Catching up...again.

NOTE: I originally wrote this on November 28th!!!

 What a whirlwind of activity. I honestly do not know where the time has gone. Let's see:
1. Home school
2. piano
3. gymnastics is finally over

4. Halloween---I'm terrible and didn't take pics. Gary, Emma Lee, and I were Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Sweet Pea. Ammon was Captain America, Eli was Hulk, Zechariah was a Gryffindor student. (He wasn't Harry Potter b/c "I have blonde hair and Harry Potter has brown hair") Gabriel was Obi Wan Kenobi. I personally can't stand Chili Cook Offs but every ward does them. Ours was cute though, the Elder's Quorum did great on the decorations and the prizes for the chili. It was freezing though and we froze our butts off trunk or treating!!!
5. Jewelry shows---I'm doing as many as I can. I need to pay off my credit card and become debt free! again :)

6. New Jewelers---I'm working hard at building my business beyond the jewelry show. So many people are in need of extra income right now and Premier Designs is seriously one the best marketing plan of all home based businesses! I had a goal to have 7 jewelers by Nov 24th. This would make me a designer in Premier and make me eligible for a cruise! I was one lady short :( But that is OK b/c people need to do it when and if it is right for them.
7. Gary's last class---every 2 weeks we shut ourselves in our house and Gary works on his classwork. Children are kicked outside or at their cousins, cousins are not allowed over. There are limited distractions at our house so that Gary can work. I cannot tell you how happy I am at his progress. He is too! You can see that it is not easy for me to run my business and have him in class though. which brings me to

8. Planning for the future---we are now praying on a regular basis for our Performing Arts Studio to become a reality. I am researching and writing a business plan. I am SOOO excited for the future!

9. Mom's 60th surprise party-1st of all my Mom is a total butt and wouldn't stop nosing around for information. She almost made me mad! She suspected but we still pulled off a nice surprise party for her complete with a gorgeous cake that came all the way from PA. (Thanks Kimmy!) Karaoke and games like Minute to Win It! were a huge success! (Thanks Teri!) A nice house (Thanks Chris!) and beautiful decorations (Thanks Cortnie and Scott!) I was glad we were able to make her feel so special.

10. Thanksgiving---I got to spend Thanksgiving with my Aunt Sis and the Johnson side of the family. I saw my Mamaw, Drew, Aaron, Aunt Laura, my dad, his wife Deb, Jason, Teri, Kade, Kayla, and Chris were there. It was lovely.

Jedi training

Everyone knows that Star Wars is beloved in my house (um, not by me!) Ammon turned 4 on September 20th and he let me know about 6 months in advance that he wanted a Jedi training party. This boy had his guest list made and what they were to bring him for his birthday too! He invited 4 other little boys-no girls allowed! and told me that they were all going to bring him a purple lightsaber. We already have spinning light up General Grievous lightsabers, a red Darth Vader, a blue one, and a green one. Unfortunately, I could not find a purple one anywhere but they do have smaller lighter weight ones out now that clip on to the boys' belts so he got a blue one of those instead. I had a fun time planning for this party. I made up special invites which I didn't save :( I bought 2 Star Wars posters from Wal-Mart. One was of Yoda so I put that on the front door with a sign that said, "Welcome to Ammon's party you are!"
When the kids came, I gave them each a light saber, dressed them as padawans (Ammon didn't want to dress up!) and welcomed them to Jedi training school. Then I made them take the oath:

I will use the force to bring balance to the land

I will not use the force to harm one another

If I use the force and hurt someone's hand

I will have to go back and sit with my mother.

It was cute but didn't last long. Four 4 yr olds and then my 2 older boys and their cousin kept jumping in and trying to "train" the young Padawans. Wow! Oh well, it was fun!

Do you see my cute little Eli? Precious!

 I tried to show them how to practice their light saber duel.

 Jedi Master Zechariah was to teach Padawan Chance





  See that? Jace wacked Ammon with the lightsaber. I guess I should've had their training pods further away :(

It's my party, I can cry if I want to. You would cry too if you got wacked in the face :)

 They had to use the force to dodge the ball!

 FYI: 4 yr olds are poor sports and do not like to be "out".

But don't they look cute?

 Agility and strength training

Ammon was a feather weight compared to the rest.

