Paige's Bedroom Makeover-15th Birthday -1 month ago

This is Paige! This is her on her Birthday! Her 15th Birthday! She just spent all day at Childrens Hospital and is not happy about it-though she always wears a smile.  
While Paige was at the hospital, I was very busy at home with lots and lots of friends.  We were transforming her room from a yellow craft room to 'Paige'! Lots of pink combined with beautiful walls of gray.  It turned out spectacular.  

Lilly wrapped Paige's bedroom door.  This is the reveal!
Do you see the chandelier?  It's new! Curtains? new! Bedding? new!

Wa La! Do you see the ode to Blake Shelton?  It's her favorite!

(I LOVE THIS ROOM!) (PAIGE LOVES THIS ROOM)

A new vanity with mirror and amazing wall hooks for jewelry, flat irons and hair dryers. 

Her pink wall with her dresser and best friend framed

 See the chandelier?  It's new :)
A new curtain to cover the closet...

 Dry erase board over the keyboard.  Perfect!

This is my older daughter Kylie, who is clearly enjoying taking photos.  Funny!

Kylie's Bedroom Makeover-from 18 months ago :)

For Kylie's 15th birthday we gave her a bedroom makeover! We painted her walls, built her a queen size bed, added curtains, bedding, a desk, and lots of great accessories.  Here are the results! (I know that this was 18 months ago but better late than never?)

I built this Farmhouse bed for Kylie.  Plans are HERE.  The bed cost $120 in supplies and about $30 in paint and stain. 

 It's hard to tell but this is an awesome Snail on a spring so Kylie can make it bounce up and down.  That is her Harry Potter Bookends behind the snail. 

Lilly (little sister) built this dry erase board for Kylie.  She purchased a shower lining board at Lowes for $8.00.  We had Lowes cut it down to size.  She painted trim she purchased for $12.00. We then screwed the board into the wall and added the trim on top.  It's one of Kylie's favorite items. Every month, she starts with a fresh board and adds her favorite quotes, statements, funny moments, events and people.  At the end of the month she erases it and starts over.  It's awesome! The bucket to the right is filled with dry-erase markers.  

Karma and I made this reversible curtain for Kylie's closet door.  We painted the mirror that we've had around forever, hung a flower necklace holder and added Tangled Movie Stills (she LOVES Tangled). I trimmed out the lampshade of the bubble lamp with the  same trim as the closet curtain.  If you look in the mirror you can see her cute corner desk and pink chair-both from IKEA.

 Kylie's corner desk with more Tangled stuff.  Her ribbon board from when she was little, a candy jar filled with Chocolate Covered Almonds and cute flower pens. I trimmed out the magnet board with leftover closet fabric.

That green thing is a receipt for the Tangled DVD to be picked up on release day.  Exciting!

 See that pig on the top shelf?  Her dad brought that back to her from Hong Kong when she was 5.  See that bunny on the middle shelf?  I made that for her for her first Christmas-out of bunny fabric no less. 

Ikea curtains, Ikea mouse, bedding from Fred Meyer ($20).  I ran out of budget and couldn't afford the Pottery Barn bedding we wanted but this has been sufficient.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY MY BEAUTIFUL KYLIE! I LOVE YOU!!!(FYI: Kylie turns 17 in March!  my bad!)

The Food Experiment Follow Up

The month is over and I thought I'd report how my 'Once a Month' cooking experiment went.  I've done freezer meals for years, but normally only 1 or 2 meals a week.  I've never planned breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner with about 80% of the food prepared ahead of time.  As a side note, our microwave broke the day we began this so we were microwaveless for 3 weeks.  It was tough...

Breakfasts:
Egg McMuffins: F - epic fail! though we had to reheat in the oven from frozen and it took too long and over cooked everything.  I'm willing to try again with  microwave reheating.
I also never got around to pre-making pancakes but we did do muffins and they worked
Other breakfasts: Smoothies, cereal, pancakes

Lunches:
Mummy Dogs: A+ .  They actually are so much better when you bake them from frozen. 
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches: B .   Good, but took longer to reheat then it would to grill fresh, so no point in making ahead.
Pizza Cups: A...Definitely a keeper!
Chicken Nuggets: A.  They take time to make but SOOOOO worth it!
French Bread Pizza: A+.  Best discovery of this month.  So convenient, yum, cheap and kids loved them!
Bean&Cheese Burritos: I didn't try-my bad...but they seem awesome and convenient
Chicken Salad:  A.  Everyone loves
Other lunches: ham sandwiches, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches

Snacks:
Cheese and Crackers: A+
Fruit Smoothie: A+
Granola Bars: C : too much honey in them.  I need to find a better recipe
Yogurt Parfaits: A+.  The kids favorite snack.  Clear cups, frozen fruit, greek yogurt and granola.  They ate these alot.
Chocolate Pudding: A.  It doesn't get easier than this
Soft Pretzels: A when fresh.  B when frozen and reheated. 

