Journal Entry with Pictures!!

I figured that since I only update about once a month I should take the time to include some pictures. It is fun for me to scroll back through and see them too.

I can't believe how fast time has been flying by since we started homeschooling in August. I still feel like we just started. It's been four months!! I'm feeling really pleased with it so far. There are a lot of unforeseen benefits that I would like to mention. Our house gets cleaned every morning before school and because the kids are doing things with me all morning and we clean up after each activity the house stays cleaner longer. I always do the laundry during the 30 minute break that we take everyday so it gets done everyday. That used to never happen. The laundry situation used to be very scary. I feel like I spend a lot of quality time with my kids everyday which is so full-filling. I am learning a lot in this process along with the kids. Learning is so fun!! I'm becoming obsessed with reading and history!! I also feel like I am closer to the spirit everyday. There are so many things that I wouldn't know how to handle and I have to rely on inspiration to get me through. I love it!!

Jared and I have been released from the Nursery calling in church. Jared is the new Young Men's Secretary and I don't have a calling at the moment. Being released was bittersweet for me. Kids at that age are so precious and funny, but it would take me the rest of the day to recover from church. Jared is excited to be with the Young Men. He is really good at being on the youth's level. In a good way. haha. Jared is also still loving his new job. It is funny to see his health improve from the stress relief. We didn't even realize how much the stress was effecting him until now. He has a lot more time on his hands now. There is a painting in the works and I am especially excited about this one.

I just finished my four month course of herbs a couple weeks ago. I feel much better, but not over the Epstein Barr Virus yet. The Herbalist told me it may take six months and I think she was right. Most of my symptoms right now are managable and I could live the rest of my life happy if they stayed this way, but as soon as it starts messing with my sleep or my abilities to take care of my family then it makes me want to get better and get help.

Kendi recently got a haircut. It is very short. It took a day for me to get used to it, but now I think it suits her spunky personality. Not to mention, it looks better on a daily basis than it used to. It only takes a few minutes to comb it out.

Kendi is so much fun. She gets excited about everything we learn about which makes teaching easy, but she is so smart that sometimes it's hard to know if she'll be bored. Her current interests are cooking and art. She's loves the little science experiments we do and has fun with the history activities. Reading isn't her favorite thing to do, but she is really good at it.

Aydri is changing everyday. Sometimes she will say things and I don't know if it was her or Kendi talking. She loves to dance and never holds still. She loves to take bathes. She averages about three everyday. She will even give herself a cold one if she's already had one and I've told her no when she asks again. One good thing is that we do reading lesson right by the bathroom door so I can keep an eye on her and she stays out of Kendi's way so she can concentrate. Most of the time Aydri likes to join us during school and I'm surprised at how much she actually can do with us. She also loves to read books now. I can't even tell you how many books we read in a day. Lately, her eyes are looking worse so we'll be taking her back to the doctor as soon as I know our new insurance has kicked in.

For Halloween this year Jared and I decided to dress up. I don't think we've dressed up together, ever. We've talked about being Abby and Gibbs from NCIS for a few years and this year we finally did it. It was so much fun. Jared has Gibbs profile and we put powder in his hair and he looked surprising just like Gibbs. We tried to get all of the details of Abby. Random strangers were taking pictures of us.

Kendi wanted to be a musketeer and we had no idea that their was a Barbie Musketeer movie out. So we felt like we hit the jackpot when we found a tutorial online to make our own costume. Every part of it is homemade except the sword. We used duct tape to make the boots.

Aydri loves cupcakes. I think it was one of her first words. She did not want to go trick or treating at all. She had more fun handing out candy to other trick or treaters. Kendi did the same thing at that age.

We had so much fun that we have already talked about what we should be next year.