Here is the family picture we took while at Disneyland.  I wanted to start learning how to get picture's put up on the blog so here is my first attempt.

Watching the clouds go by

For the past couple days the weather has been playing tricks on us.  We have been getting clouds but no real rain so to speak.  Not that I'm saying I want the rain, but every now and then I do love a good  thunder storm.  For the last 3 1/2 years we lived in California there was never a really good storm so to speak of and  after living living in the state of Nebraska and seeing how gray and black the clouds would get, and how they would swirl in all directions above our heads, there was a beauty, yet terrifying sense all in one during those storms, and I just couldn't help myself, staring out the windows, wondering what was happening up in the clouds and if it would somehow affect me and my family?  Once we started living in the mid West, I had become fascinated by the weather and have spent hours watching the weather channel much to the chagrin of my husband.  I guess I felt that if I could understand the weather a little better that I would know when there would be danger and would be better prepared to protect my children if needs be.  Being a mother, that is my job, to protect my younglings and keep them safe at all cost!  I have spent half of our married life if not a little more living in area's that the sky could drop down at any minute and swoop us and everything I hold most dear up into the sky and they would be gone just like that.  I know that this is a control problem which I need to over come, but I am I mother and I mean to protect my children at all cost.  So I look out today, wondering what the day will bring, and hope to see a little more than a drizzle.   

On a side not, DJ got his first test back from the school today and he is quite pleased as our we with his results.  He got a lot of 1's and a couple 2's.  There were a couple things that he knew and just somehow got put the wrong answer down and when we went over it, he couldn't figure out how he had done that, but all in all he was happy.  He seems to really enjoy being homeschooled.  It has been fun to find those things that he enjoys and get to know him a little better.  I don't think I would have really ever known about some of this if we hadn't homeschool.  We are starting to wonder if I should homeschool in the Netherlands and then we don't have to worry so much about living in a particular city and can go to one of the smaller towns.  My only worry is I would love the kids to get to know other's in the area, and if we do that they won't have that social interaction with the youth as much there.  Here it's easy because there are so many homeschooled kids in the area, and they have a lot in common, but that will not be the case in the Netherlands.  Add on top of that the fact that they will be foreigners, so how will that work out?  I still have a few more months to work this out, but I need to know what I'm going to do.  That's the control freak side of me.

Guess I should get back to school.  DJ is learning about Antarctica today in geography  and needs help.  I don't have the answers off the top of my head;)

Wet Weekend

Just a quick note to check in.  We decided to take the boys skiing one time this year before the ski seasons ends and ended up being rained on the whole time.  Needless to say it wasn't the weekend we had hoped it to be.  I was able to walk around a bit to get and idea of the resort village and shops that was there, but with the rain and no umbrella, well it was easier to stay inside.  DJ had his morning lesson on the slopes and did pretty well his instructor told me when I went to pick him up.  Of course he didn't want to go out after lunch, but who could really blame him with the way the weather was acting.  I was surprised he even agreed to another lesson, but I'm glad he did.  I want him to get a foundation so when we go skiing in Europe he'll have something to go off of.  

I guess Kai did pretty good on his snow board.  After lunch when he and Sheldon hit the slopes he came back early because of the rain making the snow slushy and hard to maneuver.  I guess he twisted his knee and wanted to rest it up.  That evening after dinner at a pizza place we took them to the swimming pool at the Resort and let them swim for a couple hours.  The pool had a couple slide, one inside and one out, and a small water fall.  There was a lot of kids their age so they had a pretty good time.  I couldn't believe how much time they spent in the outdoors part of the pool, but hey, when you're young you don't think of things like that.  I finally wrestled them out of the pool and went back to the room so they could take a warm shower and watch some tv before turning in.  When we woke up Sunday morning they boys were going to head out and get a couple hours skiing in before heading home, but sure enough the rain started so we packed up and left a little before 11am.  It rained the whole way down the mountains through the valley's and into DC:(  Talk about a bust!  For the money we spent we could have gone up to New York and seen some cool stuff!  Oh well, it was nice to get away for the weekend.  As we drove into the city and started  dealing with the traffic I could feel the stress, and tension start in my shoulders and neck:(  I really don't like the traffic here, and for everything else am glad that I only have to be here for a few months.  don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed the ward and people we've meet, but i really don't like the area that much.  Well, mostly it's the driving.  If something happened and we ended up not being able to go to the Netherlands, I would definitely be trying to make sure we got orders to anywhere but here.  

Anyway, tomorrow things start back up so I need a good night's sleep.  I hate hotel beds.  I never sleep very good so I am pretty tired.   

What can I say........

There's not really a lot of things that have changed since I last posted.  Well, we did get some snow.  It started Sunday night and snowed until Monday afternoon.  It sure was pretty.  I had the kids do some of their work for school that Monday morning, but then let them have the rest of the day off to go and play in the snow.  The neighborhood was hopping with all the kids playing outside, so I told the boys to go and enjoy the afternoon.  We bought Malachi and DJ new boots so they got to break them in.  I know that their feet will not get cold when we go skiing next weekend.  

I decided I needed to get Malachi moving on his school work so we are doubling up his work so that we will be taking tests every 3 weeks.   He has been getting his daily work done by lunch time so I figured if he is able to do that then we can buckle down a bit for the next couple months and get through this year before we leave for Europe.  He's not too happy about that, but he needs to understand that this has to be done.  

DJ is taking his first test with the course so he will be done with that by the end of this week.  This is a learning process for me on how to review for the tests.  I hope I get it figured out so that the boys will do well:)

The boys started guitar this week.  A young man who is home schooled on the block plays so he is teaching the boys.  They have the lessons on Monday afternoon then I get to listen all week to them practicing.  It's cute to hear DJ play the first stanza of "Smoke on the Water";)  I figured they can get some good basics before we take off the the Netherlands.  I know Malachi will be able to build from that if he practices.  

Jori i guess headed for LA today for 4 days with the ROTC group from BYU.  She was so excited about going.  Her birthday is Sunday so she this will be fun for her on her   "B" day.  I remember having a youth trip to Mexico on my  16th birthday, and there was a young men from Hermisillo who had the same "B" day so we shared a "B" day dance. Wow, that was too long ago;)  We gave her her money early so she will have some to spend on the trip.  

Well, DJ is done with the first half of the tests.  I guess we are done with school for the day so I need to get some laundry done.  I guess I should try and be productive with something today!