

 Goblin Valley Yurt

 Stargazing

It is so much fun to stay with the Merrills who are gracious hosts. We were treated to a delicious home cooked meal before setting up our sleeping arrangements that included beds for all (a real luxury for our family of six!). We were pretty exhausted from our night in the yurt and went to bed after a short visit and entertainment from the family dog Cosmo.

In the morning, our family plus the Merrill family loaded up and drove to Colorado Springs for the next adventure -- The Great Wolf Lodge. We checked in at 1pm so we could squeeze every possible moment of fun out of our stay and headed straight for the giant indoor waterpark. For grown-ups, there are four huge race slides, a tube slide and a really fun slide for four-person rafts that twists outside the building and spins riders into a giant funnel. There is also a heart-pounding adrenaline slide that begins four stories up; you step inside a capsule, the attendant closes the door, and a trapdoor falls out from under your feet dropping you straight down. I was so nervous to go on it! But, it was really fun when I got enough courage. For kids, there is a massive playland with medium size slides, buckets of dumping water and all kinds of thrills plus another separate space for really young kids. There is also a wave pool (Katie and Isaac's favorite) and a pool with basketball hoops, a climbing wall, a lily pad challenge, etc. A really fun place to play!

Around 5pm, we ventured up to our room and discovered it to be a deluxe suite with a view of the rockies! One room had two queen beds for the kids plus there was a separate room with bed, table and TV for Brian and me. The two rooms were separated by a hallway with a bathroom and kitchenette. The Merrills were so clever and packed a nice dinner of breakfast burritos and fruit that they shared with us. We had a feast in our room and relaxed for a couple of hours before some of us headed back to the waterpark that stayed open until 9pm.

After a great night of sleep, it was back to the waterpark at 9am. We had to check out of our hotel room by 11am, but we were allowed to stay and play all day. I never dreamed we would literally stay all day, but those Merrills are pretty hardcore waterpark junkies so we got a good bang for our buck.

After eating PB&J poolside, Brian decided we would need a diversion to be able to truly make it through a 12-hour waterpark marathon. We drove to a nearby theater and watched the Lego Batman Movie. When we got back around dinnertime, Sophie and Ian decided they had had enough pool time, so Brian took Katie and Isaac back to the waterpark and I went exploring with my teens. We ended up at a really nice on-property restaurant where we ordered the cheapest things on the menu (a $15 hamburger and $8 soup). We enjoyed our fine dining experience and another really nice view of the rockies. There was a dance party in the lobby after dinner. Finally, around 8pm we were able to pry the others from the pool and drive back to the Merrill's, exhausted from all the fun, to begin our last night of sleep before vacation ended.

In the morning, we joined the Merrills for sacrament meeting and even got to see sweet 5-year-old Olivia give a talk in primary. The last time we visited, Olivia was a brand new baby just a few weeks old. A lot has changed in 5-years, I was thinking as I looked down our bench in church and saw four giant teenagers sitting in a row next to Can (two of them hers and two of them mine). Her 12-year-old Sarah has also had quite a growth spurt. Five of the nine kids between us are no longer little kids. Hard to believe, but true. In 5 more years, we will both have kids who are truly adults and have maybe even left home. Oh how time flies! I'm so glad we were able to capture a small moment of time and encapsulate it into a long weekend of family vacation memories.

We were on the road by 11am for our long drive home. We opted to take I-70 because it is so picturesque even if it takes a little longer. We stopped in Glenwood Springs for lunch. TripAdvisor listed 91 restaurants and we tried the #1 ranked Slope and Hatch, which has a distinct taco menu. We ordered Cubano tacos, crispy catfish tacos, shrimp po' boy tacos and calamari tacos. Sophie insisted on getting homemade fudge from the sweet shop around the corner. It is a pretty cute town! We didn't make it home until 9:30pm. Long day of driving! We celebrated arriving in Provo (one hour of driving left!) by getting ice-cream sandwiches at a gas station. Fun family vacation--check!

 Great Wolf Lodge

 Great Wolf Lodge

 Great Wolf Lodge

 Glenwood Springs, CO Sweet Shop

 I-70

I-70

Brian has all of the waterpark photos and photos with the Merrills on his computer. 

