time..

I have been feeling lately, that time is my enemy! It is going way too quickly! My baby is 4 months already, my boy will be 3 at the end of the month, and the princess will turn 7 in April. I am scared to blink, because when I do, it will go from toys to cars to college and so on. Bedtime hugs and kisses will become a distant memory, as will singing silly songs and dancing together. I am working much harder to make the most of every day of my children being children, because we all know it will pass all too quickly!!

And the final decision is..

So, a while back, I posted that we had made the decision to home school Cierra... Wellllll.. Shortly after that post, I got scared... Terrified really... My insecurities were winning out! Who was I to teach my child?? I had nothing more than my high school diploma... And it had been 8 years since I got that!! What if I missed something? What if I royally messed up my precious childrens future?? So I expressed these fears to my husband, and being the wonderfully supportive man he is, said that he would support whatever I decided. So, we decided: back to Watford City Elementary it was... Back into the class of 20 with a teacher who, while I am sure she would care about my daughter, she never could or would know and LOVE Cierra like I do. Surely, though, she was more "qualified" than I to teach my child.. More qualified to shape her fragile mind.. I justified my decision to myself, and I was starting to convince myself that I had made the right decision.. And on a Sunday evening, my phone rang. A member of The Church had Konnor's blessing certificate, and wanted to bring it by. We got to visiting with him, and found out that he and his wife had homeschooled their children for 7 years.. And they had FIVE children!! (one of my fears was there was no way I could do it with
my 3 children.) I still wasn't convinced. They invited us to dinner.. Not to discuss homeschool but to be able to get to know each other. The night of dinner, I noticed how well-behaved their children were. The older ones were helpful, they were all very polite. I mentioned how impressed I was. Her secret? Homeschool. Huh. We visited about a lot of things that night, but our conversation about the why's of homeschooling rang so true to me. I wouldn't admit it to myself, but I left that night a "convert". However, there were still so many unknowns, so many fears and insecurities. My husband and I talked
more, I met with a group of ladies who all homeschooled, and the final decision was made! We are going to homeschool our children. In fact, this morning, I mailed my letter of intent. I am still scared, I am still full of insecurities, but I know I am making the right choice for my family. I want to share my reasons for this decision! 1. I like to be with my kids. I felt sad and a little bit guilty every day of kindergarten. I hated making her go! 2. I want to be my Childrens greatest influence. 3. I want my children. To be able to move at their pace. Not the pace of 20+ other children. 4.I don't want my children ideas and opinions of themselves formed by 20 children who don't know or love them. (thank you, Audra) 5.I like the flexibility home sschool offers. These are a few of the reasons. I want to be in charge of what my children know, and when. Well, thank you for letting me share.And
thank you, Heavenly Father for making it clear that this is the road my family is supposed to be on!

Konnors Blessing

We blessed Konnor Ray Merrell on July 4, 2010! Here are some pics

Daddy and C

3 Kids

Me, Woody and his parents, Carrie and Howard

Konnor Ray and Grandma Pat

Konnor and Grandma again..Sorry it's sideways...

Grandma and the Kiddos!

Grandma and Grandpa and the kiddos!

Our 1st family pic since the hospital!

The back of Konnor's blessing outfit, Woody's grandma made it!

and the front! AMAZING!

The handsome LIL man in his blessing outfit!

What a great Weekend!!

This one is funny! We were washing the truck, and they were covering their ears!

He always looks SOO happy to take a pic with me....LOL!


Cierra with the bunny!!

Daddy helpin Blayke hold the bunny!

Handsome boy!!

Pretty girl!!

Sweet Baby!!

No, we didn't go on a vacation..Or to some grand theme park..We were just TOGETHER! Usually, woody works soo many hours, that he is so tired on his only day off (Sunday) that all he wants to do is sleep. It is hard, and I am working on being more understanding.

This weekend was a special treat, because Woody ended up getting off before noon on Saturday! We decided to go to the McKenzie County Fair..It wasn't quite what I expected, having grown up with the Easter Idaho State Fair. (I wasn't expecting anything that big, but I think my husband summed it up best when he said, "We just paid 10 bucks to pet some animals and have a free root beer float! We could have done that on the side of the road, and at home..FREE! LOL!) It was seriously NOT what I was expecting! You had maybe 10 booths..Some rodeo stuff...And...Well...That is pretty much it. I never saw Curly the Clown (Who was supposed to be there at 11) or where we were supposed to be able to get the kids' face painted... BUT, it was fun to just be out and together!! Then on Sunday, WOODY WASN'T EXHAUSTED!! YAY!! We went swimming, and it was OH SO FUN! The kids love love love the pool! =) Cierras swimming lessons are really paying off, she is getting VERY brave. The only thing she doesn't like is going down the slide. Blayke, of course, LOVES the slide. (Don't worry, either Woody or I are always at the bottom to catch him!) He is also getting brave..Except when I lose my footing, and both of our heads unexpectedly go under water..OOPS! We also had homemade milkshakes later that day..YUM!! All in all, it was a pretty great weekend!!!!!

back on track...

