Homeschool: how we started

I just finished a review of an e-book called turning points (It, along with all the other reviews I've been doing lately are found here: SimplySchoolingReviews). In the book over 25 families share what led them to start homeschooling and what keeps them homeschooling. As I read about their "turning points," I started to reflect on why we started homeschooling, my goals for our homeschool, and how homeschooling has been a blessing. It was reassuring to feel that I'm not alone with the struggles and frustrations that come with homeschooling and to be reminded and remember all the joys of homeschooling.

After reading "their" stories, I wanted to record mine.

I never would have dreamed that I would homeschool my kids. It wasn't even on the radar screen. When Ryan was 3 (2003-04), I looked into sending him to HeadStart, but we didn't qualify, so I joined a few other mom's in putting together a rotating preschool that was 2 days a week. We each took a turn teaching every 6 weeks. I enjoyed planning for my weeks, but felt frustrated with some of the other moms who would do a short activity and then turn on Sesame Street or a movie for the kids to watch. I also didn't like driving for 15 minutes to drop him off, driving home 15 minutes, then turning around an hour later to go pick him up.

I started looking into other options and decided to start a preschool in my home. I had plenty of background from college (my MS degree is in Human Development and I'd worked with Early Head Start Research observing and working with preschoolers). That was a fun year. Ryan and Tyler both learned a lot and I enjoyed working with the other kids. My goal for the kids was to have them learn everything that year that the state expected them to learn in Kindergarten, so they would be ahead. Ryan did that, and more. The only problem was, his birthday missed the cut off deadline, so he still had another year to wait before he could go to kindergarten.

I talked to the school district about having his start early (not an option), looked into private kindergarten (too expensive), and then started reading about homeschool. I wasn't willing to just not teach him anything for a year and I had enjoyed teaching him preschool. Ryan had also done well learning from mom, so it seemed like a viable option.

I started collecting information about homeschooling, reading everything I could and joining a local homeschool group and going to some of their activities. The moms I met were amazing! I wanted our family to be like that. We did hit some resistance from family members. My sister told me I was crazy and my brother-in-law sat down and step by step went through a list of concerns--- but either they've all given up on changing our minds or they've seen this is a good option for our family. :)

Initially, it was a one year experiment, then we would see from there. The first year (2004-05) went pretty good. I pushed a little too hard and experienced mom burn-out a bit sometimes, but overall we enjoyed it. There were enough blessings and positives that I knew this was exactly what our family was supposed to be doing. I also got to know other homeschooling families better and I really liked the lifestyle I was seeing.

The next year, when Ryan was officially supposed to be starting kindergarten (2005-06), he was reading chapter books and learning multiplication. Public school kindergarten was not an option, I knew he would be bored and act up and be labeled a troublemaker. (And in Idaho, you have to be 6 by the deadline to start 1st grade, so skipping a grade wasn't an option either.)

In Idaho, there are several different virtual public schools where the state provides resources and the parent teaches at home. We looked into all of them, and most looked dry and boring and tedious, but one option showed promise. I-DEA gave parents a set amount of money to spend on resources to educate their children at home. The money could be spent on books and supplies or lessons. In return, the students had to take the state tests and submit work samples. For Kindergarten the allotment was $600 and I was willing to jump through the hoops for the extra money. That year we took spanish classes and swimming lessons, and bought some really neat resources and books.

We've continued working with I-DEA and had a very positive experience. Because the boys are ahead in most areas, I can pretty much homeschool the way I want. We've already covered the things they are expected to know for grade level, so collecting work samples is really easy. The extra money has allowed them to do things we otherwise couldn't afford, like horseback riding.

There are days when homeschooling is exhausting. Especially when I was pregnant and tired. There were days when the house was a mess from projects, the kids were not getting their work done because they were either daydreaming or tormenting each other, and I was getting really tired of hearing "mom, I need help."

But, the good by far outweighs the bad. The days when they work hard to get their work done so they can build a blanket fort in the family room and read all afternoon. The days when they spend the afternoon collecting leaves to pile on the trampoline and I hear them laughing and playing and just having so much fun. The way the boys look out for the little ones and include them, and get to spend time with the family. There have been so many times when we have been able to go do something fun (and often educational) as a family that we wouldn't have been able to do with the public schools' schedule.

