Mississippi Madness

So, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, and for anyone who is wondering why, it's because we are busy going mad in a motel in Mississippi. Russ had an airspace class to attend here at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, and at the last minute we decided to come with him. After all, that's part of the beauty of homeschooling--freedom to roam.

We have had fun playing on the beach, although not in the water, which is just too cold since it IS December. What were we thinking? Anyway, this week is better than last, since we've been able to meet and talk to actual people. We went to Russ' instructor's house (Randy Abernathy) for a BBQ and enjoyed being out in a more woodsy neighborhood. Randy has a four-wheeler and I drove the kids around his property. He has about 2-3 acres I think. We also met his lady friend, Charlene, and her son Seth who is 13. We hung out with her yesterday for most of the day. She's about my mom's age, and she is really nice. Southern hospitality at it's best :) She let the kids play with her kittens, Seth's toys and even help her decorate her Christmas tree. She even watched Lizzie for an hour or so while I napped on her couch.

Today we plan to go to Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis home (President of the Confederacy), which is just a mile down the road from us. We are staying at a Holiday Inn on Beach Blvd. The beach is literally just across the street from us, and we can see it from our hotel room. There is a lot of damage and construction here, still 3 years after Hurricane Katrina. Some buildings and attractions are entirely gone. There is a children's museum here, about 4 miles away, where we plan to spend a few hours today. It is pretty fun, and has an awesome group of tree forts outside. I'll upload some pictures later.

Today (Wed. 10 Dec) is our last full day, and tomorrow Russ finishes by 1:00 p.m. and we head out. We'll go through New Orleans and then get home by Saturday night. We have to be back to church Sunday morning so we can say goodbye to our friends Sven and Chelsea Lundberg (he is also our branch president and she is my visiting teacher). They are going on vacation and then he deploys for 4 months to Honduras while she goes home to Arizona. Then they PCS to North Carolina. They are such great people, so fun to be with and certainly a staple to our branch. We'll be sad to see them go. We also just said goodbye to Brandon and Julianne Mackay after Thanksgiving, about whom I could say all the same things. Our boys played together all the time. We're losing everybody! I guess that's life in the military, but in some ways you never get used to it. I just think that I will see all my friends again sometime, I just never know when or where. Keeps things interesting. Plus, now I can always check blogs and see what everybody's up to.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. In the meantime, I smell a dirty diaper!!!

Silly Friends

Our friends and neighbors, the Mackays, are moving next week. Their boys, Levi (5) and Noah (3) play with our boys all the time, so I took some fun pictures with them today. I printed this one on some t-shirt transfers and made little t-shirts for each of them to remember their friends in Del Rio.

Lizzie on the trampoline yesterday...she was having lots of fun trying to walk around on there by herself. It was so funny how her hair sticks straight up from the static electricity. When the boys were younger and their hair was longer (bowl cut), their hair stood up like that too. It always makes me laugh

Lizzie ponders the scientific properties of static electricity...

and concludes that really
she just wants her mama to quit laughing at her hair
and taking pictures
and just get her off this darn trampoline.

Halloween 2008

The first part of the evening we went to Russ' squadron
and trick-or-treated around the offices.

Then we went to the library for a Halloween storytime.
Lizzie was a little witch for these first two activities.

Ethan is about the cutest little boy scout I've ever seen! He's wearing Russ' old Webelos uniform that is loaded down with patches. He was going to be Harry Potter, but I would have had to make him new costume parts again and find his wand, so this was a last minute inspiration.

Matthew is wearing a karate gee I bought at the thrift store for five bucks. He was going to be the Monster Book of Monsters (from Harry Potter), but that would have taken a lot of work, and I opted for easy.

He made an awesome karate kid!
Those are spiders in his hands.

Lizzie is wearing a fairy costume. After the kids and Russ came back from trick-or-treating, Lizzie hung out with me. She liked to try to grab candy out of the cauldron. Check out that spider--it's as big as her! Some kids wouldn't even come up to get any candy because they were afraid of the spider.

