An Explorer in the making...

We completed our first week of school! This week went by so fast! Here are a few of the highlights:

Tanner's Paper maiche globe

Digging for buried Treasure!

This is the map we found to guide us to the buried treasure. Good thing Tanner learned how to read maps this week so he could follow it! Notice the chocolate on the sides of his mouth as he is eating his "treasure". He kept asking Ladd the rest of the day if he had seen any more X's in the yard..

Tanner in front of his tall ship, the S.S. Integrity. We are starting our Sailing the Seas unit next week, so we needed a tall ship in the classroom. At first Tanner wanted to name the ship "Noodle" but after I told Tanner ships are usually named after a person or a value that you would want the sailors on the ship to have, he chose to name the ship "Integrity". Melt my heart...

First Day of School

Tanner's first day of school was different than most, but it will be sure to be one that he will not forget! We will be studying famous Explorers this year and kicked off the year with a "Junior Explorer's Club Meeting". The kids were greeted by Esther the Explorer, the President of the Club, who got them excited about Exploration.

The "guides" (aka the moms) led them through short activities to introduce them to some of the lifeskills (curiosity, imagination, teamwork, etc.) necessary to be an explorer.

All the kids had a great time and are looking forward to a year filled with exploration and discovery!


Q and A
Since we have decided to homeschool Tanner, a lot of people have asked how it all works. So if you are interested, here is a basic summary of how we are approaching it:
This summer, three other moms and myself wrote the "Explorers" curriculum. This covers science, social studies, music, art and integrates a lot of math and language arts. This curriculum includes lots of activities such as field trips, guest speakers, and group activities. All of this will be done as a group where all the children will participate. We will teach our own children at home individualizing the activities to meet the needs of the child. I am supplementing the Explorers curriculum with kindergarten programs for math and reading.
We also belong to a Charter School. The school is all about Parent Choice and allows parents to choose their own curriculum. We have an Educational Specialist (a credentialed teacher) who meets with us once a month basically to make sure Tanner is learning the CA standards. The best part is that we are given a budget from the charter school that pays for curriculum and extra curricular classes. The Charter school also offers (and pays for!) field trips.
We decided to take upon the monumental task of educating Tanner at home because we feel it matches his very active and inquisitive personality better than a traditional classroom setting. I am very grateful to live in an area where there is a good support system with plenty of other homeschooling families.

Backyard Summer Fun

Who knew Elmo could bring hours of entertainment to our little plot of land?

Ups and Downs

I survived this week with many UPS and DOWNS...

Hollywood

We took our last trip to the Hollywood Bowl for the summer on Tuesday. The music and crafts were from the Louisiana Bayou. Ladd made it out this time which made this trip extra special!



We went to the Griffith Observatory after the concert. So much fun! I hadn't been since high school and was very impressed with the renovations they had made. They had transformed the observatory into a beautiful space museum and it was totally free! There was even a class the kids could take about comets which was awesome! We went with my sister in law Maquel and her kids which made it even more fun!

The only down to this day was the ride home. Hunter complained for about the last half of the car trip that he wanted "out"! And I was hoping both the boys would fall asleep on the way home...

The Countdown

The countdown is on to the first day of school! School starts on August 25 and as many of you know we have decided to home school Tanner. I am looking forward to this year (we have a lot of FUN things planned) and I am constantly encouraged that we have made the right choice. But, I have certainly felt the stress of getting everything ready this week! There is sooo much to do as I want to be totally prepared so I don't feel stressed all year. But after a priesthood blessing from my wonderful husband, I was able to calm down a little and actually got quite a bit accomplished this week. I still have a lot to do, but am confident that it will all come together by the first day of school!

The Temple

On Thursday I attended the Temple with some wonderful friends whom I have been working with all summer to plan our home school adventure for the year.
Of course a trip to the temple is always a great experience, but something made this one extra special. When I walked into the room I saw Kay (Wirtz) Johnson sitting there. Instantly tears shot to my eyes. Her son, Chad, was a good friend of ours in High School. He passed away in a tragic car accident last year. Kay and her family had been on my mind a lot lately, as a I knew Chad's birthday had just passed and the first anniversary of his death was this month. It was so good to talk to her. She has always been such a good example to me and one of my favorite "moms" to talk to when I was in high school. She said this weekend was the weekend that Chad passed away. I am sure this is a difficult time for her and her sons. I hope I was able to provide some comfort for her by letting her know that she and her sons are still in our prayers. I feel very blessed to have run into Kay this week, especially in such an inspirational place.

Running

I attempted to run 23 miles with four wonderful friends on Friday. Running with the girls is great because talking to them makes the time go so fast. A big downer was that I think I pulled a tendon on the back of my good knee. Instead running the last few miles home, I limped. The rest of the day was painful, but with ice, rest, and Motrin I am feeling better today.