Dinners:
Cranberry Chicken: B.  I really enjoyed this.  The kids not as much.  They kept expecting it to taste like BBQ chicken because of the look but it didn't
Teriyaki Honey Chicken: A.  Everyone loved this
Twice Baked Potatoes: A.  Yummy,
Ranch Chicken Parmesan: A+.  Sooooo good. Everyone loved
Greek Chicken: B.  I overcooked it so we'll try again. 
Other dinners: Spaghetti, Taco Salad, Burrito Bar, Soup

I had vegetables cut up in the fridge daily for consumption.  I had a basket of fruit available every day for them as well. 
The other

So...did it work?  Yes!  We only did take out 1 time for the entire month. 
Cost effectiveness?  Saved $400 on our food budget-which is HUGE.
Quality of food?  We ate soo well.  Excellent vegetables, fruits, meats, breads, cheeses etc.  Our meals were well balanced.  The snacks were nutritious
Convenience:  A!  Kids were able to handle all of the meals if needed
Time?  We did the cooking over the course of 3 days.  One really long night and two shorter stints over 2 days.
It took me much longer to plan the food menu, recipes, ingredients and shopping list.   
Was the time worth it?  Yes! Because when it came to daily schedules, we had great food available.
Will I do it again?  Yes! Yes! Yes!  I'm working on this months menu right now
Do I recommend this type of cooking? Yes!

Do I have a file with all of the recipes, shopping lists and menu? Yes thanks to Kristin!  Love you woman!
The end!!!

Food

My days are busy! and I mean busy! I have five kids I'm homeschooling. Two in High School, one in middle school and two in Elementary. I go from child to child to child teaching, mentoring, helping, playing, re-teaching etc...all day every day. I also have kids in lessons, clubs and actually do have some interests of my own. This is my choice and I love it! But...I've come to realize a few things about the all important subject of Food. My children need to eat. You would think that would be a given, but on busy days I often forget about food because I don't have time. They don't forget though. Also, when my kids don't eat they get grumpy, tired, and lose the ability and desire to work/think. If I stop what I'm doing, which always has something to do with the kids, to go make food, then the kids stop what they are doing. And then they have to stop what they are doing to actually eat. It's not a win-win situation for our days. But my kids still need to eat. I haven't been organized enough to tell an older child to 'go make lunch.' They always get frustrated at that if they want to make something more than peanut butter sandwiches. I realized I needed to make a PLAN.
I follow a blog 'Once a Month Mom.' The premise is that you make a plan for the month: breakfasts, lunches and dinners and complete all of the cooking over one or two days at the beginning of the month. Then, when you are hungry there is a plan and food already prepared. Just re-heat. OaMM provides 6 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 15 dinners. I decided I needed to do this but on a bigger scale. So, this past week I've taken the time to make our own menu utilizing food that I know my kids love. I've planned breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner for every day but Saturday. It's been quite the job. My kids have been intrigued and even excited about this. I shopped all morning and afternoon for a months supply of grocery items-(I even made a grocery list of exact amounts so I wouldn't waste budget)
On a budget note: I realized after completing shopping that this plan will potentially save us over $400 a month on groceries. I should only need to shop for milk and fresh vegies and fruit every week.
Tonight, we began assembling meals-enough for 8 people. Thanks hubby for helping. We made 12 Egg McMuffins, 32 Mummy Dogs, 16 Broccoli/Ham Twice Baked Potatoes, 2 meals of Cranberry Chicken, 2 meals Greek Inspired Chicken, 4 meals Honey Teriyaki Chicken, 1 meal Ham Fried Rice, 2 meals Ranch Parmesan Chicken. We also cooked up enough chicken for chicken salad, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Chicken Crescent Rolls. Now all of the dishes are NOT chicken based but I had purchased a 40 lb box of chicken breast and had to take care of it right away so I didnt' need to figure out a way to store it. Tomorrow, pancakes, muffins, fruit smoothies, mac and cheese, pizzas, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese sandwiches, breakfast cookies, granola bars and yogurt parfaits will all be made. The kids are helping a ton. Lilly is helping with breakfasts, Kylie with Lunches and Paige with dinners. Steve has been washing dishes like crazy to keep me stocked with pans, knives, measuring cups and spoons and clean cutting boards.
I'm really curious about this experiment. I believe it's going to be extremely beneficial. Something else I know about myself. I love to cook...but only on about 6 days of the month. I'm just to busy, tired or distracted to stop what I'm doing to cook every day. This plan should solve that.

If you'd like my plans, menus or budget, let me know. I'm happy to share.

A surprise

Kylie has been sick all month. Her coughing finally got so bad that I took her into the doctors. Sam's leg has been hurting. So much that he's had difficulty sleeping. I took him into the doctors at the same time. Kylie's lungs and heart were listened to. They sound clear, though she has terrible bronchitis. It's viral-not so much a surprise.
Sam got an x-ray on his leg-we'll know tomorrow if it's anything but while he was with the doctor he coughed. The Dr. decided to listen to his lungs again and again and again. He then pronounced that Sam has pneumonia. We could get an x-ray to confirm but the boy has pneumonia BAD. That was a surprise!

