A Beautiful October Day

It has been the UEA  (Utah Education Association) holiday the past two days.  

Everybody that goes to school, teachers included, get a fall vacation.

I decided that since I am a hard working teacher, I would give myself a holiday.

Perhaps teachers actually go to training or something during this time,
I am not really sure.

We declared it a holiday at our house and decided to head up the canyon for what 

may be one of the last perfect days of the year.

And it was PERFECT!  

We had lunch at Vivian Park and there was a playground that we couldn't keep the kids from.

 Actually we didn't try very hard to stop them.

 William discovered how to climb the rope ladder.  Oh hurray - NOT!

 I was just watching him and visions of all of his future medical bills flashed through my head.

It was not a fun vision.

Then I watched this little monkey and visions of past medical bills flashed through my mind.

It must be getting close to Halloween because I keep seeing lots of frightening things.

This is frightening to me for an entirely different reason that I won't go into!

But for those of you who keep asking if we are going to have three children...
I already have three!

The "kids" just couldn't leave the train tracks alone.

 I am pretty sure that this both illegal and stupid.

Sometimes fun trumps illegal and stupid.

Where there are train tracks you are bound to find a train, or at the very least an empty boxcar.

 

You can't go past a beautiful, peaceful, flowing river without throwing some rocks into it.

 Isabelle picked very cute dainty little rocks.

William opted for the more manly boulder versions.

He threw at least 10 rocks this size in.

If they still employ strong men at the circus I bet he would qualify.

The leaves were so beautiful and brought a needed sense of calm into my mind. 

I don't know how old this tree is, but it had an old soul to it...
you know, for a tree.

Since it was a holiday we decided to do a slumber party in the family room.

We don't do sleepovers, so this is probably as close as our kids will get to one.

We watched a double feature, played some Halloween Bingo (which I won for once, usually Isabelle beats me senseless!) and shoved popcorn into our mouths as fast as our hands could shove.

See???

 

The three "kids" slept on a mattress on the floor.  

And the boring non-risk taking adult had dibs on the big couch.

Amazingly, we all slept like babies and the kids even slept in until 8:30 this morning.

I am thinking this should become a monthly family tradition.

I can just picture me with my teenage kids having a blast at the family slumber party. 

They won't get too cool for that will they?

Hee Haw Farms

 

Today we had a fun family outing to Hee Haw Farms in

Pleasant Grove.

What a great way to kick off our fall festivities.

This year was so much better because

Soungsik joined us for the fun.

I want one of these tire swing horses.  They are so cute and you don't have to clean up after them!

I cannot look at a John Deere tractor without missing

 my Grandpa Nielson!

And then there were the training John Deere tractors. 

Isabelle was still too short to peddle.

How sad to be my daughter...sigh. 

William just used his legs Flintstone style.

That's how he rides his bike too and he can get going pretty fast using that method.

William's favorite part of the farm was the petting zoo.

He thought it was hilarious when two of the little

 pygmy goats started to butt heads!

 This one little goat would not stop following William.

It must have felt William's inner animal!

Isabelle was in love, but fortunately she didn't ask for a pet goat.

  

Everyone had different comments about the slide.

Isabelle said it was VERY scary.

William said "scawwy"too, but he loved it.

Soungsik just said "My butt hurts!"

We decided to give the sore bottoms a rest on a soft hayride.

This was so nice and relaxing.

If there weren't a bunch of other people there,

I could have easily fallen to sleep. 

Here we are lost in the corn maze.

But what do you expect when a 5 year old is your guide?

She did eventually find an exit for us.

Never you mind that it happened to be the entrance!

Last but not least we had Isabelle's favorite part...

the pumpkin patch!

Hooray for the Great Pumpkin!

We were all famished after running around in circles in the corn maze so we forced dad to buy us some lunch at Rumbi's. 

 Or should I say Yummmbies?

If today proves anything it's that even though my mom was a rough & tough cowgirl, her daughter is sadly a city girl. 

We should not have had so much fun in a

petting zoo and being pulled behind a tractor.

