Letting Go

Over the course of the year, as my oldest has developed a better sense of what she wants to do when she grows up, which may involve living far, far away from home, I have been getting a sense that my homeschooling journey will not be taking her all the way through high school.   It is time to release her and test her wings while she is still has the safety net of home, with family and other mentors to help her as she learns to fly.  So we started checking out different schools.  And the one we have really liked is New School for the Arts and Academics, a charter school.  It is a smaller school, which Elizabeth prefers to the big regular high school.  And the English teacher only gives essays on tests, which is what I like.  And most importantly, she will be taking classes in all kinds of art, including ceramics and some art-based computer programs.  Because the school is so small, they have a rigorous application process, asking for two letters of recommendation and requiring the student to write an essay, which is also preparing her for college admissions in a few years (gulp).  Below is her essay to get her into school, which was edited by a friend.

The Influence of the Arts On My Life

By Elizabeth Overtoom

Art has been an essential part of my entire life experience. As I have matured, I have progressed from basic stick figures to more complex drawings that come with increasing skill. When I am listening to a sermon or a lecture for school, I often doodle to help me focus. I also use drawing to pass the time as I listen to audiobooks or music. I find those outside factors influence the way I draw and my artistic abilities. When I am having trouble thinking of an answer to a question, drawing helps me focus on the solution I am searching for. I have always loved to draw, and I would not be the person I am today without art.

From the time I was five, I have had four different art teachers. My first art teacher, Teri Rueckert, taught me pottery and introduced me to mixed mediums, such as using vibrant colors from chalk and the graceful beauty of oil pastels to create a work of art. Ms. Rueckert made her lessons entertaining and instructive, and set the cornerstone for my love of the arts. Russell Taylor taught me oil painting. He made the lessons amusing. Many of my lessons ended with us getting covered paint, mostly from projects that involved me splattering paint on cardboard. He showed me the power of the random, and also showed how to not follow the picture I was painting down to the exact detail, but instead put in the elements I thought would fit with the overall tone of the picture. Carol Brown, is currently teaching me watercolor painting. One of the special talents she includes in her instruction is incorporating lessons about the masters into her teaching. My other current art teacher, Sherri Redman, is teaching me how to sketch.

These early experiences brought together a love and passion in storytelling. I see fundamentals of art and language in movies and literature. Through my lessons, I have come to notice the artistic details and elements in movies. I am fascinated with the processes of coming up with how elements in the story should look, and with the artwork displayed in the finished films. It has inspired me to pursue a career in the line of cinematic arts.

I have researched cinematic arts through watching and reading about the artists who think up the marvelous movie sets and the look of the characters for films such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I am mainly interested in Alan Lee and John Howe, who are both famous book illustrators, and movie conceptual designers. They are well known for their artistic interpretations of J. R. R. Tolkien's works. I love learning about their techniques and how they thought up the ideas for their beautiful paintings and sketches. I also enjoy reading up on how the ideas for the CGI scenes and how the movie sets were designed, as well as seeing the different ideas for the characters' appearance. I am fascinated with the processes and the artwork displayed in their work.

I believe art has helped me progress as a scholar. Knowing and understanding art has trained me to explore history and literature in detail, just like, as an artist, I need to see the specific parts of an object to draw it properly. For example, while studying the middle ages, I could appreciate the affect on the Eastern European culture and had a better appreciation for the architectural intricacies found in some of the early orthodox churches. Art has improved my ability to focus and taught me to persevere. I have become more disciplined as I have repeatedly practiced techniques. I see the parallel of this kind of exercise transitioning into my studies: I need to repeat a math concept to understand it completely. Therefore, art has helped me progress as a scholar.

As a natural compliment to visual art, storytelling- especially creative writing- is my new present interest. I love reading, and over the past school year I have been studying a more in-depth view of the classics, such as John Milton's Paradise Lost and Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I enjoy learning abut the different literary techniques and how authors use them to create their masterpieces. Someday I hope to be one of those authors.

I am excited to go to the New School for the Arts and Academics for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, I wish to advance my artistic talents further, by being taught by some excellent artists, as well as learning more and different methods of art. Coming from a home schooled environment, I loved the look of the hands-on classes. They are unlike anything I have experienced before. I believe coming to this school will be beneficial artistically and academically, giving me a strong foundation for my career. The New School for the Arts and Academics will challenge me, and I recognize it will require more concentration and dedication than a normal public school offers. It will push me to work harder for good grades. As a home schooled student, I am in my house for most of the day. I only interact with the people in the co-ops I attend and in my extracurricular activities. Overall, I believe going to this school will be a wonderful event in my life, and will help me when I graduate and go to college. It will also allow me to meet new people, make new friends, and generally have new experiences and opportunities I would not have otherwise experienced.  

Dead Horse Ranch Camping Weekend

I hope and pray that everyone had a Merry Christmas yesterday.  We had just the right amount of Christmas presents and Christmas surprises.  My parents went for the fun and sentimental by buying a slot car track for us and our kids.

I am getting "caught up" with the blogs that I have been wanting to write but limited by time.  I started this sometime in May but didn't get very far.  The pictures were taken with Eric's Nikon and I think that he is also the principle photographer.

We spent Memorial Day weekend of 2013 camping two hours north of the Phoenix-metro area at a state park called Dead Horse Ranch, which is located near the Verde River.  It is a great location to camp for an extra long weekend because it is within 30 minutes of Sedona and even closer to Jerome and Tuzigoot National Monument.

View from our campsite the first night at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.
It reminds me of that scene from Star Wars of Luke at dusk with the setting suns.

Background:  Dead Horse Ranch State Park got its name because a Minnesota family looking to buy a ranch in Arizona decided to buy the ranch that had a dead horse on its property.  They named their ranch "Dead Horse Ranch."  When they decided to sell it to the state, they made the state keep the name.  Most people think of sand, cactus and canyons when they think of Arizona, but this location, like Woods Canyon Lake and other camping areas near a river, this place is GREEN.  It has big Cottonwood trees, tall grasses around the dammed ponds, and I even heard and saw red-winged blackbirds, which is one of the birds I REALLY miss from my days in Lake County, Illinois.  And all this green is surrounded by the red rock cliffs and high desert.

