01 October, 2008

New Addition


Sunday night after I got home, we search the classifieds to find her. We were searching for a free, female cat and we found an ad on ksl for five kittens and she was one of them. Alona on the way to Highland to go and get her wanted to name her Gilbert and Abbi wanted to name her Stripes. When they got to the house, I told them that if the black and white one was a girl that I wanted that one! And she was! So we named her Gibby, since Gilbert was a girl. Gilbert comes from the cartoon, Caillou. Abbi and Kacen were eating doritos the other day and then they started playing with the cat. Alona says, "Mom, they got cheeto spots on her." I told her that she came that way. I thought that was cute.

29 September, 2008

home schooling


So I am attempting to home school my daughter now that we are down in Provo. I don't have a lot of materials like schools do, I am starting small and can hopefully add to my curriculum as I go along. I know the basics of what she needs to learn still, I am just unaware of how to totally go about it, what sequence to teach things and how to make it all very fun. But I am trying it out, and will try not to be too critical of myself.
I have asked many people and looked through the internet to find as many resources as I could to home school. Home schooling can run in to the hundreds and beyond, I am looking for a great way to teach Alona without breaking the bank though. We went and got a new printer so that I can print things, I should get a calendar, probably the one from really good helper and would like to get the subscription to edhelper.com. There are many books that I could get, and I have found some books that I could order from ebay to supplement Alona's reading.
Maybe these resources will help others that are looking in to home schooling.
Unit Studies..
www.school express. com
www.teachercreated.com *
www.creativeteaching.com
www.themailbox.com ****
www.carsondellosa.com
Math:
www.Mathusee.com *
www.excelmath.com
www.keypress.com
www.saxonpub.com *
www.alabacus.com
companies that it is nice to be on the mailing list, to chose books from are:
www.elijah.com
www.LDFR.com

Other curriculum web sites are:
Houghton Miffin www.eduplace.com
Gateway to edu. materials www.thegateway.org
Teach-Nology science www.Teach-nology.com
A to Z homes cool www.gomilpitas.com/homeschooling
Edu puppy www.edupuppy.com
Edu scapes www.eduscapes.com
harper Collins www.happercollins.com
How great thou art www.howgreatthouart.com

The world book website offers a typical course of study for each grade. You can also go to the state school website and download one for the state.
www.worldbook.com/ptrc/html/curr.htm
A great site for Homeschool planning forms and other homeschool info is
www.donnayoung.org
A great website for all grade level worksheets, reading as well as theme units is
www. edhelper.com
this one you can get somethings for free others you have to join, for a kindergarten level you must likly would not need more than the $20 memebership.
http://www.schoolspecialtypublishing.com/store/brand.aspx?BrandId=8
some more websites:
www.dltk-kids.com
www.absoluteastronomy.com
www.abcteach.com
www.kidskconnect.com
www.kidzone.ws
www.123.com
www.shapebooks.com

Sites that I fond myself with home school materials,
www.reallygoodstuff.com
www.discountschoolsupply.com
www.school.familyeducation.com/curriculum-planning/parents-and-school/37432.html


If you any extra tips for homeschooling that you have experienced by either doing it yourself or from teaching in school. Please feel free to add comments.

28 September, 2008

Home again

I'm back in Provo. It is really late. Paul is super excited to have me/us back. I stayed with my sister for two months and it was great. Really nice just having family around. The ward up there was awesome, nice having that big of a primary and being off of a busy street! Now we are back, the schools aren't as great here and we might end up moving some time this school year if/when Paul finishes his degree.. So now I have a little more than twenty four hours to decide whether to home school Alona and put her in to other things, like girl scouts and an instrument or sports or to put her in a school around here. She went to school up at my sister's and loved the school setting, playing with children and the environment of the classroom. She was very upbeat about most of it, though she wasn't challenged. That is my thought for home schooling her, to give her something new to learn each day and the thought of changing schools again this year doesn't look too appealing! I've been asking around for home schooling curriculum's and where to find them. Got any input, that would be great!

