First good snow in VA

We had a few inches of snowfall today, and the boys had lots of fun playing in it and helping me shovel the walkways.  Actually, Jack and Thomas were serious helpers and we got our shoveling done in record time.  It's a weird feeling to be on the other side of those years of always-hands-on parenting (i.e. having to be actively involved in all the clothing, toileting, feeding, etc. that happens), at least for Jack and Thomas.  They can get their snow gear on (with a little help with stubborn zippers) and can follow directions about where/how to shovel snow, and actually do a good job.  Even Peter is getting more independent, and it's a weird feeling to realize that we've never had a child as old as Peter (2.5 years now) without a newborn in the picture as well. 

Anyway, the boys were pretending their shovels were snowplows and they really attacked the walkways.  We're on a corner lot with a looong sidewalk that wraps around our property, so there was a fair amount to be done, even though (thankfully) we didn't get that much snowfall.  Apparently schools were closing and had early dismissals all around here, which I'm sure the folks up in Buffalo would find a little ridiculous!

In other news, we're keeping busy with the daily tasks of schooling, home stuff, David's work, etc.  These pictures are from a little while ago when we took our first trip to DC, but they're kind of cool:

Adventures in VA

We've had a few great adventures in the VA and DC areas over the last couple of weeks.  This past weekend, we went to Washington's Mount Vernon estate --  a huge mansion (especially by 1700s standards) and rolling lawns situated right on the Potomac river.  It was beautiful, especially with all the fall leaves still in brilliant colors.  We were joined by Victoria and Lance, some dear friends from college, and we had a lovely day.  We saw Washington's tomb, his bedroom, and some trees that he planted that are still alive today. 

This is the front of the Washington's mansion.

The big tree on the left was planted by George Washington himself!

Happy Halloween!

Great Falls Park

Home tour

I kept waiting to take a video walkthrough of the house until it looked cleaner or better, but I just went took the plunge and took a video anyway. So, please pardon any random kid socks, blankets, full laundry baskets, unmade beds, etc. that you might see :)!

Settling In

We have one week under our belts here in VA. It's been a trying week, all the unpacking and organizing while keeping up on Jack's school work and maintaining some sense of normal routine. I keep meaning to take pictures of our home, but the moving truck came in mid-week and I couldn't bring myself to take pictures with brown boxes all over the place! I think most of the boxes in the house have been unpacked now, so I'll work on getting some pictures up soon.

I think we've turned the corner, though, and things should be getting easier from here on out. We went on our first field trip on Friday to the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. It's about 15 minutes from here, and the boys really enjoyed it. We've been there before -- on our May 2009 trip back East -- but it's a long time in a little kids' life. Peter kept marveling at all the airplanes and telling me he was going to ride in them. Jack and Thomas listened as I read the descriptions for the planes, and they really seemed to be absorbing it. It was time to go home for lunch before we had seen the entire museum, but it was great to know that we live so close that we could visit anytime we want. They have an IMAX theater there, and I think David and I will take the boys to an IMAX show about airplanes sometime -- I bet they'd love it!

We also got a library card on Friday, and the boys got to check out new books. Even Peter found a little book about diggers that he's been carrying all around.

Weather-wise, we had a few warm days when we first arrived, but then it started cooling down. The leaves are starting to change, and we're hoping to go to a park or take a nice drive to really see the leaves and take pictures before they fall off.

We ordered Halloween costumes for the boys, and they're very excited about them. Originally I was going to make my own, but I had trouble finding the materials I needed (I guess there was a run on white sweats!), so I gave in and bought some inexpensive costumes online. David has high standards for Halloween because he has great memories of the costumes his Mom made him as a kid, but even he agreed that it was acceptable to buy costumes considering our moving craziness :). So Jack and Peter will be motorcycle drivers and Thomas will be Iron Man.

So, life is starting to settle in a little and feel normal. David has next Friday off, and that may be when we take the kids to DC for the first time. We haven't decided what we'll see yet, but we'll be sure to take lots of pictures. I know eventually I'll manage the kids on the metro by myself, but for that first time I'm looking forward to having some extra hands!

Last day in Colorado

We have a rental house secured in Herndon, VA, our belongings are on the moving truck, our cars are on the car carrier, we've completed our exit walk-through with our landlord here, and aside from some laundry and packing tonight, we're ready for Virginia. It feels really good to be at this point. It seems like the last several weeks have had so many ups and downs (and honestly, a little skewed toward the downs), and it's a relief to know where we're going and to be mostly ready to be there.