This looks more like a photograph taken in
Lake County, Illinois or Minnesota
rather than Arizona.

However, expanding the scope of the picture adds
elements that you won't find in either IL or MN--cliffs

To do in Dead Horse Ranch State Park:
First of all, Memorial Day weekend was pretty hot.  This is a better place to camp at during the early spring/late fall.
*  Fishing:  There are three stocked ponds and the Verde River.  The problem with camping on Memorial Day is that it is right before they re-stock the lakes, which means that only the REALLY smart fish are there, if any.  We didn't catch anything. If fishing is your focus, check with the park to see when the best times to fish are.
*  Hiking:  There are several trails to hike around the park.  The hike we liked the most took us near the river, where the kids and I took off our shoes and walked around in places up to our knees.  Eric fished without success in a different part of the river.
*  State Junior Ranger Badge activity worksheet:  For those campers who have kids, a lot of state parks and most national parks have Junior Ranger programs where kids complete activity sheets based on the park's features in exchange for a button.
*  Facilities:  Dead Horse Ranch State Park has four camping areas.  We stayed at the Raven loop, which was set up just for tents.  It is the highest camping area in the park, which is NOT ideal for tents.  There were few, short trees around the area and therefore very little respite from the sun unless you have a sunshade, like we do.  Furthermore, while we were there, every afternoon the wind whipped up, blowing up sand.  Therefore, lounging around the tent was NOT an option in this area.  The most ideal place to camp is the Quail Loop, even though it is set up for RV campers, because it is near enough to the river that there are tall trees and grass in the tent areas, which makes the area cooler.  Note:  I have nothing against RV campers other than RVs with air conditioners make a lot of noise and create light pollution that obliterates the stars. There might be some envy, too regarding the sleeping arrangements.  All of the camping areas have free showers, which I REALLY prefer to have when camping.

Wading in the Verde River on a hot day

Because our family is not a fishing family in general and our kids tolerate only so much hiking, we took the opportunity to drive to Jerome and Tuzigoot in one day.  Jerome is a former mining ghost town and current tourist trap, a la Galena to Illinois natives, about 20 minutes of twisty roads from Dead Horse Ranch.  There is a place where you can go to look down one of the mine shafts and a state park which details the town's history.  The town is built on the sides of the mountain, so driving involves twisty roads, also similar to Galena.  We didn't really tour the whole town, so I can't give a review of it.  The state park is nice and gives kids a chance to earn a Junior Ranger badge.  We had our dog with us, so I stayed out with the dog while Eric toured with the kids and then they hung around the outside while I toured the inside.  I didn't spend a lot of time in the museum and have forgotten most of the information.  But I DID spend a lot of time looking at the surrounding area.  You can see the red and white cliffs of Sedona from Jerome.  We could have spent 1/2 a day there touring the rest of the town, but we wanted to see Tuzigoot National Monument.

A view of the closed mine that started Jerome from the State Park parking lot

A view of the red and white rocks of Sedona from Jerome

Tuzigoot National Monument is an the remains of  an old pueblo built by the Sinagua people that sits atop a hill.  What makes Tuzigoot wonderful is that you can tour the remains and actually go inside the biggest building and tour around the surrounding buildings.  There is also a wonderful view of a marsh--yes, that's right, there is a MARSH in Arizona!  The kids picked up their second Junior Ranger badges of the day, this time from the federal government.  Tuzigoot is 10 minutes from the campground.

The main building atop the hill surrounded by
the ruins of support buildings

The kids and I with the main building off to the left.
My youngest is not in the picture, but Jacques is near my feet.

The marsh near Tuzigoot from the hill.  Green surrounded by brown
is common in desert river valleys.

The day we returned home, we took the long way and visited Montezuma Castle., which is roughly 30 minutes away and not too far off of Highway 17, which brings you back into the Valley of the Sun.  It is another National Monument involving Native American ruins.  This is a spectacularly well-preserved pueblo of the cliff-dwelling Sinagua people.  One reason that it is so well preserved is that they do not let people climb in and look at the building.  Because it is built on a cliff, you only get a far-away look. However, the park museum has a video tour of the inside of the house.  It is also located off the Verde River, so the area is surrounded by lovely, tall trees.  It is hard to capture Montezuma's castle's size in photographs because it is so high and so far away from the path.  The picture did I choose was because it does show relative size.  The interesting thing is that if you look closely at the picture, you will see black spots, which are more holes carved out of the cliff.  I can't remember if these were store rooms or more rooms for families or a combination.  Regardless, the ingenuity of these people who made Tuzigoot and Montezuma's castle without the wheel or iron tools is quite impressive.

Eric and I trying to give perspective.

All in all, Dead Horse Ranch, because it is close to so many other places, would be a great place to hang out for a week.  Below are some distances to some other fun places to visit:
Sedona:  30 minutes away.  It has shops and lots of great trails with fabulous views.  Some of the trails have pueblo ruins.  There is a lot of New Age stuff there as well as countless ways to separate you from your money, just like Galena, Illinois.
Slide Rock State Park:  40 minutes away
Oak Creek Canyon:  about 60 minutes away, which is a great day hike.
Lowell Observatory:  about 1 hour.  They give a great tour and, last time we were there, they gave you an opportunity to vote on the Pluto decision.
Wupataki National Monument (more Pueblo Dwellings):  1 hr, 15 min.
Sunset Crater Volcano National Park:  1.5 hours
Note:  Lowell Observatory, Wupataki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Park are all very near Flagstaff.  You could probably do two of the three in a day and have dinner in Flagstaff for a break from camp grub.