24 August, 2008

school tomorrow

ok, so forgive me for the lack of photos. I have been up here now for more than three weeks, I am doing all right. Really besides missing Paul like crazy and a few quirks from my lifestyle, I am great. Alona starts school tomorrow! It is only like an hour orientation, where of course I will have to take the younger children. And then some time in the week after she will have testing and go back the next Thursday or Friday for regular school, which is only like 2 or 3 hours, so not that much. And the school that she goes to will be right up the road. We are not living on a busy road! Grandma and I went and got Alona's school things. Grandma took her clothes shopping last Saturday just the two of them, went out to lunch and everything, how fun! Abbi's feet are growing! Alona's too, I went to go and get Alona some new shoes , she was growing and she was getting new ones too. Lo and behold Abbi needed new shoes too! So she got new shoes and now I realize that she needs new church shoes! Paul and I both have cell phones now and got rid of our home phone, if you would like thatm just leave a message/with a way to contact you and I'll get that to you. Kacen is getting big, he says so much more, talks in phrases, he can say his name! He loves cars and especially motorcycles! Abbi learned how to do squares, how to draw them! Its awesome. I ran in to an old friend at a restaurant last weekend that I knew from the sixth grade and went to the park yesterday with her and hung out. Our girls really got along. She has an older boy though so he was a little out of place. Paul's birthday is on Wednesday, My husband will be 27! Next weekend he will come down, maybe for four days?!! Ok, well I need to go outside with my kids, I'll write more when I can!

07 August, 2008

ok, so I am alive! I have very limited access to the computer right now. I am at my in-laws using it! I am currently staying with my sister. No me and Paul are not having any type of marital problems like my family is asking or other people are assuming. Seriously what I am saying is the truth, Paul has four months left of school, I have not had much help in two years, Paul's sleeping/working/school schedule is horrible and our neighbors are not there for me. I am down here with family until he finishes to have help and support from others and this is how I have chosen to do it instead of going literally nuts. I am grateful for my family that is here and helping even if they don't understand me. I wish that kids didn't have to be dragged here with me and what not, but they will have a healthier, happier mommy.

26 July, 2008

Happy Anniversary to us,
Happy Anniversary to us,
Happy Anniversary to me and Paul,
Happy Anniversary to us.


Okay, so I am strange I don't get to celebrate or do anything or see him more than a split second before he heads off to work late. So now I am singing to myself! Maybe by doing this it will seem like it is real! Seven Years down, many, many more to go!

Happy Anniversary Paul, Love you!

