First Day '09

My two favorite students report for school!!

Enticements always take away the first day jitters!!!

Textbooks, rulers, pencils . . .

Sam gets ready for another BIG year!!!

Luke will be studying about Civil War History this year!

Congratulations on the first day of school!!!!

Getting Ready to Sharpen Up!!!

Yes Sir!! Tomorrow is THE big day!!!

We are really excited!!!! Tomorrow will mark the day of our

eighteenth year of homeschooling!!!!

Sam will be taking Spanish and

College Algebra at Great Basin Junior College!!! He will be working

on other accomplishments here at home as well as concentrating

on his golf game!

Luke has a great year planned!!

He will be working at home on 7th grade math, tons of exciting

science activities, social studies galore, Civil War history,

spelling, handwriting, English . . .

We are so thankful that we are able to homeschool!!

We absolutely LOVE it!!! There is no doubt about it,

homeschooling is the way to go for our family!!!

Here's to another great year of schooling together as a

family!!!

Hidden Springs, Idaho . . . Here We Come!!!

We love Hidden Springs, Idaho soooo much . . .

that we . . .

are . . .

going . . .

to . . .

move . . .

back . . .

there!!

In a process that will take approximately 18 months,

we are going to pack up all of our stuff and EVERYONE . . .

including Grampa, Grandy, and Bobby

and head back to Hidden Springs, Idaho - for good!

It is definitely THE best place to raise a family!!

The seasons are wonderful, scouting is great, golfing is terrific!!

We are sold!!

End of Summer Marathon!

Yep, it's true!! As we count down the days of summer . . .

One of the top items on our list - "King of Queens" marathon!!

It is tonight!! We have pizza, rice crispy treats, blueberries, and grapes!!!!

We are ready to watch a marathon of one of our favorite shows!!!

End of summer . . . it is totally fun!!!

A Dog Needs A Bone!?!

Tim is CERTAIN that we need more EXCITEMENT, NOISE, and RUNNING

AROUND in our home!!!

He insisted on buying the dogs another toy!!!

Tucker is the winner lots and lots of the time!!!

Youth triumphs again!!

FAB-U-LOUS Last Days of Summer . . .

Sam, Luke and I are going out with a blaze of glory saying

goodbye to summer!! We hit the streets for the BIG CITY today!!!

The boys appeased me and went to the Town Square Mall!!!

It was fun and fabulous just to walk around the outdoors!!!

Sam and Luke really were gracious and let me listen

to my very favorite WICKED CD all the way home!!!!

They are fab-u-lous!!!!

Our family LOVES the Red Rock Hotel!!!!!

We had sooo much fun eating in the food court and going to

two fun flicks!! We are movie hoppers!!! You have

to see two movies for the prices of one!!!!!

The boys were so worried about seeing "The Time Travelers Wife"!

We all LOVED it!!! I cried, of course, and the boys

actually thought that it was a pretty good movie!!!

Thanks family for a fun ending to summer!!!! Thank you for

being my family and allowing me the pleasure

of home schooling two of my most prized possessions!!!!

We are on the countdown as far as summer goes, but

we are gearing up for one FANTASTIC school year!!!!

Project Pantry! Check.

Yesterday, I counted and counted and counted just how many

times this doorknob opened . . .

the pantry door . . . I stopped counting at 239.

End result of another big fat project that had to be

tackled before school starts on Monday!

I have had to recruit new help . . . Dad!

We had more food than we could have ever imagined in our

pantry!!! With hungry boys IN and OUT of that room a bazillion

times a day, it was bound to need reorganizing.

Man! I love a BIG project! I love results! I love everyone

pulling together to get the job done!!!

Good news guys . . . We only have six days until school starts!!

Only a few more fun projects to go!!!!

Rub-a-dub-dub

Could there possibly be a cuuuuuuuuuuuuuter picture??

This picture is from 1947!!

It is my cute Mom and Uncle Max.

Everyone needs to have a bathtub picture.