Partially Untethered

Our kids think they are devious.  And they ARE definitely smart about some things.  However, they are currently in a "no electronics" mode of their own making.  Some child took our iPad last week and hid it in the not-usual place.  The usual place is under the cushions in the family room sofa.  My husband and I have the "Find My Phone" app that allows us to see where our Apple products are located as long as they are turned on and force it it make noise until it is found.  We got the app because I frequently misplace my phone but it works for any Apple product.  We sounded the alarm through "Find My Phone" and heard.....nothing.  The clever child had turned off the iPad so that the app couldn't locate it.  However, what they didn't know is that the application continues sending out a signal so that, when the device is turned on it will eventually make noise AND it will record the time at which it last found the device.  So we went to bed knowing that the iPad would eventually make a sound.  What we didn't plan for is that we would sleep through the event.  So the unknown child quickly turned off the sound at 9:34 pm (according to the app) and at some point, crept downstairs and put it in the usual hiding spot, where my husband found it the next day.  All while my husband and I slept soundly.  So far, kids 2, parents, 1/2.

However, that little trick has caused us parents to reconsider our electronics habits for the kids and has caused this mom to reconsider her use of electronic devices, since our kids are so good at copying us.  So, until the guilty party/parties confesses their "crime", all electronic devices are confiscated and held for ransom in the parent's room and all electronic activities are terminated.  One child started to "investigate" who committed this dastardly deed until I explained to her that, since she was a suspect, her investigation constituted a conflict of interest, which, because she is argumentative, started a whole legal discussion.  The culprit has yet to confess, though it really is only a matter of time before they crack.  We went camping this weekend, which is usually an electronic free zone (if you don't count posting pictures on Facebook as electronic time) and they don't miss that time as much.  But school is almost out and summer is coming, which in this part of the country means that you stay indoors after 9am unless it involves swimming.  Eventually, they will either learn to live without electronics or, driven mad by their electronic-less lifestyle, they will crack.  Bwahahahaha!

For my part, I decided to take Facebook and Pinterest off of my phone so that I have one less distraction from my surroundings.  While we were camping, I used my phone to make a few texts, check email and to write down some of our camping experiences, but that was it.  And let me tell you, it showed me just how Facebook has become an unhealthy habit. Several times over the three days, I went to my phone to check up on Facebook and realized that I couldn't.  Facebook must have missed me, too, because after two days of inactivity, it sent me an email telling me of all the things I was missing (9 notifications and several big stories among my friends!).  Thanks, Facebook...NOT!  And then I started wondering if Facebook missed me more than my kids.  What a sobering thought, even if it probably isn't true.  So even though I missed Facebook on my phone because of the habits I have developed, I can say that I didn't miss the time I was able to spend with my kids watching them play at the campsite and all the reading I was able to do.  It is one small step for momma which hopefully will lead to one giant step for family time.

Three Magic Words

Today, my family and I went on a trek to see the two grandmas,one in a Senior facility who can still play cards and tell jokes and another, my Nana, who is slowly being eaten away by alzheimer's in a nursing home.  I saw Nana first and this is about our time together.

A long time ago, I stopped looking for the Nana I remember from childhood, or even from the Nana I remember from ten years ago, when her green-gray eyes still twinkled with mischief and laughter and her high, well-defined cheekbones still held more than a hint of the beauty that she was as a younger wife and mother;  when she could follow conversations and make complete sentences.  Now, I look for a stooped woman in a wheelchair with a flurry of frail, pure white hair, sunken eyes that are growing hazy with age and skin that seems papery thin.  Today, she was in the common room, where the TV is, snoozing in her wheelchair with oxygen pumped in her nose.  I touched her arm and called her name.  She stirred, glanced at me, and closed her eyes again.  I pulled up a chair and started stroking her her arm, calling her name again. Her eyelids remained closed.  I walked over to the nurses and asked if she had taken a turn for the worse.   Gravely, they all nodded affirmations.  However, they also encouraged me to stay by her side and hold her hand and just be satisfied with being with her.  So I steeled myself to spend the next 30 minutes or so just holding her hand and seeing if she would respond to my small, gentle acts of love.  I sat down stroked her hand and said the magic words:  "Nana, I love you!"

Her eyes popped open and she looked at me with renewed interest and almost seemed to recognize me.  Her mouth reformed into a big wide grin, not quite the same as twenty years ago, but almost familiar.  It started a whole long "conversation" between us, two old friends, two co-conspirators, two travelers of memory lane.  She would "talk", which really was more similar to baby sounds than anything else, and I would almost understand her at times.  I would tell her my stories and then we would share stories of our trip to California, her camping as a young girl with her parents, the times we would pretend to be police officers (CHiPs with chicks).  Every once in a while, she would laugh the laugh that I remembered hearing and couldn't help but laugh with her from the joy of hearing it, even though I had no idea what she had just told me.  I told her about my kids and showed her the washcloth I was knitting, though I assured her that it wasn't as beautiful as the things she had knit for me.  I told her about saving the dresses she had made for me for my daughters, when they got older.  When I showed her pictures of my kids and told her that they were her great-grandchildren, she made a snort and seemed to say "I'm not THAT old!"  She never did like the idea of being old enough to be a great-grandmother, though she loved her great grandchildren as much as she loved her grandchildren and her children.  I told her that she was a wonderful grandmother and gave her a kiss and a hug.  Our time was almost over.  My husband and the kids were waiting outside in the parking lot.  She didn't seem to mind that I was leaving, or maybe didn't understand.  I gave her final kisses and hugs and left.

I feel blessed to still be able to spend time with her and know that there is still small part of the Nana I knew that is awake and alive.  And if there comes a time when those three magic words no longer have meaning to her, then I will be content sitting silently with her, holding her hand and showing her a small part of the love she has shown me over the years.

Freaky week

I have been telling people that I suspect my kids have a plan to take turns working me to my last nerve each week, because for the first three weeks of school a different child each week stood out as particularly difficult. The only child that has not accomplished her goal in the past three weeks is my sweetest girl, though I won't name names. This week, however, I think it was God's turn, because there were too many crazy things that happened that had nothing to do with my kids:

1. Jessi found a scorpion on the leg of a kitchen chair while cleaning the kitchen. Scorpions are pretty creepy anywhere in the house, but considering how much time we spend sitting on the kitchen chairs, the thought of a scorpion's stinger inches away from a child's leg was a bit unnerving. It is now a dead scorpion, BTW.