19 July, 2008

And so life goes on

This last week was great! I literally ran away, I packed up the van and my three children and a week ago Thursday I went down to my Great Grandmother's in Roy. She is an older lady, she'll be eighty five this year. And she loves to talk, which is nice for some like me who is never really around other adults, I am so lonely and really no one is there for me. To go up there was a return to sanity for me. Each day I am a little depressed and angry living here. Paul is not here, he is at work at night and no one reaches out to me where I live. Going "home" was the greatest thing, having all that family around there was always something to do and if there wasn't, well then there was someone or something to visit or someone to help out. Mike and Tiff live under my grandmother and they were almost always there. It was the greatest thing and feeling to know that you were coming home to someone. They care and will watch out for your kids if you need to go to the bathroom or run to the car or run an errand. Family, I never knew how much I missed it until I got a taste of it. Paul and I have been talking about the kids and I going to stay up there until he finished with school. It would be healthier in some ways for me and well our kids, since I am with them 24 hours a day. The main down part is how we would see Paul even less than what we see him now, which is about twice a week and it isn't for very long and we are trying to cram everything that we have to do together in that small amount of time, its more hectic and stressful. Today Paul got home at 8:30, what a relief it was to even have him home at that time. To have some one here, to have him read to the kids while I watched the show and see how lit up the girls were ((Abbi's smile and wiggles=priceless)).
My Grandma talked and it was nice to see some of the things that we have in common even with our SIXTY ONE year difference:: **She has/had wavy hair just like I do, ** She loves to walk to get exercise, she would walk the 18 miles from school a couple times a week when she was a child instead of taking the bus, **We both like crunchy peanut butter. There were other things that I noticed that we shared, be can't recall.
I made sure that I thought of things to do while we were down there since most people worked during the day and so their cousins were in day care and so on. Thursday we went to Michael, Tiffany and Taunya's softball game, the kids didn't do as much watchin as they did playing with the doggies and the bleachers. On Friday we went to the Aerospace Museum, that was awesome. There was a missile, a bomb, a retired Air Force One and many other planes along with war memorabilia. That night we went to a reception for my Mom's cousin, it was real nice to see all of my great aunts and uncles there. The Groom, Kenneth Porter, actually remembered my name. You have to understand, he has more than 80 some odd first cousins, and my mother is one of them. So I am the next generation down and he knew my name! I was astonished, and then my aunt came next in line and he was flabbergasted as to what name fit her. Saturday we went to the Bingham Family Reunion at Fort Buenaventura, which is my Great Grandmothers maiden name. It was fun, and lunch was good! It was a dutch oven with apple and peach cobbler for dessert and churned ice cream. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~us4allen/people/hist_main/char_abr/abr.chart6/6.2.html
On Sunday we went to church with Paul's dad and then went to Legand's birthday party. They had a different way of putting kids down the slip and slide and they all had fun! We brought Legand a soccer ball, he was signed up last year and lost his ball. I figured that would be a good present. The warpping that I had put on it days before at our house got mangled from us stepping and tripping over it in the van, though he didn't seem to notice. Monday we went to Union Station and explored the grounds first and then went and looked at the trains, the tracks and then to the gift shop where the clerk told us as we were checking out that she had just sent someone to go and open up some of the train cars. So we rushed out there and the kids were able to get in to a mail car and in to a hospital car from the war when they would carry the injured to the hospital. When we were finished we went up to my aunt Taunya's, we went to visit and she fed us some nummy spaghetti. Kacen was scared of their dogs, but not as scared as he was of Tiff and Mike's two bigger dogs. He would scream once we arrived at their house and were heading to their stairs. I had to hold him the entire time in their house or he would have a spaz attack.
Tuesday we went home after playing at the park and having lunch with Grandma Price we went to Ruth's work and waited for her to finish what she needed to and then went on to the gateway to play. And play we DID, even though the Mommy took the children out in to the water unwillingly they were still smiling as it was going on! We then each had a different entree for dinner, I had Edo Japan, Ruth and Abbi had SBarro's and Alona had McDonald's- she wanted the toy! And well Kacen and Abbi had only half of the full pizza that Abbi had ordered and it still did not get completed.

I have been stressing myself out lately and unlike some people, for me it feels good to let it out, though not much good comes until I have gone through the trial that I am dreading. I am so freaked out about starting to pay the 40,000 some odd dollars in student loans that we have accrued. And there is finding a job (close by family would definitely be preferable). And paying for rent while paying on the loans, I mean have you seen the price of a three bedroom lately. I have perusing on craigslist and on ksl just for the heck of it and it ranges between 900 and 1500 or more for one and then trying to pay more than 500 a month for loans. Maybe you can see why I stress just thinking about it. I haven't gotten the gall yet to ask any relative that have extra bedrooms if we could pay them a little to live with them until we figure everything out.