It was a fun Halloween. I was a witch, because originally we were all going to be Harry Potter characters, and I was Professor McGonagall. But also, just because that is the type of character I really identify with lately. heh heh heh

Russ was creeping people out and making them laugh
in his John McCain mask. A friend took this picture.

Kittens!

For our latest homeschooling adventure, we've been reading about cats this week. Last weekend at the District Campout, a teenage girl from another branch mentioned that they have kittens that needed homes soon. That got me to thinking...our hamster isn't much of a pet. We don't really interact with him much. We need something to love. So, I talked it up to Russ, and...the rest is history.

Today we got kittens: Cinnamon and Sugar. The reddish one (Cinnamon) is the runt of the litter, but very friendly. He is so tiny!













The whiter one (Sugar) is bigger, and already loves the scratching post.

They are soo cute, and the kids love them. When we visited them yesterday, and Lizzie first saw them, she said "Oooooo! Ooooo!" That's what she always does when she sees a small fuzzy thing that she wants to hug. Usually it is just a stuffed animal. She must hug every stuffed animal she sees. But, she's been very good with the kittens, not grabbing them or anything. She leans way over to see them closer and holds her hand out, even makes patting motions, but doesn't seem to actually want to touch them just yet. Ethan likes to hold them, of course. But Matthew is the one that is absolutely in love with them. Actually, we sort of got them with him in mind, as a type of therapy for him. Something for him to cuddle and hold, have quiet time with and just enjoy the peacefulness of petting them. He is very protective of them.

I'll get some pictures of the kids holding them tomorrow. I need to go to bed. Yay, we have kittens! We love cats and dogs, but cats are a little easier to take care of, so... :)) More difficult than a hamster, but more lovable, too.

Politics

Russ and I were raised republican, and we're LDS, so we come from a largely conservative background. However, I don't recall much politics being discussed as I was growing up. Russ' brother married a girl whose family is strongly democratic. I respect them alot, so that makes me more interested in figuring out what I really believe. We've had a bishop we also respected very much who was a Democrat.
Russ and I don't get television, so we have to read news online to learn about the issues. We're trying to be a little more responsible and read up about the candidates. Especially since we have to send in our ballots soon (we vote in Washington state). If a moderate is someone who may vote for either party, depending on the candidate or situation, then I guess we're moderates. We are leaning toward Obama, because we like his health plan and financial plan. The thing holding us back is the fact that he may appoint Supreme Court Justices that will have long-term consequences on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.
I'm just throwing this out there, because that's what we're thinking about right now.

Tag--Seven Random Things About Me

Seven random things about myself. Hmmm, it's all randomness. Off the top of my head...

1. It's almost midnight and I'm writing seven random things about me instead of going to bed. (Russ donated that one). I hate to have to go to bed. I wish sleep were optional instead of necessary. There is so much to do, so little time to do it. Even when I was in kindergarten I remember not wanting to lay down on those little rugs and take a nap. Who does? Actually, now I love a nap and I love sleep--after I've gotten plenty of it and I'm feeling good from it. But, I never like having to stop doing things to go to sleep. Besides, it's not always restful, because my dreams seem so real that it's like living another life while I'm sleeping. One year I wrote down my dreams every morning. It bugs me that so many people think they don't dream, when the fact is that everyone dreams, it's just that most people don't remember their dreams. Russ used to think this, but after two years of listening to me tell him my dreams every morning, he started remembering his. Ha. You just gotta wanna.

2. I am a sugar addict. Hopefully someday I'll be able to say "recovering sugar addict". I've noticed that other cultures think our sweets are too rich or sweet, and American's tend to think the same about other cultures' sweets. At least I've seen this in China and Japan. It's just a different type of sweet. Everyone thinks their own sweets are best. Like me. Lizzie is my sweet and I'm addicted to her. I could just eat her up. And I never want to be recovering from that kind of sweet.

3. I love ideas. I collect ideas. It's my hobby. I love to go into the hobby section of WalMart and just imagine the possibilities of all the things I could make. I can and have gotten lost in WalMart and other hobby stores (JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, Michaels), which leads to number 4...