 It was supposed to say "May the 4th be with you" but I am totally lame and thought about it at the last minute-literally. Oh well, Ammon loved it and that's all that mattered!

 The new Jedis' skills were put to the test when Darth Vader stopped in for a visit.

(Poor Gary-he was such a good sport!)

 Ammon got some great toys from his friends but I didn't want to upload them all. Here's what Gary and I got him. The kid loves Power Rangers! 

I'd let him fight the bad guys anyday!

Happy 4th Birthday Ammon! You are my sunshine. You light up my life with your gorgeous smile, funny personality, and love of life. I am so happy to be your Mommy!

Renaissance Festival

I have never been to a renaissance festival. Isn't that sad? I mean, I'm a drama major! But Alablama didn't have a lot of cultural experiences like that. I went to see a lot of plays but never went to a festival. So I was excited to be able to go to the one here in Maryland. It's HUGE!!! We had a blast! We went with my Aunt Nancy b/c she is wonderful and does so much for our family. She's fun to go places with b/c she pretty much likes everything and has done everything at least once. I took loads of pics b/c it was just so much fun. My kids were enamored. nancy is pretty smart and showed up at our house with 4 foam swords and shields she had picked up from Target who knows when. This was the best thing she could've done. Those boys did not put those swords down for a second! Zech even got cast in a little play b/c he already had his own prop and was in "character". :) Yes, I was a little proud...EXTREMELY!!!

Zechariah's 1st stage debut!

Being a pirate and saying, "Arg! Give me all your treasure" to which he adlibbed, "or I'll cut you through". The performer was quite impressed.

New form of time out anyone?

I love that they could do this anywhere and everywhere. Awesome!

A joust! Hazzah for England!

 A picture with Aunt Nancy, a rare treat.

Our clan.

Is he not to die for? This was on our way to the festival. Elijah was ready!

It was a great day. We all had a blast and if we are here next year, we will definately go again! But next year, I will have to dress up in costume :)

Dream Board

I am currently in a "Focus Group" training for Premier Designs. The idea is to keep the business on our minds and work it everyday. Last week they discussed a dream board. It's pretty much where you take pics, slogans, sayings, clips, etc of things that you want to accomplish in your life and put them on a board and post them in your house somewhere. They were saying if you see this everyday, you will reach your goals that are on the board. As you read from the previous post, I have a dream and don't know how to get there. So, I thought I'd create a dream board.

Here you go:

Where to start?

I wait too long to update my blog. It's pretty sad actually. I finally changed my blog title and picture. Even though it's a terrible one of Emma Lee, at least it is somewhat current. :) What do ya'll think?
There's been loads going on. Here's a few little recaps/ summaries:

*Homeschooling is going great!
I am using "The Story of the World" for history and really love that each lesson has mapwork, coloring or activity pages, as well as many hands on crafts or projects. The kids love it too. My SIL lives next door and homeschools her kids too. But, she is ultra sick in her 1st trimester so I bring her kids over for history, grammar, and handwriting. They love this history curriculum too!

Gabe and Hannah's attempt at the  recreating Egypt, the Nile River and the Delta Nile.

Zech and William's attempt

Our mummification of apple slices science/history project.

Hannah's Great Pyramid

 Grammar is "First language lessons" I love it, the kids are ok with it. They don't understand just how good of a program it is. I am a grammar girl. I mean, I lived for diagramming sentences! Guess what? My oldest just started diagramming!!! YAY! (I know, I'm a dork) We have handwriting, spelling, and math. Confession: I just bought Zech's math curriculum. GASP!!! Why? B/c I couldn't decide on which one to use!!! I'm not great at math. I am using Saxon with Gabriel and hate, hate, HATE it! UGH! It is painstaking! Most people love it, I hate it! Did I say that already...I HATE IT!!!
:)
Anyways, I finally decided on Teaching Textbooks for Zechariah. He loves it! He actually does 3-4 lessons a day. Right now it's still reviewing what he learned last yr. So he might slow down when he starts new concepts. I love that he does his lesson on the computer and I just have to check his work. It rocks!

