June Junctures

Lego Mini Builds at Arden Fair Mall

Last day of Kindergarten for Lovely Daughter!

These teachers are probably two of the best teachers out there.

Both taught traditional kindergarten for many years, but when they learned about the Montessori way of teaching, they recognized that this was more appropriate for children to understand at this age.

I completely agree!!

This past school year, Hard Working Dad served as a seminary teacher for the Junior class in our stake.  One morning, he brought waffles as a reward for one of his students who had read the New Testament everyday in a month. He mentioned his infamous waffles to one of his carpool kids and that boy, said his mom made the best waffles ever.  Let the contest begin!  Hard Working Dad challenged Amazing Mom to a WAFFLE OFF!  We invited 8 unassuming judges. 

Who won you may ask?  It was hard to choose because the waffles were so different.  One of our judges explained, "One of the waffles was fluffy and light and would be great with sweet things like fruit and whipped cream.  The other was more dense and substantial and would be great with added ingredients like chicken and cheese (interesting combo, but I'm just relaying the thought)."  I think the contest was a draw.  Let's just say... there was a lot of waffle eating involved! Our combined Family Home Evening was a fun time with some wonderful friends. 

We now have three Boy Scouts in our family!
It's summer, so I thought it would be the perfect time to work on merit badges.  In May, we focused on Reading and Music merit badges. This month, we're working on Citizenship in the Nation.
Here the children are in the California State Capitol Senate Chambers.  

One of the bishops in our stake works for a Senate Committee and was able to give us a unique tour of this historic and beautiful building.  We happened upon another capitol volunteer who gave us a distinctive tour of the circa 1902 Secretary of State room that is usually roped off to the public.  We learned about the term "Cutting the Red Tape". The first DMV was in that office and a drivers' license issued back then was lifelong.  He shared the purpose of a small mirror in the room (to check the backwards type before going to press).  A state ledger was opened on a desk showing a Bank of Italy (the future Bank of America) entry. 

As we walked through Capitol Park, we happened upon a statue of Thomas Starr King. 

 Son #1 attended a school that honored this minister and statesman.

A quick trip to the local Fish Hatchery.

Hanging out with friends.

Going to the park.

"Creating beds for our babies (pine cones)".

While at the park, all of the children helped an elderly lady find her lost house key.

We have such sweet kids!

Let the summer begin!

I Am a Child of God

Hello Friends - I have hijacked my wife's blog today, to relate something funny. But first I should clarify something. I guess my name in this forum is "hard-working dad." I'm not sure how accurate this is. I do work a lot, but it's not "hard" work. I am a creative professional and I do a lot of sitting. I do most of my movement with my fingers and most of my problem solving concerns typefaces and visual reference. So, not a lot of effort there. Thanks to my wife for making me look like I earn my keep though.

And now on with our story. One day I was relating something to a well-known story from the Bible. When I looked at my kids for a response, I was met with blank stares. It then occurred to me that it was my responsibility to teach them these stories and lessons. So for a few weeks now, we've been doing trivia at the dinner table. If they don't know the answer, then we stop and I tell them a story. This way, because I am talking, I don't eat as much and the kids get to hear some stories; so, win win.

We usually go around the table with each child answering an age appropriate question from an old church trivia game I have. It was our son #3's turn and the question was as follows: "In the song, 'I Am a Child of God,' what is great?

Our son was stumped, but before he could even answer our little 6yr. old lovely daughter got really excited and said, "I know! I know! My knees!" (She was pointing to her knees.)

The answer is from the line that says, "I am a child of God, and so my NEEDS are great." It took me a second to make the connection, but we all agreed that our daughter does have great knees and now we've got a great story too.

May Movings

First let me clarify the post title.  WE ARE NOT MOVING from our house!

BUT  we are always on the go aka moving!

Yes, that is our humungous, out-of-control back/sideyard mulberry tree.

We noticed about 3 months ago that our branches had beautiful, intricate designs.  We called a pest control specialist and found that Powder Post Beetles were making the creations on all of the dead wood surrounding the tree... aka "the Fort". 

Hard-Working Dad and the kids had spent hours on creating this makeshift fort.  Now due to the infestation of these beetles... it was time to either trim the tree or chop it down.  (The specialist suggested we take care of it asap before the critters hit the house and then cause marital problems.  He was speaking from experience.) We opted to take the whole tree out. 

We'd been wanting more gardening/lawn space in the back and this was a good time to start the process.  Someday, maybe we'll even be able to post a lush backyard but for now, it's super sunny... perfect for tomatoes and horrible for the 2 ferns and maple that were once relishing in the shade of the mulberry.

 Spring Carnival at the local school was fun for the family and one friend.

I was surprised the snack bar provided "no sugar" sodas!  Yayyy!

Thank you Zevia!

The end of the school year means the end of many fun, educational homeschool classes!

Here Son #2 is performing Grumio's Grumio in the Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew.

Very Involved Mom was the Room Parent for April and she was concerned that this play may be too challenging for some of these students.  But when we saw their performance, we were so impressed with their abilities to improvise when things didn't quite go as practiced as you can see in this scene with Grumio's Grumio (Son #2), Grumio and Curtis.  Bravo!

Son #3 completed his Lego Engineering Class.

 Son #1 worked on making an aircraft carrier which correlated to the Korean/Cold War and his reading of "The Lord of the Flies"for his final English Project.

Jog-a-thon at Lovely Daughter's school!

Father and Son Campouts are always great together time!

 Son #3 and Friend D find chickens in a bush.

Campfire with other fathers and sons from the ward.

Outside Fun in the Sun

 Lovely Daughter and Friend L playing in a jeep after completing Poetry in the Park with other homeschool families.

Here is the poem she wrote and recited:

The Cat- What and What is it?

I am a cat.

I like to chase a bat.

I am fat.

I wear a hat.

I know a lamb.

And I eat ham.

My legs can bend.

This is the end.

Here was Son #2's Poem:

Peanut Peg and Peanut Pete by Jack Prelutsky

Here was Son #3's Poem:

The Duck by Ogden Nash

Very Involved Mom wanted a simple birthday. 

So we went to a nearby park with Aunt R (she was celebrating her birthday too).

On Memorial Day, we received free tickets to the Zoo.

 After the zoo, we headed to the Veterans' Cemetery in Dixon, CA.

We checked the Google Map app on our iphone to see how long it would take.  Well, there were 3 sections on our route with red dashes... meaning.... accidents or delays.  Hard Working Dad has little patience for sitting in traffic so we decided to take the scenic back roads.  It probably took about the same amount of time, but oh so much more beautiful!  We saw farms, but also since we were so close to the wildlife preserves, we saw birds that we would never see in the city (egrets, herons, vultures, hawks and birds we could not identify).  Much more of an adventure to be sure!!

We then placed flowers on Tutu A's grave.  

We miss him!