My apologies mom!

Why We Homeschool

I have been meaning to write this post for quite a while now, but somehow I haven't been able to find the time or the right words.  In fact I still don't think I found the words, there may be much rambling in the following!

I want to write about why we homeschool every year for my own benefit,  but this year I have also had many friends asking me why we made this decision.  There are so many reasons we decided to do this and I find new reasons all of the time, so I will just go into a few things that made this feel like the right move for us.

Now I have to put a disclaimer here.  I know that homeschooling is not the right answer for every family or for every child.  As in every post I write the content will be 100% from my opinions and experiences.

Our homeschooling decision actually first took place before we even had children.  For 6 years before Isabelle was born I went to work at the Taekwondo center every day with Soungsik.  I would spend hours every day speaking with moms.  And what do moms love to talk about the most?
Their children of course!  

I spoke with moms that had children in all sorts of schools, private, traditional public, year-round public, charter, homeschool, 2nd language immersion schools, and children from ALPS programs.  While there are many differing benefits to each kind of schools there were also some very common disadvantages as well.

For private school I had a few concerns. The expense is almost frightening, I pay just a little more for our house payment.  We thought possibly for 1 child we could swing it, but what do you do when other children are ready for school?  I also didn't want my children in the competition environment of being surrounded by very wealthy children that get whatever they want.  My cousin got a scholarship to a private school and being from an average family this was a very difficult thing for her. Students might wear the same uniforms, but most were picked up in luxury cars, had designer coats, personal cell phones and computers, and traveled the world on their vacations. Many private schools are owned by churches that have beliefs different than ours.  I knew many LDS parents that sent their children to the local Catholic private school.  Each week they were required to attend Mass.  They could choose not to take the Catholic sacrament, but again many LDS parents told their children to take it because they didn't want them singled out.  Many of the scriptures the children would memorized are modified from what our church has accepted as scripture. At another very large private school here children would have around 2 hours of homework each night! When do they have the time to just be children? Also many private schools don't test significantly higher than public schools, so is what you're getting really worth what you're paying? 

For public schools we also had some concerns. My number one concern here is that children are not actually being taught.  Children in America are testing significantly lower in almost every subject than most other developed countries. I realize this is not always the case.  Some teachers can help children to excel, but it's a pretty big gamble if you will be lucky enough to get one of those teachers.  I also think that it doesn't matter how great a teacher is if he/she has 30 students at completely different levels.  I was also concerned with the increasing levels of political correctness and other beliefs that we don't support being flushed into the public schools.  As with private schools mothers were always telling me their children had a minimum of 1 hour of homework a night and many nights they would have 2 hours.  

After thinking about it for a very long time I came to a conclusion.  I can give my children an education at least as good, if not better, than a private school without the cost.  I can tailor their education to their needs. I can spend time daily discussing our religious beliefs. We spend time discussing American history and what a great country we have been blessed with. We spend more time on things Isabelle struggles with.  For example, we spent months on one page of her reading program because that's how long it took her to fully comprehend it.  There were no teachers, tests, or other students requiring us to brush past it and move on.  Once she "got" it, she breezed through the next 2 years of her reading program and now reads better than many kids twice her age.  Because Soungsik works in the late afternoon and evening our kids would almost never see their Dad if we sent them to traditional school.  Since we homeschool Isabelle gets to spend so much time with her Dad. 

  The hardest thing about homeschooling so far for us has been the negative response by others.  When you tell people you homeschool many look at you like you are both completely insane and a child abuser. Many of my friends are extremely concerned about my daughters socialization.  To that concern I have a few thoughts.  First, socialization is not our number 1 priority. Second, not all socialization is good. Third, there are endless chances for Isabelle to socialize. It is in actuality a non-issue. Lastly, I care more about my childrens well being more than anyone else on Earth.  I am not going to do something to purposefully harm them.