*My schedule is hectic right now:

Mondays we have school then go to gymnastics. I swear, its like taking a alcoholic to a bar for Zechariah. He is "exuberant" as the \teacher says. That is putting it very nicely. My nieces and nephew go too...Oh my GOSH! Together they are all sooo bad! if just Sarah's kids are there, they are good. If just mine are there, they are good. Together=#$%@!
Tuesday is piano 1st thing in the morning. Gabe started this year and really likes it alot! Zechariah is getting so much better! It's fun to watch them learn. We go to the library (well, not to that one anymore!) and then come home and do school.
Wednesday is now Co-Op day. I'm sooo excited for this. It's on Andrews Air Force Base and they use the Children's Center facilities which are amazing! The kids get to take PE and Art and Ammon goes to PreK. I just got an email saying that dance opened up some more slots so Ammon and Eli can start ballet and Zech and Gabe can start tap. Gabriel threw a HUGE fit when I told him. He says it's dumb. (sigh!) Whatever, they are going even if it kills them (and me!) Since I'm already on Andrew's, I try to take in the commissary too-if I am not already spent! :)
Thursday is a regular school day
Friday is either a regular school day or field trip day.
Saturday is clean the house and play day
Sunday-church, choir practice, nap?, and spend time with the family. Lately it has also been help Gary get through his last and FINAL class. He is quite the procrastinator and we usually submit his papers at 11:56pm since they are due at 12am. UGH! All I care about is him finishing his degree.

Git 'er done!!!

*Premier Designs is picking up steam!

I now have 5 jewelers under me. (The 2 blondes on the left hand side are not my jewelers. We just asked them for help since we had no idea what to expect.) My girls are all so great! I am booking parties and vendor shows. One of my jewelers just sponsored someone!!! I just got done with the Army 10 miler Health and Fitness Expo. One of my jewelers and I rented a booth, hence the above picture. The exposure was enormous! I am still trying to follow up with contacts and book shows with them.

*I've met my match.

He's so stinkin' cute!

I felt comfortable with 4 kids. That was until Eli turned 2. He is insane! Oh my gosh! Plus now I have a newborn baby on top of Eli, 2, and Ammon, 4. They are either getting into mischief or knocking the junk out of each other! Plus, sickness has been running through my house and I am exhausted with the constant cleaning, laundry, and sad/whining kids. However, I am so happy to have my kids home. I am thankful for the opportunity to teach them.

*I don't know what the future has in store.
You all know what this does to me. Gary and I have decided that he will not take his next promotion and get out of the Army instead. As we were praying we felt that we are to pursue opening our own performing arts studio. I am SUPER excited about us having our business together. This has been our dream ever since I worked here. I loved working there. I learned so much. Over the last 10 years, I have taught dance, drama, and musical theater every place that we have lived. It's what I love to do. There are just tons of unknowns right now. Where are we supposed to do this? We have an idea, just need confirmation. When are we supposed to do this? Again, I have a plan, just need confirmation from Heavenly Father. What about our house? Will it sell? When should we put it on the market? Should we take a financial loss on it or rent it out?  Questions, questions, questions...

Ok, that's all for this post. Isn't that enough? I still have to blog about the Renaissance festival, Ammon's birthday, and other random thoughts and musings.

This is my sweet, beautiful girl. I am absolutely in love with her. She is perfect in everyway.

If you read this then you love me and I just want you guys to know, I love you too! :)

I am one of THOSE Moms!

That's what I am, at least according to the ladies at the public library.

You know one of these moms don't you? The moms who come in with loud, bratty kids and she is oblivious to the fact that they are running around, screaming their heads off, tearing books off the shelves, etc, etc. 

Tuesday after piano lessons we went to the public library to get some graded readers and some supplement books for our history and science lessons. I knew with 5 children I had limited time to get what I wanted and get out before mayhem ensued. I was relieved that there was a little computer set aside for children to play on so I could search for the books I wanted. My 3 youngest boys started to play on that while Zech grabbed his own books and me and Emma shopped for the rest.  They argued about who got to play and I quietly told them to knock it off. 10 mins went by and I heard them get loud again so I went over there just as one of the library workers told them they were done and she was turning it off. She was NOT nice about it! She didn't look at me but was exuding this really frustrated air. I couldn't just not say anything so I asked her what happened and were they fighting. She said, "Yes, and I have already told them several times to stop!" She totally yell-whispered at me! Ok. Why not talk to me after the 1st time or the 2nd? Why yell at me and get pissed off? 

