It's good to have friends...

My friend Sylvia from Grammar school is here visiting for a couple of days. We haven't seen each other in more than eight years but it is great how we are still the same. Still laughing and rolling our eyes about the same things - it is good to have friends who knew you back when...

Summer Project - Knitting

The kids have been after me to teach them how to knit for over a year now. Having no knitting experience myself - we have been struggling with hand me down needles and scraps of yarn, Finally my friend Sue suggested that I just bite the bullet and buy the good stuff at the local (rather expensive) knit shop. Let me tell you there is a difference - Having the right yarn with the right needles made the experience so much more fun. The kids have all made scarves for winter and are working on hats and mittens. Gannon and Kyra are knitting stuffed animals for Hannah's birthday.
This weekend the kids even made their own knitting needles by sanding and sharpening dowels and making funky end caps out of sculpy. I really want to find some skeins of raw wool so that we can dye it ourselves. I have read that kool-aid makes fabulous colors of yarn. If we keep this up we will be spinning and shearing our own sheep - hmmm how is that for a homeschool project...

My knitting research led me to this interesting pattern:



http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTwomb.html

Yup - that's right a womb.
You know - the homeschool mom in me thought hmmmm.... might be a great way to weave in a lesson on human anatomy...

Okay - okay...

So in the last 2 weeks I have had 5 different people come up to me and out of the blue complain that I have not updated my blog in the last few months. I didn't even know that 5 people read our blog. Who knew! So okay - okay - I'll work on it - but no promises - Do you realize how many kids I have?

Hey - she's kid #5

Kyra

I just love this photo of Kyra. This is so much her personality.

This is how I feel most mornings...

This is how I feel most mornings ... slightly off kilter, babies screaming, kids practicing pianos - flutes - trombones - guitars- DRUMS... (what were we thinking?) The chaos is amazing with 7 kids in the house but there is always something fun to do and truth be told... I like the chaos.

Weekend with the cousins

This past Mother's day weekend the kids got to spend time with the "other" Joneses.

This baby is getting way too big

So the baby is now 4 1/2 months old and sorta sleeping through the night... He is almost 20 lbs! and is wearing 12 month size everything. He has blown through all of the clothes that I bought him. He is a cutie.


Have you ever seen such a beautiful baby?

Jesi's Birthday

We celebrated Jesi's 19th birthday with cake, balloons and ice cream - yummy!

Easter 2008

new photo

Not even a month old yet - Isn't he a handsome little guy???
He is doing really well - has already gained nearly 2 lbs and is sleeping more- which is still not much.
I am feeling my age this time 'round - sleep deprivation is so much easier in your early 20's than it is in your late 30's!

Eli's Baptism

We've been a bit busy lately so I have not had the time to post the pictures from Eli's Baptism. He was baptized on December 16th 2007. Se was so excited that he stationed himself as the front entrance of the Stake Center and opened the door for all of the people while shouting "Welcome to my baptism - I'm the one getting baptized!" It was pretty funny he was also taking most of the photos. He has such a huge personality and it was in evidence on that night.

Hannah - also known as "Little Miss Torture"

Why waste time with ineffective waterboarding techniques - just give the terrorists over to Hannah - She'll deal with them one handed...





Oscar the dog knows not to get in Hahhah's way - He is still recovering from the time she "fixed" him single-handedly!




The thing is... she is just so cute when contemplating the infliction of pain...

New Baby

Isn't he beautiful? The kids have started to call him Jack Sparrow - they can't pronounce Alejandro - The Sparrow part will wear off but we kinda like Jack...




Here is one more picture taken with Photobooth

Eel Lake

We celebrateed the last day of Summer by camping near Eel Lake on the Oregon coast. It was beautiful! The sun shone the entire three days, the temps were perfect and the kids had a great time. Rich took the kids mountain biking while I read and Hannah slept. On our last day we all went to the little Wildlife Safari on the Southern Coast and got to play with a seven week old white Siberian Tiger cub. She was a cutie - but my personal favorite was the cross-eyed opossum.

Karate Testing

Well - another term of Karate has come and gone. We are all advancing and the things we are learning are getting more and more difficult. We are all getting bigger and brighter bruises but is really is fun.

About 2 weeks ago I was in Wal-Mart with Gannon and he turns to me and says: "Hey mom, I learned how to pop out a person's eye balls!"
"Great," I said, "just don't do it to your brother."

Triathlon - Tri Rocks!

We had our 2nd annual kids triathlon at the lake. This year we had 15 kids participate in a 50 yd swim, 1.5 mile bike & 1 mile run. The kids had a fantastic time and also raised money for the homeschool section at our little local library.

