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.

Happy Mother's Day

Motherhood is an amazing thing. It is a concentrated form of personal and spiritual growth. Recently I was speaking with a single aquaintance who was planning a yoga retreat to strengthen her spirituality. Man, I thought - try being spiritual with nerf balls flying past your head. When you've mastered that - woohoo - girlfriend you've got it!

If you are feeling a bit insecure about your less than perfect mothering skills - read on to find our about a very "infamous" mother.





Agrippina - An Infamous Woman
by Micah

Agrippina's husband, Emperor Claudius, had three different infamous wives before he married Agrippina. He didn't enjoy the experiences. In fact, after his third wife, Claudius asked his guards to kill him if he was such a fool as to marry again. Claudius did marry again, to Agrippina, his niece. His guards did not kill him when he married her. A pity for Claudius...
Agrippina had been married to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenbarbus and had a son with him, named Nero.
Agrippina wanted power and she wanted her son Nero to be Emperor instead of Claudius' son. So she persuaded Claudius to have his daughter, Octavia, marry her son Nero. She guarded her position as empress and prepared to make Nero heir to the throne. Then, when she decided it was time to get rid of Claudius, she secretly poisoned him and Nero became the Emperor.
Even though Nero appreciated what his mother had did, he began to resent Agrippina's control and had lots of arguments with her. Nero decided he would have to kill her in order to be free of her. He tried various ways to get rid of her, and all failed. He finally planed a ship wreck. He prepared a ship which would collapse in the sea.
When Agrippina was in the ship and the accident occurred, Agrippina's two companions were killed. Agrippina was wounded, but she swam to shore. She sent a messenger to inform her son of her escape, pretending to have no suspicions of his guilt so that she could counterstrike. Nero was terrified: he had reason to believe that her revenge was likely to be deadly. He sent some guy to kill his mother. Agrippina last words are supposed to have been, "Strike here", as she pointed to the womb from which Nero had come.

A Norse Scald Weaves His Tale

A Norse Scald's
Tale of
King Alfred the Great
By Micah

By the light of the moon an old man gathered his fellow Norsemen around him and told them the folowing true story:

"A long time ago some of our Norsemen went to England, the land of the Anglo ~ Saxons. They caused much havoc, for they were going I-Viking. When we were in battle and someone died, more Norsemen would come to help. The Anglo ~ Saxons were terrified of us 'pagan warriors', for we were not Christian. Then many of us went to a kingdom called Wessex.

The king of Wessex, Ethelred, was a fair fighter, but he was more interested in religion then fighting. It was Ethelred's brother who Anglo ~ Saxons expected to defeat us.

All of the Anglo ~ Saxons loved Alfred. Even the pope had said that Alfred would be a great king of England some day. Alfred spent much time in scrolls and books-yes-but he was also was a fierce warrior and had amazing strategies. When we attacked Wessex we were surprised at how strong was King Alfred's army. Even though we were bigger in numbers, we had no luck ‘till we mounted a surprise attack on Christmas day and won. After that battle Alfred went into hiding. England was ours - for a little while.

Many of our men became restless and wanted adventure, so they left England. Our army became smaller than it was before.

When King Alfred came out of hiding, we were both amazed and astonished at how many men and weapons Alfred had. Alfred's army conquered us for we were surprised and small in numbers.

The Anglo ~ Saxons sieged us. We didn't have much food, so at the end 14 days we sent a messenger offering our submission. We promised that if spared we would leave England forever.

King Alfred had mercy on us and after that we sent another messenger to tell King Alfred that our leader, Jarl Guthorn, wanted to become Christian. Seven weeks later Jarl Guthorn and thirty of his best men were baptized.

Not long after Guthorn's baptism did the Anglo ~ Saxons managed to get all Norsemen who were still pagan out of England. We left them alone for a good four years.

I hear that during those four years King Alfred passed many good laws. That the people of England saw King Alfred as King of England--not just King of Wessex. People call him King Alfred 'the great'! Even I must admit, that King Alfred was both a good king and a great warrior!"

Rich's Marathon

Well Rich did it. He finished his first marathon in under 5 hours. I cannot even imagine running 26.2 miles. The runners were impresive...

Our Eggs are Hatching!

The egg is cracking and we can hear a clear peeping from the chick inside which gets louder if we touch it with our cold hands.