I just got a free trial of Netflix. I have it streaming over the Wii. I could really use another Wii or xbox 360 so each sick kid can have control over netflix. I tell you, Kylie has no interest in watching 360 episodes of Power Rangers and Sam has no interest in watching Dr. Who from the beginning! Does anyone want to lend one of these out for a week? But not the Montano's because somehow I can never return things to them in a timely manner. It's terrible I tell you! Terrible! but to show how great they are, they still call us friends! Though they should never lend us anything again ;)

Some of my favorite learning sites

Because I homeschool all 5 children, I am familiar with ALOT of different educational programs. I thought I'd share what is being used in the house this year and what I absolutely love...
Kylie:
is participating in an online high school through K12. I've used K12 for many different grades. It is challenging, engaging, easy to use though time consuming and most of my children have had success using it. Kylie is taking Comprehensive Biology, Honors English, Computer Literacy and Modern World History through K12.

Math: Algebra II through Thinkwell. Thinkwell is by far my favorite online math program. If you have anyone that struggles with math or needs to be challenged check it out. It goes from 6th grade up through college level

Foreign Language: Spanish via Rosetta Stone online. It's a good year for her.

Paige:
Online high school through K12. She is taking Physical Science, Computer Literacy, Literary Analysis and Comprehension, Modern World History.
Her math is through Thinkwell and Spanish through Rosetta Stone. A very similar schedule to Kylies.

Lilly:
Math: Mathwhizz This is an online math program that is constantly testing, teaching, re-teaching until mastery is achieved. Lilly really likes it. You can get a free trial to the program. It covers K-8th grade. It is for kids who have difficulty in math or are missing chunks. I like it because Lilly likes it :)

Reading: Ticket to Read I can not say enough about this site. It's super cheap-I think $30 for the year. It covers reading speed, comprehension, vocabulary etc. It's fast, engaging and has made a huge difference. For 3rd grade on up. AMAZING!!!!!!!

Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone-Swedish

Science: Supercharged Science is a full and engaging online science curriculum. The experiments are fantastic and WORK. It is laid out in an incredibly easy way to use. Works from K-12th grade. I can't say enough about how great and impressive the experiments are. You can sign up for a 1 month trial for $1. It's how we got hooked :)

Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing. aka IEW. (not an online program) I'm a HUGE fan of this curriculum. It teaches every aspect of writing in a fun, engaging way. You watch a video lecture by Andrew Pudewa (who is really funny to my kids) and then you have assignments that take up the rest of the week. I've learned so much. My kids have learned even more. It's worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY in my book.

Spelling: All about Spelling. (not an online program) Did you know that Y makes 4 different sounds? Can you name them? I could name 3 quite easily but it wasn't until I started teaching spelling using this curriculum that I learned the 4th plus so many other amazing things. If you have a kid doesn't retain spelling through rote memorization then teach them the rules and principles. I really like this program

Art: online drawing program Mark Kistler. You can do lots of lessons for free at the site. When you get ready to buy, buy it through Homeschool Buyers Co-op

Sam:
Math: Khan Academy (which is free-really! check it out) and TenMarks. Sam is really quick in math so I'm always needing to find ways that he can work ahead and at his pace. Both of these sites allow for that. Khan Academy is just fun for him to see how many of the subjects he has mastered. TenMarks moves quickly, methodically, teaches well via video and we like it. It's reasonably priced which makes ma happy.

Reading: Ticket to Read (see above recommendation)

Spelling: All about Spelling

Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing (aka IEW)

Handwriting: Handwriting without Tears This is the only program I use for teaching handwriting. It's efficient, logical, no-nonsense, easy to learn and memorable. It teaches through first time printing through cursive. Love it!

Explode the Code. My kids do explode the code from level 1 through level 8. It reinforces and teaches handwriting, phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension etc. They do a lesson per day. It makes me happy and gets in extra practice in those tough to learn skills that need to be developed through repetition and work.

Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone French

Science: Supercharged Science

History: BrainPOP Sam can spend hours on this site watching animated movies about almost anything you can think of -History, Science, Math, Language Arts etc. He is a fact quoting machine partly due to this site. He loves it and chooses to go on it even when it's not school hours. A mothers dream :)

Sarah:
Math: Destination Math. This is an online program that I found via Homeschool Buyers Co-op (it's where I do most of my online purchasing because it is so much cheaper) You can get a free 1 month trial through the co-op. It aligns with Saxon math. Sarah really likes it and spends quite a bit of free time using it.