Something Beautiful Part 3

A view looking down the street from my house when the sun is setting. Our enchanting ice sickles. The snowy hike my friend Dori and I took today. The snow was deep and we were the first ones out--trailblazers! I love my adventurous friend and I am so thankful she is in my life. We finished up the hike with snow angels and a picture looking back at the mountain when we got to the parking lot. I wish every January in Utah was like this.

Something Beautiful Part 2

It has been one of those rare winter weeks where it snows every day! I am enchanted every time I look outside by the magical beauty of the accumulation of sparkly white on all the trees and bushes and the deep shroud that covers the entire earth. Every winter, I adore the ice sickles that hang all around the edges of our rooftop and frame our picture windows. The setting sun casts beautiful hues of color on the whiteness everywhere. My world is transformed! The piles of snow on either side of my front walk go nearly to my waist. The pile next to my driveway is taller than me! It is amazing to see everything buried in this beautiful blanket and the earth seems more quiet and calm. And, every day a fresh gift of snowflakes falls from the sky.

Something Beautiful Part 1

I am thankful I homeschool Katie.

Monday morning was a slow start. She woke up at the usual time (7:30am) but she felt like lying in my bed snuggled in a sea of soft blankets for an hour and I was glad she could do that on a cold winter morning without being rushed out the door.

After she got herself ready and made her own breakfast--a sliced up banana with whipped cream--(she is getting so independent!), we worked on Math and Language Arts. I feel joy seeing her progress as we work through the curriculum. We practiced the piano together and I thought about how nice it is that she can work on this in the mornings when she is fresh and without being rushed before school.

After we finished up lessons, I asked her to go read books. She went inside a cool blanket fort she and Isaac constructed last night in the family room and cheerfully read a stack of books out loud to her stuffed animals. I was filled with warm happiness about how perfect and supportive this environment is for her right now at age 7.

I am grateful for the distance program she is enrolled in. The activities she does at the school during the 1.5 days she attends are hands on and hold her interest. She comes home talking about the fun projects and bubbling over with stories about history and processes. I feel happy that she is exactly where she needs to be academically and that she can be in our home with me.

She has lots of social interaction with friends. I am blessed that her best friend comes over every afternoon. On Mondays, her friend Jase who is almost 5, comes over and they play together so sweetly. We have had snow dumping on us for weeks so there is about a 2-foot accumulation in our yard. Monday afternoon there was a beautiful, whirling, silent blizzard with giant snowflakes falling gently. Katie and Jase grabbed their snow clothes and headed to the yard for an hour of imaginative fun. I was happy they could experience the magical weather without being confined to a classroom and restrained by a schedule. I am thankful to have her here with me for a tiny bit longer before this tender child goes out in the big, big world. This girl is a bright spot in my days.

Hello 2017

2016 was an amazing year. Brian had his incredible job with GOAL for most of the year. Katie started her homeschool program in January 2016, which means we've been loving that for 12-months and still going strong. I learned and grew so much in my job. It feels like a lifetime ago that I wrote for the Standard Examiner, but in reality, 2016 was the year I let my writing career go after 17 wonderful years. It makes me feel old to say I worked in any field for that long.

In the first half of 2016 Isaac completed 4th grade. He had the most amazing teacher and she helped our family in so many ways. We will never forget Mrs. Hunsaker. We also met a new psychiatrist and have been on a journey of discovering medications to help Isaac have a good life. I never thought I would be a parent who would put her children on medication for behavior. I am always humbled when I judge something before I have gone through it. I judge a lot less than I use to.

2016 is the year when my path through years of babysitting challenges grew into one of my greatest blessings. I now count it as one of God's greatest gifts that Isaac and Katie's best friends (two of the children I watch) get to play with them after school every day. It is special that Isaac can have a BFF who he has everything in common with in light of how difficult it is for him to make friends otherwise. It is also a gift that Katie has a built in playdate with a beautiful BFF every day now that she has less interaction with peers due to homeschool.

Sophie rocked AP European History and Ian excelled on teaching himself to play the electric bass.

After a long lull in my passion for exercise (two years?), I finally found my way back in 2016 and I have been loving my sporadic yoga class attendance. I even made a brief stab at running before it got so cold and I have joined my friend Dori on a couple of winter hikes. Winter hikes are exhilarating!

2016 was full of warmth, friendships, growth and fun. The presidential election was difficult. Brian's job loss at the end of November was painful. Looking forward from both of those events and feeling optimistic that 2017 has more incredible things in store. Happy New Year!