I love seeing them learn and watching something click-- like Ryan deciding algebra and story problems are fun and spending our "non-school" days right after the baby came reading all 7 Narnia books. Seeing Tyler finally get to the point where reading is fun, not a chore, and watching his confidence start to bloom. I love knowing their friends and being able to answer their questions.

Homeschooling may not be the best option for every family, but it is for us, at this season and hopefully for a long time. And I'm grateful for the turning points that led us to even consider it a viable option.

Horseback Riding

For PE this year the boys have been taking horseback riding lessons. They have loved it and learned so much. Over the course of 12 lessons, they learned to walk and trot without a lead rope, have the horse step over a log, weave around barrels, and play games while riding a horse. I am so grateful for the virtual charter school options that we have here in Idaho that pay for them to do this type of activity.

At the end of each lesson, Jeanisha gets a pony ride around the arena, which she loves. At first, I would walk with her to steady her, but now she can balance on her own. Adam also insists on a pony ride too and grins from ear to ear while he is on the horse and cries when he has to get off.

We'll be taking a few months off for winter, but both boys want to do horseback riding again in the spring instead of a different sport. Maybe someday we'll even get a horse of our own.

This is Tyler trotting. He has to kick REALLY hard to get the horse to do it with his little bit of weight!

Please help me!

Dear Friends,

Today I would like to ask you to spend 5 minutes to help my family by contacting Horizon Organic milk company.

My parents recently became a certified organic dairy here in Idaho; they milk 50 cows on a small family farm, Halverson Dairy in Rupert, Idaho. It was a 2 year process costing several thousands of dollars to obtain the certification. During that time, Horizon Organic offered seminars encouraging dairies to become organic and talked to my dad about buying his milk once he was certified. They also promote a “Four Steps to Organic” program on their website which my parents followed faithfully. Now that the process is complete and my parents are ready to start selling their milk, Horizon is saying they won't honor their verbal commitment to buy the milk.

Horizon promotes themselves as a company made up of small family dairies, but most of their milk comes from factory dairies with thousands of cows. In fact, Horizon opened another dairy with several thousand cows in Idaho shortly after they told my parents they had too much milk to take the milk from their 50 cows.

I would like you to call Craig Fullmer of Horizon Dairy/WhiteWave Foods (the parent company of Horizon Dairy) and tell him that you would like Horizon to honor their commitment to organic family dairies and that you will not be buying Horizon Organic milk until his company stops misleading consumers and dairy producers. (Their milk is sold at Winco and their website is http://www.horizonorganic.com/) His number is 1-800-488-9283, select the option for employee directory and key in his last name. You will probably get his voicemail, just leave the message above with your name and contact number.

You can also contact Scott Toth, VP of WhiteWave Foods, and tell him the same thing. His number is 214-303-3400, you will get his secretary. Both of these men are aware of my parents' situation and were part of the decision to not take their milk, even though my parents had been working with Horizon for 2 years during the certification process.

Thank you very much for taking a few minutes to make these calls. If you have any questions, just add a comment or email me. And feel free to forward this to anyone else you think might be willing to help us.

I hope Horizon will realize that integrity is important and people are willing to take a stand for what's right.

It's a race

The kids love to make everything a race. And they love to get a head start before I say go. Tonight I told Tyler and Jeanisha I would race them to see if I could get ready for bed faster than they could take the dishes to the dishwasher and wash and dry the table.

Me: "Ready?"
Tyler: "Ha, ha" as he runs for the table.
Me: "Set?"
Jeanisha: "Ha, ha" she runs for the table.
Me: "Go."
Adam: "ha, ha" and he runs after the other kids, then stops and looks back at me like "what now?"

Lucky Day!!!!

I just got a 6 Qt Professional KitchenAid for $19.00, Yes, 19!!!!! This is the one that retails for between $350 and $499!!!!! I love my current KitchenAid, but I max it out when I make bread and this one is bigger and more powerful.

Amazon.com had a Christmas promo where customers could vote in 6 different rounds on which of 3 things was the best deal. Then, of everyone who voted in a round, they randomly selected people who would have the option to buy the items in each round. If you got picked for an option to buy, it was a race to buy one of the 500 available at the special price. And they sent the option to buy email to a lot more people than the 500.