4. I have ADHD. This is why I can get lost in a store for so long. I have spent over 5 hours in WalMart at a time, more than once. The first couple of hours are fun, but after that it's more like compulsion to look at everything. Like every isle in the store. Almost. I usually skip the soaps and perfumes because they give me a headache. And I usually don't go in the electronics or automotive section. But, in general, it's like everything is interesting and has equal pull on my attention. WalMart is an ADD person's nightmare. And heaven.

5. I have always wanted to be a photographer and a writer. I would like to write children's books. I've even planned a few, but I'm not really serious enough about it to actually take the time to do it. Maybe someday.

6. Autumn is my favorite season. I love to breathe the cool, crisp air as I take in the multi-colored trees. I love trees. Some of the best places I've found to enjoy the autumn is, in no special order, Minnesota, Utah, Alabama, Virginia and Tennessee. Also Japan. Maybe because they all have so many beautiful, deciduous trees. I love to feel cool, much more than being hot. And yet, I've spent a lot of my life in hot, humid places. That's one reason why we'll live in North Dakota over Louisiana.

7. I can swallow a whole bunch of big pills/vitamins all at once. I noticed that I hold my left hand up in the air palm up, like I'm waiting for someone to put something in it while I swallow my pills or vitamins. I do it without thinking and then I notice and feel silly and put it down. I've done this for years. Ever since I started swallowing vitamins. Russ can't even swallow a multi-vitamin, but I can gulp a small handful at once. I even successfully taught my 5-year-old son how to swallow a pill, again proving that you just gotta wanna. And now, I'm going to bed. Even though I don't really wanna.

Homeschooling update #2

Great news from our little corner of the world! Haha, well, it's great news for me. We have had three great days in a row of homeschooling! I don't know if we ever matched that even in public school. It turns out that I needed to provide the right motivation. Because, really, what is more fun than playing with your transformers all day or reading Harry Potter books every free second? So, to pull Matthew away and get him to accomplish his lessons in a reasonable amount of time (like before 5 pm??) this is what I did. I got out a couple of baby food jars and told the boys that for each lesson they completed/participated in, they each got to put one marble into their jar. Later, each marble can be redeemed for 15 minutes of computer time. {I got this great idea from Ericka, one of my homeschooling friends here in Del Rio}. Well, that was an immediate reward, kept them going, and didn't involved sugar. Ethan likes to try free online games. Matt likes to go to Transformers.com and watch old webisodes of the original cartoons, or just look at all the different Transformer toys that are available. Although I really can't stand to see him sitting there drooling over more Transformers, it is working. Today they both got done before lunch. We start after breakfast with a morning devotional: prayer, sometimes a song, and then I read a few verses of scripture and we discuss it's meaning and how it applies to us today. Matthew did his Reading, Math, Science, Health, and Social Studies. Ethan does all the same subjects, only modified to his level. I'm actually really enjoying it.

This afternoon, I left the kids home with Russ while I went to the dentist to supposedly get a small cavity filled. I ended up with a root canal! That was fun. My lip is only now, five and a half hours later, returned to it's normal size and feeling. Happily, I didn't have to wait for it to get really painful before I got it taken care of. The dentist was telling me how much pain it was when he was up all night with a tooth needing a root canal instead of a filling, and how I was being saved sooo much pain. I believe him, of course, but I couldn't help thinking "Oh please, I have had three babies. Pain? Bring it on." Nevertheless, I VERY glad to report a pain-free root canal, something unheard of until recent history. As we learned in Social Studies this morning, during Colonial times in America, there was only one cure for a painful tooth. Visit your local blacksmith and let him YANK it out. Fun, fun. Thank goodness for modern medicine. Well, some modern medicine anyway.

What are the odds?!