Guess what? There was nothing going on. They were not yelling! They were arguing and pushing the other off the chair and stuff but I could barely hear them from the other side of a bookcase! They were quiet about their little fight. Isn't that the #1 rule in the library? Quiet? 

OH MY GOSH! This was not the 1st time I have gotten rudeness and flack from this place. This summer I tried to sign the kids up for summer reading program and to say that they were not helpful is being very nice! Anyways, I asked to speak to the woman in charge. I told her that I felt the library was a very important place to take my children and that I know sometimes they can be noisier than I want but that the attitudes of the workers that I have gotten the many times that I had been there were not positive and made me very sad. I told her that children need to learn how to act by coming often but the workers there did not seem to like or want children there b/c they have often gotten upset and snappy with them. Seriously, that was exactly what I said! Her reply? (rewind: during my conversation with her Gabriel had been hopping up to see over the check out counter) This is what manager lady said, "Well, like this is completely unacceptable behavior but I see you doing nothing to correct it". 

EXCUSE ME??? 1st of all, I have the car seat with Emma over my right arm and Eli on my left hip what was I gonna do? Secondly, he wasn't on top of the counter, he wasn't even putting his feet on it to climb up! Believe me lady, it could've been worse! Should I have said no, get down? Sure! But I was having a conversation and trying not to make a scene so she wouldn't be embarrassed! Plus, this is a PUBLIC library! As long as he is not streaking, cussing, or drunk, he is not breaking the law! I was PISSED to say the very least! I was also sad/embarrassed that she thought of me as one of "those" Moms. I've never been one and never wanted to be. 

I try hard to teach and train my kids to be kind, respectful, obedient, etc. But at the end of the day here it is: I cannot control their every move! They were put on this earth with agency and boy do they use it!  They are not bad kids! They are kids! My husband told me I should have said, "Don't worry lady, you don't pay for these kids but my taxes do help pay your salary". The nerve! I was so upset! Later that day, I had lunch with my girlfriend Salena who has 6 of her own kids. She helped me embrace my reality: 

I am one of those Moms. 

I am not oblivious, I know what is going on most all the time but sometimes I have to choose to ignore it just to keep my sanity.

So there it is in all its glory. 

The End.

Heavenly Homeschool

When I homeschooled Zechariah for K, he came up with this name for our homeschool. Check it out here. Since our purpose is to return and live with our Heavenly Father again some day, it is fitting. Since Monday was a holiday, our first day of Heavenly Homeschool was Tuesday. It consisted of piano lessons, a trip to Manassas, VA to meet with a LDS homeschool group, then to a friend's house to play while I took Elijah to get his stitches out, then home for math, chores, and dinner. It was busy and I did not feel like I had started school at all. Wednesday came and I was ready. It was amazing! I believe in "let sleeping dogs lie" so I let the boys wake up whenever they wanted. Gabriel and Ammon were up first. I made them breakfast and Gabe did his math, handwriting, grammar, and practiced piano before Zech finally got up at 9am!!! It sure made it easy for me. Ammon and Elijah enjoyed hanging around and playing with teddy bear counters and ABC blocks. I am kinda shocked that Gabriel is proving to be harder than the rest right now. He is kinda whiny and picks on his younger brothers a lot.I think he just needs some attention right now. I dunno-we'll figure it out.  Today was great fun too. I really love the curriculum I chose for the boys. We are using "History of the World" from The Well Trained Mind and their Grammar program , "First Language Lessons". Gabriel is on Saxon 1 Math. I am still debating Zech's math curriculum. Right now I am working on his math facts as I find his instant recall and memorization of the multiplication tables are lacking. They both use Handwriting without tears for handwriting and I have a spelling workbook. The only thing I do not have a set curriculum for is science. But we have TONS of books and I am trying to get better about experiments. (I hate the mess!)Anyhoo, I took a pic of my boys all working together at the table today. I posted it to facebook and said "I've never been happier!" It truly is a blessing to be able to be at home with my children. I am in love with them. Even though there are times I feel like there is not enough of me to go around, I still enjoy where I we are as a family.