Maybe it's good, in a way, that the past few weeks have been challenging. I've been so busy organizing, packing, conducting lease business over phone and e-mail, etc. that I haven't really had time to be too sad about leaving CO. We really have had a wonderful stay here. Let's see -- some of the highlights:

- Camping (truthfully, cabining) up in the Rocky Mountains with family
- Fishing
- Summer T-ball
- Swim lessons
- Fossil hunting
- Thunderstorms and hail
- Pikes Peak
- Spending time with family and friends who came to visit us
- All the boys' birthdays
- Cave of the Winds
- Dinosaur Museum
- Beautiful parks
- BBQs with David's co-workers

We left the Winter of our Discontent in Buffalo and came here to a Golden Spring and Summer. I know we'll enjoy our time in VA, but I'm sure CO will always be a special place to us.

Please keep our travels tomorrow in your prayers! We will be sure to offer up any frustrations or stresses for the intentions of our family and friends. We'll update you soon after we arrive and get settled in.

Oh Where Oh Where Will The Campbells Be?

Somewhere outside of the DC metro area, but we're still not sure exactly where. What a week we've had! We've had 3 possible rental homes in VA this week, and all 3 of them have fallen through. Two of them were the owners' decisions to pull the houses off the rental market, and one of them we backed out of because the owners were asking for insanely high security and earnest money deposits.

We have one more potential home, and we'll get all the final details for that on Monday morning. Hopefully everything works out! Our movers come on Tuesday, and I'd rather not have to tell them that our stuff will be shipped to "Reston or maybe Herndon or McLean, we don't really know yet".

In other news, Jack came down with strep throat yesterday!! I took him to Urgent Care today because I had a feeling it wasn't just a regular sore throat, and sure enough, it's strep. If it weren't so sad how much he's been sick in the last few weeks, it would be a little funny -- poor kiddo! The nurse-practictioner told us that strep is extremely contagious -- and there is a good chance the other boys will get it, and possibly David and I also. Doh! We really don't need that this week! I'm hopeful that somehow the rest of us will manage to dodge it, but at this point, no matter what happens, I'm just putting one foot in front of the other. I know praying for patience is a good way to have your patience tested and strengthened (whether you like it or not), and now I'm wondering if at some point I prayed for perseverance? :).

In any case, we're alive and baby-stepping our way to Virginia. I would love to have my own personal Mary Poppins right now who could snap her fingers and make all of our stuff fly off the shelves and into organized piles :), but I'm making OK progress. I don't think I'll have to put in any super late nights or anything to get everything organized by Tuesday. The boys and I are going to have pizza and a movie night tonight (or in Jack's case, maybe pudding and a movie), so we're all looking forward to that.

Time for this gypsy wagon to move on

In less than 2 weeks, the movers will come and pack our belongings, we'll hop on a plane, and we'll head for our next 6-month home in Virginia. David told me we're living a bit like gypsies during our 2-year adventure, and I've realized how true it is! We roll into a new town, unpack our belongings, mingle around in the community for a little while, then pack up our wagon and move on to the next new town where we start all over again. It's funny -- I've always known growing up that we actually do have gypsy roots back on my dad's side. We've always talked about our gypsy roots as being the source of our love for adventures, travel, hopping in the car and just taking a drive. Now we get a chance to live like gypsies for 2 years, and although parts of it are very exciting, it's also ... unsettling. It's hard to become part of a community for 6 months and begin to really enjoy all the little intangibles that make it feel like home -- knowing the best streets to take, seeing the same friendly faces at Mass every week, making friends with the library lady that we see all the time, etc. Two weeks from now, we'll leave our community here and the hole will close up behind us and we'll plunk down in another community in another state, and we'll have to start finding all those little intangibles all over again.

This gypsy lady is looking forward to when the wagon stops for the last time!

That being said, I definitely feel like a veteran at moving this time around. Less than 2 weeks to go, and we don't know where we're living in Virginia yet (we have a couple of potential houses, but nothing definite yet), I haven't started sorting or organizing our belongings, I haven't done any cleaning, and I'm not really all that fazed by it. OK, I'll admit that I am a little bit tense :), but as David would put it, my Worry Box is only so big, and I just don't have room for everything in it right now!

