Left my Heart in San Francisco

During our glorious Super Mega Ultimate Summer, we took a road trip to visit my brother and his family in San Francisco.   My kids are great travelers, all they need is The Three Stooges on the DVD player.  They giggled and laughed for six hours.

While there, we hit Stinson Beach.  My kids were in heaven...

my kids were awed by the idea that this beach has shark infested waters.

They loved playing frisbee with my brother, who I love and adore, even if he calls me "Twinkiehead"

AK got a mini surf lesson, and she loved it.

Nate found some Jellyfish that didn't sting.

And AK fell in love with boogie boarding.

We also drove down Lombard street like all the tourist do, but Miss AK rolled down her window and asked, "Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?" to all the tourists.  We laughed and laughed, it was hilarious, that joke NEVER gets old.

We visited China Town

And we visited a fortune cookie factory that was a total tourist trap.   AK got a double fortune in her cookie, which apparently means double the good luck.  Mr. Boy calls them "Future cookies" and it makes me giggle every time. 

Mr. Boy and AK love being in San Francisco, and so do I.  My brother is so good to me, and I love spending time with his cute little family.  

I'm craving the lazy days of the Super Ultimate Summer... anyone else? 

Christmas 2010

Since the kids went to bed super late, they woke up late, which was awesome. I must remember this tip for next year. 

When asked who was on the naughty list, they were quick to name each other. 

Mr. Man must have been pretty good, because Santa brought him Star Wars Chapstick. 

I made AK a book all about her princess visits to Disneyland.  She loved it most of all. 

Well, she did until she got some Star Wars Action Figures of her very own. 

Even Baby Roller Hand got a gift from Santa.

Mr. Boy got Mr. Man this sweet hat.  Mr. Boy ran out the room screaming, "Wait!! Daddy! Wait!" before Mr. Man could open it. Mr. Boy came back into the room wearing his favorite Fedora.  "Okay Dad, now you can open your gift."

We sent Mr. Boy on a hunt for his final gift.

The look of sheer joy when he opened it was contagious.

And I loved his spontaneous gratitude.  He's a good kid. 

Later on Nana & Grandpa came by.  Nana had been too tired to come the day before. She slept a good part of the day, but the kids loved the time they got to spend with her.

AK shows off her spoils.

Mr. Boy does the same.

I love Lazy Christmas Days, hanging around in PJ's, playing with toys. 

Homeschool What?

Two weeks ago, I attended a Homeschool Convention. Let me repeat that for the folks who just fell out of their chairs from shock. I attended a Homeschool Convention; because I don't know what the future holds for public education. The budget cuts, high admin costs, and large class sizes has me pretty discouraged about the future of public education and my family. Last year, we couldn't wrap our head around the ginormous kindergarten class size, so we ponyed up some cash and sent Mr. Boy to a small sweet Kindergarten with less than 14 kids. This year we interviewed at private schools, and everytime I looked at the Tuition Payment Schedule I felt chest pains. There has to be a better way. At the suggestion of Mr. Boys teacher and some dear friends, I started looking at homeschooling. I even asked Mr. Boy, "What if mom was your teacher?" And daily he started asking me when I would start teaching him, "And would you be teaching me cooking & Lego building too?" We even tried a "trial day" at our house and in 2 hours, we did a full school day. That even included a science experiment where we blew stuff up.

My friend Laura who is struggling with the same issues joined me at the "Not Back to School Days" Convention put on by the Southwest Home Educators Association. We met with vendors, chatted with homeschool moms, and got some info. I even bought some Curriculum to supplement the kids schooling.

I learned that I'm considered to be a "Refugee Homeschooler", someone who considers homeschooling, because I'm not thrilled with public education. Everyone seemed to recommend the A Beka curriculum for language, and they had some great resources. They have an online academy with virtual lectures and everything. I was totally surprised to find out that Mr. Man's Alma Mater, BYU, has a virtual academy for Jr. High & High Schoolers. That's awesome, maybe Mr. Boy & AK can do Jr. High & High School through them, and that will satisfy Mr. Man's craving to have the kids be BYU Alumni. (I'm a heathen, no BYU for me!) I just couldn't get enough of the Blackbird Press reading guides. They are literature guides that go along with your favorite books. The activities are perfect for Mr. Boy, even better, Mr. Boy actually enjoys doing them. He doesn't view it as "work." Brilliant Product!

I loved chatting with Susan at Fun Places Publishing, who wrote THE ULTIMATE guidebook on places to go with your kids in Southern California. This thing is awesome and full of great info. She also gave us the best "You can do this, and you will not regret homeschooling" pep talk. Through her book, I realized homeschooling gives you the flexibility to teach hands on. Want to learn about the ocean, go to the beach, visit the aquarium, go whale watching... 10 times better than a textbook. This book is crazy amazing for anyone young and old looking for a local adventure. Are you aware that there is something called CAVA. which is a virtual academy that is FREE to those who reside in certain counties in California? Orange County & LA County are included. They provide your curriculum, online lectures, and access to a teacher to guide you. It's amazing, and it uses K12 curriculum which we loved.

Then there is homeschool-hybrids, which is where the kids attend schools two or so days a week, and you homeschool the remaining days. I LOVE the idea of this. At the end, we hit the Lego Store for some creative building. Mr. Man would say that Legos is all you need for an education!

