Desert Rats

A little background. My children are obsessed with sleeping in dark, cave-like dwellings at night. I read a great book about sleep Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby several years ago. It talks about controlling light in your kids rooms to help them develop great sleep patterns. I'm afraid I have created little monsters. Additionally, we have been reaching 100 nearly every day, even at the bitter end of September, so our blinds and curtains are still. . . . .closed about 90% of the time.

Anyway, this morning at 6:00 a.m. it was delightfully cool outside (by this I mean slightly under 70), so I threw open the curtains and opened the windows wide. By 7:00 a.m. when the boys woke up, it had dropped to 74 degrees inside the house, a temperature this interior has not seen since April.

Ben was the first to wake up. He came wandering into my bedroom with his animals blankie wrapped turban-style around his head, covering his eyes as well. "Mommy. It's so bright. . .why is it so bright?" I pulled the corner of the blanket up and he rapidly blinked his little cave-darkened eyes as if I were shining a flashlight directly at him. "So bright, Mommy."

Todd entered the scene about ten minutes later, with his arms pulled inside his pajamas, "It's freezing in here. Why are the windows open?" (Recall that at this point it is a sub-zero 74 degrees).

Tonight as I was getting everyone bathed up, I again threw the windows wide open. Todd finished his bath and came in, again limbless inside his jammies, "Mom. You grew up in Montana. You know what cold is like. We don't. We can't handle this. It's freezing."

Poor babies. They are seriously desert rats.

Freedom Academy

This year we're homeschooling Todd again, using a new curriculum called K-12 through Nevada Virtual Academy. I love how it keeps me organized and on track. They have a fantastic history curriculum, so at least that much is keeping Todd happy.

Additionally, a few moms and I got together last year for some co-op lessons with our kids. You may remember a few of the posts. We had 5 kids and 4 moms and it was great.

Well, this spring, we put the word out to a few friends that we'd like to expand that a bit. We started Freedom Academy last Tuesday with 49 kids and 27 moms--I guess the idea was contagious! We meet two days a week with the kids split into 6 age groups. They learn a variety of things taught by moms who are passionate about their topic.

Benny has his own age group and he loves it! Yesterday was apple day and he came home with his own handmade caramel apple, an apple print painting he made, and a lot of enthusiasm for the letter A and the sounds it makes. So far he's also learned about Bumblebees, cows, music, the human heart, and other fun stuff. This is Ben waiting on his first day to be picked up by one of my friends:

Todd's is taking theater, cooking, art, and gardening. He is very excited that we're learning stage combat techniques. Todd's class has 18 kids for half the time and is split into smaller groups of 9 half the time. They all have lunch and recess together both days. It is so fun to watch them at the park and see their social groupings. Their ages in this group range from 7 to 13, so it's a very eclectic group. Fun to work with.

You can check out the happenings at freedomacademy09.blogspot.com or click on the link in my sidebar.

Did we go?

I can't quite remember if we actually went to the beach, of if I just found these awesome-looking vacation pictures on my computer. . .
It seems like years ago. But I'm finally posting about our excellent week in San Diego. Thanks to Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Glenn--we had a great time. Uncle Brandon, Aunt Lucy, Filipe, and Sam were great company. Uncle Kalen popped in and out during our week in between his service mission duties. It was a fantastic week. Too short and too quickly over, but great.

On the boardwalk at week's end

The whole gang (minus Kalen)

Those boys would not cooperate

Happy Beach family

I love the purpose in Todd's stride in this photo. He was ready for the next wave.

Shovel sledding--good sport

It was cold, but Todd kept getting Ryan out in the waves

Cute Filipe

Sam is such a fun kid.

Artistic shot of Mom and Ben (photographic proof I was there--thanks, Ryan)

Playing at the beach is hard work!

Shell gathering in the early morning

Look at his paddle skills!

Oh man! This coal-roasted pork roast was amazing!

We're sorry Lucy and I lacked faith, Glenn.

Look at that beautiful Grandma with her little boys

eh?

Oh yeah.

Note he is in the air. Ben loved jumping the waves.

The grand sand castle. Grandpa was sore the next day.

Notice Brandon and Ryan did not contribute their man power to the effort.

San Diego Temple
Wahoo's Fish Taco--yummo! Check out the scruff on that Bishop. What a hottie!

We had a great week. Ben kept us grounded and reminded us we were on vacation. That boy just loves to operate on his own sweet time. He has short legs anyway, but in addition, he just walks slow. It was good to take things at his pace and remember we don't always have to be in a rush. Can't wait to go back. I already need another vacation. Anyone want to join us next year?

A new season

Baseball has begun again. Todd has moved up to another league and it's a bit more intense than last season's feel-good sort of baseball experience.

Last season, Todd was a bit afraid of the ball when he was batting, so he was constantly being encouraged, "Stay in the box, buddy. Don't step out. Stay in there. Be strong."

Well, this season the steal has been introduced. Todd's first at-bat in his first game there was a runner on third. He's been pondering the coach's advice from last season, so he stepped into the box and stood firm. But this time, as soon as the ball went past to the catcher, his coaches were yelling, "Step back. Get out of the box."

I can see in his stance that he is utterly bewildered. Is he supposed to stand strong in the box or step out? His brain just doesn't have the natural sports mentality and doesn't shift gears that quickly. Oh well. He'll get it. It builds character, right?

And as a side note, check out his uniform pants. Who ever even thought manufacturing white baseball pants was even close to a good idea? Maybe some big shot at the baseball pant factory got together with some big shot at the detergent factory and decided to rip off the american public. Well, I Stephanie McMillan,. . .am getting ripped off. (anyone get that movie reference?)

Beautiful

I got some new makeup from Costco the other day (yep, I'm a really fashionable girl) in a package labeled "Natural Beauty." Ben's all about learning to read lately, so he asked me what it said and I told him.

At this point, I was getting ready for a meeting and said, "Am I getting beautiful?"

To which he replid, "No."

"Am I not beautiful because my hair is still crazy?" I asked, a bit wounded that I can't get a shout-out from even my four year old.

"Well, you're a little beautiful," he conceeded.

"Who is beautiful, Benny?" I asked.

Without hesitation he replied, "Grandma," in a very matter of fact voice.

"Which Grandma?" I asked, very interested in his view of the world.

"The one with no dogs," he responded, "she's beautiful."

He is a very good judge of beauty. Here's to beautiful Grandmas everywhere.

Conversation Overheard

Overheard while the boys were playing:
Ben: (Sniffing the air) What's that smell?
Todd: It smells like you pooped your pants.
Ben: (Sniffing the air again) Hmmmm. Oh yeah. It does.
Play resumes.

Are they boys, or what?

Happy Anniversary

As a random side note on our trip to Montana, we ended up driving through Idaho Falls on our 12-year anniversary. It was a fun coincidence, so we couldn't pass up the chance to snap a few photos and reminisce (So perhaps my three boys could have easily passed up the photos, but I dragged them along).

While we were walking around the temple, a cute young couple came out after finishing their sealing, pictures, etc. We took a picture of them with their parents. I told them we were married there 12 years ago that day and it was a great day to be married. They were very cute. . .I thought for a minute they would ask for our phone number or something so we could keep in touch.

It's funny to look at life 12 years ago compared with today. So much of who we are and where we've been I never would have imagined. If you asked me back then to list the states I would like to live in and the order, I think Indiana, New York, North Carolina, and Nevada would have been in the bottom 10, at least the bottom 25. But what great experiences we have had.

What a lucky girl I am to be married to such a great guy. 12 years and counting. . .