This is why I home school

On Wednesday I was writing out the schedule for the kids school work. They noticed that I had written no school on Monday. Jared then,"Why don't we go to Sea world today when no one will be there and they do today's work on Monday." How could I argue with that? So we packed a lunch and were off. Instead of carrying or lunches around I suggested we eat before we go into the park. The kids were so excited they couldn't eat. Not two minutes into the park and we stop for a potty break and instantly the kids realize they are hungry. It was actually very funny to watch this scene. The birds were attacking us, OK not really... they just were very daring and got awfully close. Joseph did not like them and climbed up on his chair. Jared and Sarah tried to chase them off while the rest of us just laughed. Then as we were finishing I picked up Joseph, because he was scared to walk were the birds were, and he got the biggest grin and with delight in his voice said to the birds, "naa nee naa nee" (Insert raspberry sound here) We laughed the whole day over this one. We let him be in charge of what we did the whole day. He loved it.

I played with these pictures in photoshop.

Emma's such a little cutie

My Jared does not seem so small any more. The whole day he wanted to walk by himself or go somewhere by himself. I don't know if I am ever going to not worry about him.

I put an overlay on this one. I am not sure if I like it but it reminds me of an old photo like the ones we had when we were kids. Technology really has advanced the photography world.

Cute-kid-ness
The other day Joseph caught a spider. I thought it was a dead one, because that is normal for him to bring me dead insects (thanks pest control) He put it in a cup and brought it to me. When I looked inside I jumped back and screamed. Then the spider started to climb out onto Joseph's hand. I backed up and the girls freaked out. Jared calmly took it outside while the rest of us laughed, a lot. Well almost the rest of us. Sarah was crying. Joseph saw this and trying to cheer her up said, "The spider doesn't hurt it tickles." In response we all laughed even harder.

Funny funny lady!

I got the best e-mail the other day. I am sure most people reading this have already seen it but I have to post it here for anyone who might not have. I had stayed up way to late Thursday night because Ryan was working late with his brother and I was not looking forward to going to bed alone. SO I checked my e-mail and read the funniest e-mail ever. I laughed so hard I was crying. Then come to find out the lady has a blog. I had to check that out. Entry after entry I am cracking up. I think it is so funny to me because much of what she said I can relate to in some way.
For her ebay listing click here
This is another one I found that is not as well known but very funny
It is lengthy but sooooo worth it.
For her blog click here

First week of school

The kids enjoyed there first week of school. The first day was kind of stress filled for me. One thing I have learned about myself over the years is how much I like schedules and being prepared. So when we had Joshua's hospital stay I was not able to devote those two weeks (which I had planned on doing) to writing out a game plan for school. I already had all my books and a basic idea but nothing written out. So the very first day I was making things up as I went along. That night I stayed up way late but I at least got a weeks worth of planning written down. The rest of the week went well. I am amazed at how quickly Emma is picking things up. She already has a list of sight words she knows and all of the sudden reading has become easy for her. She doesn't like the fact that she still has to sound out words. Which is actually great because she is so motivated to memorize words.

Jared and Sarah have picked up really well. They both work hard to get done. right away I can see major strengths and areas to work on. I think this year will be a great year.

Joseph keeps talking about going to school and was really mad that the first day of school was simply at home and that we didn't actually "go" to school. This year is a little different in that the kids will go to school every Tuesday from 8-2. They are all excited about that and I think the boys will love that special time with me.

I let Joseph take pictues to help keep him busy while I was trying to teach Emma. Hey...Whatever works.

Here is a tribute to starting new things and finding joy amid trials

For a night of relaxation and rejuvenation after our crazy few weeks Ryan and I went on a date to the beach. We took pictures and learned that we both love picture taking and editing. It is so great to find a hobby we can do together. My favorite picture is one that he took.

I love all of the colors in this one

The sunset was perfect.

We are celebrating our ten year anniversary in a couple of months. I wanted a fun picture of us to put up in our room.

A random picture I took of Joshua the other day. It just touched my heart so I threw it with the other pics

I love this picture. I want to go back another time and get the stairs with no people on the beach. I bet early morning would be best.

Another of my favorites

I wanted to take a close up of this fisherman but I didn't have the guts to ask him. He was an old Japanese man. He just looked so classic.

How cool is this Crab

Ryan took this one

He is such a cutie!

And this is the one that is my most favorite!!!

These alcoves were everywhere. Most of them were covered with crabs.

I felt in awe of Heavenly Father and the variances in His creations.

