Home schooling may be one of the greatest challenges I have taken on as a parent. One of my biggest struggles is making learning fun. If the boys spend all day doing seat work, writing, and listening to me teach them, they start to become unmanageable. A house of unmanageable children will wreck your day in a hurry. I figure if it is hard for me to find ways to make it fun, it must be hard for other […]
» Read moreOn day four of our vacation, we went to the San Diego Zoo. I even managed to arrange to meet my college roommate and her family there. I was so excited and nervous to see them! I haven’t seen Jason and Heather since 2002! They don’t know Alan! Weird, huh? Many of you know that I met Alan in college, where we began dating. Most of you don’t know too much about my life before Alan, and digging up all […]
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LegoLand theme park in California: Day 1 On day 2 of our San Diego vacation, Alan woke me up at 6am to tell me he was going to eat at the hotel and then head to the grocery store to buy breakfast. Did the hotel have free breakfast? Why yes, it did. Is there any way that our whole family of 6 will be dressed and ready before the thing closes at 9am? No, not really. Getting myself and the […]
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San Diego Day 1: I have never been so badly in need of a vacation as I was this Spring Break. Actually, I’ve lived in need of a vacation since June 2013. I promise I wasn’t always this tired and whiny. There were actually lots of years where I felt relaxed and happy. I was busy, but it was a healthy level of busy. I want to get back to that healthy level of busy, but happy again!!! Forget […]
» Read moreToday Daniel turned four. I asked him what kind of cake he’d like for his birthday. In the very early years of parenting, I always bought the boys grocery store cakes with characters on them. There were a couple of years I even tried to make super pretty cakes–Caleb had a really impressive train cake two years in a row. But decorating cakes is a giant weakness for me. I’m just not good at it, so I resorted to buying […]
» Read moreAs you can see in this picture, when it comes to my husband, I have no room for complaints. The man is clearly dressed to work. Meanwhile, he’s also wearing a kitchen towel on his shoulder. He’s trim and fit, helpful, kind, funny, and a wonderful Christian example for all. My grandfather gave me only one piece of advice my whole life: “April, never marry a man who doesn’t work.” Good advice. Alan does work hard. I wouldn’t even mention […]
» Read moreThis past week had the potential to be a total nightmare. This is “Finals Week” of the 3rd quarter for Alan, and I’m the kind of person that can only handle all four of my own children, by myself, for so long. Enter the in-laws. Their timing was perfect. Well, for me it was anyway. They probably would have liked to have spent more time with their son, sure, but I really just needed someone to take my mind off […]
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The best way to experience Monterey Bay is to grab a paddle and board a kayak. This place is amazing!!! Sea otters, seals, sea lions, pelicans, kelp, and divers are things you are guaranteed to see first hand. Would you believe that some of the Monterey Bay locals actually don’t appreciate this at all? Many of them put these sea lions, that I find so exciting, right into the “nuisance” category!! It surprised me too!! See, on the Eastern U.S. […]
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A couple of months ago, a new neighbor moved in. They have a boy Caleb’s age, and a girl in kindergarten. We’ll call this little boy New Friend and his sister New Friendette. Creative, I know. New Friend and Friendette have a glorious treasure of elementary school childhood right in their backyard. A thicket. Actually, it’s a large thicket that runs down our street a piece, so we call it “the woods.” Joshua, Caleb, and their new friends have spent […]
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I have been working all day to clean up. My in-laws are on their way! We are excited, but man, we have gotten MESSY lately. By 5:20, I couldn’t even finish straightening up. I just ran out of steam. I told the boys, “Nonna and DaddyO will be here in 2 hours!” “Yay!!!” they all cheered. I said, “We still need to go upstairs and finish cleaning up, after dinner.” Daniel jumped out of his chair, and said, “Me go […]
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