Kindergarten

Well, the decision has been made and it is final. Audrey will be attending Utah Virtual Academy in the fall rather than a traditional school. Utah Virtual Academy (UTVA) is an online charter school. We came to the final decision after a lot of thought, study, and prayer. Homeschool is the way the Lord wants our family to go. UTVA is different than typical homeschooling though in that they provide the curriculum and the parent is a Coach rather than a teacher as all lessons are already in place and just need to be completed. They send you all the supplies you need to school your child from the comfort of your own home. UTVA also differs from typical homeschooling in that Audrey is assigned a certified teacher to keep tabs on her and make sure she is staying on track. They also have field trips and gatherings and encourage children to be involved in other social outlets. We are very excited for this chance and know that we'll have a lot of fun even though there will be good days and bad. Wish us luck!!

Just a little post

I haven't posted in a week or so, so just to fill you all in on the Stephen Family Insane Asylum.....

Ben has been working and doing scouts...the usual. We attended his uncle's viewing about a week ago. We'll be going to my uncle's viewing this weekend. It's been a few months full of death for our family...only one was unexpected however. The other two were blessed releases.

I (Shelly) have been debating about homeschool again. I am looking forward to General Conference to hopefully give me some answers to my questions. I've had a cold. The girls have been sick too. I don't like it. I feel like a bum. My house is dirty, I have no energy, and my stupid Benadryl gives me medicine head long after the medicine has worn off......at least I only take it at night and it DOES help me sleep.

Audrey is her usual self. She's a social butterfly, which is one reason I would love for her to go to public school, but only in the right crowd. She makes friends with everyone, which in general is a good trait, but this means she makes friends who do not have a good influence on her all the time. I don't need more swear words introduced to her and I certainly don't need any more "Chucky" experiences!!

Marissa just turned 3. We took her to build-a-bear for her birthday. She LOVED it. She picked out a pupppy and named her Princess. She is FINALLY starting to sleep through the night! We're up to about 50% right now and I'm THRILLED! We have decided that the girls just sleep together every night. It's working and Marissa is starting to use Audrey as a comfort when she wakes up, instead of mommy all the time. She's growing up so fast. I'm glad she's beginning to leave the tantrums and whining behind now.

Trent is a goober!!! He's into everything. He climbs on everything. He eats everything. He is starting to throw tantrums. He's just a goober. He's so funny too. He gets this little mischevious look on his face and it's hard to not laugh at him. If you say his name in a warning tone, sometimes he'll look at you and shake his finger because he knows you're going to tell him "NO." When you tell him no, he often cries like you've wounded his tender little feelings. He loves to be outside and freaks out if someone goes out without him. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that he CAN go outside! It's just too mucky and mushy right now to let him out unless I want to change his clothes 3 times a day.

Well, there's a little update. Hope you are all doing well!!

Our New Hobby

So, our family decided to take up a new hobby with it getting close to summer. We wanted it to be something outdoors. In one of my parenting books I came across a blurb about "Letterboxing." There was a website link in the book to check out. It sounded so fun that I thought my family just HAD to try it.
Letterboxing 101- It's kind of like treasure hunting. You are following directions (you get them from the website) to find a Letterbox. A letterbox is a small container (like a rubbermaid food container) that has been hidden somewhere like a park, historical place, or occasionally a building. You follow the directions to locate the box. When you find the box you open in up and will find a log book and a rubber stamp inside it. You take your own stamp (that you bring with you along with your own log book, stamp pad, pen, and maybe a small momento to leave for the next quester) and stamp it in the logbook of the box. Then you sign in with your Trail Name (Our name is The Goober Dudes....don't ask..lol). You take the stamp in the box and stamp your own log book and record any info you want to about your quest for the letterbox, etc.
Anyway, our family did this for the first time this last Saturday and we're hooked! We met up with our friends at a park where there were two letterboxes hidden. We chose the PERFECT first letterboxes. The directions were so easy that the kids were excited about finding the letterboxes for their first times. When we found the first one, Audrey and her friend Jacob were so excited that they rolled the rock hiding the box down the hill and Jacob's dad Aaron had to chase it down. Pretty funny. After replacing the box we hunted for the second one. Again the kids were excited because the directions were very easy and very short. They had a ton of fun. I can't wait to try more letterboxes!!! After locating the letterboxes we let the kids play at the park and had a picnic before heading home for naps. Letterboxes are hidden EVERYWHERE. In almost all the states, in foreign countries, in fact I think I counted 30 letterboxes hidden in JUST Weber and Davis counties here in Utah. So Fun!!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Audrey, Marissa and the neighbor girl Rosa were all outside playing "Ring Around the Rosie" this afternoon. However, this is what their version sounded like:
Ring Around the Rosie
Hacking up the Posies
Ashes, Ashes, We all fall down.

I just laughed myself silly at it all. My first impression was of someone spitting out rose petals.

What Would YOU Do?