New Callings

Last Sunday, Ladd was set apart as the new Elders Quorum President for our ward. I think he is very humbled by this call, as there are many strong and able men in our ward, but I know he will bless the lives of many people as he strives to follow the promptings of the Spirit as he serves those in our ward. The Elders Quorum is a group of men who hold the Priesthood. As President, Ladd will basically make sure things run smoothly on Sundays, try to meet the needs of those in his Quorum, and organize Home Teaching (not to be confused with Home schooling!) The downer to this is he was set apart with no counselors! Hopefully that will be taken care of today!
I also received a new call. Sunbeam Teacher! The "sunbeams" are three to four year old kids. I am so excited and know that this must have been an inspired call. I need something fun and not overly involved right now. I am really looking forward to teaching these sweet children. My nephew, Brayden, is in my class which makes it even more fun!

What ups and downs have you experienced lately?

Hooray for Carlsbad!

We spent most of last week at the Hoyal's timeshare in Carlsbad. It was so nice to be away from the never ending work that needs to be done around here and just have FUN! We took full advantage of having Daddy with us 24/7 and were constantly on the move. Here are some of the highlights:

Legoland!
I would totally recommend Legoland for anyone with young kids. As long as your smallest child is 34" tall, they can go on most of the rides. Tanner was tall enough for all the rides and loved going on the roller coasters with his hands up!

Bathtime
At the condo, Ladd made a monster bubble bath in the tub. If you add just a little soap to a tub with jets, the bubbles never end. Great fun for Tanner, but a little too much for Hunter!

Balboa Park
We went to a few museums at Balboa Park in San Diego. If you ever go to San Diego, you are missing out if you don't visit Balboa Park!

Birch Aquarium at UCSD
On Saturday we didn't really have any plans, so we thought lets just drive down the 5 freeway and we'll find something. We had tons of options, but ended up at the Birch Aquarium. Lots of hands-on exhibits and what a scenery!

We also spent plenty of time at the beach and the pool. We also found some hiking trails for Tanner to try out his new coveted hiking boots. It was a great trip and all of us were a little sad to leave. But, we'll be back next year!

Our Busy, Busy Week!

Zimbabwe

Our country of the week was Zimbabwe. Fun, fun culture to learn about! Here are a few of the pictures from Monday and Tuesday:

Kids doing a tribal dance with Tribal markings on their faces!

Zimbabweans all share the same plate when they eat and only use their right hand as a utensil.

The boys showing off their masks and shields they made at the Hollywood Bowl.

Of course my camera batteries died before the actual show, but the Hollywood Bowl certainly did not let us down! The Zimbabwean dancers and musicians were so energetic and colorful. The music was so fun- it made me want to get up there and do some African dancing with the performers!

Lucky Lucky Tanner

We feel so blessed to live so close to all of our kids grandparents and this week Tanner really reaped the benefits! He got to go to the Circus last Saturday with my dad and his friend Suzie and then again on Wednesday with my mom, her friend and grandson. Tanner had so much fun (both times!!) and says his favorite part was the motorcycles. He also keeps talking about Tom the Clown who apparently was very funny.

He Finished!!!!

RELIEF! That is the word to describe the faces of all the bar takers as they came out of the dungeon on Thursday. I took the boys down to cheer for Ladd when he finished. We were all so happy to have him finish and not have to study every waking moment! If you ask him how he did, he says we will just have to wait to November. I think he is worried about sounding too confident as he knows many people who seemed very confident just to find out that they did not pass.
We took Ladd out to the ESPN Zone for dinner to celebrate and then stayed at his hotel room that night. The next morning we went to the La Habra Children's Museum, or "My Muzezum" as Tanner calls it. It was fun, but I cannot remember a time when all of us were so exhausted at the same time. Hunter did not sleep well in the Hotel room, therefore none of us slept well in the Hotel room! Not to mention the fact that neither Ladd or I had been sleeping very well that whole week before!

Tanner became the cashier at the Museum, ringing up the groceries for all these kids who just started lining up. It was cute to watch all these kids just doing what they see their parents do!

Hunter enjoyed the "In My Backyard" exhibit where he got to play in the pretend dirt!

Changes

The first Saturday Ladd has had off for months and he gets a phone call from the Stake President wanting to meet with us. We met with him this morning and Ladd got a new calling. He will not be sustained until next week, so I won't mention it yet. So much for any time off for him! I was released as Relief Society Secretary last week but have not received a new calling yet. I'm sure that will come shortly... As busy as we are, we are happy to accept callings as they always provide opportunities to learn and serve others.

I am glad this week is over! Next week we are off to Carlsbad for a well needed Family Vacation!