Kids in School

Another change in our family this last few weeks is that we put everyone in public school, except Braxton. He is still home trying to get into Driver's Ed before we plunge into public school life.
I hope that it wasn't the carb-induced fog I talked about before that led to this decision. I don't think it was. After much prayer and discussion, we felt that this was the best thing for our family at this time, so that I could get some much needed rest, and the kids could have some new experiences. It is not the ideal, but much in life isn't!
My goal will be to continue using the ingredients for a Leadership education in our home. I find that many of them can be applied to any family situation, even with kids in the public schools.
We still have our bookshelves, we still have our family responsibilities, we still don't have TV and will only have a movie on the weekend. There are more, and I'm sure to write about them in the future, but for now I have to get kids up to get ready for the school bus!

Falling Off the Wagon!

Okay, I have really been paying for it lately. About two weeks ago I gave into temptation and fell off the SCD wagon, right into a pile of soft puffy pancakes. I noticed that they didn't affect my body that bad, so I figured I was okay! And like any addict I figured that one more wouldn't hurt. Well it took me a couple weeks to figure out through the carb induced fog, that I was hurting. So I took the pie, pancakes, waffles, cake, and such delicacies back out of my diet, and I feel much more human again.
I find it interesting, and a little annoying that I still can't digest almonds without a reaction. One of the staples on the SCD diet is almonds, so it really puts a crimp on things. I find that when I eat even one SCD almond cookie, I am huffing and puffing, my heart speeds right up with any motion, my energy levels plummet, and I have more anxiety. They are delicious, but just not worth it. I'm thinking that coconut might do the same, but I'm going to wait another few days to try it out. We'll see!

Family Getaway!

One of our absolute favorite places to go is the ocean. We decided this last weekend that we needed some serious family-getaway-from-it-all time. So we packed up, drove out, and had a blast trying to fly a kite...

...digging in the dirt...

...fighting with mud...

...figuring out the wind velocity of an sparrow compared to that of the kite...

...wrapped up in blankets and hugs...

...creating amazing sand art...


...goofing off...

...hiking back up to the cottage, you can still see some of the amazing art!...

...board games back inside...

...soaking in the hot tub during the rain and wind storm...

I'm so glad we went! We all had a blast and came home very reluctantly.

Court of Honor

Saturday the boys were involved in a really great Court of Honor for the local Boy Scouts. It was all the troops, teams, and crews from the area we live in. Keegan was the youth in charge of organization (you can see him, the young man farthest from the podium), and Braxton was Master of Ceremonies, sitting closest to the podium. Jarik was involved in the flag ceremony.

In this photo Jarik was receiving his Life rank, Braxton was the one to hand out the awards.


It wasn't only the boys getting recognition! All the men and women in the area that had gone to Wood Badge training were recognized. Here is Kevin among them. It is awesome to see so many leaders getting this training.


This is my favorite pic of the night. In it are all the boys that have the possibility of becoming Eagle Scouts this year! Wow! You can see Jarik, Braxton, and Keegan are all in there! Keegan just has his paperwork to hand in, and the other two are just planning their projects now.

Here are the merit badges each of my boys received at the Court of Honor:
Keegan: Aviation
Braxton: Citizenship in the Community, Camping, Communication, Citizenship in the World, Auto Maintenance, American Labor, and Dentistry
Jarik: Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Communication, Camping, Citizenship in the World, Auto Maintenance, Dentistry, American Labor, Horsemanship, and Public Speaking

Kidschool

Sarah studied Japanese, learning more words and reading Japanese hiragana, she trained for track season, did some copywork, and read individually, and worked on her blog.

Update (Jan. 21): Really the rest of us did things too. It was the beginning of a really busy spell though, so I never finished this post.

Undoing Perpetual Stress: The Missing Connection Between Depression, Anxiety and 21st Century Illness by Richard O'Connor


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love this, in the chapter about repairing the Emotional Brain, page 144: "But in today's world, most of us have a vulnerable heart. The Perpetual Stress Response has us full of anxiety, which dissolves our self-esteem. The things we are told to value - material success, acquisitions - are easy to lose....And they don't repair the orbitofrontal cortex, the damage in the brain that represents our fragile psyches, in the way that meaningful relationships, living up to a set of standards, or having a rich spiritual life can do for us."
What? You mean science is telling us the way to repair our minds/psyches/brains is by 1. having meaningful relationships (family is central to the Creator's plan...) 2. living up to a set of standards (oh, like the 10 commandments,or For the Strength of Youth??), and 3. having a rich spiritual life (you mean worshiping my God and Savior may be...dare I say...healing??)
Sarcasm aside, I really am enjoying this book. It is alive with honest research and analysis. I'm getting into the part where he is discussing mindfulness, and it's spot on.
I definitely recommend this book.

View all my reviews >>

Kidschool

Prayer
Gospel 2 Nephi 2-3
Sharing what is mine Today it was really short, because I had 15 minutes between work and leaving the house to finish my visiting teaching and take Keegan and Braxton to the dentist. So we just read a little from Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens. Each also wrote a journal entry to summarize their favorite thing they learned today, so that I could discuss it with them later tonight. We are also each going to do some research this weekend on someone that changed the world through their love of a cause or people. Brax is doing Buddha, Jarik is doing Gandhi, Sarah is researching Christ, Quen is doing Joan of Arc, and I am working on Aung San Suu Kyi.

Jenni kept up on Haiti's relief effort, visiting teaching, scripture study, and read Undoing Perpetual Stress, blogged (figured out how to follow a blog!)

Kevin helped the boy's volleyball team, online law class, scripture study, and read Left Behind.

Keegan classes all day, is sending me the link on deviantART for the robot scorpion that he designed. I'll add it tomorrow if I can. Seminary of course, and volleyball tonight.

Braxton spent all morning setting up the new stereo system he has inherited. He learned quite a bit actually. He is playing in the volleyball semi-finals tonight, and practiced the ukulele alot.

Jarik played the piano, studied Italian with Rosetta Stone, read Pirateology, and three You Wouldn't Want to Be... books - one on criminals, one on samurai, and one on the Hindenburg. He too is off playing volleyball now.

Sarah is, that's right, playing volleyball. Today she read You Wouldn't Want to Be on the Hindenberg, studied Japanese with Rosetta Stone, and made a tutu. She also went to a Presidency Meeting for her Beehive class.

Quen played the piano, read You Wouldn't Want to Be on the Hindenberg, worked on his Star Wars battle drawing (fifth day now...), and wrote about Captain Cook.