Okay, so Russ and I were playing Yahtzee tonight, and I rolled a Yahtzee on my second turn. It was five 4's. Then, in the next game, his first turn, Russ rolled a Yahtzee--also 4's. Then, the very next turn, I rolled a Yahtzee of 4's. So, considering that these dice are not loaded (they're the very same dice we've always used for this game), what are the odds of that many Yahtzee's being rolled--especially the two right after each other of the same number. In one game there are 13 turns. Figure that one out, if you dare. Nikki, Ed, we're counting on you! No pressure though. (Nikki and Ed are our genius sister and brother-in-law who pontificate about numbers for a living).

Wait, it gets better! We just played a tie-breaker game, and I rolled a Yahtzee of 6's, and then a few turns later I rolled a Yahtzee of 4's! So, the odds of rolling a Yahtzee of the same number (4's) in three consecutive games, and whupping Russ' butt. Let's hear it folks. I want to hear some replys!

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

Lizzie's latest trick

Lizzie has been working hard to stand on her own. It's so cute, especially to see how excited the boys get every time she does it! I often hear, "Mom! Look at Lizzie! She's standing again!" "Mom, see Lizzie? She can stand on her own. Oooh, good job Lizzie!" Liz gives a shout out to all her fans out there. Keep the love coming!

First Year of Homeschool: The Grand Experiment

Well, we are homeschooling this year. And that accounts for why I haven't updated the blog in a couple of months. Also, we were gone on a long road trip, during which I didn't comment. I'll put some pictures up soon from our trip. It was great, we got to see a lot of family and even some friends.

As for the homeschooling, this is our first year doing it. The books describe this time of transition from public school to home school as "The Grand Experiment". We're doing a lot of observing--what time during the day are the kids more ready to learn, more likely to sit down, when do they tend to need playtime or rest time, or interaction with others. When do I have more energy to do lessons with them, and when should I let them do silent reading or free play. Et cetera.

We're involved in an Election Class with other homeschooled kids, taught by one of the mothers. It's two hours one day a week for ten weeks, and we pay her for the supplies and such. They do an interactive lesson, crafts and games. Then I take them to the library and we check out our own books about voting or government, etc. and maybe videos that pertain to the subject (like the Schoolhouse Rock videos) and read more about it on our own.

We're looking into a gymnastics program for the boys that is here in town. They did it for a few months last year and really enjoyed it. They are both excited to do it again.

We go on field trips with other homeschool families, like last week we went to the Whitehead Museum in downtown Del Rio. The week before that we went to Alamo Village (where they filmed "The Alamo" movie with John Wayne).


And of course, we're involved in church and primary, and playing with the neighbors when we can, so they are getting socialized. (I know that is a big issue that other people always are concerned about).

We're using the RightStart Math program that our friend and neighbor, Amanda McClure, told us about last year. I really like it. Matt is a great reader and bright kid, but his understanding of math leaves much to be desired. This program teaches kids to see it more intuitively rather than just memorizing facts that don't mean much to them. I'm using it with both of the boys. Ethan seems to be a natural at math. Also, I'm teaching Ethan to read using the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", and he's doing great. I'm excited for him to be able to do some reading on his own--hopefully by the time he turns five in mid-October he'll be able to read some. He sees how much fun Matt has reading all his books. Just this last week, he read the second Harry Potter book in 3 days. Now he is half-way through the third book. One nice thing about homeschooling is all the time it gives him to feed his love for literature.

I'm curious as to how many of my extended family homeschool their kids--anyone know? I know Rhonda Nielsen Foster does, or did. I know Uncle Kelly's kids were all homeschooled, but that was it for my generation. I think it's a lot more common now than it was then. Another plus is that it cuts down on the stress SO much. Just trying to get Matt up and ready for school was such an ordeal last year that Russ had to switch jobs within the squadron and get special permission to come in to work later just so he could help me get Matt up and going. Then there were all the problems in school, and dealing with the fallout after school and then trying for hours to get him to do homework that even Russ and I didn't see the point of. So, in spite of the added stress of figuring out a school plan, course of study, and everything involved in homeschooling, it is still far LESS stressful than attending the regular school here. Another place, another time, we'll probably try public school again, but for now this is good for our family.