Reading: Reading Eggs. This is THE GREATEST SITE OF ALL TIME! Did you hear me? THE GREATEST SITE OF ALL TIME!!!! It is fun, engaging and the kids LEARN! You can sign up for a free trial. I dare you to! You will then buy a 1 year subscription to it. It is worth far more than what they charge. Right now it is for K-3rd grade. It offers phonics lessons in a very logical order. Spelling tests, Writing contests etc. They are expanding their website in November to take their curriculum up through 7th grade. I can hardly wait! If you do nothing else, go check out Reading Eggs. (I'm talking to you Kristin ;)

Handwriting: Handwriting without Tears, Explode the Code level A B C

Phonics/Spelling: All About Spelling and a lot of lapbooks made using Homeschool Share
Lapbooks are one of the best ways to teach and engage children. It incorporates writing, cutting, coloring, math, critical thinking and great literature. All great combinations. (Kristin you would LOOOVE lapbooking )

In our home, we do a lot of art projects, a ton of reading aloud (I am currently reading The Lost Hero aloud to the kids during our lunch hour) Sam reads aloud everyday to me. I read aloud to Sarah every day. Paige, Lilly and Kylie all read to themselves daily.
We also cook and bake A LOT! Here is the list of baking from this week alone:
Breadsticks
Cinnamon Rolls
Cheesy bread knots
Cinnamon rolls
Owl cupcakes
breadsticks
rice pudding
We clearly bake a lot of bread items...but I have 5 kids home all day-they have to eat something ;)

So favorite things in no particular order:
Online programs and resources:

Homeschool Buyers Co-op
Thinkwell Math
Khan Academy
Reading Eggs
Ticket to Read
Homeschool Share
Supercharged Science

In your lap programs:
IEW
All about Spelling
Explode the Code

Thanks for letting me share and for those with kids under 7, to check out Reading Eggs now!

How does a year fly by so quickly?

Here is our family status/updates:
Steve graduated in June with his Masters degree from Seattle Pacific University. We are very proud of him and glad we got through that 3 year stint of no hubby or dad on many nights :)

I had the craziest summer ever and am still trying to recover-way too much volunteer work and not enough family time. I just got back from a General Conference Trip with Lilly-it was such a lovely time. Lilly is a lovely, lovely girl!

Kylie is doing online High School and is loving it! She is a Sophomore It's good to have her home with us this year. Kylie is also writing songs and is fiercely good!

Paige is also doing online High School this year. We moved her up a year and she is all of a sudden a freshman in high school. Craazy! She loves early morning seminary. She has been running cross country for Jackson HS and has done great. Paige is a gifted pianist who can play anything you can hum. She can be found at the piano playing and singing constantly.

Lilly is homeschooled-7th grade. She and I were in Utah for a several days for General Conference. We attended 3 sessions. She got autographs of John Bytheway and the actor who played Levi Savage in the 17 miracles DVD. She also got to steal her best friend Elana for a couple of days and we headed down to Moab to Arches. We hiked to Delicate Arch. Amazing!!!

Sam is homeschooled-4th grade. What a kid! Smart, insightful, creative, imagination like you can't believe and a little charmer. His Little League team won the division championship this year (his dad is the coach). It was a really exciting time. Their record was 18-1-1. Championship game? We stomped :)

Sarah is homeschooled-Kindergarten. She is funny, smart, a good friend and the big news is she taught herself how to ride a bike! (Holly Moore gave her a 5 min. tutorial using a magic bike and Sarah was riding on her own 2 hours later-no joke!)

So since last year things I would like to remember and sometime document?
Funeral of Barbara B. Smith and children meeting the prophet
Halloween dinner
Thanksgiving and reuniting with Andrew-a truly miraculous time in our lives
Harry Potter in the snow and the adventure getting back home from Seattle alive ;)
Singing in the Forgotten Carols
Christmas Eve-new candles, friends and chimes
Building a bed for Kylie's Christmas present
Glass Blowing Studio field trip
Paige's diagnosis of a bone tumor and all of the difficulties, tender mercies and soul changing effects this is still having on us
Trek Choir!!!!!!! Come thou Fount, How Firm a Foundation-I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be able to direct those great kids.
Trek
Birth of Isa ( I acted as the doula for my sisters natural childbirth-it was awesome)
Chisholm intervention
Lilly graduating from Primary and entering Young Womens
Baptisms for the Dead with all 3 daughters in the SL Temple
Andrew and Karens wedding

Things like this! Whew! Posted before the year mark...way to go me :)

A threat!

My dear, dear friend Kristin emailed me yesterday and told me if I didn't update my blog soon, she was going to take me off of her blogroll. So Kristin, this one is for you!

We just got home from a great fieldtrip. We went to Olympia this morning and the older girls toured the State Capitol and then participated in a Mock Legislative Session with the other homeschooling kids we hang out. They really enjoyed it. While they were there, the little ones and I went to the Childrens Museum. We then all met up and the girls gave us a private tour of the Capitol. It is such a beautiful building. We then drove and met our Homeschooling Gang for 2 1/2 hours of Laser Tag. It was AWESOME! I'm tired!

Kylie is attending High School this year and has a great group of friends. She really enjoys early morning seminary and most things about school. She is an exceptional student and great girl.

Paige, Lilly and Sam are homeschooled and we are having a great time. We have some new favorite curriculums. First is ReadingEggs. Sam and Sarah looove it and it cracks the rest of us up. Highly recommend it. The girls love the Institute for Excellence in Writing Course. I've learned alot. We are using Pandia Press' History and Science this year. So enjoyable to both teach and learn.
So far for fieldtrips we have done a 3 day camp at the Olympic National Forest, a Challenge Ropes Course, a Tribal Edge Wilderness Experience, a fantastic play "The Borrowers",
the Sol Duc HotSprings and a Pumpkin Patch. It's been a good start to a great year.