My new hobby I want to get into....Photography

My SIL Sarah sent me to this blog today. http://oreosmooches.blogspot.com/ I love her photography. I feel so inspired to take good pictures. I am hoping to learn how to use my camera so that I to will be able to be awesome at picture taking.

Happy Ninth Birthday!

My Boy is 9. I am the mother of a nine year old.

Jared is
*My not so little, little boy
*So good with his little brothers
*Agressive on the field and fun loving at home
*Lover of good books
*Nintendo player
*Fun loving big brother (according to Sarah)
*Best fun brother (according to Emma)
*Mom's helper
*Dad's pal
Basically what I am trying to say is that we love this kid!

This is how jared spent most of his day.

I had visions of the coolest cake. But he wanted a football cake. With all that had gone on this past week I was feeling uninspired so I made this cake.



The kids responded with a wow. That's so awsome!

Dedication to Highscool Musical 2

The kids watched Highschool Musical right before we moved. They loved it. The girls have been singing the songs and also got Kaylee into it. So tonight they are going to Grandma's to watch the new one. Party! In the movie the jump up like this so Sarah wanted me to get a pic with them doing it.

My baby cyclopes.

Ok so he doesn't look like cyclopes anymore but he did when his eye was swollen. Look how great he looks.

Update on my little Joshua. He decided on Tuesday to stop breathing and turn blue. Ryan and I decided to respond by freaking out. (I can laugh at us now that it's all over.) After a fun afternoon ambulance ride and another hospital stay we have no idea why he decided to do that. The night he got home he broke out with a fever of 102 and then the next day a weird rash covered his body. I called our pediatrician and she told me to do what? Yes we went back to the ER. Gratefully my MIL Kelly came with me so I was not totally crazy from hospital boredom. And we left with no clue as to why he had a temperature or the rash. So my last two weeks have been filled with Hospital's and Dr's. And yet somehow I have managed to feel peaceful throughout all this craziness. My family has been great. Sarah did my laundry and helped watch my children. Amy brought me yummy food that lasted for days and helped watch my kids and even let Sarah make cupcakes. Hope cleaned my house (note to self cleaning someones house is one of the biggest ways you can help someone who is going through a trauma) My MIL watched my kids even though she had surgery herself not that long ago. How do you thank people who invoke in you such gratitude words can not explain???

All is well in the Chapman House Today!!

We are getting our rest now and back on schedule. I LOVE my schedules. This next week I will prepare to start school. Emma is super excited and asks on a daily basis if we can do school yet.

Update Pics on Joshua.

This is Joshua on Thursday.

And here he is this morning. He could open his eye even more tonight, more then half way. You can see in the corner of his eye where it is all red. The Dr. Said it should be red for a couple of weeks. That is from the surgery.

It was so nice to spend time getting ready for church today. After being in the hospital for a week and only showering twice it felt good to get done up.

I also curled Emma's hair which was fun.

I have such good looking fun loving kids. I am not sure what Emma was doing with her smile here?

What a little cutie. It seems like he grew up while I was gone. It was only a week but he expresses himself so well now.

Here is my Hottie Husband making the kids lunch today. What a great man I have been fortunate to be married to. He was so awesome throughout this whole ordeal. He has been giving the baby his medicine in the middle of the night (it takes 2 hours to administer it through the IV) and he has been letting me sleep in. I did not sleep well the whole week and he has been so understanding of that. Kisses to you Ryan!

I've been Tagged

Tag! You're it!
This is just like one of those "get to know your friends better" Tagging means that I do my "top four" in the following categories, and then tag four more people.

Favorite four jobs I've held: I have not had many jobs so these are the four jobs I have had-
*Swim teacher
*I worked at Palace Park (a family fun center)
*Boston Market
*ticket sales at the movies

Four movies I can watch over and over again:
*The Sound of Music
*Pride and Prejudice
*The Chronicles of Narnia
*Princess Bride

Four places I have lived:
*Murrieta, CA
*St. George, UT
*Irvine, CA
*Redlands, CA

Four T.V. shows I watch:
*American Idol
*Amazing Race
*Lost
*Heroes

Four places I've been on vacation:
*Texas
*Oahu, Hawaii
*Grand Canyon
*Mexico

Four favorite foods:
*Mexican food in all it's varieties
*Fish taco's with fresh grilled fish and good mango salsa
*Soy ice cream sandwiches
*Blueberry bagel with Peanut Butter

Four websites I visit:
*Blogger
*Hotmail
*Trueindustry.com
*Google

Four people I'm tagging now:
*Ricki
*Sarah
*Julie
*Mom (Kelly)

Quick update

We are finally home. At about 3 o'clock we got home and were greeted by the home care nurse. She had to teach us how to work Joshua's IV. He has to be on antibiotics for another week. Once she left he would walk around as happy as could be. I just kept smiling when I would hear his happy sounds. The hospital is not my favorite and now I think Joshua is not a fan either. He looks well and I feel confident he will be improving every day. I will post a picture as soon as I get a good one. I am off to sleep in my own comfortable bed. Yipeeee!