I guess that we inherited the need to take pictures of

our own kids in the bathtub from our grandparents.

Care Packages, Cookies, Cards . . .

Yep, I had better get busy!

Zach's new mailbox is just waiting for some

yummy treats and news from home!!!

We cannot wait to bake some yummy cookies and

jot a few notes to our college prepster!!

Reasons to send Zach a care package:

1. We miss him!

2. We feel like baking and eating left over cookie dough.

3. Zach did great on a test!

4. Zach is studying hard!

5. It is close to the weekend and we know he will

miss us!

6. A college student cannot go too long without

some yummy news from mom!!!

Checking in on our College Student . . .

It is definitely hard to let your children go off to college . . .

but it is awesome to see them doing so well! Zach absolutely

loves Biola . . . really who wouldn't!! Christ is the center of EVERYTHING

here at Biola! It THE most amazing place!!! We are so grateful

that our Zach is able to go to school here!!!

Sam and Luke are such awesome brothers!! They have been to

every recital, performace, game, practice, you name it!!

We are so grateful that they LOVE to be involved in the lives of

Tim and Zach!!!! Your turn is coming Sam and Luke!!!

Thank you for being so great about everything!!!!

One proud dad and #2!

Mom is releaved to see that Zach is happy and loving college life!!!!

Zach's biggest supporters!!!!

Thank you Tim for staying home with Grampa and the dogs!!!! We missed you!!!!

Excited About Another Homeschooling Year!!!!

How time does fly!!! I am getting so excited about our brand

new homeschooling year!!!! As I think about all of the wonderful

homeschooling years that I have shared with the boys, I

was thinking back to that most unbelievable year that we spent

homeschooling in our FIFTH WHEEL while we were building our home!!

Our boys have shared some incredible moments over the

years!! I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have

had to be able to homeschool them for EIGHTEEN YEARS!!!

We cannot homeschool without FOOD and SNACKS!!! They

are an essential element to our homeschooling experience!!!

How can it be that time has gone by soooo FAST!!!!

Look at that cute pre-school face!!!

Big FAT Fun Project!!!

To get a spankin' clean garage . . .
You need some "willing" helpers!!!!
The boys "cowboyed" up and helped me clean out the
garage where I park my car!!!!

Actually , we were on a rampage to find a Spanish book
and in the process, I got a clean garage!!!!
BEFORE . . . trophies, boxes, messy videos . . . oh, my!!

After a million years of homeschooling we have collected a

plethora of books!!! We sorted, donated, and boxed up

most of them!!!!

You know what . . . big ugly projects can really be fun when

you have fun people to do them with!!!! Thank you

Tim, Sam, and Luke for your willingness to help me today!!!!

We called Zach and told him what he was missing . . . he was so disappointed!!!

A trip to Sonic makes it all worth it!!!!

Nearing the End of Summer . . .

Yep, it is definitely true!! All good things must come to an end!!

The lazy, crazy days of summer are winding down as we find ourselves:

1. Walking down the school supply aisle looking in anticipation at all of

the new school supplies.

2. Wanting some resemblence of a normal bedtime schedule.

3. Missing the daily routine of snacks at 10:00a.m. instead of waking up at noon and

eating leftover pizza.

4. Peeking at our new school books . . . A definite no, no in our home!!! We have to

wait until the first day of school!

5. Excited about another great year of homeschooling!!

Oh yeah! Summer is most certainly a wonderful time of year!

We are in the process of getting our mindset for the new school year!!

Hours of Entertainment . . . Priceless!

After FOUR boys . . .
I cannot explain the 1000s and 1000s of army men that have
entered our home . . .

Some did not leave, as they were either killed in

battle or wounded!!

Did you know that army men can talk?

Did you know that army men have feelings?

Did you know that army men make LOUD sounds?

Did you know that army men HURT when you step on them in the dark?

I do!

However, army men have provided my boys with

hundreds of hours of entertainment!

Luke is all set up for the next battle!

May the best men win!!!