I have had friends tell me it is easier to homeschool than send your kids to school.  I strongly disagree with this belief.   I think that both options are difficult and require a lot of energy from mom.  I have to rethink many times a year if I have made the right decision.  We always pause and re-evaluate.  I think many people that send their kids to school rarely take a step back and think about if they should not send their kids to school - I could be wrong about this. I spend between 2 to 3 hours a day of one on one time with Isabelle.  While the time commitment seems like a big sacrifice I get so many rewards.  I love watching my daughter overcome hurdles.  I love seeing the way she thinks about things.  I love finding out what things excite her.  I love that after she does the hard work at school, she has time to go be a kid. I love that her education is so wide and deep.  I love that we can take a day off whenever we need to.  I love that instead of teaching her that you learn to pass a test or learn until the bell rings, that learning is a lifestyle. It is something we do all of the time. Homeschooling is a definite lifestyle choice. I love that I can help raise Isabelle higher than she believes she can go. I love that I get to relearn things that I had forgotten and learn things I was never taught.  I love that I get to spend so much time with my daughter and I hope that she thinks about these times with fondness as she grows older. I love that Isabelle enjoys school and misses it when we skip a day. I love that William comes and sits by us and pretends he is a big kid too.  I can't wait to sink my teacher teeth into him - not literally of course! 

We are so happy that we made the decision to teach our children at home.  I haven't had 1 day were I have regretted my decision.  As I said before I know homeschooling isn't for every child or mother.  This is simply what is working best for us.  I hope that every mom, not matter what kind of education choices she makes for her children, feels as happy and excited about it as much as I do!

BOOK REVIEW: MATCHED

Title: Matched

Author: Ally Condie

Number of Pages: 366

Number of Stars I'm Giving: 1.5

Give me a B,

Give me an O,

Give me an R,

Give me an ING,

What does that spell???

Matched.

I have to write this review before I go to book club tonight, or else my opinion might become skewed!  

Before I begin bashing this book, I will say 3 good things about it.

#1 - It has a nice cover.

#2 - The language and content are 99% clean.

#3 - The concept of this book was interesting (although not too original).

I don't have a real big issue with this plot not being original.  Many very good books have basically the same story line.  It just seems that some authors can pull off the same story line much better than others...think Jane Austen.  Ally Condie was a former English teacher.  If I were to score her on this book, I would give her a D.  Sure everything was spelled correctly, but shouldn't an English teacher know that a plot needs to have 3 things?  A beginning, a middle, and an end.  She must have gotten really caught up in the beginning because this book NEVER moves past it.  You could have compressed this entire book into about 5 chapters and then added a really good story on the end of it.  There was very little conflict in the book and there was zero conflict resolution.  When the highlight of the book consists of people walking up the same hill over and over again and writing in the dust with sticks, you know it's not the most exciting book on the planet.  The author gave no reasons why the characters love each other.  She just tells you they do and you are supposed to care about them after that.  Cassie, the main character comes across as selfish.  Anyone who has any kind of affair can only be described as selfish.  The thing I hated most about this book was the author kept alluding to Cassie rebelling against the society.  She never did.  Not even once.  She thought about it, but she was never brave enough to do it.  No one rebelled in this book.  

They all just rolled over and did whatever they were told.

  

This book leaves so many questions unanswered.

Who were they at war with?

Who were the leaders of this society?

If they were so technologically and physically advanced, why were they losing the war?

If they were truly losing the war, why didn't the civilians in the society see more signs of war?

Was there a food shortage?

Why did Xander forgive Cassie when he knew she was having an affair?

How did Cassie's dad, mom, official, and Xander know that she loved Ky?

Why was everyone portrayed as being happy in the society?

Why were they cutting down all of the trees?

Why did they take everyone's artifacts away?

Why wear a beautiful dress to meet your match if they can only see you from the waist up?

Why did matched couples have to have an escort on a date, 

but "singles" could whomever they wanted at anytime?  

Did they sterilize everyone they didn't want to reproduce or did they practice abortions routinely?

What would the society do to a baby born to 2 perfectly healthy parents if it had a defect? 