Have you ever read the children's story "Fanny's Dream"? If you haven't, let me summarize. Fanny is a young woman in Wyoming who decides that the story of Cinderella is true. She decides that she wants to go to the ball at the mayor's house and marry someone important. She prepares herself then goes out to wait for her fairy godmother. Needless to say her fairy godmother doesn't show up that night, but her admirerer, Heber Jensen, does. He asks her to marry him and help complete HIS dreams. After an hour of deliberating, she shakes Heber awake and says "yes." So Fanny marries Heber and starts her life with him. Years later Fanny goes out into the garden to get a watermelon, and who should appear but her fairy godmother! The fairy godmother tells her there is still time to make her dreams come true and that she'll fix everything. Fanny, however has realized that the life she HAS is the life she wants and tells the fairy godmother she'd rather not go to the ball. So, my question to you is this: If you had the chance to redo it all, would you? I ask you, as the fairy godmother asked Fanny: "Do you want to go to the ball, or not?"

Little Miss Riss

Marissa is going to be 3 this month. I can't believe it! She has grown up so fast and has especially matured in the last couple months. She is evolving from a toddler into a preschooler. Marissa is....well Marissa. She can drive me crazy and to the point of frustration and tears, then melt my heart with a snuggle and a kiss. Marissa loves to play with baby dolls. She takes very good care of them, and I often hear her repeating things I've said to her to them. Marissa is very stubborn and strong willed. I suppose I'll be grateful of that trait as she gets older, but right now it drives me batty. Marissa is an AWFUL sleeper, well ok, I need to preface that statement. She has never been a GREAT sleeper, but she used to sleep most of the night and then go back to sleep in her own bed without a fuss, that is until last summer. Last summer Marissa broke her arm. Two weeks after getting her cast off she fell down the stairs and had to get stiches in her forehead. A couple months after getting the stiches out she got an awful respiratory virus that had us giving her breathing treatments with a nebulizer every 4 hours. I guess I can't blame her for being a bad sleeper now, after all that. She IS getting better. I pray for the day that her sleeping through the night is the norm and not the exception. Marissa is a quirky little girl. I love her a ton. She has taught me so much about being a mother especially about patience, perseverance, and unconditional love. One day, I'm sure I'll look back on her toddlerhood and smile. I might even MISS those days. I love my Little Miss Riss!!

My Soap Box

I just have to rave about my three favorite parenting books currently. I am a parenting book junkie. I love to read them and see what they have to offer. Each of these books has helped me out a TON in the last few weeks!:

1. "The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers." This book and it's techniques have helped Marissa a TON!! We are finally moving in the right direction without tons of tears and crying that wakes up the other two kids. My Favorite technique/tips: Put your kids to bed earlier and have a very consisitent bed-time routine. Thanks to this tip our kids go to bed at 7:30pm every night and are asleep usually within 5-10 minutes.

2. "Love and Logic Magic for the Early Years." I love this series because it helps promote kids who think for themselves. It stops all the threats, multiple warnings, and wishy-washyness in my parenting. My Favorite technique/tips: Set the Limit once. After the limit has been set once, if it is broken again you simply apply a logical consequence. No more warnings and lectures. For example my kids have been instructed that they may not leave the table without permission at meal time. If they leave without being excused meal time is over. How sad. The "Uh-oh" song. When Marissa acts up and gets out of control I simply pick her up and sing "Uh-oh, looks like some roomtime" and deposit her in my room until she's calmed down and is ready to act sweet again. She's gettting to the point that if I just say "Uh-oh" she stops what she's doing immediately. Energy Drain. Marissa likes to spit a lot...it's her new bad habit. When she spits, or when any of the kids does something that an energy drain will fit, I have an "Energy Drain." All my energy goes away and I can't do anything for them anymore and they have to put my energy back by doing MY chores.

3. "On Becoming Childwise." This book, I felt, goes hand in hand with the "Love and Logic" theory for the most part. I loved the analogy about monkeys. In this book they liken responsibilities to monkeys. When you kids are born all their monkeys are on your back because they are helpless. As they age and mature your goal is to hand the monkeys over to your child and make THEM carry their own monkeys. My Favorite technique/tip: Reflective Sit Time. This is mainly for Audrey and it works great for her. Instead of getting mad at her when she does something naughty, she is sent to a chair to have some "Sit time." While there she has to think about WHAT she did, WHY it was bad, WHO it hurt, and HOW she's going to make it better. When she can successfully tell me the answer to those questions she is allowed to get up and make it better. It's nice to just tell her, "Audrey, I need you to sit here and think about what you did/how you're acting. I'll be back to talk to you in a few minutes," instead of lecturing her all the time about things she KNOWS are wrong. Structure your child's day (This tip is actually from the Childwise prequel Preschoolwise.) This series is really into putting structure and routine into your child's day. I have found that since I introduced a bit more structure to their days, they get into less trouble and are watching less TV voluntarily!! I plan 5 activities for the kids during the day. One of those activities is an "alone time" activity where they play by themselves with a specific toy, one of the activities is some one on one time with mom, and the rest are group activities and such. It's hard for me to have to think about what the kids are going to be doing each day, but it's worth it in the long run since I have to discipline less.

Well, that's my soap box. Hope you all lasted through it. Maybe my soap box even inspired some of you!!!