Where is the line?

This winter I have at times felt that rather than unschooling, which should allow for MANY educational activities, we are just doing nothing, so I was very pleased when Ashlyn started saying she wanted school work to do. I searched and searched and found an online curriculum that is 100% student paced, and asked the girls if they wanted to try it. They couldn't wait. Well, we're on our second week of the program, and Andi is still loving it, but Ashlyn is losing interest rapidly. By Minnesota law, there are subjects that we are required to somehow teach, and I want to make sure we are doing that while still letting them guide their educational path.

I've decided, to help me decide what extra steps we need to take to make our unschooling a success story, rather than a regret, I need a list of what I know IS being taken care of.


Art:
They use water colors, play dough, coloring books, random drawings/paintings, cut and paste things they have drawn/traced and Andi is in ballet and Ashlyn will be in February. Also, they go to art club once a month.

Phy ed:

Dance class (soon for both), gymnastics (soon for both), will be doing more roller skating and bowling, bike riding when the weather is right, sledding, playing simon says etc.

Home-ec:

helping cook, organize, bake cookies/cup cakes etc.

Math:

Kitchen math, counting their money, telling time, sorting silver ware, playing Sorry nearly every night.

Science:

most of this is covered by our dinner and/or car conversations. "how was the moon made, mom?" etc. Also, Andi has now been doing a lot of science on her online program which has covered weather, seasons, natural habitat, basic needs and more. Ashlyn hasn't wanted to do any of those lessons.

Social Studies:

we talk a LOT about everybody being different in religious beliefs, parenting views, educational philosophy, family roles, race etc. Geography so far has been our trips to IL, getting them to understand the difference between the state and the towns we go to, and that our world stretches far beyond just the places we've been. They know who our president is, who the first president was, and what Mount Rushmore is. Andi is VERY interested in George Washington, but they have no interest in learning about other presidents, yet. Not sure I blame them.


Basically, I need some more ideas and helpful tools. Ashlyn is always asking questions about how things came to be, but I have trouble finding evolution books that aren't too detailed/too complicated for her to focus on. Astronomy is the same; very interested, but have trouble finding things on the topic that are interesting enough to hold her attention. Andi is very interested in dinosaurs, but I haven't found any good kindergarten level dinosaur activities yet.

I know things will fall in to place this summer when we are able to take more field trips, and explore nature outside, but I'd love to add some more things for winter, as well.

Change of Season

Hubby pointed out, I believe as more of a compliment, that I've become quite lazy as a vegan. I thought about it and realized I've grown slightly lazier with each child. As many do, I started off at the "extreme" of taking my Animal ingredients book to the store, writing companies with questionable ingredients, and always believing I am better off safe than sorry with any uncertain ingredients. Somewhere along the way, I developed more of a "What I don't know won't hurt me" approach, and chose to often dine blindly because, well, it's easier!

I've tried to rationalize and justify my behavior in many ways. "Andy and the kids are vegetarian now, so doesn't it even out?" It will never be balanced as long as I continue to contribute to the suffering and slaughtering of the innocent, be it intentional or unintentional.

"I have three kids! I don't have time to write companies and ask if the ingredient in question is plant or animal derived." Maybe not, but I do have the choice of not buying any food with questionable ingredients.

Andy's goal for August was to stop eating meat, which we then challenged the girls as well. They did it, and now they are getting used to the new lifestyle. For september, my goal is to start living as an active vegan again and be an example for my children. I will not force a vegan diet on them, but I do hope one day they choose to make the change.

Watch and Learn

Watch and Learn is a phrase I have on our "record keeping" program. It is Andi's favorite thing to say, and I try to keep that phrase in mind when raising my daughters now. When Andi told me she was ready to ride her bike without training wheels, even though I tried to tell her she wasn't, she tried one time and rode for a second before losing balance, then she tried again and succeeded. When she showed us she could go faster, or turn, or use her brakes she would always say "Watch and learn guys". Yes. Watch and learn. So simple. Watch your children, and learn what makes them happy. Let your children WATCH you, and learn by example. This is what parenting is about, but I strayed from that.

