Pay it Forward

This morning we spent some time memorizing the tenth article of faith, memorizing U.S. state capitols (they have the states down) and then some math.  I have been encouraging them to make up their own mnemonic stories to memorize.  For example:  There are little rocks in the ark (for Little Rock, Arkansas.)  A mermaid named Georgia lives in Atlantis (Atlanta, Georgia.)  They get very creative and at times I feel that the stories are a little bit too long or a little too crazy, but the crazier the better because they sure remember. My dear Sylvia has been driving me crazy (more than usual) the last couple of days.  Yes, I know she is three but Joey and I have figure something out.  If you tell Luke, this is a rule, he follows, no questions asked.  Isabel will ask why and once you tell her, she decides it's a good enough reason and follows.  SYLVIA on the other hand, doesn't listen, doesn't follow, does the opposite, then, burns her hand, falls down or whatever the consequence and yet does the exact same thing the next day...and the next.  Tonight, she refused to get buckled so I basically told her that if she didn't get buckled and we got in a car crash she would pretty much die.  Maybe that traumatized her a little because on the rest of the car ride she kept talking about dying, but right after I said it, she got buckled so it worked for me.

I just wanted to share this story to show that there are very nice generous people in the world.  Tonight we went out to eat and some nice guy paid for our dinner and for the couple behind us as well then left before we even knew or could say thank you.  So, thank you mister!  We will certainly be sure to "pay it forward!"

Hiking at Red Rock

This morning we went on a hike with a few other homeschooled friends and some friends that are on track break.  Here is a fun place in Red Rock that has a waterfall.

Hiking was a great confidence booster for Sylvia for sure and hopefully for my safety nerd as well.

They found a lizard and the poor guy's tail fell off while the boys were trying to catch him.  The kids were impressed that the tail still twitched.  (little science lesson/experiment there.)

Sylvia had to pee so I sat her on a rock and she went.  No stagefright and no pee on her pants!  Afterward she was so proud to show everyone her pee on the rock.  If you look closely it's the wet spot on the top big rock.

The Ring of Truth

We had a Saint Patrick's Day party at our house.  Everyone came wearing green and I sprinkled magic green glitter in their hair (except for all of the silly boys who thought it was too girly.)  As they were running around in the backyard, I thought there was no way I would be able to get them interested in sitting down to hear a story, but they were all so cute and polite and sat down quickly.  (Homeschooled kids are the best!)  I read The Ring of Truth by Teresa Bateman.  The kids had fun saying what they would do if they were in the story and predicting what would happen next.  Afterward they played a couple of games and we then let them loose to eat green cupcakes and run around the backyard.