I'm also excited about going to Virginia. It's a beautiful part of the country with tons of interesting museums, historic sites, monuments, etc. to see. We have good friends from college that live out that way, and we'll also be able to visit Bonnie, Jason, and Joyce. We can even take a trip up to Hopkins to see how the old alma mater is doing.

Now, hopefully we can all stay healthy these next 2 weeks -- we've had a terrible time with sickness here since going to California! Jack was sick, Thomas was sick, Peter was sick, David was sick, I got sick, Jack got really sick again (stomach bug that came and went for almost a week!), and I got sick again. I tried to figure out what good God might be able to do with our sickness, and I decided that slowing down, taking several sick days off from homeschooling, and not worrying too much about our move to VA was probably a good start. So, we're in a good place, soaking in the lovely Colorado fall (it's already started here! Cooler weather, leaves changing colors -- it's gorgeous!) and looking forward to our next adventure.

Big kid!

Craft Fail

I thought I remembered reading about a cool craft project that involved turning crayon stubs into "new" crayons, so the boys and I gave it a try recently. I didn't look up the instructions because I was confident that I had the basic idea down: gather up all the crayon stubs, put them in a bowl, microwave them a little bit at a time until they start to liquefy, stir them a little to get a neat marbled effect, pour into molds, and cool. I even decided to get fancy and sprinkle crayon shavings over the melty crayon mixture to get a rainbow effect.

Well, our crayon creations didn't turn out exactly how I had imagined they would:

Instead of beautiful, marbled crayons, we got crayonivore droppings!

Oh well! I guess our crapft (sorry, I had to, Mom!) became an art lesson after all -- red+green+yellow+orange+purple+blue really does make black!

Updated allergy test

Jack had his second allergy skin test today. The first one was 3 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!), so his allergy doc suggested a retest just to see if he was still testing positive to nuts and such. He did indeed test strongly positive to peanuts, walnuts, and pecans again, but nothing else. I had him tested for fish (not shellfish, which we already know he can eat safely, but regular fish since he's gotten sick to his stomach several times after eating it, and I thought it there might be a connection), but he didn't react to fish at all.

So, he definitely still has to carry around the epi-pen and avoid peanuts, walnuts, and pecans, however his allergy doctor here was very confident that Jack should be able to eat other nuts, like cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, etc. with no problems at all (he was tested for those today, and they came up totally negative). Jack's doctor actually encouraged us to let him try those nuts, as long as the package doesn't say that it might also contain traces of the "forbidden" ones. Jack was excited about it and asked if we had any safe nuts at home that we could try right away, but David is in VA for business for a couple of days and I think I'd rather wait until he's home just in case Jack does have some sort of reaction!

So, we'll keep on doing what we've done since we found out Jack was allergic to nuts. Thankfully he's never had any kind of nut reaction since the very first one, so whatever we're doing seems to be working. If he can eat almonds and cashews safely, that would be an added bonus for snacking or desserts at home, but for all intents and purposes I would still tell people he's allergic to all nuts, just to avoid any confusion in case someone accidentally forgets and gives him the wrong kind.

Other than that, we're all doing well! Homeschooling is progressing well so far. Jack is more eager and a little less stubborn about it than last year, which makes it much more pleasant. :). Thomas is doing very well with pre-K stuff like reading lessons, math, and handwriting skills. Peter sits and colors for about 15 minutes, and then wanders off to cause some sort of mayhem or another, but is generally pretty manageable. I'm more tired at the end of the day, but I'm enjoying it much more than last year (so far)because I'm using the curriculum I picked, and I'm a bit more organized and relaxed at the same time, if that makes sense.

Fossil Quarry

Today's adventure was a trip up to Florrisant, CO to visit a fossil quarry where you can dig your own fossils! On the way up, we planned to stop at the Donut Mill, which we have heard has phenomenal (and very large) donuts.

On the way to the Donut Mill, we ran into a motorcycle parade that was just starting. The roads were all blocked off while the motorcycles passed, so we parked and watched as motorcycles sped by for about 15 minutes straight -- I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place before! The boys enjoyed watching it at first, but they were pretty eager to get to the donut shop so they got a little impatient as the motorcycles kept coming, and coming, and coming.

Once the parade ended, we headed over the donut shop and were rewarded with some excellent donuts. The boys each ordered a chocolate-frosted donut with sprinkles, and David and I split a pretty large raspberry fritter. They were definitely heartier than the average donut, and very tasty. The donut shop did sell "Cinnamon rolls larger than your head" which were, indeed. that big. As much as I love cinnamon rolls, I think you'd need like 8 people to eat one of those!

