Culture Night: England

After a long break, we finally had another culture night back in May.  This time Marsha chose England.  It was a fun one.  For dinner we had bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes with an onion gravy), mince pies, and butterbeer (just for fun, at the kids' request).  We were all a little nervous about the mince pies.  The recipe was pretty crazy sounding (beef, apples, pineapple juice, pickle juice, molasses--to name a few of the ingredients) but they were actually a hit.  It was weird how you couldn't taste the beef much.  Sadly, no one could finish a glass of the butterbeer.  It was way too rich.  

Here's the table:

 After dinner we had our presentations.  These last few times, we've helped the kids make powerpoint presentations and hooked it up to the TV.  That has worked really well.  This time Elizabeth talked about English authors, Joe talked about religions, Natalie talked about monarchs, Marsha talked about landmarks, and I helped Nate talk about the food.  I also made the kids look at my book from my trip to London with Katie.  

 Here's the only picture I have:

Next up: Brazil!

School Year Wrap-Up

We finished up another great school year.  It had some bumps but the girls both seemed to adjust really well to another new school.  Elizabeth had some issues with some of her friends but I'm wondering if that is just typical of girls that age.  I think she would have liked to have made a closer friend during the year, though.  She had a wonderful veteran teacher who was strict but very kind and she loved her.  She had some struggles with the timed math facts tests this year.  But, after all the worry, she ended up right where she needed to be for 4th grade.  I had a hard time encouraging her, though, since I lived for those tests when I was kid.  Her reading level shot up this year and she has a real talent for reading and comprehension.  The homework load was a bit heavy at times and I'm a little worried about how next year will go.  Some friends of mine in this area have started homeschooling their older kids because the homework just gets to be way too much and doesn't leave much family time.  We'll see how it goes.  The school definitely has a competitive environment.

Natalie was in a combined class of 1st and 2nd graders this year.  It went really well.  She also had a wonderful veteran teacher.  He was the first male teacher our kids have had and we loved him.  He admitted openly that he didn't love arts and crafts and wouldn't be doing much of that, but he did have a really talent for pushing his students to achieve.  It was amazing to see the math that Natalie was doing by the end of the year.  She will be ready for 3rd grade.  She had some homework struggles during the year, too, but not too bad.  She needs to learn to be a bit more organized.  It will come, I'm sure.  She made some good friends who were 3rd graders actually, and a couple of friends in her own class.

Open House:

Natalie with her report on Siberian tigers

I loved this that was hanging in Elizabeth's classroom:

Field Day

Elizabeth getting ready to do the three-legged race with her friend Kara:

They didn't do as well as they did in practice so she was disappointed but they did pretty well for falling a couple of times.

Natalie was on her class's tug-of-war team and they had an exciting first match:

(One nice thing about our school is that it's pretty easy to pick my blond kids out of a crowd :)

It looked like they were going to lose but they held on and won a really long match.

That's her teacher in the dark blue shirt talking to them.  He works as a referee so he refereed the events and it was fun to watch him.  He was constantly encouraging all the kids and helping them finish strong. I'm so thankful for great teachers like him!

Violin Concert:

She made a little progress in violin this year.  It's hard to learn much for a few minutes once a week with a whole class of kids.  We need to decide if we're going to pursue that any more outside of school so she can keep learning.

School Play:

Two of the 3rd grade classes put on a musical called "U.S. Geography".  Elizabeth had a good amount of lines and she did a great job.  We still have the songs running through our heads all the time.  I think Nate knows them all by heart. :)

I enjoyed volunteering for a program called Project Cornerstone at their school this year.  You go in a read a book to the kids and then do a related activity.  It's mainly to encourage empathy, kindness and conflict resolution skills.  It was a good way to volunteer since it was just once a month for an hour or so and I could bring the boys if I had to.  I had another mom helping me in Elizabeth's class but I was on my own in Natalie's.   I'm really glad I did it.

Natalie and Eli with a new school mural:

Now we're in the thick of summer and couldn't be happier about that! :)

Preschool

I haven't had a chance to say much about the preschool co-op that we did for Nate this past year.  We loved it and are so glad we participated.  This was a really easy group of kids. We had 6 kids for most of the year and then dropped to 5.  My friend said that she thought it worked so well because we didn't have any oldest children in the group :).  She could be right.  They really hardly ever fought or got too crazy.  It got a little trickier when Elijah would no longer nap during preschool and I had to manage him and the kids but it really wasn't bad.  Maybe it's because I'm a lot more laid back than I used to be and I recognize that even if they just spend the whole time playing, that's still some good socialization time right there. :)

Anyway, we did it twice a week for two hours each time.  We had a lot of fun.  Here are some of the highlights:

They loved going on a walk to collect leaves and make these leaf turkeys for Thanksgiving:

Snack time!

Speaking of snack time, I pulled out these placemats way back from Natalie's preschool for veggie faces again.  They loved it, too!

I loved the games they would come up with during play time.
They often involved lightsaber wars:

Here are some pictures I stole from my friends during their preschool days:

That N is hanging proudly in his room, now. :)

Some more highlights:
-When I taught about magnets we learned how a compass works and then used the compass on my phone to follow the clues on a treasure map I made.  I wasn't sure it would work but they were enthralled and followed every step until we made it to a Hershey's bar treasure.  That was a big hit.
-I found a simple activity on Pinterest around Valentine's day where you write each upper and lowercase letter on a half of a paper heart, draw a simple picture of something that starts with that letter on the back, and then cut it in half.  Then you lay them out and the kids match the upper and lowercases.  Then they turn it around to see what the picture is.  They loved that game so we played it a few times.  It was such a simple idea that I thought was great.
-We ended the year with a fun pool party at our house.  I didn't get any pictures but the kids had a great time.