Very soon after - the chick inside gives a push with her legs and wriggles out of the shell.


It was hard work and now she has to rest.

Springtime

Well it is spring in Oregon which means crazy weather. Spring just seems to tempt us with so many beautiful days followed by these crazy days of cold and rain. Yesterday it actually hailed in the morning but by noon the kids were swimming in the lake - go figure. Our family is doing really well. We built 3 huge garden beds and have filled them with lots of veggies and we planted 3 bluberry bushes that the kids are really excited about. I still want to plant a few fruit trees. Can't wait for the harvest.



We are also in the middle of increasing our chicken flock. We have 9 chicks that are just getting ready to join our older laying hens and we are incubating about 12 other eggs that should be hatching soon. No "peeping" from the eggs so far - I am just hoping that I didn't do somthing to kill them! It is just amazing to me how hard it is to duplicate the natural process that hens do so easily.
We have also discovered a new hobby - Letterboxing.
Check out www.atlasquest.com
You look up your area in the serch engine and find clues to a hidden letterbox stashed somewhere in a park or on a great hiking trail. This has been a great way to discover new trails and swimming holes in our area and great parks and nature walks in town without having to go on the more extreme trails associated with GPS treasure hunts. When you find the hiden letterbox you sign in using a rubber stamp and then you can stamp your own book - kind of like a passport. It has been fun.
Our family continues to homeschool - this year has been a lot of fun. The kids are in the middle of Homeschool Hogwarts, a magical 8 weeks of science classes with a Harry Potter theme. This is our 3rd year of Homeschool Hogwarts and if you do not already know - or haven't guessed - we are totally addicted to the Harry Potter books. (Rich too!) This year the kids will be mapping mars, creating all sorts of potions in chemistry, learning about plant and animal biology as well as playing muggle Quidditch. We love it!
Here is a picture of Micah and her girlfriends - all in Ravenclaw House:



We are also continuing with the Eugene School of Karate. Eli and Kyra just advanced to a white belt with a black stripe, Gannon just got his black stripe on his yellow belt, Micah has her yellow belt and I just got my 1st blue belt!

new pictures

These are a few pictures from our last Letterbox hike





This is a photo from the Star Wars exhibit at OMSI in Portland

"Blackie" by Micah

BLAKIE
by, Micah


11 yr. old Lilly had gone on a short walk after church and was now walking back. It was a lovely summer day and Lilly liked it were she lived. It was quiet. No cars came down their road, but it was still close to a town and stuff.
Lilly hummed to herself. When she heard footsteps behind her she whirled around, making her black hair fly in her face. It was a little black puppy.
“Oh your so cute,” Lilly exclaimed. “You must be one of the neighbors pups.”
She pet it for a little bit, then told it to go home.
When Lilly got home the puppy was still following her. Lilly decided to see who the owner of the puppy. Lilly told her mom where she was going, then went to her neighbor’s house. Since he had no collar Lilly had to go to all the neighbors houses, and none of them owned the pup.
Lilly walked home thinking. “Maybe you’re a stray,” she said to the pup. “Maybe I can keep you.”
When Lilly got home she raced inside, with the puppy close behind her. “Mom! Mom! Can I keep this puppy? Please!”
“What puppy?!! I want a puppy!! Why does Lilly get a puppy and I DON’T!!!!!! shouted five yr. old Mike.
Lilly’s brother and sister, Mike and 7 yr. old Hannah were watching a movie with Lilly mom.
“Quiet Hannah!” said Lilly’s mom. “What’s all this about a puppy Lilly?”
‘Oh, this puppy followed me home, and he’s not any of the neighbor’s. Can I keep him?” Asked Lilly.
“We’ll see,” said Lilly’s mom. “But first we have to make sure he doesn’t have an owner, we’ll put up posters tomorrow.”
“What are you going to name him?” asked Hannah.
Lilly thought for a second, then said, “Blackie.”
The next day Lilly went down stairs for breakfast with Blackie on her heels.
“Hey, mom!” shouted Lilly, “look what Blackie can do!”
When everyone was in the living room, Lilly said, “sit Blackie,” “speak Blackie,” and so on and Blackie obeyed.
“Isn’t Blackie smart,” said Lilly.
After breakfast Lilly got a phone call.
“Hello,” said Lilly.
“Hi Lilly, it’s me Rachel.”
“Oh hi Rachel.” Rachel went to church with Lilly, and they were really good friends.
“Hey Lilly I got a puppy.”
“Oh, you did ?”
“Yep, and it got away yesterday.”
“Oh, I’m sorry Rachel what did it look like?”
“Well he small, black and he had a brown spot on his ear. Lilly are you still there? Lilly?”
Lilly stared at the phone. Rachel had just described Blackie!
“Rachel, I, um, got to go. Bye.”
Lilly paced the room. Finally she sat on her bed and sighed, then she went on her knees and prayed.


