FIFTY!!

I set a goal this year to read 40 books & decided to track it through this blog. As of yesterday, I've read 50 books! Some of them I've read multiple times, but I wasn't counting it that way. Dave got me an iPod for Christmas last year & through audio books & the closest library, I think this year has been a record setting year. Granted a lot of the books were fluffy, but I'm still proud of actually setting & attaining a goal. Normally I stink at that kind of thing. I'm already thinking about next years goals...

Birthday girl!!

We celebrated Hayleah's 3rd birthday this week. Like every parent before me says, I can hardly believe my baby is *THREE*! Where did the time go!?

We had a small family party for her on her actual birthday (the 6th), & today we had a house full of friends come over to partay with us. This is the first time everyone invited actually came! Well, almost everyone. In all, I believe there were 12 kids. Not bad at all! :)

We played games, ate heart shaped pb&j sammies, swung on swings, slid down slides, chowed on some cherry chip cupcakes, & opened some nice gifts. I know Hayleah had a really fun time & I'm so glad everyone came!

I wish I had some pics to share, but alas... still no camera. (sadness)

Until next year...

School for Jojo

Since implementing the warm fuzzies, things have been going remarkably well! Jo continues to try to test me, but I'm seeing an improvement in him. His feelings of not being able to do something are, more rapidly than I expected, being replaced with the confidence he was lacking in but was so deserving of.

We're using the program K12 right now. It's an online school but most of the work is not done online. I received several boxes of text books, reading books, & other material, in the beginning & our mornings are filled with accomplishing something worthwhile.

I went to a mom's meeting last week with some girls from an LDS home school group I belonged to, what seems like a lifetime ago. It was so good to be with old friends & bounce my thoughts off them & share in lots of laughter & fondue (a bonus, I know).

Next week we are headed up to Channel 3 news station for a "field trip" tour with other home schooled kids. Jo is very excited... he's hoping for some airtime. It's not what I expected his reaction to be, but I'm learning new things about him every day!

I'm loving where we're at & where we're going with this!

Broken things

I really did it this time. Yesterday, while at the park, I had an over-excited pooch attached to a leash in one hand & my camera in the other. Ginger (the pooch) caught sight of another pup & wanted to play so badly she made a break for it, jarring me & causing my camera to drop down on the pavement. Pieces went flying everywhere & now it won't even turn on. I'm SO bummed because we really can't afford a new one right now. :(

**POOCH!!!** (said like an expletive)

Four Whole Weeks

It's not been common knowledge, since I wasn't sure how well things would go, but for the past month we've been homeschooling again. We did it with Tyler for a handful of years (3rd-7th grades), & though I wanted to do it with Jordan when he was Kindergarten age, the Husband wasn't having it.


With all the struggles Jordan was having, I decided to give homeschooling a shot while he was on track break. It wouldn't hurt anything, I figured, & it would give me an idea if this kiddo was even teachable by his mom.


For the first several weeks, it went very smoothly for the most part. He would have a small meltdown here & there of "I can't do it's", but other than that it went surprisingly well. He enjoys the time we spend together learning about new things.



His teacher called me last week to find out where he had been all week. When I started to explain to her my decision to bring him home, she was more than pleased. She wasn't able to give him the attention he needs, even with her semi-small (for Vegas, anyway) class size, so I think understood it was what he needed before even I did. She was so supportive & I was very surprised. Most teachers I know feel superior for their years spent behind a desk & don't think I'm qualified. I didn't get that from her at all!



This week I implemented a new system that I'm hoping will help him build up his confidence. He has a small jar & some little pom pom's (aka warm fuzzies) to put in it. For every task he completes without constant need for reassurance (something I didn't realize he felt he needed so badly until we began this journey), he gets to add a warm fuzzie to his jar. When the jar is filled, he gets his choice of what kind of party he'd like to have (a pizza party, he tells me).

It's exciting to see how much this small "reward", one little pom pom, motivates him to have a positive. I already see such a big difference in him. The biggest thing is he's so much happier. He really disliked learning a few weeks ago, now he's asking for more when our "day" is done. His reading has gone from "I don't like you for forcing me to do this" to complaining if it's not his night to read out of the scriptures with our family.

He's a great kid who I enjoy being around so much. I'm so thankful we're in a position that makes this choice even possible!