Ready for Christmas!

Lindsey was reading Treasury of Christmas Stories in her bed tonight, and called me up to read me a poem she liked. I thought I'd post it because it is really cute, and pretty much sums up what we've been up to lately!

Day Before Christmas by Marchette Chute

We have been helping with the cake
And licking out the pan,
And wrapping up our packages
As neatly as we can.
And we have hung our stockings up
Beside the open grate,
And now there's nothing more to do
Except
To
Wait!

Welcome Winter

Winter arrived in all its glory this weekend. Friday night a nice storm hit. The kids have been so excited that it will be a white Christmas!! It won't be quite as exciting in May when the snow is still here, but for now it is fun!!

Lindsey really loves reading the American Girl books. In her Kirsten book (about a family who comes to america from Sweden in the 1800's), Kirsten celebrates a Swedish tradition called St. Lucias Day.
Here is a segment from wikipedia:
Saint Lucy's Day (Santa Lucia, Saint Lucia) is the Church feast day dedicated to St. Lucy and is observed on December 13.
In the Lucia procession in the home depicted by Carl Larsson in 1908, the oldest daughter brings coffee and St. Lucia buns to her parents while wearing a candle-wreath and singing a Lucia song. Other daughters may help, dressed in the same kind of white robe and carrying a candle in one hand, but only the oldest daughter wears the candle-wreath.
If you want to read more go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy's_Day

We have Swedish ancestors, so Lindsey decided that this year she wanted to celebrate it, Lindsey style. Instead of lighting the wreath with candles, she hung a bell from it. Instead of the buns, she whipped up some gourmet instant oatmeal. Guess I don't care what it was...I got breakfast in bed!


After the luscious feast of oatmeal, we went to our church Christmas party. The kids sang a couple songs, and got to sit on Santa's lap. All but Dallin enjoyed the big red bearded guy.


It's been snowing big fluffy flakes this evening , and Dallin was so cute to watch it out the window~!



Well, Spencer and I did something scary today. We played "Joy to the World" as a violin duet in church!!! I think it sounded just fine, though my hand with the bow was shaking and making a new vibrato sound that I hadn't known I could make! Lindsey took this shot for us a couple days ago during our practicing. She wanted us to walk out all fancy, so that is why we are being silly.

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree...

Well, we got our big ol' tree up. It was pretty heavy and took a couple tries, but amazingly it stayed up!

Making Ginger bread cookies to hang on the tree.

Setting it up just right.

The kids getting it all decorated.



"Santa" and his sleigh.

Yahoo! Christmas is a comin' and the goose is gettin' fat! Come December 1st we decked our halls with boughs of holly and started listening to our Christmas music.

Today was a way fun day. The young women in our ward held a service project where they offered to watch children ages 3-11 from 9am to 1pm while us parents went Christmas shopping! So we got up and out the door, dropped the kids off, and Ryan and I had a fun time in Idaho Falls trying to fit in all the stores we needed to hit before we had to be back. We had a great time and Dallin was so good sitting in the car and shopping cart while we cruised about.

Then, we went and picked up the kids, who had had a wonderful fun time filled with crafts, activities, treats, even lunch! We dropped by our house real quick to grab snow pants and tree cutting tools, and were off to find the perfect Christmas tree. We decided to go up to where the kids built the wiki- up with Ryan. So our first mission, of course, was to find it.


Mission accomplished! The kids were so excited to see that it was still there. No one had discovered it and ransacked the place. It is still standing nice and sturdy with the firewood inside. Next task was to find "the tree".

It didn't take the kids long to spot"the one". They each took turns sawing, and finally it went down.


That thing is huge! Ryan and I tried pulling a few of our canoe hoisting moves, and we got it up there, but boy, was it heavy!! The kids wanted to find the biggest tallest tree they could find, since we paid a permit for a tree up to 20 feet. I think they about did it!! Our car made it home ok, but I'm sure she was sagging a bit. We decided to save the putting up and decorating for Monday since our energy was sapped! The best part of the trip was reading our current family entertainment Calico Captive in the car on the way up and back. It's about a family in the 17oo's who is captured by Indians on the brink of the French and Indian war. They are separated, sold to the French and....well, you better read it to find out what happens if you haven't yet!!

Tlinkle Tlinkle Little Star

This afternoon I found Kami sitting on the toilet belting out her own version of Twinkle Little Star. As soon as she was done with her business, I asked her to sing it again.