“Oh, thanks again Lilly,” said Rachel.
After Lilly had prayed, she decided to tell her mom who was the owner of Blackie. All most immediately after that, they drove to Rachel’s house. Right now Lilly and Rachel were outside playing with Blackie.
“No problem,” Lilly told Rachel.
“Lilly! Time to go!” called Lilly’s mom.
Rachel was walking Lilly to the car when she said, “um, Lilly, I haven’t named the pup yet. What do you think I should name it?”
Lilly smiled and said, “ Blackie.”

Had to show you all this photo...

I found this photo and just had to put it up on the blog... This was taken a few years ago. As a Young Men/Young Women activity Rich (on the right) , our BISHOP (middle) and Paul (left) dressed up and "got lost" in the mall. The YM and YW had to find them - Like "Where's Waldo?" - only - "Where's Bishop?" It took the kids forever to recognize them. They were scared of Paul, couldn't believe that it was Bishop and just did not recognize Rich - even after he walked up to them!
I just think the photo is hilarious.

Fall 2006

We are well into the fall season. I have boxes and boxes of apples on my counter waiting to be processed. There are mountains of schoolwork stacked next to the apples - And - last but never ever least - there are projects that just might turn into Christmas gifts piled there too. Uggh! Life never ceases for a moment - even if you are a busy mom much in need of a vacation AND a pedicure. But this is the season of my life now...chaos. My goal is to simply enjoy the ride and attempt to make a little order along the way. Come see what we are up to... Rich was recently released as Young Men's President and is now serving as the Scout Master in our ward. He just came home yesterday from a campout at Neptune's Beach. There he camped with the boys and a few dads in a huge cave over looking tidepools. It's a pretty awsome place although I wouldn't want to actually sleep there myself...
Micah is in 6th grade now. We are still homeschooling but she takes classes 2 full days a week at a private homeschool center in town. She is taking a 7th grade advanced math class and band/orchestra where she is learning to play the flute. I already have her signed up to play the flute in the Primary Children's program next month. She has also started doing volunteer work twice a week. She reads to seniors who are in a nursing home. She is getting so good at the piano and is sightreading music well. She is turning into such a beautiful young lady - I cannot believe it. This Summer she will be old enough to go to girls camp! Then it's Young Women's, dances, EFY, driving, dating , university... aaaaccckkkkk! make it stop... Kyra is now 8 yrs old. She was baptized this past summer and just recently saved up enough money to get her ears pierced. She is doing so good with school this year. She is already more than halfway done with her math text (we are going at a really fast pace) and is working hard with her language arts and history. She writes stories all day long and when she is not writting a story she is out with the chickens in the backyard coop. She is taking Karate, is in girl scouts and doing well in piano too. Gannon is so full of energy. He continues to do well in math and science but he really loves history. He is reading the story of Beowulf and is just loving all of the over the top blood and gore. (That is one epic poem just made for 9 yr old boys...) He just finished his Bear and will move into weeblos when he turns 10 in December. He loves Karate and he loves to run. I am thinking of putting him into the homeschool trialthlon class at Logos Academy next year. He tolerates piano but is actually getting very good. Eli is still crazy. He is 6 and is learning to read and do basic math. He takes homeschool Karate with the rest of us. He is the most hyper kid in the class - always talking to his neighbor... He has been dressing like a pirate ever since we came back from Disneyland. As for me - well - I am being run ragged by these hooligans running amuck in my home 24/7. But I have to admit that I actually like the craziness... most days... depending on the cycle of the moon... I am still teaching step at the gym in exchange for a free family membership and a miniscule check twice a month. I am also taking Karate with the kids so watch out... I figure if I stick with it I will have my balck belt in another 5 years. There are many homeschool black belt mamas in our group that I so admire - so it is a possibility... we'll see. That's all for now check in again soon - Donna

More Pictures --Disneyland & Midieval Times

Okay, okay - Here are more pictures from our fabulous trip! (I knew you were just dying to see them!)

