Learning about Japan

We have been studying Japan this week. We learned about the civil war period and some of the great warlords, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa. I had never heard of them until now. Tokugawa encouraged the Samurai to put down their swords and sumo wrestle instead. So we watched some youtube videos of sumo wrestling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ1wnbNIUrc&feature=PlayList&p=334FBF2379C73995&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=45

Elliot immediately decided to be a sumo wrestler. We have been wrestling for days.
The girls were pretty grossed out by the sumo outfit. They wanted to try Japanese kimonos instead.

Then we tried to make a miniature Japanese Zen garden.
Turns out flour is not a very good substitute for sand. Oh well, we had fun, right?
Now I think it's time to go get some sushi!

Thankful Blog

I am grateful for my children and husband. They are so wonderful and weird at the same time.

Elliot, who made and entire suit of armor out of 25 Walmart bags.
Anna, who used herself as the canvas.
Molly, who thought daddy would look better with pigtails.
And Jill, who made a mustache out of her cheese sandwich.
And I am thankful for my husband too, even if at times he dresses like a little girl. (By which I mean in little girl's clothing.)
I am just so blessed. :)

One other thing I am grateful for is my new indoor, retractable clothesline. (16.99 from stacksandstacks.com).
This thing is cool! One side screws into the wall,
and the other side is held up by two little hooks on the opposite wall. It has 60 feet of clothesline (5 rows at 12 ft each) and so far it seems very sturdy. This is going to be great for all those wet winter gloves, scarves, and snowpants!
Wait, am I actually blogging about a clothesline? You thought my hubby and kids were weird. Turns out I am the real oddball in the group! Hahahahah the joke's on me.

Happy Turkey Day.

Pretty Hairdos

Molly and Jill have been doing some very fancy things with hair lately. Very Fancy Nancy-ish if you know that children's book.

Jill has taken a normal head-band and decorated it with lots of flowery hairclips...
to make Anna look like a fairy-princess.
It turned out so well she had to make one just like it for herself too.
(Notice how Anna has her hands in her pockets. She has recently discovered them and thinks it is very exciting to use them.)

Molly used her creativity on Daddy instead. He desperately needs a haircut, consequently his hair is long enough to do in pig-tails (just like we do Anna's hair!)
Sooooo cuuuuute!

A Day at Our House

I saw this in a magazine for homeschoolers and I got a kick out of it. I think this is a pretty typical day for us.

6:30 Jamie gets up and exercises. Elliot and Anna sit on the couch and watch.
7:30 Everybody gets dressed and ready for the day.
Children make beds, do laundry.
Jamie does hairdos for the girls and Dave starts breakfast.
8:00 Breakfast, family scripture time, clean-up.
8:40 Jamie starts making bread.
Kids sort their laundry.
9:00 Molly practices piano.
Jamie, Jill, Elliot, Anna fold clean towels and washcloths and put them away.
9:30 Molly is off to piano lessons.
Kids start a short movie.
Jamie takes a facebook break.
9:45 Jamie and Jill do a reading lesson.
10:00 Jamie cleans powder room, (washes hands thoroughly) makes bread dough into loaves.
10:15 Molly is home from her lesson, time to start homeschool.
Each kid has a poem they are memorizing.
This week we are studying Jamestown and John Smith and Pocahontas, so we read a few short books about Jamestown then a chapter from our book "The Double Life of Pocahontas" (it is gripping!).
12:00 Time for the kids to clean up the family room while Jamie makes lunch.
12:45 Lunch clean-up.
1:00 Molly and Jill work on math, handwriting, grammar, and math facts memorization.
Jamie, Elliot, and Anna do stories and nap-time.
2:15 Jamie is groggy so she takes a 15 min blog break. I checked out AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com, PeopleOfWalmart.com and my email.
2:30 Jamie reviews schoolwork with Molly and Jill and we correct any mistakes.
2:55 Jamie quickly wakes up Elliot and Anna and we head out the door for...
3:00 Visiting Teaching at Erika's house. (She's my visiting teacher, but we do it at her house cause she has all the fun toys and snacks.)
5:00 Molly stays to play with Matthew.
Jill goes to Eliza's house.
Jamie, Elliot, and Anna come home.
They watch a movie (I know, two in one day, but they were both really short and I needed them to stay put!) while I vacuum and mop the main floor.
6:10 Email break.
6:20 Dinner is served. (I forgot to mention it earlier, but I made it in the crock-pot this morning.)
6:45 Dave and the kids clean up dinner.
Jamie tidies up the basement while brushing her teeth.
7:00 Jamie heads to the church for Young Women's.
Dave bathes all the children, reads them stories, and puts them to bed.
7:30 Jamie brings all the Young Women back to the house for a game night and yummy snacks.
9:00 The Young Women go home and Jamie cleans up the kitchen.
9:15 Dave and Jamie watch Monk while Jamie works on tying a quilt.
10:15 We brush our teeth, read our scriptures, and go to bed.

Post Script--it is interesting as I review our day, how much time we have to spend on 1. Laundry, 2. Cleaning up. That's life with kids I guess! :)

A look inside Molly's head

I recently found the following two papers lying around the house. I think my child might be a genius. :)

p.s. I cropped the infinity page. I am pretty sure she is planning to add more zeros when she has more time.

It doesn't have to be only at Christmas

One cool thing about money is how good it feels to give it away to someone who needs it more than you. I have found that it provides much more pleasure than anything I could buy for the sole purpose of pleasing myself.

Taking care of the poor is the Sunday School lesson for this week and there were some really cool scriptures.

D&C 42:30-31 And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken. And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me...

D&C 44:6 Behold, I say unto you, that ye must visit the poor and the needy and administer to their relief, that they may be kept until all things may be done according to my law which ye have received. Amen.

D&C 52:40 And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.

D&C 56:16 Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!

D&C 88:123 See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires

D&C 104:18 Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.

(Check it out, if you just read all of those, you got your Sunday School reading done!)

I recently received this video in the mail from a charity I like called Smile Train. I was so impressed with it that I had my whole family watch it for Family Home Evening. We had a great discussion about what God wants us to do with our resources. I really want my kids to grow up to be givers, so I am glad to use any opportunity to open their eyes to the needs of others.

I wanted to share it with all of you because I want you to think about donating to them too (no pressure or anything! ;)

Now go check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CamEXQ8x72c

You can get the full 40 minute video for free from this website:

www.smiletrain.org

Let me know what you think about it.

More Jilly Art

I am not a Halloween person. So my kids are really disappointed that I haven't done any decorating for Halloween. They decided to make their own decorations and tape them to the house. Molly wouldn't let Jill cut these out and hang them outside because she said they were too cute. (I kind of agree with Molls, these are some pretty cute witches!)

Here's how their decorations look taped to the house. (They are those little white things next to the windows...)