Years ago, when I met my husband we talked about our views on education, and how we both firmly believed that children were meant to explore, experience, and ENJOY life. We believed that kids should not spend their days stuck in a school desk hoping the teacher doesn't call on them to solve a problem on the board, knowing that it would leave them feeling humiliated in front of all their class mates. We believed that as adults, we have the freedom to search for job options that free us from long, boring, monotonous, purposeless days that leave us feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled, and instead we seek jobs that fit our lifestyle and personality so we can leave feeling fulfilled. If adults exercise that freedom, why do we teach our kids that those long monotonous days are simply to prepare them for life? Why do we always feel that negative exposure prepares our children for "The real world"? Well, somewhere in the midst of worrying about record keeping, hour requirements for the state of wisconsin, and proving to others that home school wasn't the wrong choice for my family we forgot about those questions we originally posed.

We schooled at home. The parts that were good, were the moments that I followed my instincts and did NOT school at home, but mostly it was a struggle for the entire family. Not because Ashlyn had trouble learning. Not because I don't have patience to home school. Not because I was pregnant, and not because my kids needed to take me seriously as a teacher.

I won't revisit what our days were, but I will say the girls began to ask with dread in their tone "Is today a school day?" School day? We weren't supposed to have "school days"! How did this happen? It took a lot of late night conversations between hubby and myself for us to come to terms that we were having trouble unschooling the girls because we havn't unschooled ourselves(as I think mentioned in a book that I'd love to read.) For me though, it was mostly about state laws and proving to others that I am capable of home schooling my children. I didn't have much support, and perhaps a lot of it is because I have a GED, not a diploma, and I am able to admit that I struggle a lot with math. If I struggle with algebra, how can I teach it to my kids? I also had a wake up call when I took a math class a little more advanced than what I was prepared for at UWEC, which was a summer course, and very fast paced. It became my goal to make sure ashlyn doesn't have the troubles with math that I had growing up. Now it's clear, and I hope the damage isn't unrepairable. I didn't struggle with math because of lack of exposure. I struggled with math because my earlier exposures of math were bad experiences. I, as most children, was expected to spend hours attempting to memorize answers until the big test at the end of the week. When you remember something by attempting to force your brain to remember it, you are not likely to understand it enough to continue building on it, and have a great chance of forgetting later.

Our children deserve more respect. A child naturally retains information more quickly than an adult, without flash cards, or tests or any other repetitive exercises. A baby doesn't learn to talk by force, but on its own time.

Having said this, the public school year is nearing, and I thought at this time I would be a nervous wreck getting school lessons planned, and anticipated stress for september. Instead, we have spent the month of August all getting used to what we originally planned before Ashlyn became "school age"; something kids do naturally, but adults often forget how-LIVE LIFE.

No, I would not be more comfortable in the bathroom

Sunday morning my husband Andrew, my youngest daughter Andi and Avery, my 4 month old son were sitting with me in the local UUC. Around 10:30 Avery began to get sleepy and wanted to nurse as he does about every morning around this time. My husband is quite used to me nursing the baby in public and thinks nothing of it normally, which is why his reaction surprised me and bothered me a little as well.

While I nursed Avery, he made all of the wonderful sounds babies often make. He gulped hard, moaned, hummed, threw his arm in the air, pulled my shirt...all the things that we normally laugh about how cute and sweet it is when he does it. However, I noticed my husband glancing around uncomfortably in fear that it was making OTHERS uncomfortable.

Why are we so focused on how others may be feeling? Further more, when are people going to start realizing that my baby is SUPPOSED to enjoy being at the breast. I hear people say things like "I don't see a problem with a woman breastfeeding in public if you can't tell what she is doing." Do you ask the girl shaking a bottle violently in the air, and testing the temperature on her arm in front of everyone to stop drawing attention to herself?

I wish this country could see things for what they were meant to be. I destroyed my milk supply with my youngest daughter because of my fear of making someone uncomfortable. Those 15 months were hell, and they should have been the greatest. I didn't go out, I dreaded family dinners, I didn't welcome company with open arms and when she was hungry I did all I could to rush people out the door. But why? Why is giving life to my child the way I was designed to considered dirty?

With my son, I feel so free now that I KNOW my legal rights, and I couldn't care less if others are bothered. Well, that's not true. It breaks my heart that people feel the way they do. Sitting in church was a major wake up call when I saw discomfort in the eyes of my husband while his baby was comforted. Many of us, myself included, have come a long way but there is still a long way to go. I hope one day my daughters will sit without embarrassment at family cookouts and feed their young the way they were meant to. I hope my son will sit proudly beside his wife while his son or daughter nurses from her body. And I hope that no matter where they are, those around them will never try to make them feel ashamed.