Disneyland Trip

Our trip to Disneyland was magical. It really was the best time we have had as a family. We got to just play for 5 whole days at the Magic Kingdom. There was no fighting, no whinning and and there were maids to clean up our rooms. We went on every ride at least once and since there were no crowds in late September (gotta love that homeschooling thing...) the kids got to do things like bake cookies with Alice and the Mad Hatter, dance in the Block Party and join in the Pirate fights in New Orleans Square. Our favorite ride was Grizzly River Run. It is a wet ride but since the weather was perfect we must have ridden it 5 or 6 times. Star Tours was a close second and of course the newly remodeled Pirates of the Caribbean.


We got to see many of the characters out and about. Micah bought an autograph book and filled it up by the end of our stay. We were able to see the last showing of Aladdin the Musical before in ended its season. It was fantastic. We stayed in So. Cal for over a week and got to spend time with my family and some friends. Ahhhhh... it was a wonderful vacation. The kids are already starting to save for next time.

Welcome to another addition of “Keeping up with the Joneses.” Mother’s day is just around the corner and our lives are more than busy. We are right in the middle of 8 weeks of Homeschool Hogwarts and at night Donna and the 3 older kids are participating in our Stake Musical - The Secret Garden. Rich and Eli are busy hanging out during rehearsals.
We had a snowy beginning to our season but aside from that our Winter and Spring have both been rather dry (by Oregon standards) and beautiful. The lake is full and the kids and I are enjoying daily walks and picnics on the lakeshore. I can think of no better way than to spend the day out by the lake armed with snacks, field guides and art supplies, reading and keeping up our nature journals. It has been simply pleasurable. Read on to find out what we have been up to.

Kyra is our resident “Chicken Whisperer.” If you haven't noticed - that is a baby chick asleep on its back in Krya’s hands. Kyra is going to be 8 soon and is excited about being baptized. She is already planning the program and plans to sing a solo.



A Poem by Kyra age 7
“I like animals.
I want to be a vet.
I like kittens most of all-
It’s great to have a pet"

History Reports

Gannon participated in his 2nd Pinewood Derby. His car was the fastest the first 2 races but then his wheel s froze for the rest of the races. Next year we will NOT be using the liquid graphite.

Julius Caesar
by Gannon age 9
Julius Caesar was so powerful that he became a dictator. Then he said two things that made the senators mad. He told the senate that he was the dictator but others kings would be amazed if you call me king and when I die then my nephew Octavian will be the next king.
Brutus was Caesar's best friend and one of the senators. Now he was scared and then one of the senate said to kill Julius Caesar the next time he comes and everyone agreed, even Brutus. Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the senate. Before he died he said, “Et tu Brute” and died.

Micah has been very busy this year. She was is a play called “East of the Sun & West of the Moon.” She is currently in the children’s chorus of “The Secret Garden” and is writing a short play called “Penny Pan and the Adventures in Everland” to be performed at local libraries this Summer. She is still playing the piano and will begin junior band in September. She still has not decided between clarinet or flute.

Julius Caesar
by Micah age 10

The Caesars were a very important and rich family of Rome. One day the Caesars had a baby boy, they called him Julius Caesar. Julius’s father said, “My boy will do great things“. I wonder if he knew that Julius Caesar would become the most important man in Rome.
When Julius Caesar was an adult he wanted to be a consul, one of two people who rule Rome. Julius threw parties, helped some people out and he even defeated pirates! Everyone wanted to vote for Caesar, but there were already two consuls. Julius convinced them to let him be a third one anyway. They were called the triumvirate.
One day Julius became so popular and important that he said he would be Emperor and that his nephew would be Emperor after him. The Senators didn’t like that, they were suppose to help the Consuls rule Rome. They wanted to choose the next Emperor. So they planned to kill Caesar on March 15th.
Julius Caesar was killed by his old friend Brutus.
Julius Caesar was born in 100 B.C.
He was killed on March 15, 44 B.C.