But I guess my clicking index finger has had lots of practice-- at 7:30 am the countdown clock changed to add to cart and I managed to be one of the lucky ones. I was all the way through check-out and had my order confirmation email at 7:32 am!!!

It's noon and it's already been shipped and should be here by next Tues. YEAH!!! I never win anything and for this one I had to basically win the lottery twice! Merry Christmas to ME!!!!!

Missing Details

Lincoln's middle name is Alton after Stephen's grandfather. He weighed 7 lbs 12 ozs and was 20 1/4 inches long.

He is a super good baby, very calm and easy going. The kids all absolutely love him and love to hold him.

We had a good Thanksgiving-- Stephen cooked a turkey and we made all the traditional side dishes. Of course, all the kids wanted were turkey, rolls, jello, and olives. Oh well. It was different not having any family around-- the kids missed having lots of cousins to play with.

He's HERE!

We were scheduled to have the baby on the 25th, but apparently 16 other mothers were told the same thing. So we got a phone call Monday morning at 7:06 asking us if we would be interested in coming in a day early. I had to stop and think through my list of planned errands for the day and stop shaking. So one hour later we had all 4 kids woke up, dressed with a change of clothes, fed, and in the van and we were off. We even made time to drop off some books at the Library.

The Dr. broke my water sometime around 9:30 am and the baby was out at 12:19 pm, less than three hours later.

Here's Stephen's description:
Lincoln was born in one of Jeanisha's favorite colors - Purple. Seems he has been a little bored the last 9 months so he decided to twist the umbilical cord like a rope - A lot. It is hard to describe what it looked like, but it was not normal. Then to add suspense he looped it around his head to finish off his grand entrance.

He was then given oxygen for a while and then it was determined that he had to much fluid in his lungs. So they decided to do what nurses are best at - they stuck a tube down his nose. They ended up suckingup 20 CC's of fluid which I am told is a lot. All I know is it looked like a lot. He decided to yell at the nurse at that point, which was good.

Life got a lot better for him after that and he decided to open his eyes and smile at all of us. He still has purple feet, and sometimes his hands, but they do not seem too concerned.

The kids came by (except Adam) and were more interested in what cartoons they could have on the T.V. and the almighty hospital cafeteria. Jeanisha asked 7 times what she could eat there before I finally broke down and took them to get something to eat. Jeanisha and Ryan got a cookie, and Tyler got green Jello with whip cream. I got the bill. They did take their turn holding Lincoln, but soon left to watch movies at their cousins house.

Arrival Date is Set

Sometime on November 25th-- the Tuesday before Thanksgiving-- is when Lincoln will be making his arrival. My Dr. is going to be out of town for Thanksgiving and the entire following weekend, so he is going to induce me 8 days early and let me be home in time for Thanksgiving. Stephen said he will even cook Thanksgiving dinner-- although he keeps joking that it will be frozen pizza. :)

It is SO nice to have a set date and be able to count down. The kids are really excited-- 3 more Sundays doesn't sound like very much and it is something even Jeanisha can relate to. I'm looking forward to having a beautiful new baby instead of a big awkward belly. :) I'm bigger with this pregnancy than I have been with any of the other kids, so I feel huge. This is the first time I couldn't sleep on my stomach all the way up to delivery. He's also been positioned much lower making it painful to walk and bend and do all the things you have to do taking care of 4 kids and a house. Stephen has been great-- and for the most part, the kids have too, but I will be very happy to be able to move and get things done again.

First weird craving this pregnancy

It seems like I have at least one strange craving with each pregnancy. With Adam it was green olives-- I loved them. Yesterday I was in Costco and they were doing samples, and one was sushi-- the fully cooked kind. It tasted so good, but I knew I would be the only one eating them, and at Costco, everything is extra large anyway-- did I really want 40 pieces of sushi. I told myself I would find something else that looked good that the rest of the family would share, but Ryan and I went through the entire store and nothing else looked good-- not even the candy bars and M&M's I was buying with my coupons. So I went back and got my sushi. Stephen gave me a really funny look when I walked into the house carrying it. And again when I was eating it while we watched a movie and he was digging into his bag of M&M's and the kids were eating popcorn.