2. While walking one night, Jacques and I encountered a dog running off leash in the golf course. His owner was there, but he ignored the commands of his owner and trotted over to where Jacques had stopped. The unfettered dog, a big boxer, proceeded to jump on Jacques, growling and acting like he wanted to rip Jacques throat. Thankfully, no blood was spilled and I hope the owner didn't mind that I tried to hit his dog on the head with my big, heavy flashlight to force him away from mine. I think the word "unnerving" also applies to this situation.

3. I left my cell phone in the Fry's food store. I knew I left it in the Fry's because my husband installed a "find phone" app on his phone and on the iPad and the GPS told us it was in the vicinity of the Fry's store. When I went, sans Eric's phone, the clueless employee I encountered hapazardly searched through the lost and found drawer for 30 seconds and couldn't find any iPhone with a fluorescent green cover on it. Thoroughly discouraged, I went home and started to walk the dog with the intent of seeing if it was just lying in the parking lot or bushes or some random location around Fry's.

4. Within a few feet of our house as I was walking Jacques, a couple of stray dogs approached us. They didn't respond to my "No. Stay AWAY." until after four or five repetitions. At this point, I realized that I was still a little freaked out by the previous dog incident and didn't want to risk any further adventures with loose dogs. I turned around and walked the 1/2 block back to my house. I asked Eric to go look for the phone. He apparently found the one useful employee there at nine-thirty p.m. who successfully located my phone and gave it to him when he proved by entering the security code that it was "his."

5. Yesterday morning, while I was trying to start up the first ever Vandertoom P.E. Co-op, some kind of police bust happened within 100 yards of our three families. Several plainclothes police officers and several more uniformed officers with big guns descended on a guy carrying a backpack and arrested him after searching through the contents of the bag. One of the moms, totally freaked out, called to the police and asked them if it was going to be safe to stay or if we should leave. The officer replied that it now safe. Aren't those comforting words? Not really. I picked the park because it is a good midway point between several families and because I usually see mom's with their kids playing at the park, not drug dealers or other criminals. It didn't occur to me much later that the guy arrested could have been carrying a gun and determined to use it to resist arrest.

All this reminds me that the world in which we live is NOT safe, no matter how hard we try to make it safe with fences, child safety equipment, pest control, seat belts, child safety seats, the CPC, air bags, airport security, police, FBI, army, navy, air force and marines. I am also reminded of what I should do when I am freaked out:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding shall guard your hearts in Christ Jesus." This comes from Philippians 4:6-7, which I typed from memory because our small church group is encouraging each other to memorize verses.

So, after repeating that verse and having God put things in His perspective, I am very glad and thankful this week. I am glad that my Jacques is okay, glad that my kids have keen eyesight and that scorpions don't move quickly, glad that my phone was easily found, and glad that an arrest was made without anyone having to use a gun. And I am thankful to God that He kept us safe throughout the week and humbled by the fact that I don't really even deserve His protection , but that He gives it anyway because He loves us more than we can ever imagine, for which I am most glad.

Forgive me for bragging...

As a homeschooling mom, I get the wonderful gift of seeing my kids grow and develop 24/7. I want to share some of the things I see in my kids.

My oldest daughter wants to be a vetrinarian. While she does LOVE animals, her gifts lay entirely in the arts. She sewed by hand a skirt, using the waistband of some old underwear as the elastic waistband. There is only one place where there is a pucker. She is awesome at drawing and painting and we may have her help in my co-op (with one other family) once a month. She has picked up crocheting pretty quickly and this weeked, finished a cap in turquoise and purple striping. All of this is usually initiated by her. She also likes music, though it is not an area of focus. She is VERY determined and VERY task focused.

My second daughter also wants to be a vetrinarian. However, her talent is being able to remember the names of every single person she meets. For a long time. She has asked me if I remember a child she played with at the park once when she was five years old. She charms almost anyone she meets and is really good with kids She also has a love of music and is very focused and diligent in this one area. "You need to stop playing the piano because (various reasons)." Secretly, I love saying that, even though I act really annoyed because she is either NOT getting ready to leave for somewhere or she is not helping out as she should. Her diligence and focus in other areas is definitely lacking. If she does pursue a career in music, she will need someone who will not only arrange her schedule but also be willing to pick up and clean after her and find the stuff that is missing. Unless God intervenes and gives her a desire for organization and cleanliness or she works hard to overcome her natural inclination as I am trying to do.

My oldest son (third in line) wants to be an architect. It comes from all the times he has been upset when I have announced that we need to destroy all LEGO creations in order to replenish our, collection of roughly ten thousand pieces. He hates having is creations destroyed and my response to his whining has always been, "LEGOs are temporary creations. If you want to build something permanent, become an architect." He has a photographic memory for facts and can make wonderful LEGO creations. He LOVES to read and is probably at the same level at his older sister. A currently annoying gift he has is at pointing out errors. However, it can be very useful as a potential career. He is pretty young, so the focus and diligence are somewhat lacking right now as is typical of the age level. He is incredibly vibrant and knows how to flash an all-over-body smile that will melt your heart and make you forget that two seconds ago he was annoying his brother or sisters to tears. Unfortunately, that seems to be his main talent right now.

My youngest is my class clown. For reading, he prefers funny stories. He also has a great imagination and is showing a talent for drawing. What I love most about him though, is his soft heart. He has already chosen a wife, our neighbor's daughter who also takes Tae Kwon Do. He makes very romantic statements about her, which makes me wonder what shows he secretly watches. His focus is definitely dicey. One week, he is focusing with laser-like precision in Tae Kwon Do; the next week, he is making faces in the mirror while the instructor is speaking. I think that is also a sign of being a young kid. I am looking forward to seeing what talents emerge from what I see now.