If Cassie was the best sorter, why didn't the society keep her when they sent her family away?

What the heck is a sorter?  And why does the society need sorters when there are computers?

Why can Cassie read, but doesn't know how to write letters?

How dumb is Casie if it took her a long time to learn how to write the letter K?

What did Xander and Ky see in Cassie anyways?

If Xander really loved Cassie then why was it so easy for him to let her go?

How can grown men be expected to pull off names like Xander and Ky?

(Ooops, sorry that's just an opinion of mine.  They are great names for 10 year olds though!)

Since when is 80 considered a hard age to achieve? 

Why, why, why didn't Cassie ever rebel???

I am getting pretty annoyed with these book series being written simply because the author hopes it will become a movie or an easy series to sell to a mindless group of teenagers so that he/she can make millions of dollars.  Where have our societies expectations of quality gone?!?

Like any good totalitarian society all religion was cut from these peoples lives. Freedom was exchanged for the illusion of security.  And the society trained people to do and not to think.  The society demonized and removed any people who disagreed with their view of perfection.

Sadly I see much of this happening in our society today.  I realize this book was science fiction, but I felt it was a coming reality as I was reading it.  So that is my 2 or 3 cents on this book.  If you choose to read it, don't worry it won't waste too much of your time because it is so simply written.  Just don't expect an exciting story about rebelling against an oppressive government.

Isabelle's Jr. Blue Belt Test

Isabelle had her Jr. Blue belt test yesterday.

Each test I get more nervous for her but she does better every time!

Every testing her technique becomes more difficult and starting with this test she had new requirements.

Here's a breakdown of everything she had to pass off:

Kicking combinations  - there are 2,

Form - for this test she had 18 steps in her form,

One step sparring - there are 2,

Sparring - while she is getting better, she has along way to go in terms of power,

Nunchukas - she did great this time,

Mental training - she had 4 questions,

and last but most fun - breaking technique!

 This is Isabelle doing her Sr. Green belt form.

 

She always gets so excited for her trophy!

Jee Hoon was tesing for his Red/Black belt.

Up next for him is black belt!

 If Isabelle keeps trying as hard as she has been

 she will get her black belt when she is 7.

If she sticks with Taekwondo,

(both myself and her dad are somewhat pushy in this matter),

she could be a full fledged master by the time she is 16.

I am so proud of you Isabelle.

Not because you are reaching higher "ranks" but because

you work hard and remain determined you are becoming 

a person with a strong character.

Keep up the good work in ALL that you do!

St. George 2011

This week the kids and I made the trek down to St.George. Mom and Dad were already down there so we went to hang out for a few days.  The main reason for our trip was we wanted to see the Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. I am planning on making this an annual Mommy/Daughter date.  It was so much fun!

The show was great. Our seats were on the front row so the actors were literally 5 feet away from us.  They had the water come down a river in the mountain and flood the stage to make the ocean.  Isabelle was in awe the entire show.  A couple of actors even came off stage during one of the songs and got Isabelle and took her to dance with her.  At that moment she got pretty shy - but she LOVED it!  Sadly I have no pictures at Tuacahn.  We can't wait to go back again next year!

On Tuesday we went to a couple of parks and had a blast.
These chairs are so fun.  

I think I want some on my front porch for when you have
neighbors come over to sit!

 St. George has funner parks than up here, and that's a fact.

 Every time I do trips down here I want to move down.  It may happen one day.  

I love the perfect mix of small town with all the stores I love.

 

 Dad had to get in on the fun too!  

He's carrying on the Grandpa Cain legacy wonderfully!

After the park we went to a water park downtown.  

 This splash park was so well thought out.  It even had lovely shady places for 

parents and grandparents to sit, we really appreciated that.

After the water park we went on this beautiful carousel.

 

We stumbled upon the Frog Prince.

I guess he's looking for a different princess.

 It was worth a try...

Isabelle just kept saying "St. George has the coolest things!  I love it here!"

I do to.  We loved our trip but we loved coming back home to daddy too.

Hopefully next year we can do it all again!