It's been too long!!!

Here's Emma at the discovery museum being "so emo"

Rachael, Kalin, and Emma

Kaylin, in the middle of a story

Rachael with Kennedy. She loved the babies and kept going back and forth between Kennedy and Lily to check them out.

Emma holding up her new quilt grandma just finished for her.

Uncle Josh and Kennedy at the unbirthday party.

Rachael enjoying grandma's backyard

Rachael, Sophie, and Bella playing together in grandma's playroom, sorta. Can you tell that my mom has 7 granddaughters and no grandsons?

Rachael, Bella, and Emma out exploring at grandma's

Sophie, I want to steal her!

more playroom fun

It has been soooooooooooooooo long since I blogged! We have been very busy these last few months including a trip to see the family in Sacramento. I want to get a few pictures for the fam posted.

Feeling Better!

Oh man were we sick! I had a stomach bug that lasted 7 days! My house looks like a bomb dropped, I have laundry piled to the sky, dishes everywhere, and I am so happy! You know how it is when you are that sick, you just don't care. You know you are feeling better when you start to conquer the fallout.

Emma got her first perfect attendance certificate from her dad and I. Emma was always at the top her her class in school and was so accomplished yet she would come home every month crying because she didn't get the perfect attendance award. She has severe asthma and would never have gotten the dumb award. So sad that her school had a monthly assembly, party bribes, etc for attendance while never seeming to acknowledge academic excellence. If I didn't believe in the "government schools only exist to turn out good little workers who don't ask questions" conspiracy theory before, well now......

Happy Love Day!

My darling Emma made valentine's at activity days and anxiously awaited her chance to pass them out to us. My favorite was her dad's. Her love note simply said "I love you as much as I love mommy" How cute is that?

1 month anniversary!!!

We did it! We completed an entire month of home school and nobody is dead!!! Seriously, it has been great! We haven't had many "off" days and we are actually having a lot of fun

I just finished assessing Emma for math. It is nice to know where she is so I can concentrate on what she needs. We are almost finished reading Island of the Blue Dolphins, which Emma loves. She really loves anything dramatic. We have acquired several educational games. We love Boggle, Yahtzee, the scrambled states of America, and the castle puzzle game just to name a few. We checked out a melody harp and both girls are having a blast playing it. We just finished a unit study on Fort Humboldt and made a great poster with pictures, sun prints, and sketches. We also completed a geology unit study and can now boast a fabulous rock collection. Emma is also making wonderful progress with her violin.

Rachael is now reading short words. She continues to astound me with her fine motor skills. She cuts and colors as well as any crafter. She loves making music (although she assures me she is not interested in the violin). We also play preschool games and make lots of nature collections from our walks.

All in all I am very pleased with our work. We are starting to fit into a rhythm. I would never say schedule because it is just not us.

I just remembered that I am teaching Relief Society on Sunday and the teaching schedule got switched so I had better hustle.

what's new?

Here is Emma in front of a miner's cabin at Fort Humboldt

Emma and Rachael enjoying each other

I am now starting the 4th week of homeschooling. I still feel like I am on a freaky roller coaster. I really want to get on, and then as I am traveling the first hill I desperately want to get off. You know "what the heck am I doing on this thing?" Anyway, as frightening a prospect teaching my children on my own is, I am thrilled to be doing so.





We are still working through the bugs, although everything is starting to feel more organic. We have days where we are doing science experiments, art projects, venturing into the world of Spanish and then there are the days when we just get through some basic workbook stuff. There are so many days that Emma would have missed school with her asthma that we have been able to school at home that she isn't missing anything anymore. I am also seeing a lot of the holes in public education and as I tailor her curriculum to be more well rounded and integrated we are surging ahead again. The learning is now so much more natural and less drilled facts for state test passing. She is learning concepts as a matter of course now and everything is making so much more sense.





Of course I couldn't do what I am doing without my husband who wholeheartedly supports me. He is a very educated man (an engineer with a masters degree) and it makes me feel so good to know that he trusts me to teach my children and prepare them for college, etc. He is my best friend and my hero!





Rachael loves having Emma home and she loves to sit at the table and learn right along with her big sister. Life is good right now. Very busy, but good!
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Here's to 2009!

It is past time to post. We have been so busy so far this new year that our collective heads are spinning! The holidays were a wonderful whirlwind and we are now exploding into the new year. After 2 years of diliberation and lots of prayers we finally decided to homeschool. Emma has suffered with asthma and misses an average of 40 days a year of school. She hasn't fallen behind in school, but she is bored and tired of being sick all of the time. So far homeschooling is challenging and wonderful at the same time. Rachael climbs up to the table to "school" at the same time and will sit and color for hours. Rachael is also learning to read and loves to participate in science experiments and art lessons. 2009 is full of promise.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Alright, let me begin by saying that in no way am I giving up the yearly tradition of snail-mailing Christmas cards, it has been one whirlwind of a holiday season and this elf has run out of time to mail them! I want to tell everyone Merry Christmas and that I love them, so I am blogging an e-greeting this year.

We have had a fabulous year! It has also been extremely busy!!! The best part of our year was Emma's baptism. It is the most wonderful feeling as a parent to see your child participate in the gospel. My husband and I were full of the spirit on that special day and will never forget it.

We hope that you and yours are well and happy. We have so enjoyed keeping up with all of you through our blog, facebook, etc. We have been priviledged to have been visited by much loved friends and family this year as well. Our cups are full. We thank Heavenly Father for this every day.

May the spirit of Christmas find you! We know that God lives and loves each one of us. We love his son, Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate this month.

Much love,

Rebecca, Bob, Emma, and Rachael!!!