Introducing Avery Ray

On January 30th, 3 days past my due date my husband and I went to the mall to walk around and try to let gravity do it's part. At 8:00 pm, just as I was about to give up, I began having pains in my lower abdomen and lower back. We went home after I began feeling too uncomfortable to keep walking. We tucked the girls in and went to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep because I couldn't stop timing contractions. At 11:30 the pain was getting stronger, and the pressure was stronger than I remembered ever feeling with my daughters so we went to the hospital. I hadn't thought about not being able to move around once I went to the hospital because of the heart monitor. Labor was slow partial back labor. My water broke at 7:30, and about three hours later I still was making no progress, other than very intense contractions every 3 minutes. I was running out of energy faster and faster so at 10:30 am after being told they'd probably be inducing labor in three more hours I recieved an epidural. I got a little sleep, and before they gave me the pitocin they checked around 12:00 pm and I was ready to push. I barely had the energy, but it hardly took any time at all. At 12:31 pm Jan 31st 2010 Avery Ray was born. He was 7 lbs 13 oz and 19 3/4 inches...My smallest baby yet. He is perfectly healthy, and worth all of the pain before, during, and after birth. He is loved by his mommy and daddy and his big sisters as well. He is nursing well, which after the complications I had with trying to nurse a baby with severe colic for 15 months, it is a relief to know he is getting enough. He's also a great co-sleeper. =) My oldest slept better near our bed, not in it.

With the third child, Ive come to realize some things:
1. I could do it over and over again
2. crying has never made me angry, but used to make me very nervous with oldest, less with Andi, and now not at all.
3. my family is complete
4. there isnt an age i dont like so far.
5. i do believe in love at first sight...its happened to me three times

Vegan Peanut butter cookies

My daughters spent just under a week away from home visiting my family in Illinois. I wanted to bake something yummy with them when they got home, but honestly baking vegan food has been frustrating for me in the past. I've tried MANY times to make vegan peanut butter cookies using egg replacement and they always turned out very dry and crumbly, so I was determined to find a recipe that didn't use replacements. I found a recipe that had good reviews, and added bonus: I had all the ingredients I needed. I did make a few changes, but the cookies were delicious!! My husband who is the hardest to please in my house when it comes to food kept sneaking in to them when the girls went to bed. Since it's really not often I have success with vegan cookies, and honestly there are times I consider just giving up and using eggs so my kids can enjoy baking with me like I did my mom, I had to share this recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup peanut butter (I used Jiff natural creamy peanut butter which is a bit on the oily side, but I think that worked very well!)
1 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup oil (the recipe called for extra virgin olive oil, but I wasn't brave enough to try that so I used canola oil)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

(The original recipe used 3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt. I didn't use any salt at all. It also says crunchy peanut butter, but I like creamy better so that's what I used, but you could do either!)

Stir peanut butter, syrup, oil and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Combine flour and baking soda then add to the peanut butter mixture and stir until it is barely mixed. Let sit 5 minutes, then finish stirring. It's kind of gooey which worried me at first, but everything turned out fine! Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

For us this made 32 cookies, but there were I think two or three that were very small that the girls made. It should make anywhere from 24-36 cookies. Try it and enjoy! I now know it is possible to have yummy cookies without eggs, milk or butter, (or ener-G, soy milk and vegan margarine.)

So much to do, so little time!

In just two weeks my baby will be six years old. I'm hoping and hoping nobody is sick on her birthday. Unfortunately, both my girls have birthdays at a time when everybody is getting sick. This is our first year not having a party, and to be honest I'm just going to keep it that way. Ashlyn is thrilled about her birthday. She gets to pick any restaurant, and so far she's chosen the new pizza place in town which is supposed to be pretty good. Yay for Ashlyn...we have coupons for that place! As always I'm excited, but this time of year always goes by too fast and this year it's going to go by even faster. Halloween, thanksgiving, Ashlyn's birthday two days after thanksgiving, Christmas, new years, and Avery's due date is January 27th. Am I done? No! Right around the corner in March is Andi's birthday.