Our blessed drama.

So we thought that Joshua got hit in the eye from a book Joseph threw. Jared said it didn't look like it hit Joshua but he cried for about 5 minutes and Joseph thought it hit him in the nose. It got very swollen the next day and we went and saw a pediatric specialist who was really not sure why it looked the way it did from a book trauma yet she sent us home.
The next day it looked much better and she was comforted to see it improving. She sent me home again and told me to go to the ER over the weekend if he ran a high fever or it looked worse. By Saturday afternoon he had a fever of over 101 so to the ER we went. They had no idea what was going on so they sent us to Children's Hospital in San Diego. (At this point they could not get a hold of the ophthalmologist we had already seen.)
At Children's they were clueless also and after 7 hours since leaving my house they were going to send us home. (Side note, Everytime a Dr looked at it they would say, "huhhh?") They told me to just keep an eye on it. And if it got worse come back. Just then the Specialist called and told them she just had a feeling to get a cat scan. We had prayed before we left that the Dr's would be inspired and in just the nick of time she was. The cat scan showed that there was something in his eye socket going up into his skull and into the brain cavity. From a book? Things just did not make sense.
It was clear that his eyeball was untouched and there was no entry wound in his eyelid so we were all confused. Each Dr had his theory as to what it could be. They said it was dense like bone. One Dr. was sure it was a birth defect and it was actually bone. Another thought it was metal like a staple or a paper clip. Right before surgery the neurosurgeon said he was willing to bet it was from a pencil. We laughed at that. They guy was kind of weird in our book. They had to find someone who could do the surgery since it went into the skull and brain cavity.
They ended up having the neurosurgeon on hand just in case but a plastiosurgeon (sp?) did the surgery. He was great. If I could have picked the perfect guy it would be him. He finally had the surgery Monday night around 5. It turns out it was pencil lead about 7mm. (that taught us a lesson in not judging) It did not go into the brain (although it did break through the skull) and it did not go through the eye muscle as they originally thought it did. He is so blessed. Yes this has been a trial but it has been such a blessing.
I have watched time and time again as Heavenly Father has guided those who had charge over him. When they thought they were going to send us home I finally feed him. The Optho told me not to feed him if we were going to the ER just in case they had to give him sedation. Then we got the call about the cat scan. Normally they have to sedate him but he was asleep which was a huge blessing. They can't give the sedation until 6 hours after he eats. It has been such a blessing for me to feel and become so aware of how much Heavenly Father truly is aware of us.
We moved down near family and they have been such a help. Words can not describe or gratitude towards them for all they have done. Ryan got really sick right after we went into the ER and they helped watch our kids so he could rest. They brought me food, change of clothes, things to do. Joshua had pooped all over me right before they got there so it was a huge blessing. There have been so many little things I wish I could remember them all. I was over a week late on my period last month. I am never late. It was so weird and I could not figure out what was going on. Now that I am here and not on my period due to being so late I am grateful. They don't let you use the bathroom in the room. You have to leave the wing to go so you can only imagine what a blessing that is.
When the nurse was trying to get blood they were having a really hard time. I closed my eyes and said a prayer. I asked that angels would guide his hands and shortly after the Nurse proclaimed, "I got it thank the Lord." I wondered if he believed as I did the words he had just said. Angels have been at his side throughout it all. Ryan said a special prayer for him that he would recover quickly and that we as his parents would be at peace and we have been able to stay so calm. So yes it was scary but it is much better now and we have had a quiet peace throughout it all.
Heavenly Father does not stop bad things from happening to us but he does give us comfort, peace, and guidance during our trials that we may praise Him in ALL things. I have found joy in this trial for it has taught me lessons I could not have learned any other way.

Here he is Wednesday night. We thought it looked cute that he

had a slightly swollen eye.

And then he woke up with this and I cried when I saw him.

Now I felt scared.

I don't know if you can tell but the swelling had gone down by Saturday morning. We thought he was going to be fine!

And here he is once they got us into a room Sunday morning around 4:30.