07 July, 2008

Chalked Full of June















June 29 ... Payton Scarlett Wood was blessed at Marta and Kelly's house. We all went there and had a nice dinner and plenty of desert. Usually the kids don't have much to do while there, so I brought the slip n slide that Paul bought last year. We all had a blast. At first Laura and I were helping the children. Laura more than I, my kids played favorite to her. They would hold on and get dragged along the slip n slide, they just couldn't figure it out. Laura would take one of my children and then Kellie would be at the end of the slip n slide waiting and then chasing after her mommy down to the other end, she's the cutest thing. Who would of thought that the grown ups would have so much fun too. Laura was first to dive right on fully clothed and all. I had thought about but hadn't gotten up the nerve, so after she did there was no point in waiting any longer. It was fun and wet, the kids were so cute. Kacen kept drinking the water, I love the picture of the water going in to his eyes and him just staring at me wide eyed while it was occurring.

June 30, we all went to the zoo. I guess that some one thought it would be a good way to all spend more time with Laura, Tara and the new baby came, Marta, Laura and Kellie, my kids and I. Need less to say the baby, Tara and our Alaskan visitors got hot fast with our 100 degree weather. Thank you Laura for the snow cones. We were able to go to the Bird show this year, that was awesome. I remembered going to one in Florida about seven years ago and it was so nice that they brought one here to Utah. Last year I missed the bird show, we were an hour late at the zoo. I think the white alligator was awesome, though it looked more like it had an off green tint to it. It was pretty cool to get a picture with it in the background. Kacen loved the kitty's, we saw a tiger and a few leopards and at the very top at the end of the Asian Highlands there is a bronze statue of some cats, Kacen went up and climbed on them and then had to keep giving them kisses until Mommy convinced him that we needed to go. We passed the gift shop on the way back down towards the reptile building and they just had to get something, which I was happy to do. Last year they didn't get anything, I mean with gas up to the zoo, entrances fees and food it is hard to get souvenirs. Kacen was able to get a leopard that opened and closed its mouth when you pushed on the lever. He kept calling it his sword! Cutest thing, well I guess all except for him trying to fight with it. Alona got a stuffed leopard, Abbi a tiger that can hang by its string. While paying I only had a $20 bill for all three children's souvenirs. So I handed all of it to the lady with the money and told her that I could only get all of it if it costed this much. She then told me that she was giving me the members discount, woohoo! So the total was quite a bit under the $20 and with the extra money we rode the train before we left.

July 4...we drove to Marta's and got there at 3:00 in the morning. Man was I tired, and then Kacen woke up at 6 a.m. Dead woman walking! We went to the pancake breakfast at the grist mill, never before had I seen so many pancakes in my life. Alona enjoyed walking along the sidewalk in the little kids parade with her make shift maraca, Kacen and Abbi were cute. I kept reminding Kacen while walking with him to shak ehis maraca and wave his flag. We went back to Marta's where I tried to wake up Paul and then we went to the parade in Grantsville. I really enjoyed going there three years ago, the parade was just the right length and made it enjoyable for kids, throwing candy and frisbees. This year the grocery store threw bubbles and t-shirts. Another float threw mini first aid kits and sunscreen, Kacen got a ball and there was PLENTY of candy to go around. There was even a mini fire engine that came and parked itself right by where we were. A few of the floats came up next to him and just dumped candy in to the fire engine. Kacen was real excited about running out and getting the candy, other years I had to drag my girls to get the candy. They were so much fun this year! We went back and had lunch and came back wit their dad to the carnival around 5:00. Half of the rides were already cleaned up, but we caught quite a few of them before they deflated and disassembled their rides. They went on a big inflated slide and on some electric powered swings, then to the playground and Alona played a bean bag game for fifty cents where the girls won glow in the dark bracelets. We went to the fireworks at 9:30 and waited just a little while for them to start, they were amazing, so up close, loud and spectacular, like the sky was literally falling on you. We got an amazing parking spot right past the fire zone (the red painted curb) up along the edge of the high school which was right across the street from the park where the fire works were being launched. It was a pretty good forth of July and I was so happy to have others around during the time that Paul was sleeping, made my day!