This year I am super excited about thanksgiving. I'm tired of thanksgiving being all about turkey. I've accepted it (and still enjoyed thanksgiving) every year because hubby lives for meat, and he's great when it comes to supporting my views, so I can bend for him as well. This year we decided this would be my year to have a vegan thanksgiving. We're on a tight budget though, and it's just the four of us so I'm not making anything complicated or expensive. I decided our thanksgiving dinner will be vegan shephards pie, corn on the cob, brown rice, vegan biscuits and broccoli (or trees as Andi calls them.) And of course salad. Then, thanksgiving night when the trees all put up I'm making vegan hot cocoa. The best part? All of the things I need to make hot cocoa I always have in the house! I have corn on the cob (lots in the freezer), lots of broccoli in the freezer, lots of brown rice in the cabinet, and lots of potatoes for shephards pie. I just need to get a couple of things to put in the shephards pie and things to make a veggie platter. That sure beats spending a ton of money on turkey. Hubby isn't upset either because this year he doesn't have to cook anything. :) Also, this fits perfectly with the new diet change.

I've recently decided to finally take the step to cut out (to the best of my ability) harmful preservatives and additives. I'm not going to say we're preservative free, but I think we're doing well. I have a few preservatives that due to risk of cancer and/or behavior problems I'm putting most of my focus on. I'm not saying we'll never cheat, but I think we'll be able to remind eachother this is for our health and it'll just become our norm. =)

One day at a time

We have been making a lot of changes, and for once I can say I am okay with that! The original plan was to start Ashlyn with first grade this year in August, but instead we put it off and started her in Kindergarten September 8th. The school work she is doing is first grade level, but she gets to do all of the fun things a kindergartener should get to do! This gives us a fresh start and has allowed me to start homeschool the way I had always intended it to be, before I got caught up in what the public school kids are doing. We still do school WORK, but don't make that the largest percent of our school day. In the mornings she does her spelling, math, writing or grammer, and in the early after noon she reads. Some days we just skip the morning work and play make believe. The rest of our day is filled with books books and more books, games, songs, playing outside, art, dancing and more! During breakfast and lunch we talk about a specific subject whether it be religion, someone in history, "the birds and the bees" or naming our favorite mammal! They've been talking a lot about religion lately, and Ashlyn has decided she is a buddist. Andi is I'm pretty sure creating her own religion (no surprise). None of them appealed to her. She says when she dies she is going to come back in another life as baby Andi. Andi is not requesting a book about Darwin. She has been obsessed with George Washington for months, and now Darwin. It honestly surprises me how much she has gotten into learning about significant figures in history.

Ashlyn is reading much faster now, is a pro on riding her bike without training wheels, has nearly mastered telling time, and is now tying her own shoes as of three days ago. She has lost two teeth and has another loose one, which I wasn't prepared for this early! She already has one permanant tooth, and two others coming in.

The pregnancy is going well. I am due in 12 weeks. Can't believe how time flies. We are having a baby boy. A couple of weeks before entering my 3rd trimester I cut out eggs and dairy from my diet and am now officially back on a vegan diet. It's a little stressful at times trying to make sure we're not only GETTING enough iron, but obsorbing enough, as well as obsorbing enough calcium. The calcium is no different on a vegan diet than a 'normal" diet, however your body doesn't obsorb as much iron from veggies as it does from meat. On the flip side, our vegan diet is filled with vitamin C which helps iron obsorbtion. The hardest thing is simply not knowing. I read that non-pregnant vegans should consume 14 mg of iron a day to be safe. However, a pregnant woman on a normal diet should consume 18 mg a day, so I guess a pregnant vegan should consume 22 mg or iron a day. The important thing is the girls are healthy and the baby is healthy. The baby is kicking non-stop. The girls kiss my belly all the time and talk to their baby brother. It's so sweet! Right now my focus is just spending as much quality time with just them as possible before the baby comes, and looking forward to more great years with them and their baby brother once he too becomes a wonderful addition to our family.

2009-2010

After five months of trying to concieve I got a positive pregnancy test on May 28th. I've been spending the last couple of weeks trying to prepare for when the baby comes and so far I feel I'm really making progress. The baby is due Feb. 1st and once we get the crib and changing table the baby's room will be ready.
In addition to baby preparation we've also started Ashlyn's school year. She's taking reading, spelling, english, math, social studies, science, PE, and alternates between spanish, art, music and safety. She does exceptionally well with spelling and English and appears very interested in historical figures. Friday we're taking a trip to the Minnesota Zoo, which will be the first field trip of the year, as well as the biggest. I am still in the process of planning the rest of our field trips for the year. I'm hoping for a factory tour, and firehouse tour, but not sure if we'll be allowed to do either of those.
As for this week, we'll be making molasses cookies tomorrow, studying up on birds, amphibians, and reptiles and some random animals we'll be seeing at the zoo, as well as studying asian culture. Now I just have to get next week planned, and the rest of our field trips for the year!