Slideshow of Lizzie & the boys playing

Matthew's first seven years

Matthew's 7th Birthday party: Transformers

Poetry

A few birthdays coming up...Matthew will be 7 years old next Sunday, July 20th. He shares a birthday with his great-grandmother, Melba Parker Bastian, who is turning 93 years old. A week later on July 28th, Russ will celebrate his 33rd birthday. Lizzie turns one year old in September and Ethan turns 5 in October.

The boys and I did a few poetry exercises this afternoon from a book called Jump Write In while Russ worked on his Master's assignment. I learned the word for those little poems that you make up using the first letter of a word from the chosen phrase on every line--it's "acrostic". (A verse or arrangement of words in which a certain letter in each line, usually the first letter, spells out a word or phrase). Who knew? So, after hearing me read my acrostic poem, Matt chose the phrase "little baby". You can find it in the kid's quotes section of the blog. Mine is called "Sweet Lizzie".

SWEET LIZZIE

Soft and cuddly little baby
Watching her brothers play
Eager to taste each new crumb, toy, leaf
Ever learning
Testing the feel of my teeth with her hands

Laughing at peek-a-boo
Inching along on her bottom
Zero years old
Zestfully nursing
Into everything
Especially my heart

Not Today

Most Sunday mornings start out with this declaration from Matthew: "It is NOT Sunday. I am NOT going to church today." While Ethan raced Russ to see who could get dressed fastest, Matt dragged himself to the breakfast table in his pajamas.

While I was in the kitchen getting the oatmeal ready, I overheard Ethan saying to Matthew at the table, "If you won't go to church today, you won't get blessings. You don't want blessings?"

Matthew's response? "Not today."

Groan. I had to laugh to myself in the kitchen, because who doesn't feel like that sometimes? But we get up and go anyway.

I Could Poke My Eye Out

Tonight during Family Home Evening, Russ led us in a rousing rendition of the old camp song "The Other Day I Met A Bear" for the opening song. Okay, it was abysmally slow (apparently so that Ethan could keep up with the repetitions). I had been cooking and cleaning all day because we were having the missionaries over for dinner, they had just left and I was tired and had a headache. Then to endure such a song...it was close to agony. Fast forward to the end of the evening--Ethan chooses "The Other Day I Met A Bear". Again. Unthinkingly, I said aloud "I could poke my eyes out." Matt chooses this time to be obliging and helpful (why not earlier when I was cleaning?)--he reaches over and pushes his thumb into my eye. Ethan is laughing and Matt chants "I'll poke your eye out" and before I can move he pokes me in the same eye again! I protest, Russ reprimands him and then explains why we don't poke people in the eye. I tell myself to cool it and we go on to sing the song. I even do hand motions to make it more fun and easier for Ethan to follow along. As soon as the song is over, Ethan thanks me by saying "You'll poke your eye out!" and launching himself at me and poking me hard in my other eye. I felt like I was in a Three Stooges show.

Moral of the story: ??? Hmmm, there could be a few here.... leave a comment with what you think it should be.

Highlights

Here is my hair with the blonde highlights. I'm getting it cut again this week, so I'll put another picture up after I do.

My birthday is on Tuesday, and we're going to San Antonio for 3 days. Zoo, SeaWorld, the temple, shopping, Chipotle Grill, etc. Should be fun.

When I figure out how to make a slideshow, I'll put a lot more pictures up. Right now I have to go to bed. Russ is hovering over my shoulder, because he knows if he leaves me here, I could be another 3 hours.

Tag, you're it!

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


1. What where you doing 10 years ago?

Val: I was just finishing my junior year at the Air Force Academy and was dating Pete McClellan, who was getting ready to go on his mission. Of course I mention this because he was in our branch here in Del Rio as the 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency for the last two years (they just moved to Dover). His wife, Marie, is a good friend of mine and I'm in love with their beautiful children--Emma, Sarah and Daniel. Three little redheads, and they are soooo cute! Marie graduated from the Academy too. Anyway, that summer I sent him the infamous Dear John and a few months later started dating Russell Bastian. The rest, as they say, is history.