After we had fueled up on sugar, we had a lovely drive up to Florrisant and found the fossil quarry. We paid an admission fee and then were given tools like chisels, hammers, brushes, etc. and were able to sort through huge piles of shale to find fossils. The boys had a great time -- all of their favorite things rolled into one: digging, hammering, playing with rocks, and fossils. We ended up finding quite a few nice leaf fossils that we brought home. We were hoping to find a bug fossil, but apparently those are a bit more rare (and larger animals, like fish or birds are super rare). It was a cool experience, and a bit addictive -- it was pretty exciting to crack open layers of shale to see what treasures might be inside.

"Just passing through"

I think one of my biggest adjustments to our 2-year rotation program is that we're always in the state of "just passing through". Six months is really just enough time to start to get comfortable somewhere, and then it's time to pack up and move on. It's a little unnerving!

I definitely felt the awkwardness of our situation at the boys' first homeschool co-op meeting today. I had originally e-mailed the organizer of the co-op to make sure it was OK for us to participate, since we'll be missing about 4 or 5 of the meetings toward the end. (And this is a big deal, because each parent is expected to actively help during the co-op -- if they're not teaching a class then they need to be a teacher's aide). The organizer never got back to me, so I went ahead and registered the kids, and then e-mailed and left a phone message with the organizer lady again last week to doubly make sure it was OK for us to participate. She didn't get back to me again, so I showed up today and asked the another co-organizer lady, and she kind of sighed and basically said in a put-out way, "Well, it's too late now to ask you to not participate, since we're already all filled up and we've been turning people away. So, it has to be OK, I suppose". That wasn't exactly the type of welcome I expected to receive at a Catholic homeschooling group, but oh well. (I mean, it seems like it would be more charitable to welcome the crazy moving family who is trying to homeschool in a strange place than to make me feel guilty for taking someone else's potential spot).

Thankfully, the other moms there made up for it -- they were much nicer and more welcoming. They were so friendly that I got a little stab of sadness thinking about our "just passing through" status. Many of these moms would be make awesome mom-friends -- they're Catholic, homeschooling, and our personalities seemed to click. There's just not much time between now and October to really cultivate a good friendship, and for some reason I feel like a shadow-family, one foot here and one foot in our next location.

One very positive side effect of participating in the co-op, however, is that I've discovered how very well behaved my boys truly are. I was working in the preschool room for 2 hours (oh my -- that's exhausting!), and let me tell you -- I came out of there thanking God that my boys are as well-behaved as they are! I know sometimes they can be a handful at home, but there were some *very* crazy kids in that class -- mean, disruptive, and outright disobedient for *other, strange moms*, and that flabbergasted me. Peter was with me (I opted to keep him with me instead of putting him in the babysitting room), and he was 50 times better behaved than some of the 3 and 4 year old kids in there.

Tomorrow we start back on our regular homeschooling curriculum here -- math, reading, phonics, the works, so we'll see how that goes. This Saturday, we're planning to head out to the Florissant fossil quarry (and giant donut shop on the way up), and the boys are super excited about that.

Goodbye, summer

Tomorrow we start back into school again. It was on the short side, for a summer vacation, but I wanted to get a head start because we'll be taking some days off of school for our trip to CA, moving to our next location, etc. If we start a little early, we can take off some days here and there and still end reasonably early next June.

I'm excited about Jack's first grade material, and for Thomas's continued work on preschool reading and writing skills. But I'm also bracing myself a little for some of the "battles of the wills" that I'm sure Jack and I will face (although hopefully fewer than last year!). I'm trying to approach homeschooling from a different, and healthier perspective this time. My personality is very much achievement/goal-oriented, and I really, really like crossing things off my to-do list. I think last year I approached Jack's Kindergarten the same way, because it comes naturally to me. My thoughts are something like: "Knows how to read? Check! Has good handwriting? ...(hand hovers over paper, a little too eager to check off the box...) Uh, well, he hates handwriting and it's pretty wobbly still. I really can't check off that box, although I really want to. Well, better get back to the grindstone so we can check off that box!!". I'm trying hard to remember that the road to accomplishing some goal might be more important than checking off the box itself, and some things may need be left unchecked a little longer than others. It's difficult for me, but I've realized that it's another way that I need to die to myself and my set ways a little bit, and it's for the best.