Beating the heat

Last fall we sold our air conditioner because we thought we would be moving in the spring and wouldn't need it. However, due to many state budgets cuts Andy was not accepted in any of the graduate programs he applied to so we will be here a little over a year. Yesterday the temperature reached high 80's, but thankfully it was a very windy day.
We went outside after breakfast at 8 am. The girls rode their scooters that Grandma Becky and Erie got them for christmas, and honestly I was amazed at how much they've improved. Andi rode her bike for a while and is getting a bit better; she still has to have me help her steer, and forgets to look up instead of at her feet, but she's gotten brave enough to ride without me holding on to the bike. After an hour or so Andy went outside with us and we played ladderball before I had to head to the laundry mat.
Ashlyn and I went to the laundry mat together, and while we waited for the clothes to wash we went to target and festival to get a couple of things for lunch, and even though I'm trying to stop using "replacement foods" I found vegan parmasian cheese for pasta and had to get it for Andi, my vegan child who eats hamburger, and myself. Andi was pretty excited.
When we got home I hung a basket of clothes with Ashlyn's help and sorted out some clothes that would dry quickly inside then made lunch. I made veggie subs:

Loaf of "Everything French Bread" with cut up cucumbers, lettuce, and broccoli and carros slices from a mixture that's in with the bagged lettuce. I topped it with a sweet vidalia onion dressing. I was going to put green peppers in it too, but frankly, I was too lazy to cut anything else. With the sandwich we had red potatoes cooked in olive oil and seasoned. yummy yummy lunch. Surprisingly, Andy gobbled up his sandwich and asked for another. This surprised me since it was just veggies on bread! Anyway, after lunch I hung more clothes, took a cold cold shower, then went downstairs with the girls and took a nap. After nap time it was already time to make supper. After cooking a bunch of food and washing dishes in hot water we walked to the gas station and got the girls push up popcycles. Ashlyn took her scooter which was a major wake up call for me as to how big she is getting! I can't believe it sometimes. We got home, cleaned the girls up and went downstairs to watch american idol. The girls slept on the floor in our room since it was cooler and I wanted to leave all the windows and the backdoor open upstairs, which I can't do when they're upstairs alone. It was like a fun little slumber party since Andy stayed upstairs for a while leaving us girls to hang out alone. :)
The best part is this:
Today the high is only 66, and it is cloudy and rainy. No major heat to beat today! :) Maybe we'll have an air conditioner before we have another really hot day.

I've come to realize...

I've come to realize:

...Life runs much more smoothly when I am home
...I am open minded, but also set in my ways
...Even though my husband doesn' share my views on animal rights, he is amazingly supportive
...I did everything I could to nurse our hamters back to health and need to stop living in guilt
...There is no perfect way to parent a child as long as all your actions are guided by love
...When saving a plant, animal, river etc. become a widespread goal it is typically only because peoples lives are somehow affected by it
...I will never understand the point of making it a priority to protect an endangered species, only to hunt it again once it's no longer endangered
...I need to let go of the past and live for now
...I can never successfully stop being vegan...it's no my diet, it's who I am and will always be. Trying to stop means pretending to be someone I'm not
...It doesn't matter what other people think about me, and caring so much about it will only cause me to continue makin poor discisions
...Today is all that matters

Orchards

We took the girls to the orchards today to pick apples. It was a little more expensive than I felt it would be worth, other than the fact that you can't put a price on happy memories.

Minneapolis

We went to Minneapolis yesterday and spent the day at valley fair. The girls were just perfect.

They stayed with us the entire time, they didn't fight at all, and they didn't throw fits at all other than when we had to leave. There were several rides that we all could ride on together which I loved. When we went to the mall of america the last two years, I would have to stay with Andi while he went with Ashlyn on any rides other than the kiddie rides. We rode the scrambler, the octopus, a hot air balloon ride that you sit in a basket and it takes you up in the air and around and around, some ride that just went around in circles really fast,


and of course the Tilter. Then there was the rollercoaster for kids that they went on, the kiddie free fall ride called the frog hopper, and then your other basic kiddie rides.






