To have the self image of a three year old. Two of the things Eliza said this week were: "I love being cute," and "I was cute in the bathtub."

I like our new laundry system. I do one person's laundry per day plus a tub of something else. Then they help me fold and put the laundry away. Since I don't want to miss out on that one on one time I don't often have a pile of laundry in my hallway. But I've been behind since we went to the lodge so there are three loads there now. When I went to check on Derek tonight he wasn't in his bed. I couldn't find him anywhere! Finally he popped out of the laundry. I must have walked past and over him at least three times. I can't believe he stayed so still and quiet. If he had waited any longer to reveal himself I would have found him when I started folding!

Eliza gets her pj's on when ever it gets dark, so that's been before dinner. It's so cute. If she forgets, it's so easy to get her ready for bed because I just show her it's dark outside and she hops upstairs. I hope we don't have problems with that in the summer.

"Derek, I'm your mom, your supposed to respect me!"

"What does respect mean"

"It means when I ask you to stop doing something, you stop, not keep doing it and smile at me."

"I have a nice smile."

......

Every time I asked Eliza what she wanted for Christmas she answered snowflakes and snow and that she would put them outside to share.

Eliza had her first time in Sumbeams today. She did a good job sitting in her seat and didn't cry even though there was a lot of that going on around her and a few times she looked like she wanted to. She is very brave at getting through things - like going to the dentist. She has great teachers. It's going to be an awesome year for her.

Norah is crawling with her knees now, not just scooting and she is pulling herself up. She loves to laugh and to get attention from the kids. She will now eat baby food not just junk she finds on the floor!

Nathan took Megan, Michael and Emma skiing while we were at his parents cabin at Schweitzer. It was Emma's first time but she caught on really quick and they all had a good time. I wish we could take them out more often!

Introducing Our Newest Addition

We haven't been able to go somewhere as a family since we had Norah. Mostly it is not a big deal, but it can be annoying. Sometimes we've even stuffed Nate in the back of the van or I've ridden on the floor. Who would have thought big vans were so hard to find? It's consumed a lot of our time, especially since it was our goal not to get into debt and we had a lot we were looking for in a van. But we finally found it and it has everything we could want and more. Fifteen passengers, running boards, it's not white....it has been so great for our family. There is so much room; we love it! It's really not that hard to drive either.

The kids wanted to name it. Their suggestions were: The Ark, Ahpa (from Avatar the cartoon - I don't know how to spell it), Thomas (for the train - that was Derek's), and I can't remember the others now. I pushed Ahpa because it is big, it is gold, and it can fly. Not really. I really wanted that name because I thought it was so cute when ever we started it Merian would say "yip, yip!"

I just have to say again that it has so much room! When ever we drive the Silhouette we all wonder how we fit/got into the seats. Especially since after we had Eliza we added another seat to fit her. We can get in and out so much easier and I know our upcoming trip to Grandma's will be so nice and we all will actually have room for our feet and my lap won't be holding anything! Now if we could just get a bigger house...

We found the van in Nampa, Idaho and had a fun trip to go get it. The roads were pretty bad and we saw quite a few accidents, but we were excited to finally be getting a van and we got to try out Tucano's. On the way home the freeway was closed and it took us and hour and a half to go 20 miles. We ended up staying in a hotel. Derek forlornly remarked, "I miss Grandma, we are so far away from America." (He's really in to the whole American thing lately. He'll use it as an excuse: "American's don't do that" when he doesn't want to do something.) It was a much better trip than when we went up to Seattle but decided not to buy the van that was obviously a convict carrier and spent all afternoon in a Krispy Kreeme parking lot using their wi-fi to try to find another one. Memories.

The kids sang for the ward Christmas program today. Eliza wanted to be a part of that and she did a great job.

I should write more of what is going on but I am so tired I can't think of anything that makes sense!

Oh, it's late and the house is a mess, the laundry that was piled in the hallway now has expanded to the loft and even the part that once was in piles has shamefully been scattered for days now. What is the deal? I really thought I had the laundry situation solved, either by doing one load a day starting at 5:00 before my morning run or by doing gobs of laundry and having folding parties with the kids. But once I am behind in laundry it is so hard to catch up. Laundry that has been sitting out on the floor, being trampled on, gives me the creeps. If I had the money and time I would collect it all up, plus the dirty laundry and head for the laundry mat, completing the task all at once and getting caught up. It would be quite interesting. I've only used public laundries owned by the apartments we lived in and I have a feeling this would be a bit different. I'd also be afraid of losing articles of clothing.

Homeschool is going well, but it is so time consuming. I want to do it right. I don't want my children to forfeit anything academically or socially and that takes a lot of effort and scheduling. Because the kids have different days of MCP I'm having a hard time going shopping. With Norah still waking up through the night 5:30 in the morning just isn't happening, even though I've had good intentions. Hence, the laundry clog up.

We have added a subject every week. I like this. I feel like I almost have Algebra/Math perfected and Science is getting there. Those are the hardest. The rest should be easier. Our current subjects are: Algebra/Math; Science; Spelling; Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics; Vocabulary, Novel Study (Treasure Island, for which I was excited to find pirate gear to wear at the Dollar Tree), Literature, and History. We just have to add Composition, Spanish, Art, and Music, although we've done a little in those areas. Someday this will be easy, right?

Algebra is pretty easy for Meg. She's had lots of experience with it. She graciously consented to take again since being pregnant made me such an inconstant teacher last year. It is challenging for Mike, but I think he can do it. He is one smart guy when it comes to math and I want him to be stretched. I'm grateful because it is more efficient to be able to teach them together. Emma loves division. Go figure! She really enjoyed long division last year and was excited when we started reviewing it again. I find that perplexing.

We've been studying the Mayans. I think we'll try to speed through the Incas and Aztecs so we can get on to American history or we won't be done by the end of the year.

We broke out the microscope the other day and I must say it is awesome. It is of impressive quality and we've been looking at all sorts of things under it. I can't wait for someone to get hurt so I can see some blood.... I mean.... maybe I'll just prick my finger. I'm really not sure it is that great of a microscope, but wouldn't it be cool?

I've learned about reflexive pronouns, antecedents, and how to diagram sentences. Um, is there any purpose for this? I'm pretty sure this all means nothing to my kids and that they forget it the minute they take the test. Today something funny happened. I've understood the whole, first, second, third person thing for as long as I can remember and have never even question why speech was labeled that way. Today when I was explaining it to the kids I drew a stick person pointing to himself/herself and gave the examples of "me" and "I." Then I drew a person talking to another and pointing to them saying "you." Finally I drew a person talking to another and pointing to a third for "him" etc. Then it hit me. Oh, First person has one person, Second has two and Third has three. I think I already knew that. I think I need to get more sleep.

This really isn't an exciting family journal, and this isn't really what I mean to write here, but maybe it will be an interesting pit stop for the kids to read when they are older.

Merian is becoming a great reader and has good friends at school. Please say that means you'll stay at public school at least until middle school! :)

The only thing I really regret about homeschooling is that I am missing out on a lot of snuggling time with the three youngest. I hope it gets better as we get better with our schedule.

Friday, Michael was away babysitting. When we were putting Derek to bed he asked, "Mom, where did you put Michael?"

Derek-isms

These are all from today:

• Why is there an "ick" in my name?
• Why are all the people that live in Pasco and Costco and Mount Rainer our cousins and neighbors and friends?
• I like grandmas better than bad guys. (He said this after I told him Grandma Johnson was coming tomorrow.)

Sometimes I have a hard time understanding this kid.