And then tonight on our way home from the temple, I told him I was going to go home and eat some more of my sushi and a bowl of ice cream. I didn't mean together!!!!!! The sushi was for dinner and the ice cream was for dessert!!!! Oh well, I think it sounds better than pickles and ice cream any day.

Ryan's Baptism

I had wanted Ryan's baptism to be a memorable experience for him, and I can honestly say that I don't think he will ever forget it! I don't think most of our extended family will forget that weekend either. He was baptized on Sat. Oct 11th in Rupert. We drove down Friday evening and had nice dry roads the entire way. Not too long after we left, it started snowing in Boise. Enough to stick on the grass, but not on the road. We were a little worried the weather would follow us and make driving a little challenging for people coming to the baptism, but we had NO idea. We woke up Saturday morning to 3 inches of snow on the ground in Rupert. Talk about fun and exciting for the kids. We had packed a good amount of snow clothes for the boys for hunting, so they were right out there shoveling and having a blast. Stephen checked the weather and called his family to tell them it was supposed to be letting up. But it didn't. It snowed and snowed and snowed. By the time we were leaving for the baptism at 5:00, there was about 8 inches on the ground, and it snowed another 3 inches during the baptism.

To make it even more memorable, there were problems with the pump to bring water into the baptismal font, so they had to run a hose in from outside, across the snow into the church to fill the font. so the water was COLD! The baptism itself was really nice, with great talks by grandmas, music by Ryan's aunts, and a very excited boy. Afterwards we had root beer floats for refreshments-- a little ironic considering the weather-- but it had been 92 degrees a week and a half earlier.

Stephen's family was debating which way to go to get back to Utah, but the main freeway was closed, so their only option was to go through Pocatello. It took them 2 hours to get to American Falls, normally a 45 minute drive, but once they made it past Pocatello, the roads were fine.

The storm just hung out over Rupert and kept piling up. By Sunday, we ended up with 15 inches-- all of church was canceled except Sacrament meeting. In the middle of October! It was crazy!!!! And memorable!!!

Here are some pictures of the snow.

More than one way to get your oil changed

I'm a little behind posting. Two weeks ago we went to Rupert to my parents house for the weekend. Ryan was getting baptized and we decided to do it there because all of my family was getting together for the guys to go hunting and it is 3 hours closer to all of Stephen's family. The night before we left, I sent Stephen out to check the oil on the van as I was packing. He came back in and said it looked good. The next day, I drove the kids to co-op (30 minutes from home) and then went to my sister Karmas house afterwards. Stephen met me there and we left for Rupert (30 hours away).

We stopped in Twin for a bathroom break and to buy some snacks and Karma called and said we had left a bunch of oil on her driveway and might want to check. Now Karma tends to exaggerate, so when I told Stephen, he figured I meant a little tiny bit and didn't really take it seriously figuring he would check it again at my parents. He had been parked at the grocery store for about 20 minutes and when we backed out there, there were several wet spots under the car, but he didn't look too closely.

Another 20 minutes down the road and we get a call from Karma telling us her husbands plane has just been rerouted to Twin, so we pull of the interstate to see if we are going to need to pick him up. All of the sudden I notice smoke coming out from under the hood of the van!!! We jump out to look and the entire engine and bottom of the hood are COVERED in oil! It turned out that when Stephen checked the oil the night before, he had forgotten to put the lid back on. Amazingly enough, the lid was still sitting under the hood right where he had left it. We called my dad and he brought us more oil-- it took 4 quarts-- almost a full oil change worth. (Turns out there were about 6 spots at Karma's, ranging in size from a baseball to a dinner plate-- for once she wasn't exaggerating!).

It turned out that that was just the start of our interesting adventures on that trip. I'll try to post more--- along with pictures of the baptism--

A Chance to Try New Stuff

I found out a couple weeks ago that I get to be a part of the focus group for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine testing and reviewing new products. (This is the same company that let me give away a free subscription if I wrote a review back in August). And since I love their magazine and love free stuff-- even if I'm giving it away-- I was happy to review it. I posted the review on some of my homeschool email lists, but just put the contest part here--so if you wanted to win, you had to visit my blog. :)

So as part of the focus group, they will be sending me new products from a bunch of different vendors to review-- up to 50 over the next year-- and giving me the chance to do some giveaways. But I don't want that to get lost on this blog with all our family stuff for homeschool friends who are interested in it, and I don't want to bore my non-homeschooling friends and family, so I have set up a second blog where I will post the reviews: http://simplyschoolingreviews.blogspot.com/

I will post a link here when I add reviews, but anyone not interested won't have to read them, and I'll put that link in for my email groups, so people interested in the homeschooling aspect of my life-- not if my kids are sick or saying funny things, can just go there.