We took them to an Imax show there as well on the Wild Ocean in africa. Andi fell asleep right away, and I'll have to admit, I slept for the firstt 15 minutes of it as well. Not because it was boring, I was just that tired! When it was time for lunch we thought we'd go to a little diner they had, rather than get food at the stands. What a mistake. I kept laying out napkins so the girls wouldn't touch the table! The food comes, and the cheese on the girls' cheeseburgers were plastic. It was melted, and still, all I had do was lift the corner and pull the entire thing off. When I did that, there was a hair underneath the cheese on Ashlyn's. Andy took it back, and they gave him another. Normally, the girls know if they don't eat what was given to them, they're not going to eat any sort of snack, however, when I saw the girls were nto wanting to eat them, I was glad. I told them they don't have to eat, we will get them a snack and explained that this was an exception to our normal rule because the place was disgusting!

While we were there, we also saw a child who apparently belonged to the most irresponsible parents to ever exist. While we were in line to get on the balloon ride, this little girl who was probably 5, maybe even 4 yet, tried getting on the ride. The man asked her where her parents were, she pointed to one of the rollercoasters in the distance and said "um..they're on a ride." My heart jumped. He told her she couldn't ride without her parents, and we got on the ride and he started it. I waited for him to go talk to her, and call security. He told her to stand on the other side of the gate. When she did, she wandered off to a stand where a girl was in charge of some game. I was about in tears. I couldn't believe this guy let that little girl take off again. I guess it just takes a woman to deal with these sorts of things because the woman was smart enough to know to keep her there by her until she could get security over there. When security took the girl I took that as the perfect chance to show the girls that that is a safe person to let them take their hands and guide them somewhere if they ever get lost at a place like that. I told them that instead of walking around looking for someone, to go to the nearest stand and tell a worker they are lost. Ashlyn was upset all night asking me if the girl found her mommy. I told her yes, and she got mad and said "You don't know that because you didn't see!"
After we had all the fun we could take at valleyfair, Andy picked up some fresh mini donuts at the bakery shop they had there and shared them with the girls, then we went to the gift shop and got the girls each something on our way out. After valley fair, we were all hungry so we went to a restaurant called Champs. Andi was given a balloon flower, and Ashlyn was given a horse. They had a great time! After that we went to target to get my film developed and picked up some things for the girls' school, and a gymnastics outfit for Ashlyn. We signed Ashlyn up for the ymca's gynastics program yesterday. She starts this wednesday at 6:15. She looks adorable in her outfit! :)

It's been a wonderful weekend, and today we are taking the girls to the orchards (for real this time!)

end of week one

We finished our first week of school, and the girls are making amazing progress. Ashlyn is understanding opposites which was something she had been having a hard time grasping until this week. Andi is starting to recognize letters, and LOVES it. Until this week she wanted nothing to do with learning! Now, several times a day, even when we're not doing school work anymore, she says "mommy, do my flash cards!" For fun, I gave her a work sheet that had four pictures of a girl that needed to be colored, and above them there was a pink shirt, a yellow shirt, blue pants, and purple pants. The directions said to color the pictures in all possible ways she could wear her outfit bsed on her options. Andi was done in no time. Was I surprised? Absolutely not. And yes, if you were wondering, her very first option was pink shirt and purple pants, even though those were the farthest away from eachother. Also, there was a picture that the girl had a purple purse and that is the one Andi put the purple pants and pink shirt on because she said they matched with her purse.

Tomorrow we are taking the girls to a theme park to enjoy our first weekend from school. We can all use it! :)

labor day

Today Andy took the girls to the park and to visit his grandparents (Johnson's and his grandpa Pieterick) and I got my house cleaned and made vegan lasagna. I didn't do anything special, but I enjoyed myself a lot. Tomorrow we start school and I'm anxious to see how that turns out. Until then, I'll end with a picture. :)

This crazy thing called life

Today Ashlyn wanted to do school work even though they didn't have to, so we worked some more on Ashlyn's reading. Her new words today were "Sad, dad bad had. Dad is sad." The look on her face when she finished made me feel happier than I could explain. Later, after supper we drove through culvers to get ice cream for the girls and took it to Riverview park. The girls finished their ice cream and we played. Andi even (somewhat) got over her fear of walking on the bridge. She even ran once, but then wonderful big sister Ashlyn (after seeing her dad do the same thing) shook the bridge and Andi became a bit hysterical. The girls also got to see a bat before we left. Something I got to see that the girls didn't yet was an ant shed its' wings. I'm hoping they'll get to see one if I take them out tomorrow.