For extra curriculur activities Paige and Lilly are in a Musical Theatre Production; Sam is taking drum lessons and rock climbing every week. Paige and Lilly rotate months with Rock Climbing. I still run the High School Vocal Group for Kylie and Paige after school on Fridays. We have a great group of kids and they can really sing. It's fun.

Sarah as always is a delight. She gets to play with a friend 2 mornings a week and has a preschool co-op again this year. She is funny, imaginative, sassy and quite independent.

Steve is in his last quarter of graduate school. Yay Steve!
That's all I've got today! Kristin, are you happy? love you

What I'm Doing

So, I'm down alot right now with some occasional trips into the living room to read aloud to my kids. We're working on Percy Jackson Book 4. We love Percy Jackson.

This week I've hand cut 12 little birds out of felt. Stitched them, stuffed them, made wings for them, added little eyes and a bit of rosy-ness to their cheeks. They are for girls camp-the girls camp that I'm not attending anymore. I did make an extra bird with a broken wing to represent me :)

I've started knitting squares for a blanket. I don't like the original yarn I used so I'm starting over with a different blend. The blanket is sooooo fantastic.

I've started blogging again.

I've been watching the TV Series 'Life'. It's great. It was only on for 2 seasons and I own both seasons. I'm on Season 1, disc 3.

I've visited with friends who have dropped by so I don't go stir crazy. Thanks friends!

I've had a Presidency Meeting on my bed, done a lot of computer work and have been finishing up all girls camp responsibilities so the new Teepee mom can just step into camp.

Thats it!

I love...

I love So You Think You Can Dance! Just thought I'd share :)

July is sometimes a difficult month :)

On Saturday, as I was walking from our back door to the backyard, I missed a step on a cobblestone. I don't know how I did that...I think I must have been focusing on the chickens. Down, down, down I went.
I'm not going to go into the emotional trauma of knowing that I just severely injured my ankle again and exactly what that means. I'm not going into the difficulty of moving and getting to xray equipment. I'm not going into the difficulty of hearing the reality of this injury from my faithful doctor...
suffice it to say "It is what it is!" My household knows what to do with this extensive injury and it'll eventually be ok again. Something freaky though...this ankle injury happened on the 3 yr anniversary of my broken ankle from trek...freakkkkkkkkyyyyyyyyy.

The diagnosis; rupture of the collateral ligaments in the left ankle. 6 wks non weight bearing-crutches, roller cart...at 6 weeks a high probability of surgery being needed.

and here we go again....

Reflections on the past year

I was reading my friends blog the other day and I'm listed in the sidebar as a blog that she reads. I haven't posted in 8 months and her blog lists that. That is so wrong.
So here are some reflections from this past year: btw; I think that this is going to be SO boring for anyone reading this who isn't me :)

We discovered Thinkwell for math and it is spectacular. They offer math, science, government classes. Prof. Burger teaches math and we love it. He is very funny and engaging.

We have been on amazing fieldtrips this year...Space Needle, Tillicum Village, USS Turner Joy, Olympic National Forest, Whale Watching in the San Juan Islands, Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center, Cirque de Soleil, International Childrens Festival, Pacific Science Center, Seattle Art Museum, Fiddler on the Roof, Boeing Tour, Whirly Ball, EMP, Sequim Wild Animal Park, Ceramics, NorthWest Train and Trek tour, Transiberian Orchestra and more.

Discovered Studio East Drama in Kirkland. They are an amazing drama facility that caters to homeschoolers during the day. Kylie participated in a year long Shakespeare class and performed 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' in April. It was great. Paige and Lilly were in a musical theater class and had a great time.

We had some big birthdays this year; Paige turned 12 and entered Young Womens, Sarah turned 4, Kylie turned 14, Sam turned 8 and was baptized and Lilly turned 11. WOW!

We do birthday parties on even years only but missed Lilly's last year so ALL the kids (except Sarah because I haven't done it yet ) had birthday parties in a 3 week period...

Lilly took her friends to a Japanese Hibachi Restaurant-so fun

Paige took 13 friends across the sound to the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center for a pool party. They had a scavenger hunt on the ferry, lots of swimming, pizza back at home...fun

Kylie had a Mad Hatter Tea Party that was AMAZING...I couldn't have done it without all of the great women who helped me. We then took the kids to see Alice in Wonderland.
These 3 parties happened in one weekend.

Then Sam had a laser tag birthday party...best money ever spent for a group of boys.
Sam was baptized this year. Grandma Jenson came into town for it. His dad baptized . It was a him. I was really proud of Sam. What a boy.

For Christmas, I knitted all of my children their own fingerless mittens and hats...all unique to their personalities. Yay for knitting! Yay for me!

I finally found a tandem kayak in my secret kayak budget and bought if for Steve for Fathers Day. Yay for the family. It was a great surprise.

We have chickens now-6 total. They even have a coop. They lay awesome eggs-about 5 a day.

