once upon a time...

I was a blogger. I enjoyed spilling silly stories and cute pictures to family, friends and the general public through this blog. But as time went on, several things happened. We started homeschooling...

(Box Day, 2010. Cameron's kindergarten books and Jason's 3rd grade books arrive and the kids have a blast looking through them all.)

And we had a third child who quickly grew from infant to toddler.

(Hayden in her swimsuit, ready to try out the slip n slide.)

I know that it has been 2 years now since we started homeschooling and Hayden will be 2 in December, so it is silly to use these excuses now. But the fact of the matter is that I just don't get around to blogging much anymore because the house is in a general state of chaos from sun up to sun down. And to be honest, we're having too much fun around here to document it all on the blog!

So just because I have a quiet moment I'll give a few updates:

Jason is 8 years old and still a Lego maniac. He is busy on a daily basis creating new vehicles and dreaming up inventions. He has a blast playing with his buddy across the street, Jacob, and the 2 of them have had many sleepovers this summer. He is quite skilled at playing air guitar and drums in the backseat of the car and can be heard singing in his room when he thinks no one's listening. (Shhhhh!)

Cameron is 4 years old and very expressive. That's my simple way of saying she is dramatic, stubborn, difficult, silly, loud, funny and a constant roller coaster. The other day she was having a difficult time obeying instructions and she looked at me and exclaimed, "Mom, I'm just frazzled!" Yeah, me too Cam. She also informed me the other day, "I think I'm interested in Hannah Montana." Heaven help us, I think that's the last thing we need. I politely informed her that I would look into that to see if it was appropriate for her. She seemed to think that was acceptable. Cam loves to play with her little sister, especially wrestle her and she loves to play with her big brother, especially, you guessed it... wrestling! Cameron is imaginative and I can often find her hidden away in her room creating zoos or schools or princess boot camps.

And of course, Hayden. Hayden has swiftly moved into the role of Household Destroyer. She works like a little ninja, deftly undoing everything I do throughout the day. Need your clean laundry unfolded and strewn about the living room? Hayden's your girl! Need every toy in big sis's room removed and brought out to the living room? Hayden's on it! At the end of the day though, she is the best snuggler, giggler and tickler we have and we all love her!

school's out--now what?

I don't know why home school moms are so anxious for the school year to be over. Honestly, I love having things to get accomplished during the day. That's mainly my personality type showing through, I like to cross things off my list! We finished school before Memorial Day weekend and to be honest, the first week was disasterous! There was a lot of clawing, screaming and tantrums because we had no plan of attack for the day. So this morning, I was ready!

First things first: feed everyone. The kids are much happier on a full stomach. Hayden especially loves a scrambled egg and toast. After breakfast, I read the girls a story, Owl Moon, and then we moved into craft time. While Cameron glued feathers onto a crude owl shape that I had cut out, Hayden spent time "drawing".

It turns out that Jason is selective now about stories and crafts. If he declares them to be "babyish" then he will settle in for a little computer time. However, some activities peak his interest so I won't get discouraged that he is growing up. Here he is, trying to ignore his crafty sister.

So there it is, my strategy for surviving summer: divide and conquer!

family camp

Wow! I missed the whole month of May. Sorry about that, I guess the blog has been on the backburner for a while. Here's an update on what we've been up to this month:

We took a field trip to the SLO Children's Museum with our home school buddies. The kids enjoyed playing in all the areas including the cafe, fire station, stage, and water table. Actually, Hayden LOVED the water table. She loved it so much that I had to take off her shirt and set it in the sun to dry for a few minutes!

Also in May, Jason completed his AWANA Sparks program. He finished all three of his books and earned the Sparky plaque. What a great night of fun and ice cream for our guy. Next year he is looking forward to being in TNT and memorizing more scripture (and playing more games of course!).

Darren is proud of his Sparky plaque too. the guys hung up their plaques side by side in Jason's room.

The highlight of May was our trip to Hartland for family camp. We had a blast! The mountains are beautiful right now, they still burst with the signs of spring. The evenings were chilly and the days were just warm enough to take off your sweatshirt. We all enjoyed the delicious food, the clean mountain air and all the activities at camp. The kids tried archery, rock wall climbing, peddle boats and canoes, the zipline, fishing, crafting, ping pong and foosball. I think we may have the next Robin Hood living in our house! If you ask Cameron, she'll tell you that her favorite part of camp was the cabin with BUNK BEDS! And yes, she slept on a top bunk.

Hayden watches intensely as her dad takes on a challenger in shuffleboard.

Jason conquered his fears and spent all afternoon on the zipline.

Darren bravely takes the kids out on a canoeing excursion. Hayden and I stayed on shore to run for towels if necessary.

Cameron is an excellent fisherwoman. Her favorite part is casting a line so even if a fish wanted to jump on, I don't think she'd give them a chance!

The kids had a great time with their friends from home and they made new friends too. Here they are with their buddies, Alex and Andree.

easter

Here are a few pics from our Easter fun at Nanny and Pops' house. I tried to take a nice picture of the kids before we went over there but Cameron would not cooperate. It may be a few years before I get a nice picture from her...

Hayden was happy just to pick up 2 eggs and call it a day.

Cameron found her golden egg and was impressed to find a dollar inside.
Jason is a pro egg hunter. I have a feeling that we will come to a point where he doesn't care for this sort of silliness soon. I'm not ready for that day! Stay a kid, Jason, quit growing up!

big girl

Cameron is a big girl. She doesn't need training wheels anymore. In fact, if you ask her she will emphatically tell you that she is ALL DONE WITH TRAINING WHEELS FOREVER! She pretty much learned to ride in one day. I like to credit her stubbornness for this incredible achievement. She spent many hours balancing and catching herself while cruising in the garage. Darren and I took several passes with her up and down the sidewalk. By the end of the day she was zipping along as if she had been riding for years! Way to go Cam!

take a hike!

Hiking in Montana de Oro was supposed to be the perfect start to our spring break. Unfortunately, after the hour long drive Jason stepped out of the car and began to puke... and puke... and puke. Hmmmmm. So what do you do moms? Do you pack 'em up and drive 'em home, or do you tough it out, tell him to push through and hike? I let the boy finish his business, gave him some water and crackers and had him rest a moment in the fresh air.

I'm glad he was able to recover because we had a great time looking at wildflowers, avoiding giant stink bugs and feeling the ocean spray on our faces.

monarch butterfly field trip

On Friday we picked up Nanny and Pops then headed south to Pismo Beach to check out the Monarch Butterfly Grove. I had been wanting to do this for several weeks but weather and other surprises kept us from making the trip. We arrived just in time to help celebrate Monarch Day (mark your calendars, apparently there is such a thing). We listened to a docent speak on the life cycle and migration of the monarchs and we got to eat butterfly cake! Jason taught Nanny and Pops that butterflies do not come down to the ground to play hopscotch as they had previously thought, but rather, to mate. No need for euphemisms with our young scientist.

After the butterflies, our family drove down to Santa Maria for miniature golf while Nanny and Pops went to Costco. Cameron LOVES miniature golf. It is her favorite thing to do for vacation... that and stay in a hotel.

We had a great time playing together and Hayden was considerate enough to wait patiently in her stroller and clap and cheer for us. After the golf, the girls watched the boys race around the go kart track. They had a blast! We all enjoyed dinner at In-n-Out, a little time browsing at the bookstore and then the quiet ride home.