I'll keep you posted on how homeschooling and the co-op are going. In the meantime, here are a couple of videos of the boys playing and being silly last week.

Swim lesson excitement

Today was the third day of our second round of swim lessons, and I wanted to share my excitement over their progress. I've been eager for the boys to learn how to swim -- not expertly, but well enough that they can go to a pool, have fun, and I don't have to be holding on to them (which is pretty much impossible with 3 at once!). In my mind, teaching them to swim is simply one of those parental must-dos, and with Jack at 6 years old, I don't want to wait too much longer for him to learn this life skill.

The boys learned some valuable skills, and became much more comfortable in the water, during their first swim lessons, but at the end they couldn't actually swim on their own. I had hoped to help them practice at our neighborhood pool, but we still haven't made it over there yet! So, they really needed another round of lessons to continue building their skills.

I was so thrilled today when Jack's swim teacher had him leaping off the side of the pool, into the water, all by himself! Jack, by nature, a cautious and wary little guy (with an occasional bout of "I can't!" pessimism thrown in), so to see him jump in deep enough to get his head soaked was pretty exciting. He's also pretty close to being able to swim on his own -- I'm thinking he'll be there by the end of lessons next week. And, best of all, he kept saying "Today was SO fun!" after the lessons, so he's really enjoying it.

Thomas is also doing very well, SO much less afraid of getting in the water, getting his ears and face wet, etc. than last time. And, I haven't had to go in the water and help encourage him (he's much more willing to listen to his teacher this time), so that has been awesome. He's more wary of the water than Jack is, but he's also 2 years younger and not as physically agile.

Two weeks from today, we're starting back on home schooling. I'm a little sad about the end of summer (it seemed so short!), and a little wary of battling wills with Jack when he doesn't feel like learning, but I think getting back into the routine of schooling will be a good thing.

Still, I'm trying to think of fun things we can do these next couple of weeks off -- I think we'll make a bunch of Kool-Aid playdough one day. I'd also like to take them on an interesting hike -- an easy one, but somewhere with interesting things to see. Maybe a picnic lunch or two at a park. I'll have to see what else I can come up with!

A couple days after we start school again, Jack has an appointment with an allergist out here to see how his allergies are doing. They'll retest him for the nut allergies. I'm not really expecting him to have outgrown them, but it has been about 3 years since his last allergy test, so it's possible, and it will be good to know either way.

Other than that, we're all staying healthy and enjoying the fun weather (thunderstorms just about every afternoon!). We're not sure where we're going next, but we'll be sure to keep everyone posted as soon as we do!

Pikes Peak Photos

I think in the above picture you can just see the curvature of the horizon.

Pikes Peak

A few weeks ago, we made the drive up to Pikes Peak. David offered to drive, which was great, since it's pretty serious mountain driving (you know, hairpin turns, not all of which have guardrails near the loooong drop offs). He drove expertly, and it was quite an adventure winding our way up to the 14,000+ peak. When we got out of the car at the top, we could really feel the lack of oxygen -- we all felt a little lightheaded and tired from just existing up there. It was also cold -- like there was unmelted snow. So, we spend a little while up there, took pictures, and read the plaques that said that the song "America the Beautiful" was written by a lady who had just visited Pikes Peak and was so inspired by it. It's funny, because at certain times of the day, I've noticed that the mountains around here can have a purplish tint, and sure enough, she was talking about Colorado mountains when she wrote "purple mountains majesty"!

The boys have their last T-ball games this Saturday morning, and then Thomas's team has a little team party right after. I volutnteered to bring baseball cupcakes (the tops are just decorated like baseballs), so I think the kids will enjoy that. On Monday, Jack and Thomas are picking back up on swimming lessons -- 2 weeks of lessons, 4 days per week. It should be intense, but I hope they'll be more confident afterward.

The week after swim lessons, we're going to start homeschooling again. There's a Catholic homeschooling co-op here (parents sign up as teachers for various "extra" subjects, like neat science classes, language classes, etc.). It's a really neat idea! The co-op meets once a week from the middle of August until November (so we'll miss the last couple of weeks when we move). I'm not teaching anything (everyone pitches in, so I'm sure I'll be helping out in some other way) -- and it's a great opportunity to get Jack and Thomas together with other homeschooled kids. They even have a preschool session that Thomas can be in, and a nursery for littler kids.