I was called as a ward organist-eeks! so I'm taking lessons from a great organist and am enjoying it but boy is it hard. Those darn, darn pedals...(btw, it's a secondary calling for me)

Took Paige to Utah for General Conference in April-12 year old tradition. It was wonderful. We took some family names and she performed baptisms in the SL temple for her first time with several cousins. We attended 3 sessions of Gen. Conf and loved it. It was a great mother daughter trip and I love this tradition.

Okay! Thats it for now! It's the next post that is more exciting :)

Hi!

I was reading through some of my journals earlier this week and it seemed that every entry began with "I need to be better about writing more consistantly in my journal." It seems I need to begin with that thought today.

So much has been happening here-lots of learning, cleaning, playing, reading, cooking, baking, knitting, teaching, creating, sleeping...it seems whenever I get a moment to blog, I instead use the time to wander around others blogs. For instance, I now own 'Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day' because of a blog. It is a magical book and I highly recommend it.
I also am the owner of 'The Pioneer Womans Cookbook'. She seems to make my days easier-lighter somehow.
But that isn't what this post is about. This is what this post is about:

A friend 'found' me via facebook the other day. A friend I hadn't heard from in 20 years. It was someone I met while I was serving my mission in Canada. I was so amazed to hear from her that I went and dug out my old journals from that time. For the next two days, every spare moment was spent reading in my journals. I was 21 and 22 yrs. old. Wow! What an experience that was. In some ways I was surprised by things I wrote-trivial things, seemingly meaningless things now, horrified at what I chose not to write about-moments that changed my very being-things that still affect me today and grateful for the times when I wrote with clarity the true feelings of my soul and the moments that I recorded when someone stepped into my life and changed me for the better. I'm so glad I recorded those moments of kindness, concern, boldness and humor.

After closing back up the journals I realized that I genuinely miss some people in my life! Best friends, funny friends, genuine friends. I decided that if MaryAnn could find me, I could find my people! I have found a couple of them. It's been 16-18 years since I've spoken with them and we've had so much to catch up on that I decided I would make a list of the 20 things that they either wouldn't expect or should know has happened.

So this is a list of 20 things for my long lost friends! (Hi! long lost friends...it's good to have you back)

1. I homeschool all of my kids-all 5 of them! At times I've had all in public school, some at school, some at home, all at home. They are all home now! I have 4 girls and 1 boy, ages 13-3

2. All of my children were born at home-(it's a fascinating story-how that one started-ask one day and I'll tell you)

3. I ran a piano teaching studio when we lived in Georgia that at one point had 160 students/week. Now that's a lot of teaching.

4. I still compose music and have quite a portfolio. I even have most of it in sheet music form now.

5. I went 13 years being perfectly healthy (except for pregnancies-which were a nightmare-but the deliveries were sweet)

6. I'm not perfectly healthy anymore :[

7. We've lived one year in SLC, 8 yrs in Georgia and 9 yrs. in Seattle.

8. We moved to Seattle because it was the furthest we could drive from Georgia and it has the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen.

9. I love to read cookbooks

10. I'm currently the primary chorister

11. I have served as an early morning seminary teacher and in every presidency imaginable on both a ward level and a stake level.

12. For extra income that wouldn't take me from the home I've made and sold quilts, taught quilting classes, sold Stampin' Up!, taught piano and voice, professionally arranged music.

13. I rarely make breakfast. But on Easter Sunday, I go all out! The menu? Eggs Benedict with cheese sauce, fresh fruit, O.J. It's a tradition

14. Other family traditions? Christmas Eve I cook a traditional Scandinavian meal-red potatoes with parsley and butter, carrots, red cabbage with bacon and apples, swedish meatballs with lingonberries, courve sausage, and these little sausages that I don't know the name of but my Norwegian butcher does. Also, my kids get new PJ's every Christmas Eve! We read the Christmas story, sing alot and play chimes. We always spend this evening at home and typically invite 1 or 2 families to join us.

15. My family loves games. We love Five Crowns, Shanghai, Speed Scrabble, Scattergories, Golf-the card game. My children are ready to play at a moments notice. (I love puzzles!)

16. I wish I prayed more, used a softer voice more, attended the temple more, read the scriptures more, laughed more, composed more, had time with my husband more, more, more.

17. I'm not afraid to knock down walls, install and fix electrical, plumb a bathroom, install septic pumps, fix the wiring in a stove, paint, hammer, and find people who really know what they're doing to make sure I'm doing an okay job. I've learned almost everything via Google! and learned even more through trial and error.

18. My favorite hymns: How Firm a Foundation, Press Forward Saints-Ohh! they make me happy!
My favorite rocker is Rob Thomas-oh my word! I love him!!!

19. We've only had one major hospitilization with our children in all of these years. Our son Sam was in the hospital for several days and had emergency surgery for a life-threatening illness when he was 4. We feel very fortunate that he survived and came away whole.

20. Over the past 18 years Steve and I have had amazing experiences, brutally difficult experiences and 'we will never be able to survive this' experiences. We've experienced pure joy and happiness and struggled with seemingly simple problems and conflicts. We continue to sometimes trudge, mostly walk and occasionally run down this road of life and marriage. We are grateful to be together, that we have beautiful, healthy and bright children, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is in our lives, that we live in a place of our choosing and the list can go on and on. I am blessed!