My kids are probably pretty ordinary and, with any luck, probably won't be rich or famous. However, they bless my life every day.

Dust storms and other summer fun

My daughter is asserting her independence through her hair. She has been wanting to get it cut really short and, since a child's hairstyle is not a hill on which I am willing to die, she and I worked together to find a hairstyle that was acceptable, in that it was not actually modeled by a boy in the hair book and it WAS modeled by a girl, not a woman. My husband teased her when we got home by saying that she now looks like Justin Bieber.

Before the dust storm, we had a pillowcase/wii party with a neighboring family. The moms worked together to make pillowcases for an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which you can learn more about by clicking on my link, We Are Blessed to Be a Blessing. The kids played wii while we sewed, which made everyone happy, or relatively happy. I was happy to have someone to share the sewing load and to help me persevere after messing up on a really easy pattern. Altogether, we made 10 pillows that day and my friend sewed 12 pillows on another day. It did confirm that I really dislike sewing in general but enjoy sewing something simple with friends.

For three solid weeks, at least one kid was involved in some kind of camp. Jessi was in the Phoenix Zoo's "FutureVet" program the second week in June. The next week, Elz was in their "Junior Zookeeper" camp and Kyle was taking their "Into the Wild" program. The Zoo's all-day camp lasted from 8 to 3 with a couple of dousings at their Yakula Caverns water play area to stay cool in the heat. All the kids had a chance to meet zookeepers, vets, prepare food and learn more about taking care of animals. I give the zoo high marks for organization and for excellence in content as they stuck to facts of animal care and zoo maintenance without bringing up either theories of origination.

I had a blast with John and whichever child was not attending camp. Kyle also attended Boy scout camp with Eric at R Bar C near Payson, AZ. He played games, learned how to whittle, made a leather pouch, rode a horse (which was NOT the most pleasant experience for him) and other fun and exciting things.

The last week of camping fun involved Summer Bible Camp at Redemption Church in Gilbert, AZ. This year, the theme involved private detectives Justin Case and Natasha Mygarbagetruckfellonitside. They were solving mysteries from Matthew 5:3-12. The large group presentation was AWESOME as were the games and crafts. Jessi, Kyle and John were attending while Elz and I worked on the snack crew. Elz is officially too old for Summer Bible Camp/VBS (sniff, sniff).

The boys took swimming lessons with a neighbor again for two weeks. The Tuesday after our July 4th celebration, she had a little swimming party for all of her students. That ended when Eric pointed out the big black cloud as the reason we needed to go. He (or was I the one?) thought it was a big thunderstorm cloud. The rest of the people weren't fooled. Cries of "dust storm" broke out and within 30 seconds the pool was empty and within another minute, everyone had vacated the property. We had walked to the party and hadn't quite made it home when the storm reached us. It wasn't too horrible to experience, with the exception of getting dust in the eyes and teeth, though pool towels helped limit that. Visibility was reduced to 1/2 a block within seconds of the storm hitting. I think if we had to drive, it would have been worse, though because of the visibility problems. Most dust storms get broken up by Gilbert, way to the south of us, so we knew it had to be pretty big. We didn't realize exactly how BIG it was until the next day, when we watched the news programs and saw videos on youtube. It was big enough to be on Russian news! It did mean cleaning up the house because, in the short time it took to get six humans inside one door and two dogs inside the other, a heck of a lot of dust blew in the house. Also, I had to clean the back porch the next day so that when we came in from swimming, we would track muddy footprints on the newly cleaned floor. I also cleaned the front porch and had Elz clean the pool deck. The blacktop was brown. Everything, in fact was brown.

July is half over at this point. The Overtooms have a camping trip in the near future and attendence of the Arizona Christian Home Educators conference in the nearer future. The kids and I might also spend a week with my Grandma C in a cabin up in Pinetop, AZ, high enough to escape the heat, which waned a little this week with more storms passing through the area. And, of course, swimming is almost a daily activity, even though the water is not much cooler than bathwater.

Introducing the Newest Member of our Family

The fish died. One of my children won the fish at a Trinity Community Church (when it was known as Vineyard Community Church) Harvest Party coin toss game. Those fish usually last a few days before dying because they are the cheap goldfish used as food for bigger fish. I probably bagged that fish, too, because that year I helped put fish in bags as part of the set up. It outlived many of the $5 golfish that we bought to keep it company. It survived roughly seven years and a cross country move in a big ice cream bucket. But its time was up.

For a while, I have been thinking that our dog, Jacques, needed a doggy friend. He can spot a dog from a far off distance and wants to smell each and every dog. I have to keep him on a tight leash when I see a dog to make sure that he doesn't lunge at them. And there are a lot of dogs in our neighborhood, sadly to say, that don't welcome him. However, true to form, our kids have failed to keep the agreements they made to feed and care for Jacques, mainly in the area of poop pick up. Eric and I have gone back and forth on whether to get another

dog. One morning as I was walking Jacques, I ran into a lady in the neighborhood that I hadn't seen in a while. We started talking about Jacques and the question of whether to get another dog and she mentioned the AZ Poodle rescue group that only takes in Poodles, poodle mixes, bichons and other non-shedding dogs. We would have to feed the dog and love it and take it to any vet appointments necessary, as well as take it to a PetSmart every Saturday. They would pay vet bills. We filled out an application, showed up a Petsmart and received Harley.

Harley is a fairly active dog. He is either a coton de tulear or a maltipoo.

Two ladies in the organization have a difference of opinion on the exact breed. He and Jacques like to play together, mostly in the morning. He LOVES his walks in the early morning

and evening (I wait until the temperature drops below 100 to take him for a walk, which usually

happens about 30 minutes or so after the sun has set). He is a bit mischevious and doesn't know how to beg at the door. This means that we need to let him out every couple of hours. He is quick an

d likes to dart, which means I trip over him many times a day. When we first brought him to our home his hair was badly matted, which is why he is wearin

g a shirt in this picture. The hair on his legs had overgrown his paw, which made him look a little like a Who from the The Grinch Who Stole Christmas fame. He loves to scavenge for food and will pull things out of my purse, jump on the kitchen table if a chair is left away from the table. Or jump up on our leg while we are eating. He loves playing with toys and anything can be a toy--a t-shirt left on the floor or any stuffed animal. He will drop for belly rub with the slightest interest shown to him. This makes putting a leash on him a bit of a challenge. Unfortunately, he has picked up Jacques' bad habit of barking when guys enter a room that I am in. As a result, we are trying to extinguish that behavior in both of them with the help of a squirt gun.

