Homeschool update: January 2015

Today I started Eva on a Preschool book that Elijah did when he was 3. I remember how much work it was to get him to hold a pencil, and how long it took to form the letters...

Eva eagerly began work on her book, and has done page after page, squealing after each completed letter, "Look what I did!" She has far surpassed the plan I had for her today, and the week, really!

What a difference from child to child. No doubt part of this is boy versus girl. Partly it is her desire to do real school like her big brother. Part of it is personality. Today was a delight to have two little pupils engaged in their own work.

Elijah is finally picking up speed in reading, and is much smoother in his decoding. This recent success has done wonders for his motivation to continue working on reading. I love teaching him to read!! He is excelling in math. We already finished the Singapore Kindergarten Math curriculum (an excellent and more traditional math program) in December, and have started on Miquon Math curriculum, one that uses a much more hands-on approach using Cuisenaire rods and Base 10 blocks, a sort of math lab. He is doing do well with this sort of problem-solving approach.

The Grand Canyon Drive By

On our way back from from CA we spent the night at the grand canyon. We had intended to do a bit of hiking, but it ended up being extremely cold and we ended up stopping at number of vantage points along the rim. Even with it being so cold it was well worth the stop. 

(Below) We saw a bunch of Caribou/deer off to the side of the road as we were driving through the park. 

Cali 2014: Christmas!

Christmas was a wonderful time with a mixing of old traditions and new ones. Matt and Corrie got the morning started off right with their awesome Christmas sweaters. Yes they own those things of beauty. Possibly they will be starting a new tradition for Christmas day. 

(Above) Mom has a long tradition of getting a new Christmas story book each year to read to everybody before we open gifts. 

(Below) Dad had prepared some thoughts for all of us to consider and in particularly a discussion on the Niacin Creed. 

The day before we had gone to a dollar store where we each picked out $5 worth of gifts for one other person. You would be amazed what you can get for $5 at one of these stores. It was as much an event as it was getting presents as you dodged other gift purchasers, trying to figure out what to get for your person, and giving advice to others on gifts. Eli had a blast giving Isaiah an arsenal of weapons. 

 After the sharing and gifts we had an amazing meal mom prepared for all of us. 

 

(Above) Uncle Mark as always having a great time with his nephews and nieces. In this case he appeared to shelve Zachary. 

(Below) Another fun Christmas tradition is singing Christmas carols to folks. We had sung to our family friends Bob and Chris Lay when they lived in Upland, but it was fun to sing to them in LA where they now live. 

Cali 2014: Our love for In-N-Out

Whenever we make it to the west coast we have to go to In-N-Out and this trip was no exception. I think we probably went there four times over the week period. On this trip we discovered the amazing animal style fries and boy were they good. The picture below are from an In-N-Out in Arizona which is the last one we could go to on our way back home

Cali 2014: A golf outing

A tradition that we have is any time we get together with Tim we have to go golfing. This means for me I golf about once or twice a year. While in LA Tim organized a golfing trip that corresponded with a hike for the rest of the family. Because Tim is so much better than the rest of us (at least I'll speak for myself) Matt, Aaron, and I played best ball against Tim. 

(Above) Matt hitting an awesome drive down the fairway. 

(Below) Aaron hit a pretty good drive on this as well. 

(Above) The trail that the rest of the family took brought them around to where we were golfing.

(Below) A good shot of the four golfers. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful time golfing. Tim ended up winning with the last put of the entire 9 holes for a dramatic finish. 

Cali 2014: We love Santa Barbara

David had a few meetings for work, so the kids and I went with him to Santa Barbara. We loved our time there! We hung out at the beach, walked on the pier, ate Fish and Chips (which the kids adored!) The kids jumped from the ledge into the soft sand again and again.

A favorite story is the kids and me walking on the pier in the evening. The babies were drinking their bottles in the stroller. Peter finished his and pitched it out of the stroller where it rolled down the pier towards the ocean. A man picked it up and returned it to us. This story tickled the kids for some reason, and they tell it often, laughing.

Cali 2014: All Girls Tea Party

A highlight of the trip for Eva was our traditional "All - girls Tea Party." She recalls it often, telling us quite seriously, "No boys. Just girls."

We went to the St Ignatius Cafe in Los Angeles, and took over the upstairs. Eva adored her Sweet Lemon Tea (like hot lemonade), and she munched on snacks brought by Aunt Abigail.

We had fun being just the girls!

Early morning cartoons

Miso and Mulligatawny for babies

The little babes don't love solid food. Peter will eat most finely pureed food, but Joseph makes terrible faces and lets the food drip out of his mouth in disgust, not even closing his mouth. Both boys have strong gag reflexes and any amount of texture sends them to spitting up. Both are fairly devoted to their bottles.

Until now. At a Japanese restaurant, we gave both babies a sample of Miso soup to keep them quiet while we were waiting for the check (we were trying to hold off the necessity for a Quick and Loud Departure for as long as we could.) After a sip of soup, both boys' eyes brightened, and they opened their mouths for more. They had never reacted this way with food! We laughed and kept feeding them the soup.  

Tonight I had made Mulligatawny soup, full of curry and spice. Peter was fussing, so David let him sample a sip off his spoon. Peter grunted happily and opened his mouth for more. We tried Joseph, who really only eats peaches and pears with any interest. His eyes lit up. He also loved it! Could it be we are serving too bland foods for sophisticated palates? We'll keep trying the broths... they seem to like grownup flavors! 

Cali 2014: A hike in the mountains

For one of our activities we went hiking at Griffith Park. It was a great hiking location with beautiful views of the city. Once again it was so wonderful having so many helpful hands to carry the babies or play with Elijah and Eva (as well as keeping an eye on the always exploring ones). We had good confersation and some good exercise (it helped make some room for the big dinners we were eating every night).  

(Above) Joseph catching a ride with Uncle Matt. 

(Below) A trip to LA wouldn't be complete without a picture of the classic Hollywood sign. 

(Above) Isiah sporting his Indianapolis Colts jersey. 

(Below) A great shot of the older cousins with the Griffith Observatory in the background.  

Cali 2014: The Space Shuttle

Ever since the Space Shuttle program was retired I have wanted to see one of them. Thankfully one of the shuttles had been brought to the science museum in LA and everybody was cool seeing it as a group. 

(Below) Jamie and Eva checking out the space toilet. 

(Above) The family checking out an intro video on the museum. 

(Below) Aunt Corrie and Elijah first glimpse of the shuttle (It's really big). Of course Eli had to wear his rocket shirt to the museum. 

(Above) Eli and I in front of the Space Shuttle. 

(Below) A panorama of the shuttle. It is amazing that we were able to get something that big into space numerous times. 

(Above) After the shuttle we were able to check out the rest of the museum, including a small aquarium section. Here Eva is holding her space teddy bear she got at the Shuttle section with some of her Christmas money from Nana. 

(Below) After the museum we had an great lunch in the beautiful rose gardens