My little girl is reading

During reading today, I got out hop on pop, which we havn't read in ages. Ashlyn recently learned the word "up", so I figured that book would be perfect for her. We spent hardly anytime at all before she was reading the first page on her own. "Up, pup, pup is up." When she got to the word "is", she spent some extra time trying to sound it out, but figured it out without any help other than "what sound does the letter 'i" make, and what sound does the letter 's' make and "now say it faster. " On to the next page. "Pup cup, pup in cup" and the next page "Cup, pup, cup on pup." We are so proud of her! I did all I could to keep from jumping out of my chair. After we finished with that, the girls and I went to the laundry mat. The girls thought this was an amazing trip! I guess it goes to show that it really doesn't take a lot to please a toddler.

The Royal Family of Target

Today was very productive and relaxing all in one! The girls sat at the table to do their school work, wrote a story and cleaned out the hamsters' cages. They are doing very well on their spanish, and I can't wait until next semester when I take my spanish class so I can teach them even more! They are also doing very well on their math. My favorite part of today though would definitely be writing their story, and watching Ashlyn illustrate it. Before I share the story, I have a few other pictures to share!

Vegan Sugar Cookies (yes, Andi needed to make a snow man).

Ashlyn telling daddy where the water is and where the United States is

The girls doing their worksheets

AND NOW...
I present to you, The Royal Family of Target!

Once upon a time in the city of Target, lived the royal Festival family. There was King Andy, Queen Hannah-Tannah, Prince Andrew and Princess Mary Mary.

One day, the Festival family all went to the store to get oatmeal, cereal, chicken nuggets, pizza and a camera for the king and another for the queen.

Then they went to the zoo. They saw a zebra, elephant and a monkey.

Then they had triangle taffy. Then, they all rode the horses. But then, Prince Andrew's horse was too big and broke the chain and ran away.

Prince Andrew jumped off the horse and landed on his belly and said, "Ouch." Princess Mary Mary put on her magic crown and took Prince Andrew's owies away.


Then they went back home and went to sleep to dream about their day.
And they all lived happily ever after

-the end

Roll with it baby

Our plans to go to the orchards were canceled when I realized that they don't start doing hay rides or let you pick your own apples until September 6th so we decided to do the orchards another weekend, and go rollerskating this weekend. Andrew and Ashlyn got rollerblades and Andi just tried the skates and I...well, I just didn't skate.

This was the first time the girls have ever been rollerskating and the first time they've ever seen a skating rink so they were pretty excited. The rink had a really neat set up and plenty to do for the ones who couldn't or didn't want to skate.
The girls' dad took Ashlyn first and although she obviously struggled being her first time on skates, she really impressed us, and I think if we had the rink to ourselves to work with her she would have gotten it down just fine.

Andi tried next, but she didn't make it far.

After that Andi tried a scooter. The didn't last long either.

They played a little bit on a ramp and slide they had in the middle, until Ashlyn decided to ride the scooter around while Andrew skated and I took Andi to play some games.

I've decided rather than having Ashlyn's birthday party in columbia we're going to have it here at the skating rink and let her have some other kids at the party hopefully! It will probably be full of boys since that's all we know! lol

Great day. =)

So this is what support feels like!

This past winter Ashlyn started getting very lonely and in need of friendship after we stopped babysitting for the little boy I had been watching for nearly a year, and the neighor kids moved away. I also began feeling alone and in need of someone other than my husband that shared some common ground with me. At this particular time, I happened to come across someone who was in the same situation as I was; her oldest son was lonely, and she was needing some support. We got together right away and met up at the children's musuem. It was so nice! However, after school started again we had a hard time coming up with a good time for both of us to meet up. Well, today we finally got together again at Riverview Park to let the kids play and have a picnic. She invited another mom to bring her homeschooled children as well. The kids had a great time and it was so nice feeling that sense of support again. Now, I suppose the word support probably has lost some of its' meaning, but the kind of support I seek is a feeling of 100% understanding and respect for my views that aren't commonly shared in our culture. Today the girls were very excited to learn they were with four other homeschoolers because they too need a feeling of support now and then. Ashlyn is starting to learn about common ground with people, and I think that will help her a little in understanding more about friendships in general. The girls enjoyed it and are looking forward to playing with the boys again. As for now, we are watching a movie before bedtime, and then in the morning it's off to the orchards. :)