Anyway, Blogger is having trouble uploading my Pikes Peak photos, so I'll post this text and will try and put up the photos later.

Garden of the Gods

We went to this beautiful park maybe a little while ago, but with all the hubbub I never got around the posting the pictures. It was lovely! I hope we get back there to see more of the trails before our time in Colroado is up.

Speaking of which, I can't believe we have less than 3 months left here! I know we have lots more exciting adventures ahead of us in other parts of the country, but I'll miss Colorado. We have a few more must-sees before we leave town, though:

1. The Florissant Fossil beds and quarry (you can find your own real fossils and take them home!)

2. The Donut Mill (home of apparently exceptional and ginormous donuts)

3. The Colorado State Fair in late August (fair food!)

4. A visit to the Air Force Academy

5. More fishing

... and I'm sure there's a few more but I can't think of them at the moment!

Other than whittling away at our must-see list, we're enjoying the summer weather and more relaxed schedules. The boys have 2 more weeks of T-ball, and then I'm thinking about putting them in one more summer swim lesson at the YMCA. I thought I'd get more chances to swim with them at our community pool, but I'm not brave enough to take all 3 boys there by myself during the week, and our weekends have been busy lately. Once Jack and Thomas become more confident swimmers, I'll happily take all 3 to the pool, but the thought of trying to keep all 3 of them safe in the water at this point, when I only have 2 hands, is too nerve-wracking to consider!

Right now, David is at the movies seeing Toy Story 3 with Jack and Thomas. This is their first-ever movie theater movie! They were pretty excited as they were leaving the house -- I look forward to hearing all about it when they get back home. Peter is still napping, so the house is very quiet!

The beginning of the end

of baby teeth!

Yes, David did use the pliers to remove the tooth, but it was more than ready to come out.

We've all been well lately, just busy. We have some great pictures from camping and from our trip to Pike's Peak that I'll post soon!

Helicopter Cake

I made a helicopter cake for Peter's 2nd birthday, and I think it turned out pretty good! I tried to model it after the Dinoco helicopter in the Cars movie. David and the boys were impressed, although it does look a little like a muppet helicopter :).

Jack's T-Ball

Jack's had 2 practices for his T-ball team now, and he loves it!

3- and 4-Year-Old T-Ball

Has to be one of the cutest things on earth!!

Thomas had his first practice yesterday, and he was so excited about it all day long. He had a great time at practice, and his coach and teammates seem very nice. He can't wait until next Tuesday!

Jack's first practice is tomorrow, and he's looking forward to it, too.

And here is a great video of the kids trying to do jumping jacks:

Home schooling

We're nearing the end of Jack's Kindergarten year, and I can hardly believe all the joys, frustrations, and growing we've had to do since we started home schooling.

The Joys

1. I love helping Jack learn. It was thrilling to work with him and teach him how to read -- just Jack, me, and a lesson book. We did it, and it was awesome to share in his excitement and know that I was an integral part of helping him learn a lifelong skill that is a gateway to so many other skills. And that same feeling goes for math, catechesis, science, anything. I love the "a ha" moments and being confident in my ability to explain things in a way that I know Jack will understand.

2. I love watching Thomas and Peter already becoming eager about learning in a more structured setting. Thomas is so eager to learn how to read, and he happily sits at the table (our dining room table = school table) and does reading lessons with me, coloring, worksheets, etc. Even Peter excitedly shouts "Schoo Time!" and rushes to the table to start diving into the box of markers and crayons.

3. I love being able to use everyday opportunities to teach values and information -- the grocery store, library, post office, etc. I can answer questions as the kids ask them and I can encourage their curiosity while providing answers that mesh with our faith and values.

4. I love being able to teach Jack fairly efficiently. I only have 3 kids to wrangle, not 25 or 30, so his lessons don't take as long as they normally would (except in cases of extreme stubborness, see #1 below). The extra time lets us go on adventures, field trips, etc. that we otherwise wouldn't be able to.

The Frustrations

1. It can be difficult to motivate Jack when he really doesn't feel like learning. Of course, cultivating the discipline to do important things even when we don't feel like it is a vital life lesson all by itself, and I know it will take time for Jack to get better at this discipline. But it's still frustrating when I know his lessons could be done in 1 hour tops, but his"I can't"s and "I won't"s make the lessons take way longer than they should. It takes a lot of energy and creativity on my part to manage these stubborn moments!