Updates!

Okay, again my mom is being stubborn and is refusing to update! So, she asked me to do a quick overview for you guys! Here it goes!

-ALL 4 of us are homeschooling this year! Its been crazy around here!!!
-We went to the Puyallip fair and the Rodeo there! (TONS of fun!)
-My Aunt Rachel is Married! (my moms sister)
-Went on vacation for 3 weeks! (our longest vacation ever)
-Yellowstone
-Horsback Riding
-Montana
-Idaho
-Utah
-Computer Trouble:( (NOT good)

If you guys want more details, I post on my blog! The link is on the side bar!
Hopefully my mom will post soon!

What does 100 mean to me?

The number 100 is very interesting to me today. At times it represents how much weight I should probably lose. Other times it is the number I'm helping a child learn to count to-by ones, fives, tens etc. It seems to be the number of miles I drive in a day whenever I have the car. Today however it means something very different. It means heat, sweat, misery, longing for coolness and lots and lots of popsicles being eaten. Today the temperature where I live reached 101 degrees. This is a place where a hot day is considered 83 degrees. A heat wave is 3 days in the eighties. We have now had several days in a row feeling the agony of the upper 90's.

We do not have air conditioning. 90 % of the population here in Seattle does not have air conditioning. We have fans and really large windows that try to invite the sun in. Those windows are very good at their job and so? It is hot! (we wanted another fan yesterday but everyone was sold out. We hit Costco at the right moment as a worker was carting out a dozen fans they had just found. We got one of those. )

To help combat the heat today, I woke up early and duct taped tarps to my windows to cover them. I'm now the house with bright blue tarps duct taped with turquoise tape to my windows. Sweet! I think it helped. We've been living downstairs because it is cooler and a dozen kids have been living in my pool. In a 15 hour period 48 popsicles and about 30 otter pops have been consumed. No real food has been eaten because it is just too hot! Dinner was watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries and costco rolls.

Have I told you it's hot? It's suppose to be hotter tomorrow! Uugh!!!!!!!!

It Happened!

It happened! That moment that every parent dreads! The one where you think you know where your youngest is, but they aren't there. The one where every backyard is searched in the culdesac, a huge contingency of neighbors are searching, people are calling out her name, 911 is called, a description is given down to her shoes...that moment happened!

I can tell you this; you find out who your neighbors are and what a community can do quickly! You find out the kindness of 911 dispatchers and the gentleness of police officers! You realize that prayers are said desperately while standing in the middle of a road waiting for reports of roads searched. That for every second that passes, internal agitation and fear increase yet outward calmness seems to rule the hour.

It was a very long hour. The two little girls, ages 3 and 4 (the 3 yr. old being mine) told me that they were going to walk to the 4 yr olds house to see her bedroom. She lives very far away. I said no. They then told the 4 yr olds mother. She said no! They walked out the door and went anyways (no one knew they walked away). They crossed a busy road together-proud of themselves that they did it safely. They walked many blocks until the road came to an end. Then the 3 yr old knew she was lost. She began to cry. Someone called 911. The police were there in moments, the message was relayed to me -they were safe! A dad ran, a neighbor ran, 3 kids ran and bikes and vans from the search party converged on the place of safety- just to make sure it was true. I couldn't run. I stayed where I was planted-in the middle of the road desperately praying that it was them.

She safely came home to my arms. Many prayers were answered through the kindness of friends and strangers. I feel blessed!

I'm touched by those who offered up prayers in cars, on the sidewalks, while searching backyards. I'm even more touched that everyones concern was for the missing girls and not one comment was made to blame me for this difficult moment. Thank you for your kindness, true compassion and concern. I thank everyone who jumped in today to help. People are genuinely good!

Aargh!

So...I've taken up knitting! I love it. I've knitted hats, leg warmers, little animals and stuff. I decided to take on a bigger project. This darling tee for Sarah. I made it about 30 rows into it-which is very complicated because of the way the directions are written, learning new definitions, and knitting this all in one piece-including sleeves-which I was in the middle of. I was looking over my progress and saw that on row 11 I made a MAJOR error! Do I leave it alone? NO!!!!!!!!!

So, I just ripped out the tee and am getting ready to start over! I sure am learning alot though :)
I'll post a picture when I have it done.

Thoughts

When I began this blog, it was for the intent and purpose of keeping a journal of my family and our happenings...all so I could print out a book every year and have that be a scrapbook of sorts that represented us well...I haven't been doing a very good job that. Only two posts in June, 1 in May and now 1 in July. There is always room for improvement...so let the improvement begin!

My (oldest? eldest?) daughter Kylie has been sending out a quote a day via email. Her quotes are well thought out. She searches great books, movies and great figures to find them. I told her she should have a Quote of the Day Blog because others would love these. So...without further ado, I give you Kylie's Quotes. Please visit her blog for little bits of humor, insight and happiness.