Jaques, I think, likes him and is jealous of him. They like to play together, whether it is chase or tug-of-war with a play toy. He also has been appreciating the extra food available, though he gets yelled at if we catch him eating Harley's food. The biggest problem comes when we give the dogs treats after walks. Jacques tries to steal Harley's treat after he has already been given his treat and he is not being as careful in getting his own treat lately. My solution to that will be to make him lay and put the treat on the ground so my fingers don't get nipped. I will probably have someone hold Harley to pull that off.

We have had Harley for two weeks now and a couple of people have shown interest, but no adoption looms. I am hoping that in the next week, someone who wants a medium-to-high energy dog to adopt him because our kids are becoming very attached to Harley. Parting with him will be difficult, even for me. But I keep telling our kids that most of the dogs that we bring in will be here with us temporarily and that we need to show them love and affection while they are with us and be able to let them go, knowing that they are going to a good family.

Relative Month--Part II

Part II has been delayed numerous times over the past month as I have been losing a wrestling match with Google's Blogger to publish other movies that I made from pictures using Google's Picassa program. Theoretically, it shouldn't be a problem since the same company had developed the both software packages that I am using, but it is reality that is currently winning the battle. Each time Blogger shut down after I spent a considerable time writing and trying to add movies, I have walked away in disgust for several days, maybe even a week. So I am giving up on the movie idea and sticking to prose for a while.

Five days after Nana and Poppa left with the cousins, Eric's sister, Michelle and her husband, David arrived. We had a great time hanging out, mostly at ball games. We did hike up the Treasure Loop trail at Lost Dutchman State Park the day after their arrival. Because a "cool front" came in, bringing temperatures down in the 80's, we didn't have to make sure to leave too early. During the drive, Elizabeth, Kyle and John, took turns developing a creature that became bigger and more deadly with each mile. I think they would have continued throughout the trail if I hadn't asked them to pick a different topic. The trail isn't as interesting as the Wind Cave Trail at Usury Mountain, but the Superstition Mountains, edging the trail are beautiful rock formations which you can see here. We hung out in the pool for a bit in the afternoon before getting ready for the highlight of their visit, watching the the Twins play the Diamondbacks. We took the light rail to the stadium. For the first time, I realized how unscenic the ride was as we passed about six strip clubs scattered throughout an industrial complex. It was a great game if you were a Diamondbacks fan. Unfortunately, the Twins fans accompanying us (Michelle and David) and surrounding us were not happy with the outcome. I did see someone with an "Alex, Minnesota" sign. During the game, I received a message that Kyle's baseball team, playing in a championship tournament game that evening won their game. Yay! The next game in the tournament was at 8 a.m the next morning. Boo! We stayed for the end of the game and watched the fireworks in the street while waiting for the light rail to arrive. The kids, especially John, who hasn't seen as many fireworks, were transfixed. We arrived home at 11 p.m.

The next morning started waaaaay too early. Eric and Kyle left earlier because the team had practice. Michelle and David were able to see Kyle play and see his team come from behind to win the game. We celebrated by eating at In-and-Out, where Michelle and David had the grilled onions (sorry KT!) and then headed back to home to nap, talk, and swim. I also had some great bonding time with Michelle at my favorite yarn shop, The Fiber Factory. I made Mojitos for pool time, Eric grilled and we all waited to see if Jesus would show up, since that was the day that someone predicted that he would return. As we expected*, Jesus was a "no show."

Sunday morning, bright and early, Michelle and David returned to Minnesota. It was really great to spend an extended time with them. We hadn't had much opportunity to really get to know David before he married Michelle last July. Happy 1st Anniversary to you both!

On a completely different note, I have returned to Facebook, but will be limiting my Facebook friends to family only, just to keep down my viewing time.

* Matthew 24:42-44 and 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

A Relative Month--Part 1

May was almost equally divided between school and having fun with relatives. I just have to repeat what I said in an earlier post: I have the best in-laws! For three days, I had my lovely, talented, and wonderful SIL KT. I will let her tell her the details of her visit in Glorious Vacation, GV2, and GV3. She brought two of her four kids for cousin fun. On day two of her visit, Poppa Jim and Kathy arrived for week 2 of their vacation which involved seeing Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I think it is almost a requirement that when you visit us, you need to visit the Grand Canyon. (Hear that KT?) Then KT left to return to the chilly north, leaving her kids for us to enjoy. Nana, Poppa and my niece and nephew stayed for a five more days.

I am so amazed at how creative these kids were. The girls found a site that showed you how to re-fashion old t-shirts into new outfits. They spent a night with a bag of "rag" clothes that I gave my daughters for their creative endevors and made some amazing things. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of that because Eric and I were out. This inspired the boys to have a fashion show, too, which I did immortalize in pictures:

A lot of fun involved swimming and playing games. Banagrams is currently the most popular. Think of it as Speed Scrabble without the board where the winner is the one who uses the last tile first. The kids were great at playing together. My oldest son and nephew really developed their friendship. Nana and Poppa were able to watch Kyle play baseball while I ferried the girls to church activities one night. I was able to spend some quality time with my niece and oldest daughter. Another highlight was taking Poppa and the boys on a hike of Wind Cave Trail at Usury Mountain State Park. The trail takes you near the top of Pass Mountain. I have done the hike at least a half a dozen times. Last time Nana and Poppa visited, they brough my niece with them and I arranged a girl's hike up the mountain. It was great to spend time with the boys, too. The weather while they were visiting was beautiful.