He is all smile after his surgery. Well he is some smiles. He would crack me up by smacking his IV arm on the crib. I think he liked the sound. It was taped on with cardboard so that he couldn't mess it up.
He really has been such a trooper. He laughs when he can and screams when the Dr's or nurses come around. At first he was a big fighter. Now he just yells at them.

Hospital must have's

While it is on my mind I wanted to make a hospital care package list for future reference.

Comfort food including chocolate
Ipod with soft music to help drown out the sounds
Reading material- It is good to have a variety of light reading- Magazine including one with hobby they love, a novel, how-to's with a subject that would interest them,
spiritual reading
Pillow
Blanket- It gets really cold
Phone charger or calling card
Toothpaste and toothbrush
Lotion (you wash your hands a lot)
Face wash
Brush
Change of clothes and Jammies
Something to write on and a pen (We currently have a ban on pencils)
If it is for a child toys and books and change of clothes for when they can come home.

For now this is it. I may think of more later

I am glad that blogger has allowed me to be a journal writer

We decided in the move that we would let Jared have his own room. He feels he is big enough. He has lots of little toys that require assembly and there was really no where for him to put them with out a little brother to take them apart. I was nervous about the two little ones sharing a room. I was afraid that Joseph would bother Joshua and not let him get to bed. The first night was hilarious. Joseph was so tired and went right down. Joshua was so excited it took him a long time to fall asleep. But it was so cute listening to him. He just talked and laughed for over an hour. Joseph was sound asleep. Then the next night Joseph climbed into Joshua's crib and threw his Binky on the floor in the middle of the night. They both went right back to sleep so no big deal. Now tonight they seem to both be used to it.

Speaking of these two little boys. Joseph threw a book today and Joshua caught it with his eye. His eye is swollen almost shut. It looks so bad. Pour little guy.

Funny story. Now that Jared has his own room we put the Dragon in there. Jared can't sleep with the crickets chirping all night long so he put the crickets out side of his room on top of an empty box. Joseph thought it would be fun to knock it down the stairs. And yes we did have crickets all over the downstairs. It wasn't funny at the time but dang funny now.

After all the stress that has been going on in our life's we decided to play the glad game today. For Scripture study time we have been starting with a song to get us in the right spirit. It has worked wonders. Today we sang count your many blessings and I realized how negative I have been. It seems we can always find reasons to be happy or we can find reasons to be mad. Today we chose to be happy. It worked great. Today was a great day.

This is why My blog is called "Random samplings of my delightful life"

...Beacuse this post is a bunch of random thoughts that happen inside my head.

I just need to take a minute to blog. My life is upside down. We moved in yesterday and everything did not fit into the truck. We shared the truck with Trent and Sarah (We moved into there house and they moved all there stuff to there new house.) By the time we got the first load emptied it was time to take the truck back. They already had it assigned to someone else so we had to rent a second truck. I have decided that I hate moving! Yes I am that passionate about it and I will say it again. I hate moving. I thought I had dejunked really well but no and now it is time to purge my whole house. I am sure it will feel great to get rid of even more stuff.

As far as the new house it is great. We have down sized. The house we were renting was to big. It felt like the kids disappeared in it. This house will be great for us while we are here. I have given up guessing when our house will be built. So for the time being I am simply going to get super organized so that the next move will go more smoothly. I am going to be getting rid of what I can not store on the shelves in the garage which should only be tools, memorabilia, and Christmas stuff.

Ryan's Grandpa has been diagnosed with colon cancer and they have said there is nothing they can do for him and so they sent him home. He has kept his sense of humor and Grandma was saying they will just party until it's his time. My grandpa's have both been gone for along time. I have always looked to Grandpa Chapman as my own Grandpa. I feel very tender feelings towards him.

Tonight we had the July b-day party at my MIL's It felt good to step away from the stress of moving and visit. My MIL is going in for surgery on Tuesday to remove the cancer she has in her ear. She asked if the priesthood holders would give her a blessing. Since Papa John's baptism he has not participated in a blessing. Tears streamed down my face as I heard him. He was so touched to be able to serve in this manner and to hold this sacred power. It was very humbling.