Anyway, I am really excited to get to try a bunch of products, several are things I've considered but not wanted to buy without seeing. In the long run, it will probably just end up introducing me to more companies and costing me money, but it will be fun. :)

Neighbor kids and bread

We have some neighbor kids who have started to come over and ask to play. They live a couple blocks away, and while I know where they live, I have never met their parents. So I told them they can play, but they have to stay outside until their mom comes with them sometime to talk to me and tell me it's okay for them to play inside. They can only come in to use the bathroom or get a drink. Am I mean? I would NEVER let my kids go play at someone's house that I didn't know!!! And to play without me there, I would have to know the family quite well. The kids are about 9, 7, and 5 years old. Any thoughts? I don't want to be mean, but I'm not comfortable having them inside without knowing their family at least a little bit. They seem like really nice kids and do a good job including everyone and I keep all the windows open so I can monitor them all really closely.

Anyway, they were here today and I was baking. I made bread, pizza, and was working on cookies when they all came in for drinks. They asked if they could have cookies and I said probably not because I wasn't going to cook them until after I cooked dinner and they had to go home at dinner time. But I told them they could have a slice of bread if they wanted. The oldest boy looked at me funny and said, "We just buy our bread, but we do make sandwiches out of it." I explained this is homemade bread and it was cooking in the oven. The expression got even more confused and he asked, "So is it just bread or is it from ingredients?" I just had to laugh.

(I ended up sticking in one pan of cookies before the pizza, so they got those instead of bread, then I sent them home so my kids could do their jobs while the pizza cooked).

What flavor?

I made potato wedges for dinner tonight instead of regular french fries. The boys then stated they don't like potato flavored french fries, they want chicken flavored ones. I just can't win. :)

What would Jesus do?

Today the boys had a bowl of Fruit Loops to share for a snack outside. Jeanisha came inside complaining that they wouldn't share with her and Adam. I told her she could get her own bowl, then she could share with whoever she wanted.
Jeanisha: "I'll just share with Adam, cuz the boys are not sharing with me."
Me: "Is that what Jesus would do?"
Jeanisha: "No." Sigh
Me: "What would Jesus do?"
Jeanisha: (thinks for a minute first) "Put them in jail, I think."

Ryan is 8!!!!

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I cannot believe how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday that we were waiting for Ryan to make his appearance, hauling him to classes, and cheering for him to reach each little milestone. He was born at 10:38 pm on Sept 7, 2000 after a long day of walking and walking and more walking. But then he was so perfect and little and amazing. Stephen and I were both going to school and he just went along with us to class. I was working on my Masters in Family Relations and Child Development, so most of my professors were fine with having him in class. There were even a couple who would give us a group assignment just to have an excuse to hold the baby for the hour. He was a total trooper and hardly ever cried.

Fast forward to today: Ryan is a very independent, determined, smart kid. He excells at his school subjects and is usually in the middle of at least 3 books at a time!!! When he turned 7, he used his birthday money to buy himself scriptures and set a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon before his 8th birthday. We read part as a family, but he spent a lot of time on his own listening to and reading along with the CD. And he did it!!! I'm amazed at how well he remembers the scripture stories and how comfortable he is with the language of the scriptures-- he even loved the Isaiah chapters.

He is a fun kid to be around and a good helper. We've been canning peaches and tomatoes this past week and he has skinned them, cut them, and put them in the bottles. He is excited to be able to start mowing the lawn now that he is 8. He is also excited about his baptism and starting scouts!

We love you Ryan!!!!!

Squash

I am a horrible gardener. I even managed to kill my squash and zucchini plants. We have 3 little cucumbers, about 4 inches long, (at the time everyone else is harvesting) and 2 pumpkins, a little bigger than a baseball. The only thing that grows good are my raspberry bushes.