I have some more videos that I created from the few pictures I took. However, I have had some problems loading more than one video for some reason (or Blogger is not behaving itself). So the next post will be mainly pictures of the Wind Cave Trail hike.

Happy Birthday, to my wonderful husband

Is the house glowing from all the candles representing each year of my husband's life? No! The glow comes from his wonderful smile.

I won't say exactly how many years my husband has been alive. We have been married for over a decade. He is younger than me by 11 months. On his birthday when we were engaged, he would tell everyone "I'm thirty and she is thirty too." His humor tends to be punny. It has earned him the endearment "goofball." He is God's answer to my prayer to introduce me to a godly man. Though he isn't perfect, he is perfectly wonderful!

Happy Birthday Eric! I love you!

One of my heros

I have recently "officially" added a new blog that I am following to my list, called "Blessed to Be a Blessing". The woman who writes it is one of those unspoken heroines who quietly do amazing things. She is a homeschooling mom with whom I have become friends. She and her family are trying to help a government run orphanage in Ethiopia. She has "adopted" two of the boys there and has visited twice in the last year. The last time she visited, she managed to raise money in one or two days to buy 100 pairs of shoes, socks and underwear for the boys. That story is dividing into five parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. It is totally amazing and one of many stories which point to the fact that governments can't really help people. Only people can help people.

Currently, she is trying to raise money to get new pillowcases and blankets for roughly 300 boys living there. Her whole family will be traveling with her to go to Ethiopia in a few months. They have been in regular contact with their boys through the magic of Skype.

My next blog, which may not happen for a while, will be all about the wonderful time we had during "Relative Month".

God Bless!

The Relatives Are Coming! The Relatives Are Coming!

Unlike Paul Revere, this is not a warning, but a joyous proclamation. KT and two of her nuts arrived from Minnesota, today experiencing a forty degree temperature change. After having to delay pool time in order to simultaneously do schoolwork and get the house ready for the visit, we spent a glorious hour staying cool in the pool in near 100 deg weather. In-laws arrive tomorrow after visiting places west and north of us for a week. Sadly, KT can only stay a few days, but her nuts will bless us with their presence for the rest of week, leaving with their grandparents. We have no current planned activities other than a fishing trip with Poppa. I have probably the best in-laws ever and I am lucky enough to have two complete sets! Another SIL and her husband will be visiting us for a few days giving us an excuse to see the Phoenix Diamondbacks. After that, we have a week of school before we take a break. And then it will be time to consider visiting family in cooler climates.

Yay for family! Yay for rest!

My Week, Randomly

I am a very random thinker. I also think in details. This has huge (SQUIRRELL!) implications. I have labeled all cabinets and drawers in the house to make sure that I am consistent. I frequently lose my phone, keys, books, planner because I am in the middle of one detail when I put it in whatever random location I happend to be dwelling at the time. I am easily (SQUIRRELL!) distracted, especially from chores. If you don't get the squirrell references, watch the movie "UP!" which is just about my favorite all time Pixar movie. The only advantage I have found to being random involves conversations. It is especially useful when having a conversation with an Alzheimer's patient, when they can still talk, because most of their talk becomes free-form words generated at random. Most of my writing, thanks to the magic of word processors seems mostly sequential and I am getting better thinking sequentially in my old age with a little bit of practice. But this time, I am letting go of all rules involving being sequential and having a theme and allowing myself some free-form writing. My first subject is...

Japan. Once again, I am amazed and heartbroken at the the devastation that an earthquake can inflict. I am praying and asking the kids to pray for the people of Japan every day while there is so much chaos and issues. The need seems to be overwhelming and it makes me realize that I have been...

...playing WAAAAY too much Mahjonng Dimensions lately. Initially, I thought it would be a good game to play because each game lasts only six minutes. The challenge is to clear all three levels, each one more complex, in that six minutes. However, it is as addictive as slot machines because you keep thinking, "I just need to try one more time and I KNOW I can clear all three." with the result that you play until, as a purely hypothetical example, you start smelling dinner burning. I can honestly say that I have cleared all three levels within the six minute allotted time, though I don't think I should be proud of that accomplishment. I would like to thank God for doing an intervention for me. Last night, after the kids were in bed, I was greeted by "Mahjonng Tiles by Charmin," where the pyramid of tiles is placed on a giant roll of toilet paper that rotates so you can see it from different sides (I am NOT joking). There are two blocks with Charmin on them and the red bears are in a corner watching you play the game after pushing Charmin as the t.p. which will "leave you clean without leaving pieces behind." IMHO, this has to be the worst campaign slogan I have heard in a long time, unless I am the only one who doesn't really worry about "cling-ons." I have enough potty humor with four kids, two of them boys, to put up with games going to pot. I am through. This is a very good thing because I am in the middle of a...

...sock knitting class: I have been wanting to take a sock knitting class for a while now and my wonderful kids all chipped in to buy me a class as a Christmas present. The classes are held at The Fiber Factory in Mesa, which is a great place to hang out if you are interested in just about any craft involving thread and even some that don't. It has the potential to become a dangerous place for our budget. I love my teacher because she can explain things both technically and visually in terms beginners understand. The first week, she showed us the tricks for setting up using four double pointed needles with a fifth floater, which is the European style of knitting socks. This style has you working from the ankle to the toe. Last week, she showed us how to knit the heel flap, turn the heel, and set up the needles for the gusset, which is the section that goes over the instep/arch of your foot. This is a picture I took after I successfully turned the heel. I am enjoying the class, but, like always these days, it seems like if I add something that I like to do, our schedule goes insanely busy because I have four kids involved in...