2. Like I said, Thomas and Peter enjoy doing school work, too -- but sometimes things get out of hand. Often I feel like the ringleader of a circus -- "Jack, please finish this pa .... PETER! No throwing markers and stop eating the ... What? Oh, OK, Thomas, hold on, I'll be there in just a second". I know school teachers have way more kids to wrangle, but there's something about the multiple age levels that really keeps me on my toes! Peter, especially, can be a tricky little whirlwind to manage!

3. Mom Guilt. You know, the internal dialogue in your heads that likes to question every decision "Am I playing with them enough? Am I playing with them too much? Should I be more strict? Was I just way too strict?" For me, Mom Guilt kind of faded sometime after having Thomas -- I felt like I got into a good groove and I was pretty comfortable with the way I did things. Mom Guilt came back with a vengeance when I started home schooling, and I've had a hard time shaking it. OK, overall I *know* my kids are good kids, and I feed them well, treat them well, etc. but there's that little niggling voice that asks things like "Should you have explained that a different way? Does he need more time on handwriting? Should he have more time to play? Is he using the right math book? " Since so much of his schooling is directly in my hands, I definitely feel more self-imposed pressure to question my decisions and try to get it right.

The Growing

I know Jack has had to do a lot of growing this past year -- adjusting to the differences of structured schooling, learning lots of new skills and information. Thomas and Peter have adapted to our daily school schedule and how they fit into it. And, maybe more than all of them, I have really had to grow a lot while home schooling Jack, and it hasn't been easy. I've had to relinquish more of my time and energy since adding on the role of teacher to wife, mother, cook, cleaner, financial record-keeper, etc. It hurts to give up more of myself and what I consider "my time", and it's hard to try and get everything done that I feel needs to be done. It's also hard and humbling to realize that many of the things I think are needs really aren't, and that I have to loosen up my death grip on trying to control everything. I've also had to grow some serious patience chops so I can manage Jack without losing my temper, and I've had to think of some creative ways to help our days run more smoothly. Home schooling has been a real stretch for me spiritually, emotionally, mentally -- in every way, but I think it's all been for the good.

We're home schooling right now because moving around the country every 6 months really doesn't allow for anything else. The choice was made for us. And I am grateful it was. The intensity of the joys have outweighed the frustrations, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to grow in my own selflessness and humility while teaching my boys. In the next few weeks, I'll be picking a program and materials for 1st grade (!). It's both exciting and a little overwhelming, but I have great hopes that next year my list of joys will be longer, my frustrations shorter, and that we'll all have continued growing in knowledge, wisdom, and goodness.


Thomas doing school work in Buffalo.


Peter's project for school.



Jack and Peter hard at work.

Cheyenne Moutain Zoo

We had a great field trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo today.

First, I love that we got to go to Cheyenne Mountain. I'm enough of a geek to think "Cheyenne Mountain = Stargate", so I got a kick out of driving toward the mountain and feeling like it looking familiar from the TV show.

Second, the zoo is actually kind of built into the side of the mountain. It's beautiful -- surrounded by lots of spruce and pine and great views. Plus, walking arond the zoo is great exercise for little and big legs alike.

Third, the zoo was really great for getting up-close views of all kinds of animals. I think of myself as a zoo snob since we had the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park so close to us for so long -- it can't be any better than those, right? Well, I was pretty impressed. They had an excellent giraffe area where you could buy 3 crackers for $1 and feed them to the giraffes yourself. I'm pretty sure that you can do something like this in San Diego, but I've never done it before and I'm also pretty sure it would cost more like $10. The giraffes were very interactive and hungry for crackers, so they came very close to people and even let some people pet their muzzles (and the zookeepers didn't stop them!). The giraffes came so close, that Jack, Thomas, and Peter seemed a little concerned for their lives :). I ended up buying some crackers, but Peter was the only one who was brave enough to feed a giraffe. I really got a kick out of feeding them, though!

They also had a neat Rocky Mountain area with some of the animals native to this area -- including a moose, wild turkeys, and mountain lions. The had a viewing window that let you walk under a ledge where the mountain lions hung out, and there were 3 or 4 of them just on the other side of the plexiglass from us, and I could swear they were looking at the boys as if they were appetizers :). It was a little unnerving, but very neat.

Some of the other animals' enclosures were smaller or less fancy than the ones in San Diego, and some of the animals looked a little bored or restless, but it was overall a really great experience. I definitely plan to go back again!