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Well, yesterday was Jacksons big day. The kids have been talking for weeks about Jackson's first birthday, and the present they 've been wanting to give him: an entire day in the house. I told them I'd think about it, but don't get your hopes up. I'm not exactly a fan of really big hairy wet animals clamoring about the house. I cleaned up enough daily doggy doo doo when he was a puppy living in the mud room to get my fill of having a puppy in the house all day. That rug there in the picture was the recipient of his first little accident on Christmas morning. Well, yesterday the fated day finally arrived. I woke up to see that Spencer had arisen early to make him his very own "Happy Birthday Jackson" banner to hang on the wall. Luckily, the kids spent most the day outside working and playing, so I didn't have to worry about "the gift". When they all came in for dinner, they remembered what they had promised Jackson. So he got to come in and spend a bit of the evening with the family. He even got a candle, his very own home made birthday hat, a song, and a nice warm brownie. Happy Birthday Big J.

Ready or Not, Here it Comes!

Well we woke up to snow this morning...much to the childrens delight! It just doesn't seem right that jack o lanterns should have to deal with snow. But alas, here we are with snow capped pumpkins perching on our porch.

This was Dallin's first experience with this cold wet stuff. He was really rather entertained for quite awhile. However, when it came time for him to climb his favorite set of stairs, he met with some unexpected frustrations...slippery, cold, and a bulky snow suit cramped his style. He couldn't quite understand how those stairs he climbed with ease just a couple days ago could now be such a challenge!

Havin' A Ball in the Fall

We have been enjoying beautiful sunny weather the past few weeks!! It has been heavenly.
THE WIKIUP
Recently Ryan has been dreaming about taking the family up into the mountains and building a WIKIUP that we can ski into during the winter. Well, last Saturday he finally took Spencer and Porter and mountain biked up Bear Gulch. They found the "perfect spot" and started the project. This Saturday, Ryan took Spencer and Lindsey. Another family also came up and helped out, and by the end of the day, their wiki was complete! They made sure and stocked it with firewood so it will be all ready for a cozy ski trip!







FALL FUN
We had a fun Halloween. The older kids all wanted to dress up as scarecrows. Ryan told them he had been a scarecrow when he was little, and since then they had their minds set to be like dad! Kami was a pretty little flower, and Dallin was the odd ball giraffe. We went to the trunk or treat at the church, which always has a huge turn out. That was plenty of candy for us! Oh, and those two butternut squash...Lindsey turned them into two Indians. She helped me "scalp" them and turn them into soup! (Thanks cousin Diana for a great recipe!)






MY SIDE OF THE BACK YARD

One of the books we recently finished reading together was My Side of the Mountain. As soon as we finished, Spencer and Lindsey were all determined to go out and live on the land. Mom? Can we go out and live out side for a couple weeks? Sure kids.... So they got all excited...Spencer drew out plans for the shelter, and Lindsey planned the menu. She decided to make a pansy cattail salad to go with the fish Spencer was going to catch...or bird he was going to shoot. Spencer went out there and started a fire all by himself. He ended up cooking spagetti noodles instead of his anticipated live game. The salad never came to fruitation...Lindsey did pick the last of my two struggling pansies and had them all ready to go. But the cattails...I went and helped her pick some from our canal. I mentioned that our book said you could eat the tops like corn on the cob. I meant after they were cooked, and at the right time of year. Well, without hesitation she sank her teeth right into one of the hot dog shaped "ears". It instantly turned into a huge ball of fluff and she choked, spit and sputtered, and decided to forego the salad. Here is a picture of their shelter they made. They were determined to sleep out all night. I came out around 10:15 before I went to bed to check on them. Spencer was in tears- I'm so tired, but I have to keep awake to put wood on the fire! Well, they decided to come on in and sleep in their beds. I think they learned it's not as easy as ol' Sam Gribley made it seem to survive out in the wild!

I don't know why it underlined all that stuff, but it won't go away!! sorry---

Life With the Johnsons

Well here's the latest scoop, since I haven't posted for awhile. Suprise suprise. Another hike. I married Ryan, ok?


A couple weekends ago we decided we needed some thigh burning. Our neighbs have 4 kids the same ages as ours, and also wanted to get out...so we climbed a really cool trail that ended up with this spectacular up close view of the Tetons. I had to carry Dallin the whole way so Ryan could help carry Kami. Wow...twas quite the 5 miles up- I was always bringing up the rear...to help the slower kids, uh, yes, that's it. Or could it be I'm not as in shape as I hoped? We had to sing quite a few girls camp songs to get us to the top. Well, any how, we made it, and t'was fun. My legs haven't been so sore in a long time! The way down went much faster!