...baseball, which meets three times a week and, in spite of the fact that we signed up our little darlings two months ago, still does not have a playing schedule; horseback riding, which has become a little simpler since we combined the two girl's lessons into one time slot; karate twice a week with two of the three class times inconvenient for our family and with a rank promotion looming in our future; boy scouts and extra curricular boy scout activities; kid's choir practice and a concert at a local nursing home; a make up needed for a birthday party for my six year old that was cancelled due to sickness; church, serving in kid's church, meeting in small groups at another time during the week, baptism parties. There is so much to be done and I really have to carve out time with God to help me prioritize it all and put things in their proper perspective. For the past two weeks, we have had two or three things going on each weekend, which means that there is no time for keeping the house clean and getting ready for school, unless I cut in on traditional school subjects to include "life skills" lessons or stay up late. Staying up late reminds me of the...

...Rock and Worship Roadshow that Eric and I attended last weekend with another couple which featured Jars of Clay and Mercy Me, though it also had warm up bands like Matt Maher ("Alive Again", "Love Will Hold Us Together"), The Afters ("Light, Light Light up the Sky"), Thousand Foot Crutch (a Christian heavy metal band with incomprehensible lyrics), and LeCray, a Christian rap artist. Jars of Clay ("If I Had Two Hands" among their many songs I love)had the most uplifting set up, with lots of white light immersing the stage and brought back memories of our courtship. Mercy Me was incredible. The lead singer, Bart, (yes, we are on a first-name basis, at least on my end) has a great sense of humor and a beautiful voice. It was awesome singing with 13,000 people "All of Creation." My girlfriend and I cried when they sang "Beautiful", because Bart explained that he wrote for his daughters. By the time the concert ended, Eric and I bought Matt Maher's two CDs and we took the light rail to our car to get home, it was 11:30. Overall, every act was awesome, even if I didn't like the music genre which was true only of Thousand Foot Crutch (I could almost hear my Grandma C. reacting to the music by saying "You can't tell me this isn't devil music! You can't even understand what they are saying!!!). If they decide to do it next year, I would highly recommend attending it. Athough, I will admit that most of the enjoyment was in attending any concert that doesn't involve the kids, like the children-focused concerts and most Ravinia concerts (OH! How I miss you, Ravinia!), which reminds me that...


...it is time to wrap up my first attempt at writing somewhat randomly. I hope you enjoyed the ride. I promise you sequential types that I will limit this style of writing because a little bit of randomness goes a long way.

God bless!

Family tidbits

Kyle and Elizabeth are playing Monopoly with grace and charity. Elizabeth lended freely from the riches of her fortune when Kyle worked himself into debt by landing on her hotel filled Park Place so that the game could continue. However, she is not gracious enough to "let" him win. Does that count as playing for the love of the game?

John has decided to continue taking gymnastics until he can knock down doors. (?) I am wondering if we should have him try karate instead. He went on his first ride on the trail-a-bike a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Kyle is riding his bike well, too. He also started taking art with the older kids, since he does really enjoy drawing and it is recognizable.

We are starting to take family rides more now that three kids can ride around. Last week, we took a short ride around the neighborhood to teach Kyle the rules of the road and get me comfortable with riding with three unattached kids. I think we will stay on neighborhood roads for a while.

Jessi did an amazing job in her piano recital, making "The Can Can" really dance. She is improving in gymnastics and met national fitness standards in everything but running. She is currently pretending to go on dates, which is concerning me. I asked her once what she thought people do on dates. She said, "Go to dinner and talk about stuff like sex." As I felt a heart attack starting, I, somehow, calmly asked her, "What do you think sex is?" to which she replied "I have no idea." I think/hope/pray that "sex" is a word she has heard somewhere and is just parroting it, like two year olds do. Maybe I had better remind Elizabeth that our little "talk" is really not to be shared in any way shape or form. Maybe Eric needs to take her out on a date. Soon.

Elizabeth has survived oral surgery, followed soon after by braces. She had six teeth removed during oral surgery with one being fused to the bone. She went about four weeks eating soft foods. Another tooth was lost this week which, thankfully, did not have a bracket on it because it was already loose. Yes, she still can chew, but she needs to be creative sometimes. She met national fitness standards in everything but flexibility (0.5 inches short of the goal). She also participated in the recital, playing "Ode to Joy" on her guitar very nicely.

We attended our first Cubs pre-season game at Hohokoam Park, which is less than five miles away. It was a lot of fun, although I had to give a guy "the look" when he started dropping "f" bombs right and left. I didn't want to call the kid's attention to him. They seemed oblivious. It was fun sitting on the grass for several hours watching a pitching duel in between getting food and drinks.

I attended my first "Ladies Movie Night" last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed "Julie & Julia", good food, and female conversation uninterrupted by kids. It was also great to see a movie with married couples working through problems, encouraging each other, and enjoying each other in every way ;-). I especially liked how they handled one line that I thougt was especially corny. Julie makes a comment near the end about Julia Child "saving" her, to which her very wise husband says, "Now don't get ridiculous."

Eric is still enjoying bicycling into work, although his "usual route" is partially underwater thanks to all the rain we have been receiving. He has an alternative route which takes him through the Indian reservation.

The weather has been beautiful and we are getting very tan. We are seeing lots of water in riverbeds for the first time. Flowers are blooming everywhere and I have realized that the smell of orange blossoms is almost overpowering, though it might be because the neighbor behind us has about ten of them in his yard. It is not a good time to be visiting if you have allergies. The pool is too cold for swimming at this time, though by the end of the month, it should be fine.

Last night, at art class, the three oldest kids had made play cell phones with internet connection and portable computers that would make future "iPad" owners jealous. They were really blocks of wood attached with hot glue gun and marked properly with marker. On the way home, Jessica notifies Elizabeth that she is "calling" her cell phone. Elizabeth starts singing part of a Francesca Battistelli song before "answering it" (think ringtones). Then they start file sharing different movies they have "watched" and enjoy: "Attack of the Killer Toothpaste", "Attack of the Killer Cheesecake" (which Kyle informed me was a tragedy because all the good guys die at the end), "Attack of the Killer Cheese Curls", "The Incredibles, 2" and "Much Ado About Nothing, 2". Do you know how hard it is to drive while trying NOT to laugh because you are afraid you will hurt their feelings OR cause them to work harder at being funny?

Happy Easter, everyone. We miss you!