Daddy Daughter Campout

Last weekend was our wards annual daddy daughter campout and this was a momentous year. Not only did Jared take all three girls, but they got to go with their cousins too! Poor Jared flew in Friday afternoon from a week long business trip in Las Vegas and had to leave for the campout four hours later. That poor guy was exhausted! Denny got their first and discovered he'd forgotten his tent poles so they ended up bunking with Jared and the girls which according to Mellie and Katie made it MUCH cooler.  

The evening started off with a fantastic round of hunting for seashells. This has become a tradition that they look forward to and they come home with pockets full of them. Melody turned her big one into a jewelry box. She thinks its very mermaid like.

Next came the gooey yumminess that is s'mores. I made the mistake of buying the giant marshmallows and dear Katie couldn't resist the urge to enjoy them to the fullest!

As usual they finished off the evening with a few rounds of night games. Unfortunately that always means the kids don't get to sleep until well after 10 p.m. which means cranky, crazy terrors for the next few days. Especially Allie!

The next morning Katie woke up before everyone, which is super unusual, and took Allie to pick flowers. When Jared woke up and couldn't find Allie he freaked out just a little. When he found them both with handfuls of flowers he snapped a few pictures just for me! I love these girls so much, but boy is it nice to get a chance to miss them!

Growing up so fast!

Melody's friend came to the park a few weeks ago super excited to show her that he had finally figured out how to ride a two wheeler. Before seeing him she had absolutely zero interest in learning how to ride a two wheeler. I had even suggested once or twice that we try riding without the training wheels and she freaked out! However, after seeing Patrick zip around on his bike she took it upon herself to find the tools and take off her training wheels on her own. My giant belly makes it a tiny bit difficult to hold on to her seat and help her find her balance so she was completely on her own for this one. She's been working on it for almost two weeks and last Friday she finally got the hang of it! Now she wants to take her bike everywhere!! Also, much to Katie's delight, now that Melody's completely occupied with her bike she's more than willing to let Katie borrow her skates. Lot's of good exercise happening around this house lately! I'm super proud of them both and how tenacious they are when they are ready to learn something new. There's no swaying their interest until they've figured it out.

Beautiful Spring Day!

Jared made a quick trip to Utah last week so he could attend his dad's wedding. When he's out of town, no matter how long, I go into survival mode. I honestly don't know how single parents manage to do the things they do and stay sane. By the time Jared gets home in the evening I'm ready to lose it! I usually hand over the care of our sweet beautiful children the minute he gets home and find a quiet place to eat my chocolate reserves.

So while he was gone we did school as quickly as possible and just relaxed the rest of the day. Thursday was the most beautiful day! Not too hot, not too cold, nice and cloudy. We couldn't have asked for better weather! I decided that the kids were going to play in the back yard for as long as I could keep them interested. They bounced between baseball, soccer, and pretend while I plopped my self down in a chair and worked on a blanket for the baby. When they got hungry we went in and made a pile of sandwiches and took everything outside. I absolutely LOVED having a big back yard when I was little, and being able to give my girls something I loved so dearly makes me so happy!

Learning Useful Skills

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is being able to tailor our lessons to what interests the girls right now. Since I do a lot of sewing the girls naturally want to be involved and make fun things for themselves. We've been doing small sewing lessons off and on for a while, just getting them used to sewing straight lines and familiarizing them with the machine itself. They've both really been enjoying it, so when I decided to just do simple skirts for Easter I thought it would be fun to let them help make them.

Melody has been sewing longer than Katie so she was able to do a lot more on her skirt. After we decided on the fabric she wanted I had her watch a how to video on one of my favorite blogs MADE .
It made it so much easier for her to see really quickly what the steps were and how she needed to do each one. After she finished the video she was off and running. I did a little guiding here and there, but she did a good portion of it by herself. I'm not sure who was more proud, me or her!

Katie was able to help me pick the fabric and cut everything out, but my procrastination ended up causing me to sew it quickly Saturday night! She was happy to be involved and to practice her sewing cards. She's such a sweet girl. When I told her I was going to have to sew it she said, "it's ok mom! I'll get better and I'll make it myself next year!" I just love her happy, positive attitude when she's learning something new.

Creating room for them to explore

The thing I think I've loved most about homeschool is being able to give my girls the room to be who they are. There's no competition between girls to have the cutest outfit or the best hair here in our home. The societal pressures are removed and they can be exactly who they feel like being that day. They can be moody and retreat outside to work on an assignment, or be involved and excited about a recent interest. I lose track of the number of times Katie runs to her room to cry for a minute (lots of emotions in that one right now) but it's ok because we're not on a tight schedule. They have room to be little and figure out how to deal with their thoughts and feelings.

Today Melody tromped into my bathroom where I was cleaning to show me the slug she found under a log in the back yard. I had to take in all there was to see for just a moment. She was wearing a dress up skirt she made last year, her winter boots, her vampire teeth (a recent obsession) and a dandelion necklace she had just made with neat and tidy pigtails holding a slimy slug in her hand. All I could think in that moment was how very grateful I am to be able to give them this childhood. I'm so grateful for the guidance and promptings that led us to the decision to homeschool. For Jared's overwhelming support and willingness to work so hard to ensure not only that I can stay home with them, but that we have everything we need to make learning fun. I'm grateful my girls have the room to explore who they are and what they like and don't like and become the individuals they want to be.