Anyway, in spite of my black thumb, we've been blessed with a good amount of yellow squash and zucchini from friends and family. I've been eating squash just cooked with butter for lunch a lot of days, and made zucchini bread, which everyone but Tyler seems to like. Then the other day I found this recipe for Yellow Squash Casserole. I really, really liked it, Ryan ate it okay with some coaxing, Adam loved it, Tyler and Jeanisha wouldn't even try it. Stephen said it was the best yellow squash he's ever had. But he quickly followed that with "that doesn't mean it's good, it's just the first yellow squash I've ever had that was at least edible." At least he likes the zucchini bread. Adam and I finished off the casserole the next day for lunch-- it reheated good.

So, if you have a plethora of squash, here's a recipe to try. If you like squash you will probably like it. :)

I did add some garlic and extra cheese, probably 3 cups total. I only had one package of crackers, so I substituted grape nut flakes for the portion of crackers that is mixed in with the squash and used the whole package of crushed crackers with cheese on the top. I sliced the squash with the thin slicer blade from the kitchen aid and did not precook it. I did peel it and take the seeds out first too, but with a smaller squash you wouldn't need to.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 4 cups sliced yellow squash
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 35 buttery round crackers, crushed
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs and cheese. Stir half of the cracker mixture into the cooked squash and onions. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and milk, then add to squash mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture after about 15 minutes then cook until lightly browned.

Farworld Blog Tour and a giveaway

I get to be a part of the blog tour for a new book called Farworld: WaterKeep by J. Scott Savage that is coming out in September. He sent me an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) of the book to read and review and is giving me one more to give away to someone who reads this review and leaves a comment. I'm having fits getting a picture of the cover to post, so here is the link on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Farworld-Book-Water-Keep-World/dp/159038962X

Farworld is planned as a 5 book series and Water Keep is the first book. It's a young adult science fiction type, so if you like Fablehaven, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and such, you would probably enjoy it. The ultimate test of a book like this is whether it can suck me into the imaginary world enough that I neglect my housework to finish it. Farworld did. The kids enjoyed a day of playing in the backyard instead of regular chores and homeschool and we ended up having grilled hot dogs for dinner, so they thought it was a great day! I ended wishing Book 2 was ready because the 400 + pages weren't enough for the day. :)

The basic plot of the book follows two teenagers who live in different worlds, Marcus on Earth, Kyja in Farworld a world completely full of magic. Both are misfits in their own worlds, Marcus because he is a handicapped orphan and Kyja because she can't do magic and is immune to the magic of others in her world. When Marcus magically ends up in Farworld, he and Kyja learn of a secret that could destroy both their worlds unless they can get the different elements (water, fire, earth, and air) to cooperate and open a passage between the two worlds. Book 1 Water Keep is their journey and adventures and they try to persuade the Water Elementals to help them.

As part of the blog tour, I also got to interview the author and creator of Farworld. I had some help from some homeschooled kids in thinking up my questions, and it was fun to "visit" with a real author.

Here's the interview:

When did you decide you wanted to be an author and how did you start?

Like a lot of things in my life, it crept up on me. I’ve always loved to tell stories, but I honestly don’t think I decided I had what it took to be an author until after I published my first book. Weird huh?

Where do you get your ideas for a book?

ShopKo. Another four years and I can get the senior discount. So I can probably afford to write two books a year. I wish I knew. I’d go there all the time. I think ideas are kind of like belly button lint. They just appear out of nowhere. And you shouldn’t try eating either of them. Okay, that was just plain gross.

What are your favorite books?

I love to read just about everything. Last night I finished Neverworld, I think it was called? Amazing story. Neil Gaiman is incredible.

Do you have another job or do you just write?

Unfortunately I also have a day job. But I’m hoping to go to fulltime writing in the next year or so.

How long did it take to write Water Keep?

Hang on. Let me try. “Water Keep?” About two seconds, but I’m a hunt and peck guy. Less than three months for the first draft. But more than twice that in edits.

What is the hardest part about writing a novel/being an author?

No hard parts. Compared to the rest of life, being an author is awesome.

What is the best part?

Everything. Having people read and enjoy your stories is just so dang cool. I love it.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to become an author someday?

Always floss, and don’t put open pens in your pocket. Also, read a ton and write for fun. Don’t worry about how good your writing is at first, just enjoy the process.