Trent and Sarah gave spiritual thoughts. I was so touched by Sarah. She sang for us and then shared with us that she had a miscarriage this past week. As if moving is not stressful enough. I just listened to her and cried. I remember laying in my bed and crying when I had my miscarriage. You feel numb at first and then just sad. We did not live by family and I felt very alone. My mom and Amy were very sympathetic and seemed to know what the best things to say or not say were. You are just so ready to have that baby be part of your life that it is hard to face that for whatever reason now is not the best timing. Through it I learned to trust in My God. To learn that he knows all things including my sorrow. I felt that deeply as I went through that. I cherished my pregnancy with Joshua so much more. Once I saw his heart beat it took on new meaning. Then when I had the ultrasound and saw that he was healthy I rejoiced in a way I did not do with the other children. When you feel the baby's first movements you take it as a sign of strength and health. Near the end I was so anxious to hold him that I cherished even more the sweet sounds of his cry. I could not have understood when I had the miscarriage all the good I would learn from it. What a valuable lesson for me to reflect on. Life has seemed very hard the past few weeks. Just a lot of stuff I am not sure how to process. When I can think of how aware Heavenly Father is of me. When I can think that he knows how overwhelmed I feel and yet He has my greater good in mind. He has lessons he wants me to learn. He has greatness He is trying to develop in me if I will but turn to him and learn all that He desires for me.
I have been reading in Luke the past couple of weeks. Something that caught my attention this time was Peter and his denial of knowing Christ. People could easily wonder and be in awe at his denial. "How could he have done such a thing when he walked with the Savior" and yet he did. I then thought of my life and the times I feel fear and stress. When I try to walk alone and fail miserably. When I do not allow the Atonement to lift me and I do not turn to My God in prayer. How is this any different then what Peter did? I deny what He has done for me and thus do not acknowledge that I know him. But as Peter did I too can pick myself up and move forward. I can gain a greater resolve to follow after Christ and live as He did. I am so grateful for the scriptures and all that we learn from them.

Aerospace Museum

We have been studying space the past few months. We had a blast visiting this museum. Who said learning can't be fun.

Joshua is a walker

Last Saturday Joshua decided he could walk and he has not stopped yet.



He was so cute. When he would fall down he would throw himself on the ground and do a happy dance.

Joshua gets super excited like this a lot. He is a super happy kid!

Erynne as Soaring Red Dove

Erynne spent six weeks in the wilderness being learning to be one with nature. She had to start her own fires and cook all her own food. The hiked about 20 miles a week in the hot Arizona sun. We all envy her as she got a chance to become one with God and his creations. She learned so much and I think she will value this experience for the rest of her life.
Here is Grandpa trying to start a fire.

Ane here is Erynne showing us how it is done.


And now she took the fire outside because as Reeghan says, "Fires don't belong inside"

WARNING...

...this blog post is not for the weak at heart.

So we are in the middle of moving and my three year old has decided to assert his independence in a very real and noticeable way.

On Sunday after Josephs nap he went into his closet to "take care of business" He went both pee and poop. I was kind of shocked and didn't know what to do... so I did nothing. Well we explained to him that we only go in the bathroom. He seemed like he understood. You have to understand that he has been potty trained for some time now so this is really out of the blue. Then that night we had friends over and he went and peed on the floor in the piano room. What? We laughed. What else can you do.

Ryan has been working really hard to get a web site done for some highly challenging customers. He had a deadline and stayed up till 5 in the morning. So when I got up with the kids I was treated to find that Joseph had pooped on the floor in the piano room, again. But this time he decided to use Jared's brand new piano books as his toilet. The odd thing? The piano books were put away. He grabbed the only two new books out of the twenty or so that we have. It appears that he realized he had made a mess and tried to clean it up himself. So it was smeared all over the carpet. I do not usually clean up this kind of mess. I am blessed with a husband who is an expert in getting stains out of things so when throw up or anything like this happens I step aside and let him at it. No way was I going to wake him up so I did it. Joseph and I had a big talk. I made him sit with me and watch me clean it up hoping he would see this was not pleasant and not do it again.

I wish this were the end of my story. I put Joshua down for a nap earlier in the week. Joseph goes missing about 30 minutes later. I hear him laughing and he is in Joshua's crib with him. I then spot fish food all over the carpet. Not only did he get into the dry fish food but he was playing with water also so it was all smeared into the carpet. He then got into lipstick and had fun with that. He opened up a vitamin and stained the carpet yellow.

We are moving next Saturday and it is almost humorous that all this would happen now.

After all of this had happened this week the last draw was simply that he put a hole in the most expensive door in the house. He had tied an exercises jump rope to the door handle (it is rubber and stretches) He then pulled the other end and when the handle snapped back it put a hole in the door. I am documenting all of this because I know that all women can find humor in my story. We all have days and weeks like this. I managed to keep my cool through out all of this. I recognize that God is with me in my most stressing times. I was reading in Luke 12 how our Father is so aware of us and our struggles. Consider the lilies of the field.