Eli and some of the peaches

Peach Season is in full swing

Peaches are finally ready - I took the kids to the orchard and within 20 minutes (no lie) they picked over 75 lbs.

Aaaaccckkkk! Do you realize how many peaches I have to process??? A lot!

Harry Potter 7

Instead of going out to a bookstore to celebrate the release of book 7 we opted to stay in. The kids invited friends - all of whom dressed as characters from the books. We played Muggle Quidditch (sp???), drank butterbeer (too sweet) and played HP trivia.
Gannon, dressed as "old Archie," won the trivia game. Micah dressed as Hermione, Eli as Ron, Kyra as Ginny and Rich as Moody. We had a blast and at midnight ran down to the local Wal-Mart where there was absolutly NO line and bought 3 books and the CDs. With 5 people fighting over the books - it still seems to not be enough!

Micah's Legend

July 12, 2007
1066 Jackdaw

The Legend



King William blocked yet another blow from a Saxon battle-axe. He and many other men from both Normandy and France had come to claim England from the barbaric Saxons.
Things were not going so well for William and his men. The Saxons where winning. William was trying to think of what to do next when he saw an arrow coming straight towards him.
He tried to dodge it, but his horse wouldn’t move fast enough. The arrow pierced him in the chest, followed be many others. Some just bounced off his armor, but with other arrows, he wasn’t as lucky.
William gasped in both surprise and agony. He grasped his horse’s reins, tying not to fall off his horse.
The men who had shot the arrows, those villainous Saxons, shouted with joy when they saw that their arrows had hit their mark. Soon, the other Saxons heard what had happened and cried out, saying they had won, thinking that the brave king William had died.
When William’s men heard that their courageous king was dead, they cried out in sorrow for their leader. They were immensely weakened by the news.
It seemed like it was raining arrows when William heard his men’s cries. He sat as tall as he could and, arrows still hitting him left and right, he prayed to his Lord God that no arrows would hit his face. William tore off his helmet.
When William’s men saw his face, on top of his horse shouting words of strength and still pulling arrows out of every part of his body, they thought he looked like a true leader, a true king! With sudden strength, William’s men attacked the vile Saxons who where still celebrating their false victory.

Today that battle is called The Battle of Hastings and William is called “The Conquer,” king of England.

Big News -

Last month our family grew by two!

We are blessed to have baby Hannah join us. She is just 8 months old and a wonderful addition to our family.
We also have been blessed to have Rich's niece Jesi join our family. She is 18 and received a basketball scholarship from Lane Community College.






This is Jesi playing around with Photo Booth - I am sure she will be pleased that I posted these on our blog...

From the National LDS Homeschool E-Newsletter

Making Magic


There have been many times in my homeschool experience that I have caught those magical moments. Those moments when I know that homeschooling is a gift from Heavenly Father to both my children and myself. They are amazing times when I realize that my children are learning not just because they have to, but that they are actually glorying in the learning process.
Last week my son was banging on the bathroom door just as I was stepping out of the shower. I quickly wrapped myself in a towel and opened the door. There he was wearing the proudest smile on his face.
"Here mom. I did my math. Can you check it?"
"Okay," I said, and took the only available seat as I scanned the page.
"You did great honey, 100%," I said and handed him back the math book.
His face was slightly crestfallen and I was confused.
"Aren't you going to do what you did before?" he questioned. "You know..." his voice lowered and I noticed my red lipstick in his hand as he extended it, "the heart?"
"Oh yeah," I said as I took the lipstick and drew a big heart on his page.
He was beaming as he said his thanks. He ran out of the bathroom shouting "I love math mom!" and left me to contemplate the moment.
Could a public school teacher instill such excitement in a 7 year old over math? Maybe...but I doubt it. Only a mother can create that kind of magic. Only a mother can make a child feel safe, loved, important and smart all rolled up in one - and do it all in her bathrobe.
Homeschooling is about loving, teaching and living simultaneously. We do not need fancy clothes, hair and make-up or even the best school supplies to create the magic of homeschool. That comes only from a loving mother and father who recognize that they have the mantle of authority to raise up righteous children and teach them to love and learn trough the guidance of the Spirit. That is how the magic happens - and no one else can replicate it.

Donna has been homeschooling her four children for 7 years. In 2005 she began the Veneta Home Education Network to bring homeschool families in her area closer together. Her favorite aspect of homeschooling is the freedom it gives her family to explore subjects and activities that spark their interest and love of learning. Donna and her family live in the beautiful state of Oregon where they enjoy the hobby of letterboxing and homeschool karate. She has served in the Primary organization for 11 straight years.