Do you have to learn math if you want to be a writer?

Nope. But learn it anyway. In case you need to be an accountant or something while you work on getting published.

What advice would you give to parents who want their children to enjoy and become proficient at writing?

Give them little challenges and praise their success. Many kids get overwhelmed by the concept of coming up with a whole story. But if you tell them to write about a contest between a magic dwarf and a pink dragon, they can totally get off on that.

If you had a time machine, what time would you travel to and why?

I’d travel ten years ahead. Just so I could say, “I told you so,” for the next decade.

If you were a candy bar, what kind would you be?

Hershey with almonds. Because I am a little nuts.

What is the most beautiful/inspiring thing you've ever seen?

My wife. (That should win me brownie points at home!)

What is the most random question you've been asked on this blog tour and how did you respond?

I was asked, “What sounds grates your teeth the most?” I answered, “’Help me, Dad. I’m drowning.’ Especially when I am trying to take a nap.” It was just a joke kids. Don’t come after me with a pitchfork.

Don't forget to leave me a comment with a way to contact you if you win the book!!! If you have kids old enough, probably 9 or 10 and up, they can leave a comment and be in the drawing too!

Tyler's battle wound and upcoming surgery

Tyler and Stephen were wrestling around on Saturday. Tyler was running to try to knock Stephen over, and Stephen side stepped him. He just missed the big bean bag and crashed into the table instead. The result was a trip to the ER and 3 stitches in his forehead.


His oral surgery to remove his extra tooth is scheduled for next Thursday. He is SOOO excited. The dentist told him he would have to be lazy for the rest of the day after they took it out and just watch movies and rest. And if that's not good enough, he also has to eat things like Popsicles and ice cream for the day. All of that sounds pretty good to a 6 year old.


He's also convinced that the tooth fairy will be paying him extra for this tooth since it is special. He told me he thinks she should give him at least $12!!! But I told him I didn't think she could pay more than $3 for a tooth. (The first tooth lost by each kid in our house gets a $2 bill).

My little helper

Adam loves to help. For awhile, we kept finding things he'd put in the trashcan and had to make sure the cupboard under the sink stayed locked so he didn't throw away ALL the toys. Today, he decided to help with laundry. He took a big armful of clothes from the clean laundry basket, carried them into the laundry room and dumped them into the dirty clothes bins. I may not have caught it with just one or two things, but I also found piles of folded clothes sitting in the hamper. Just what I need, more laundry. :) But I guess that's my incentive to get it all put away before he comes to help.

Photos

I've been way behind posting photos with my posts lately. We use Stephen's work camera, so I have to wait for him to bring it home and download the photos for me. So here are a bunch of fun ones from the most recent download. The first one is from Tyler's birthday this spring. They have had SOO much fun playing baseball and playing outside this summer. Next is of the kids fishing. Both boys are able to cast on their own now. Tyler is the fisherman like his dad, Ryan gets bored and starts throwing rocks. Jeanisha just wanders.




The next group of pictures here are from a Sunday morning getting ready for church. Aren't they cute???


















This next picture is our super sweet cat Lucy!!!! She is a joy and is so good with the kids. They haul her around, play with her with a bouncy ball or yarn. It is so funny to watch her chase a ball all around the patio. They all love her!!!!















Then you have cute Jeanisha-- she is the one who loves to pose for the camera.













And here is one of Adam with his sunglasses!

















And here is one of Tyler at the Idaho Youth games. He came in 2nd in his age group. He loves running and is pretty fast. He was so proud of his ribbon from this race and his medal from Tae Kwan Do. Jeanisha loved the dance class adn Tae Kwan Do, although she was pretty bummed her medal wasn't chocolate.














Here is Adam and his cousin running around during the races.






























Our other fun summer activity was swimming. Ryan is now in Level 3 and loves jumping off the diving board and being able to go anywhere he wants in the pool. Tyler is in Level 2 and has come SO far from a year ago when he wouldn't even bob under water. Jeanisha passed preschool with flying colors, but is still a bit short for level 1. She loves swimming and jumping off the diving board. We usually put her in a life jacket and then she can swim and go wherever she wants. Adam was just jealous that he couldn't get in the water.









And here's just one last cute picture of Adam eating his bowl on my birthday! He loved his cake.