Russ: Was in St. Petersburg, Russia, on his mission. Returned to the U.S. at the end of June, returned to the Academy in July and taught Combat Survival Training, sucked the eyeballs out of rabbit's heads and so on.

2.What is on your to-do list today?

Val: Today is over, so just watch the rest of the Raiders of the Lost Ark with Russ and go to bed. Typically it's: nurse the baby, try to read scriptures and exercise, feed everyone breakfast, get Matt off to school, go on a walk, read some books to Ethan, think of a craft to do with the boys, try to figure out what to make for dinner, play with Lizzie, try to take a nap, try to read a little, try to clean up the house a little.

Russ: Oh, watch a movie, go to bed. Typically, go to the gym, fly, work on master's assignments, play with the kids, read scriptures, try to get Val...uh, use your imagination


3. What would you do if you suddenly became a billionaire?

Val: First I would pay tithing on it. Then I'd pay off all debt if I had any, which we don't right now since we don't own a house. I'd make sure we had enough tucked away for education and missions for all our kids, ourselves and our parents. Then I'd buy a nice house and get Russ his dream car. Then I'd buy nice houses for all my siblings and their families, and set up education and mission funds for their kids. I'd definitely get a cook and a housekeeper, and regular massages. Like at least weekly. Then when my kids were all grown up, I'd probably look into creating some kind of charitable foundation. I would need years to think about that.

Russ: I wouldn't save and invest because if I had a billion dollars that would be more than I would ever need. I guess I would have to keep working for the Air Force for a few more years. I would buy a corvette, a new boat, a cabin somewhere out on the lake, take a vacation with Val and the kids somewhere cool, like maybe Europe. Then, I'd send my parents on a vacation someplace cool. Then I'd help out friends and family. And I'd pay my tithing.

4. What are your bad habits?
Val: Eating too much, yelling at my kids, being late to things
Russ: Procrastinating, underestimating time (in other words, always late!), getting up late

5. Places you have lived.

Val: Utah, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Alaska, Washington, Japan, Colorado, Hong Kong, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota and back to Texas...

Russ: Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Russia, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota and back to Texas...

6. Places you have worked.
Val: In Washington I was a newspaper carrier, in Japan I was a lifeguard, always a babysitter, then various "cadet jobs" at the Academy, then 2nd Lieutenant in the AF for a while, occasionally paid for photography but most of the work I do is free. Stay-at-home mom to 3 kids.

Russ: Boy Scout Camp, Hewlett Packard, Jacklin Seed Company, various "cadet jobs" at the Academy, USAF pilot

7. Things people don't know about you.

Val: I've flown in an F-16 four times, for a total of 5.5 hours. I earned my jump wings by jumping out of an airplane five times. I just got blonde highlights in my hair today (21 May 2008). I've only dyed my hair one other time in my life, and that was three years ago while Russ was deployed. I was blonde then too, and a lot of people didn't even recognize me. The old ladies in my ward at church wouldn't speak to me until I was brunette again.

Russ: I was run over by a boat. I've dropped bombs on Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan.

Haircut

I got my hair cut today. What do you think?
Russ took the boys camping with some friends tonight, and I spent my "night off" cleaning while listening to a book on tape. Then I said to myself, "What am I doing?" So I got all dressed up like I was going out on a date and proceeded to shoot my own photo. Of course, it really took like thirty takes before I got one I could use. I had to take this picture, though, because people keep saying my haircut on my Facebook profile looks so cute, but really that was two years ago! I just hadn't updated my picture. So, anyway, here it is now. I love it.

The book I'm listening to is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I love audiobooks. I can actually finish a book this way, plus it gives me something to focus on so I can get some cleaning done.

I was going to do yoga and go to bed early. Too late for that...guess I'll do it in the morning. I'm enjoying all the quiet around here. I wonder if Matthew and Ethan are being happy campers. I wonder if Russ is getting any sleep. hehehe. I always take earplugs with me when I go camping.