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!