The crazy man who always leads me to wild and wonderful places

Porter's Pondering moment
The next thing on our list of happenings is that we started our home school year with a nice big shebang. Charts and routines. They are so lovely and wonderful and amazing and useful, and they work!We are using the Sonlight Curriculum. (www.sonlight.com). Every year I try a new idea here, another method there. This year, I had a friend recommend this Sonlight Curriculum, and we love it! First of all, I am intrigued by educational philosophies. I love the fact that there is more than one way to do things. More than one way to teach, learn, think, educate. Studying methods of teaching and philosophies of education is something I really find very amazing, and also extremely important if you are teaching kids at home. It is so invigorating to hear others ideas on how to teach and different approaches to take. The educational philosophy/method that seems to fit our family is called the Charlotte Mason Method. We use living books rather than textbooks to learn. We read a great deal of classical literature, discuss it, and learn from great thinkers and people who have lived before. It encourages getting children outside to observe nature, and to keep a nature study notebook. Go to www.simplycharlottemason.com and you can click on links that will give an idea of what it's about.

One of the main reasons we have for homeschooling is to instill a love for learning in our children. We want to ignite the fire, not just fill the pail. To create a life long love of learning, and to help my children learn how they each individually learn, is one of my major goals. When they hit high school age and beyond, I would hope they don't turn away from their desire to gain knowledge and be excited about it, which seems so common as kids grow up. We don't want them studying just to pass a test and then forget it all. There are many reasons we teach our kids at home....maybe I'll do a post one of these days for all those inquiring minds who want to know.

This year we are studying Astronomy. We use Apologia science. (Apologia.com) It is Christian/Creation based. We love it. It gives God credit for everything. It has fun projects for the kids to do after the end of each lesson. This was their model of the solar system. We had to blow each balloon up and measure it to "scale"...good enough for the kids to get an idea of the relationship between the sizes of the planets and sun to each other anyway. It didn't take them long to memorize the order of planets. After a couple weeks our solar system had a severe case of deflation and had to go.

Here is our daily schedule---
-We get up and read family scriptures around 6:40
-We eat breakfast, get ready for the day, and do our assigned chores.
-Then the kids practice their fiddling.
-We start about 9:15 - 9:30 with our song, pledge, memory scripture, and special thought.
-We then read aloud from one of our classical books...right now it is The Sign of the Beaver. The older 2 kids do a page in their cursive workbooks while I read. Kami and Porter color, or go play.
-Next is Sequential Spelling, about 20 minutes
-Then Language Arts. Last week we were writing different types of poetry, now we are working on synonyms and similies. Mondays we do dictation or copywork.
Thus far we have done all these subjects together, tailoring each assignment to the need of the child.
-Next we break up, and I help the kids with their Saxon Math lessons at their appropriate level. Spencer listens and watchs his lesson on a CD on the computer. I play phonics and math games with Porter and Kami at this time. I also read aloud to them as much as I can fit in.
-The kids each read at least a chapter in their book that corresponds with history. Right now it is Squanto and the Pilgrims.
-We also have history lessons that correspond with our Read Aloud, and the kids "Readers", so it is all intertwined. We have a big markable map, which we mark when we read about a certain area. Sonlight Curriculum is based on history, and the other subjects are integrated. For example, they were writing a poem about Pocahontas for L.A. while reading Pocahontas and the Stranger.
Well that's what our mornings are like. We get done around 1 or so, then I have to run Spencer to Orchestra at the school at 2. The kids spend the afternoons playing, building, cooking, reading, playing with friends or we go to the library.
On Fridays, we only do Science. It takes awhile to read the lessons, and do the projects. So that is a fun day for all. We get out early and either go on a field trip or clean the house!! Last Friday we went to the Flight Museum with the other homeschoolers in the area. There is a really big support group here. I am in charge of the blog. www.idahomeducators.com. The kids(me too!!) are really loving this way of learning, and that is what it's all about!! I cherish this time with them...it goes too fast!!

Now onto other subjects, such as running errands for mom...

I asked Lindsey to hurry and run grab me a new bottle of oil from the storage room upstairs. I'm not sure this method in the above picture was any faster than running back down the stairs, but she seemed to think so!
Well, other than our mornings of school, the kids are enjoying their PE class, fiddle lessons, and working on their "cabin" out in the back yard with the neighbor kids. We also enjoyed? our first snow this past week...not enough to ski though, much to Spencer's disappointment.

Make me laugh!

I came into the kitchen and Spencer and Lindsey were just busting up with laughter. They were playing "make me laugh." One kid trying to keep a straight face while the other tries to make them laugh. They were being so cute I had to take some pictures!