All in all, I'd say it's an option I would absolutely consider. There are so many great resources, and I learned that this isn't a solitary adventure. There are local groups to support you, and lots of moms willing to split up the teaching. I loved the flexibility of homeschooling, and these people are living the concept of "It takes a village" to raise their children. The very moment I start to feel like public school isn't working, I am armed and ready to give homeschooling a try.

Dear God...

Thank youFor this little girl... And this little boy... And for the chance to live here... to enjoy this.... in December!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...

Other occasions of Merriment

The kids school put on a "Journey to Bethelehem" activity in which the kids got to learn all sorts of ancient traditions and history. Here the kids make dreidels with some of our pals. And we all learned a Jewish dance... And here is AK with one of her favorite people on the planet, her teacher, or as AK calls her, "This is MY friend" She is incredibly gifted and her class is filled with singing and dancing.

This is Mr. Boy's teacher, each and every day we gave thanks for this amazing teacher who "gets Mr. Boy" and loves him. She laughs a lot and Mr. Boy loves her, because of her he doesn't want to miss a single minute of school.
The kids found this amazing stick that looked just like antlers. And they both tried them out. We decided to head over to South Coast Plaza, my fourth favorite place on the planet. We had to take a minute to take a picture of the Worlds Largest Christmas Tree. It was gorgeous but I couldn't shake the feeling that I had already seen the World's Largest Christmas tree somewhere else. Oh that's right, there are three trees in the area boasting the same title. We rode the carousel which they change out for the holiday. It has reindeers and sleighs. You can also glimpse Santa as you go around, and AK kept missing him. She burst into tears anxious to see her friend again. Finally, he stood up and waved and all was well again.
It was on this trip that I found a rare member of the Justice League that Mr. Boy had asked Santa for and was able to sneak it up to the register, thanks to a whole team of people who occupied my children while I paid. I accidentally left the package out on my desk and it was discovered the next morning. Drats!! However, Mr. Boy understands the importance of suprises this year. He helped me wrap it and gave an oscar winning performance on Christmas morning pretending he had no idea that I had bought it for him. Thankfully, he believes that I communicate with Santa on which presents we are already buying for him. Phew!

Bear with me... It's gonna feel like A Christmas Carol

I still have lots of things I want to remember about this holiday season, so you are going to feel like each posts is like the Ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future.

Remember AK and her cute performance in a previous post, well Mr. Boy performed too. Here are the angel costumes I worked on. And I'm pretty sure Mr. Boy isn't singing "Glooooooooooria" with his tongue hanging out of his mouth like that. Here is Baby Rollerhand and AK before we left for one of our parties. They had matching dresses, I'm pretty sure that was the first outfit Baby Rollerhand wore this entire year, despite the drawer full of doll clothes.And a candid of Mr. Boy with Sandy showing off his Pokemon cards. Curse you classmates for introducing Pokemon cards to Mr. Boy, and double curses for having the odacity to share and give some cards to him. I swore I would have a Pokemon-free house. I also swore my children would never have a tantrum in public...At our Church's Christmas Party, Mr. Boy snapped this cute pic of AK with some of our favorite friends.So, we spent most of the month of December trying to see Santa. Both kids were terrified of the man in the big red suit. We would go to the mall, stand in line, and get close and then the tears would start and someone would end up running away. *flashback* Two years ago, Mr. Boy ran outside at the mention of Santa while at a party. He just took off running, and unfortunately ran smack into the side of a clipboard a man was carrying, split his head right open. Santa hadn't even arrived yet. Last year Mr. Boy kept probing me about Santa "coming into our house" and was terrified at the thought of Santa being "in his space". *end flashback*

At this Christmas party everyone is sitting, singing carols and in walks Santa. AK leaps up and runs over to him and leaps into his arms. He carried her around a bit, and I stood there baffled. This is the child who was the first one to start crying at the sight of the mall santa. Mr. Boy waited in line knowing this was his chance to ask Santa for what he wanted on Christmas morning. He had carefully weighed the options for an entire week, and decided a minute of terror would be managable if it involved getting Pokemon cards and the "Big Red Dragon". We had talked about how you should just ask for one thing, but apparently he forgot all about that. Santa leaned forward, and Mr. Boy whispered for a long time a list of everything he wanted, including the stores he had seen them at, and in some cases the price. Every holiday my mom and I do something festive, last year we saw the Rockettes, this year we went to this fabulous resturant called The White House, the highlight of the evening was giggling while we perused the chef's cookbook that was filled with pictures of scantily clad waiters seductively holding the chef's creation.

It wouldn't be holidays without a visit to Neiman Marcus and pictures in front of the World's Largest Christmas Tree. And we had to take a moment to be silly. And it was on this trip we purchased the infamous Christmas Sweater. Mr. Boy has worn it nonstop since he tried it on in this dressing room. Mr. Boy insists he wants his new room to look just like this dressing room. And can she get any cuter!?! I just love having a little girl. Wouldn't she look adorable in Paris? She would look lovely in a pink beret to match her coat. Let's move there I say!

These next two pics represent the essence of Mr. Boy. This is the two sides to him. There is no middle... he is so totally full of life, head thrown back in laughter embracing every minute.

And also totally determined and focused with his little tongue off to side as he concentrates on doing his best work. Well, maybe there is one other.... the mischievious side. However, I love it... wouldn't change a thing.