At this very moment I am sitting in the kitchen typing away on my laptop. I have strawberries with sugar doing that juicy, softening, sweetening thing that they do to my right. Behind me I have the cut off scraps that I just trimmed off of a soon to be Strawberry Shortcake Cake . To the left of me I have a tray of Texas Sheet Cake that I just cut into the cutest diamond shapes. Behind the laptop the cream cheese is softening for the frosting that will soon complete the strawbery shortcake cake. Sugar is spilled on the countertop, a small metal bowl has the strawberry tops in them, an orange plastic cup is filled with ice and Diet Coke with Lime, every fan is on in the house, all of the children are ouside swimming in the pool and life is good!!!

How's that for a run on sentence! Wow!!! We are spending the 4th celebrating with lots of good friends. Our family is in charge of desserts! At the party we will add homemade chocolate marshmallow ice-cream to the list of yummy, sweet things to eat.

(I have rephrased a few things in the next paragraph since originally posting. Just to hehlp clarify.)
This morning at a large church breakfast I had a really interesting conversation. It was about children and independence. I let my kids have quite a bit of independence. They go on long bike rides together. They go running together. They play out front without me and they swim in my backyard without my constant supervision. The question was "How did I know when to let them go? and how did I let them when the neighbors would question my parenting?" Parents seem to be extreme in their supervision in this area. I grew up in a large family with very little parental supervision but there was always sibling supervision. I know that some neighbors probably think that we are far too lax in the freedoms we give our kids. I'm willing to deal with those thoughts in order to help my children be independent in a safe manner. My reply was "If you micromanage your children then they will need to be micromanaged as adults. When will they be able to solve problems, take a stand or think on their own. Will they wait to be told what to think, what to do and how to do it?"

I then realized another aspect of homeschooling. My children are not micromanaged in learning. I use to micromanage that but have changed drastically over the past 18 months. All of my kids know that they are responsible for their learning. I will provide and be there every moment but it comes down to desire, motivation, context and often need. I also provide them experiences, lots of reading aloud, exposure to new things, the time, tools and mentors needed to explore many different subjects, talents etc.

I don't want any of my children to grow up having become comfortable being micromanaged in any way, shape or form.

My thoughts from breakfast :)

Since beginning this post, there has been an hour pause. In that hour, the strawberry shortcake cake has been completed-it is beautiful!!! Texas Sheet Cake has been plated, 20 carrots cut into sticks, 20 stalkes of celery cut into stalks, 4 cucumbers sliced on a mandolin (my husband cut his thumb very deeply using the mandolin-darn!), broccoli and cauliflower ready for the veggie trays and I chatted with the neighbors outside while watching my 3 year old streak through the street buck naked! I guess she is stating her independence :) Gotta love it!

Message From Kylie

This is Chari's daughter Kylie speaking:

I am sorry that my mother is not posting on her blog! We have done TONS since the last time she posted! Camping, Talent Shows, Day Camps, Adjudications...
Your guys job is to comment on this blog and tell her she needs to post(she wont listen to me) and then she will post!!!
THANK YOU for your help!!!
I know you guys love this blog and so do I!
-Kylie (her 13 year old daughter)

new...

I'm so tired of seeing my last post that I'm stopping by to just chat! Hi! So, happenings in this house have been:

Sam turned 7. I love him! He continually challenges me in my thoughts and parenting skills. He is creative and bright and funny and I adore him! He says the funniest things. Today he was next door with me while I was chatting me the mom. He suddenly said "Mom, I have to go home! There is a damsel in distress!" and out the door he went. He cracks me up!

Mothers Day: I'm so blessed to have my 5 beautiful children. I often feel overwhelmed at the responsibility and duties which I have to help them learn to traverse this very interesting world! They are delightful, challenging, funny, helpful, kind, amazing musicians and I'm glad they are mine. I spent a good portion of that day thinking of all the years that I yearned for children and didn't have them. It's amazing how life changes :)

I know how to knit! I am a beginner only but I can: Cast on, knit, purl, cast off, kss, add one, yarn over...I love it, love it, love it! I've knitted a ball, a washcloth, a pair of leg warmers for Sarah and I'm working on leg warmers for Lilly. I've discovered Debbie Bliss and ravelry. I love, love, love them both! I want to knit socks, sweaters, hats, gloves, and the cutest little elephant I found yesterday. Did I tell you that I love to knit?

I'm back in an ankle brace-Darn! Tarpal Tunnel. PT, lots and lots of ice, some shot therapy-Darn!

I am however walking about 4 miles a day now-I know because of my lil' pedometer. I have a favorite walk that is just over 3 miles. I've walked it everyday this past week. It's great mental therapy for me.

For those that know me, I'm a pianist. Bring it on and I can do practically anything on the piano. I however am not an organist. I've had to play the organ twice at church this past month for sacrament meeting. Oh, the stress! The duress! The agony! Alright, it wasn't that bad but it is the organ :)

I made the cutest-and I mean the cutest-puppies for a baby shower. I made them out of chenille, flannel, felt and they were one of the hits of the baby shower. (don't you wish I had a picture?)

I made fried chicken for the first time. It needed a lot more seasoning-not sure it was worth the oil, calories or time.

Whew! I feel caught up now...till next week! Promise!