Have you ever tried to VACATION and stick to a diet and work out regimen?! Well...I tried....I lasted the 19 hour trip to Idaho, and for about 3 hours once we got there! I couldn't resist the white chocolate Reeses cups, (YUM!) BBQ'd burgers, or movie theater popcorn (extra butter)!! I know, I am WEAK!! Then, I resolved that AS SOON as I got home, I was going to get BACK ON TRACK.....Working out and all. But...I broke my toe...or jammed it or something, but it was incredibly painful...And, because I was determined before the trip not to leave a lot of food in the house when we left, when we got home, our food supply was PATHETIC! So, I continued to eat like crap..And..NOT workout....UGH! In a week and a half I gained FIVE pounds!!
Well, today, I restarted...Back on Weight Watchers..(I do this because it is easy to follow, and it lets me have enough to keep up my milk supply for Mr. Konnor). I worked out twice, and after my first workout (cardio) I felt great...like I didn't miss a beat! Then, I did the Shred...WOW!! Jillian kicked my trash tonight.....
This is a pointless post, mostly being typed to resist the rootbeer floats the rest of my family is having! **SIGH**

Out of my mind?! I think so!!

Well, we have thought, pondered and even prayed about what to do with Cierra's schooling...We want the freedom to go to Idaho without having to worry about her missing days...Woody has been fond of the homeschooling idea since we enrolled her in kindergarten, but the truth is I feel INADEQUATE to take this task on!! Plus, with the two boys, can u imagine my day?!
But....He has finally won out...I am researching homeschooling to a point of OBSESSIVENESS! I mean, this is my daughters EDUCATION being put into my hands..And I have nothing more than my high school diploma.
To start with, I googled HOMESCHOOLING...I then learned North Dakotas laws for it, which are far stricter than they are in Idaho. To start with, I have to fill out a letter of intent. This is NOT a permission slip, but a letter letting the school board know that I intend on homeschooling, and which (if any) extracurricular activities, and school subjects Cierra will be dual enrolled in. That is the easy part!! Then I start researching curriculums..WOW! There are a LOT of curriculums. I (THINK) I have settled on one..Time4Learning..At least for the core subjects (science, social studies, math and reading) I also want to get a spanish curriculum, and plan on "unschooling" her. My interpretation of this term is teaching her by giving her the REAL LIFE experience.. I plan on JOURNALING being a BIG part of my curriculum...We are ordering Encyclopedia Brittanica online, and getting Woody a new laptop so she can have his old one. We are also getting a new printer (YAY!!)..
We are doing a trial run with her for 1 year. I will be monitored by the school board, and have several requirements to meet... If it is going well, we are going to continue next year AND add Blayke in a pre school curriculum.
In order for Cierra not to become a social misfit, I am researching homeschooling groups in my area. I am also enrolling her in Girl Scouts, Ice skating, and piano lessons.
This is going to be a trial of my patience, and if I am RAMBLING it is because I am still so very nervous about taking this on! Pray for me! LOL!

Idaho

We went to Idaho for the week of July 1-7. What an awesome trip!!
We started out at about 10 o'clock the night of the 30th. We had planned on leaving MUCH earlier, but as usual, Woody worked later than expected, and then he had to get his stuff ready so we got a way late start..2 hours into it, he could go no further, so we pulled over, and he slept a bit. I hate driving at night, especially here on the 2 lane highways where the speed limit is 70, and the highways are FULL of oil trucks...So, I told him if he got me to the freeway, I would take over. I ended up driving most of what turned into a 19 hour trip. Our kids were FANTASTIC! Even the baby did super well! Except the lil' stink decided he didn't want to take the bottle that I had diligently introduced at 4 weeks and pumped for JUST FOR THIS TRIP! LOL! We FINALLY got to Woody's parents around 5 p.m. EXHAUSTED! It was so wonderful to see his family though, that it didn't even matter that we were so tired. We spent that night visiting his family, and dying of heat, as it was THE ONLY hot day while we were there, and they hadn't yet bought their air conditioners. Friday Woody took me shopping! Which, normallly I despise, but didn't mind at all this time. We bought me a couple of new Church dresses, shoes, perfume, jewelery..And him a new suit for Church! It was FUN to be able to spend a little money on US!
That night, I went to the movie, KID FREE with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law. We saw Twilight:Eclipse...AWESOME movie, and I am not one of the hardcore fans...But I really enjoyed this movie. And it was nice to get a little break from the kids. (THANK YOU HONEY!) Saturday, we were supposed to go to the river for my lil' nieces birthday, but it was windy and chilly, so we had the party in the gym. (for those of you who don't know, my inlaws live in an old LDS church house.) It was CRAZY and fun. Oh, and Grandma and Grandpa Woodhouse, who we didn't know were coming, showed up. It was awesome. Sunday we had Konnors and Rylees baby blessing. What an awesome experience. We had a HUGE lunch at my sister-in -laws, and just enjoyed each others company. Sunday night, we played a game of Phase 10, which, when you get us all together, is always fun! Monday morning, we took my in laws, and Wooody's grandparents to breakfast, and spent the day with my BEST FRIEND EVER, Cherry. She took us to dinner at Chili's...LOVE IT! Tuesday, we spent the afternoon with my mom, and her boyfriend James, cooked us dinner..CRAB LEGS AND STEAK...SOOOOOO GOOD! We headed out Tuesday night, and got back Wednesday afternoon! It was soo awesome, and we didn't get NEARLY enough time!
Also, my baby brother from the Marines was able to come home...AWESOME! I FREAKED when I saw him!! It was truly awesome to see everyone, and I am sad about some I didn't get the chance to see! We love and miss you all!!!