Crazy Fall Schedule

So I should know better by now. I've been homeschooling for 9 years and I always tell people to be really careful that they don't overschedule themselves when they first start out to homeschool. It's so easy to say yes to so many great things since there are many wonderful opportunities for homeschoolers. There are classes, lessons, field trips, exhibits, co-ops, playdates, park days, meetings, focus groups, study groups, and the list goes on. I love that people think homeschoolers just sit home all day and do work at the kitchen table. I wish we could stay home more and just be. I'm going to be much more careful when putting our spring schedule together.

One of the great opportunities Justin has been fortunate to be able to do is Horse Care at Sienna Ranch. Sienna Ranch is a small ranch run by homeschoolers and they offer classes that involve ranch animals and nature. Justin goes every week and spends two hours caring for horses and learning to ride as well. They brush the horses, clean out their stalls and learn all about the different horses. He absolutey loves his horse care class. This week I went and took pictures because I really wanted to see him ride a horse. They had a visiting cowboy teaching roping lessons and he let them ride his personal horse. What a wonderful horse he had. He was so gentle and well behaved. Justin did great on the horse and I know this is time well spent.

Garden Harvest

Well, after figuring out that in order for my garden to be successful I have to water, water, water, I finally was able to grow things. I actually leave the hose on the plants and it drips continuously so that they're always being watered. Once I started doing that things started to grow and produce. For some reason Bryan's grapes grow without having to water them. We finally were able to harvest them and my dad and Marcus ate them. Breanna ate some too and we took some to Bill and Kathleen. The sad thing is, we got about two days of grapes and it was over. We did get a lot though on those two days, enough to last us a few weeks. My tomato plants have done well and they taste so yummy. I do have a few tomato plants that were given to me from an organic farm but they're taking longer to produce. I forgot to stake them so the branches are laying all over the ground. Lesson learned, stake your tomatoes early. We have 17 pumpkins on the vine and Breanna and I have named them all. We have Bob (he was our first pumpkin), Barry (his little brother), Petie, Stevie, Josie, Carly, Gary, Jerry, Larry, Pumpkin Pie, Sweetie Pie, Cutie Pie, Bow, Peep, Suzy, Chloe and I can't remember the last one. Breanna wrote out their names on popsicle sticks and put them in the ground next to the pumpkins so we would remember their names. It was a good lesson in writing for her and she enjoyed it. We're going to keep 3 of the pumpkins for ourselves and give away the rest. My roses have done really well too. The soaking has really helped and I think this has been my best year ever for roses. I've had a ton of zucchini and made zucchini bread, muffins, and grilled zucchini. I've been able to give some away too which I love to do. The chickens have been producing eggs and we've even been a little backed up with eggs. I have to find people to give them to. It's a lot of work and I have to constantly be out there working on the yard but it's worth it.

Guinea Pigs!

My friend Marie asked me at church one Sunday if I wanted guinea pigs. She had three that she wanted to get rid of and offered them to me. It was funny because on the way to church that morning I was just thinking I'd like guinea pigs. I took some time to think about it, asked the kids and of course they said yes and then approached Bryan. We already have 10 pets with the 4 chickens, 2 bunnies, 2 frogs, a gecko and a cat so adding three more pets was a big deal. All the animals have to be fed and everyone poops. It takes time and money to care for so many animals. Plus, guinea pigs can be stinky and you have to change their cage bedding at least once a week. We found out that guinea pigs eat the same food as the bunnies so I wouldn't have to buy different food and the kids would help clean out the cage. There is no reason why I should have to feed and care for all these animals by myself especially since we have all these animals for the kids. I love having them and I don't really mind taking care of them but I don't want to do it by myself. So after some convincing, Bryan agreed, I'm sure not willingly though. Marie brought them over, cage and all and the kids and I fell in love. They are so sweet. You can put them on your lap and pet them while you watch TV. They will pee on you so you have to put a towel down first but they sure are cute. Their cage does get a little stinky but that's part of the deal. Justin helped me clean it out the other day and it's almost time to do it again. It almost needs to be done twice a week in order to keep it really clean and nice. They love fruits and vegetables so I try to give them something every day. We put them out in the bunny run yesterday while Marcus was practicing drums because I was afraid he would give them a heart attack from all the noise. They liked the grass but it was getting really warm so we brought them back in. Their names are Bugsy (black and white short hair), Isabel (black and white long hair), and Flower (brown). Isabel was named Oscar but we just couldn't call a girl that so Justin renamed her. It's so fun to have my mini farm. I really do love it.

Justin the Artist

Justin is so creative and sometimes he amazes me. He went online and watched several utube vidneos on how to make your own Halo helmet. First he took paper and made a pattern and then he cut the pieces out of cardboard from old shoe boxes. Then he taped the pieces together, found some plastic from his predator figure box to make a shield and then he spray painted it red. It looks really good and he spent the whole day working on it. He loves to draw and create things and he has real talent. Marcus loves to draw too and so does Breanna. They get that from Bryan's side of the family.

Pumpkins!

My volunteer pumpkin plants bloomed while we were in Maui and now we have a few little pumpkins forming. It' s fun to see them grow and I keep checking for more. I've been soaking a plant in the yard each day and it's really starting to show. I know my pumpkin grew overnight and I see new growth on all the plants. The plants haven't been wilting in the afternoon like they usually do either. I need to cage the tomato plants and the pepper plants that I got from the organic farm that we toured in Pleasanton two months ago. I planted them really deep like the guy told me and they took a while to grow but they look really full and healthy after a few days fo soaking them. The other tomato plants are doing okay. The leaves are turning yellow and getting crispy but we do have tomatoes on the vines and a couple are starting to turn red. I've harvested 3 cherry tomatoes and 1 little roma tomato. They sure were good. The grapes are still growing strong but they aren't ready to pick yet since it hasn't been warm enough. The corn didn't do so well. I have one really good stalk and everyone who grows corn knows that you have to have several stocks close together so they can polinate each other. My watermelon plants are the same size as the day I brought them home from the nursery and planted them in the ground. I have been soaking them too everyday and I think I see some growth. My lettuce plants are huge and really need to be harvested. Those were volunteer plants too so they aren't spaced correctly. The pumpkin plants are taking over and I love seeing all that green in my garden.

It's Summer!

I finally feel like summer is here. We left for Maui June 9th and came back June 24th. We had a great time and it was so nice to be on the beach and stay in a condo and not have much to do. As soon as we came home we went to an A's game, went to the fair, bought a new car, saw friends, did laundry and got the house and yard back in order. Then we had the 4th of July weekend to get ready for. Justin went to church camp last week and since one of the boys was gone I didn't feel like I had to do school with them. We're doing school through the summer because I feel behind on things. We got so busy during the school year doing other educational things that we never got to the things I had planned. Anyway, I've been able to stay up late, sleep in late, move slowly during the sunny day, clean, organize, sew and run errands. We even had a garage sale today and I finished a book I had started a while ago. It feels like summer. Marcus left for scout camp today and I miss him already. He does so much around the house and he doesn't need that much from me. He's fun to have around and that boy grows every day. I'm enjoying watching him grow into a young man. He's forming his ideas and opinions and is willing to listen to what I have to say. He joined a boy scout troop in February and we've really been struggling with some fo the issues that come from a group like this-communication, organization, expectations, disappointments, confusion. We're making progress and Marcus said he would give it until after camp to decide wether or not to stay in scouts. I hope he has a good time. The weather was strange today-well, hasn't it been strange for a while? I was sitting in the living room and the school house out back looked pink so I looked at the sunset and it was beautiful . Here is a picture.

Marcus' 13th Birthday Party

Since I did Justin's birthday on here I figured I'd better do Marcus' birthday too especially since he turned 13 this year. Our kids are now 5, 10 and 13. It's crazy but it's here. I love their ages though. Breanna is so much more independent and wonderful, Justin is great and Marcus is changing by the minute. He gets taller and more handsome each day that passes. It's weird and great at the same time. We had his party on Saturday May 9th but his real birthday is May 7th. He wanted a football themed party (again with the theme, I know). I made the invitations (that's another thing that I always do) and they were really cute. Then I made a football field cake with football players and goals. Bryan made the goals out of pipe cleaners. That man is amazing with pipe cleaners. I love homemade cakes and its always fun to get creative and match the cake with the theme. The last two parties I haven't had any cake leftover. That usually doesn't happen. He invited a bunch of people since I didn't put a limit on the number an I figured everyone would be really busy in May on a Saturday so a lot of people wouldn't be able to come. Well, I was a bit wrong. We had a great turnout and I counted over 14 boys over the age of 10 and a lot more little kids plus lots of parents and family. We usually invite the family too because otherwise I end up having several parties to cover everyone. I like it better that way anyway. We had hotdogs and football food-chips, dip, finger food. I tried to make whatever I would have made for Superbowl Sunday. I forgot how much teenage boys eat and we ran out of food pretty fast. The soda was gone in an instant and I had to resort to lemonade and water. After they had all eaten and were starting to run around Bryan took all, and I mean all, the kids to the school that's behind our house. I assumed someone went with him to watch the younger kids who were playing at the playground. I was wrong. I did look over the back fence and saw Bryan with all the older boys playing a very organized game of football and then realized that all the little kids were playing by themselves at the playground. Shea and Alyssa went over to the park so all was well. I managed to sit down and enjoy the quiet and realized that this was the best party ever! We couldn't see, hear or smell the kids and we were at a kids birthday party. Well, that didn't last but it was nice. The kids all came back and we did presents and cake. I didn't do party favors for this party either and I feel a little bad but again, do the kids really care? I don't think so. Marcus had a great time and that's all that matters. Is he really 13? How did this happen? It's all good though. I'm falling down in the picture taking too. I usually take so many pictures of their parties but I haven't lately. I do regret that and I plan on working on being better at that. I don't have a good picture of Marcus at his own party but the cake looks good.