Now, on to deciding about next year.  Nate is a September birthday so he won't start kindergarten yet.  He can go to transitional kindergarten which is nice because it's free but I am hoping for something that is a little less than the full kindergarten time.  I really want him to have more time at home with Eli and I before he's off to school every day.  We'll see what we decide.

Nate has learned a lot this year.  His reading is getting better and better, despite his frequent protests to sound out things at times.  The only time he really wants to practice is in the car when we pick up the girls.  He will work on some sight words then.  Entire books still intimidate him, though.  He still loves to read with me and especially loves Elephant & Piggie books and any Star Wars book he can find at the library (I can't even tell you the number of times I've fallen asleep trying to slog through one of those).

He is great at math and can count to 100 (and beyond).  He loves to learn and especially loves animals like his sisters before him.  The PBS show Wild Kratts is a big favorite, along with Sesame Street.  One of my favorite things is to hear him giggling while watching Super Grover on TV.  That guy always makes me laugh, too. :)

I sure love my Nate and feel so lucky that I get to be his mom.

Berry-Picking Fun

Back before school was out, the boys and I took a trip down to Gizdich Ranch to pick some strawberries.  I missed out on making strawberry freezer jam last year and I was determined not to do it again.

We met some friends there and had a great time.

These guys were great helpers, although they certainly did eat their fair share. :)

Nate with his friend Tyler:

Of course we had to get some strawberry-rhubarb pie and play for awhile:

Elijah was doing a pretty good job giving the bigger boys pushes on this toy:

Now we need to find a time to go back with all of the kids!

Camping Fun

We went back to our favorite camping spot over Memorial Day weekend, although we had some experiences that made us doubt if it's still our favorite spot.  More on that in a minute.

Eli had a lot of fun exploring around.  It was tricky for him navigating the rough terrain as a fairly new walker but I think he had fun.

He especially enjoyed the s'mores:

We had a blast on the huge tire swings again:

Elizabeth was quite disappointed when our family hike didn't last too long.  I was holding Eli in the carrier and Joe was holding Nate since he's not much of a hiker yet.  We did learn that his shoes were too tight so that didn't help.  Anyway, Elizabeth loves hiking and wanted to go much farther.  So, she and Joe set off on a hike.  They ended up walking all the way down the mountain to a ropes course in the lower part of the camp.  They had some adventures that I don't think I would have approved of if I had been there but thankfully they survived and started hiking the mile and half back up the mountain.  Soon Elizabeth noticed pain in her side and they realized it was a tick.  Joe had gotten one at camp but he was able to pull it out.  This one wouldn't come.  So, poor Lizzy had to hike all the way back up with a tick in her.  She was quite distraught but they made it quickly since she wanted it out.  Joe was able to get it out with a match (also quite traumatic) and then she was OK.  Still, the whole experiences was pretty awful.  We also found out after we got home that some friends had been there in a different part of the camp that weekend and their kids had gotten ticks, too.  So, this is what makes us hesitant to go back...

Anyway, here are the pictures Joe took from the first part of their adventure:

 
 
 
 

We camped for 3 nights this time--our longest so far.  I think we might gradually become actual campers some day! :)

Yesterday

Yesterday was a good day.  I wanted to record a few things.

I was sitting outside while the boys were playing on the deck when Nate came up and gave me a few kisses on the cheek.  Then, Elijah came toddling up and put his arms up so I would lift him onto my lap, which I did.  Suddenly, he put his open mouth on my cheek to give me kisses, too.  The whole thing just melted my heart.

We managed to persuade our kids to watch the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice with us, but not without a lot of complaining, mind you.  Of course, as often happens, they decided they actually love it.  Well, the girls decided that.  Nate is a good sport, though, and will sit through a lot of stuff he doesn't really like.  (Joe is a rare treasure of a husband that actually enjoys it, too.  I think it's all thanks to Marsha, who had her boys watch the Anne of Green Gables series at a formative age.)  I have loved watching the girls enjoy it as much as I do.  We have to explain some things, but they are getting it for the most part.

Anyway, we watched two more installments last night (including the 4th! :).  Elizabeth for some reason, can't seem to remember the names of the characters and keeps getting them wrong, especially Mr. Wickham.  It has been cracking us up.  When we turned it off before bed, the girls and I had this conversation:

N:  Kitty and Lydia sure do embarrass their family.
M: Yeah they do.  And now Lydia is going to see all those soldiers!  
E:  Yeah. And Wigmeer.

We all had a good laugh over that one.  I just love that I can already share this with them.

Ancestor Wall

I recently finished a project that had been floating around in my mind for years.  I had a vision of a wall in a our house dedicated to pictures of our ancestors.  We have a wall in our dining room here that I thought would be perfect so I finally got started.  I originally planned on doing one of those amazing gallery walls you see on Pinterest, but when I found these photo collage frames at Ikea I realized that was much more feasible for me.  I really hate to measure when I'm hanging things up and I'm terrible at arranging things to look nice so this was perfect.

I wasn't sure how to get a hold of the pictures until I went on the new family search site a while back and discovered tons of pictures there.  That made it so much easier!  Most of the pictures I found were from there, although I had some help from family, too.  I also printed out our fan charts from that site.  I love having those up, too.

Once I jumped in and started researching I was hooked!  I've caught the family history bug.  It was seriously addicting looking for pictures and stories of my family and Joe's family.  I would get started and the next thing I knew, the morning was gone and Nate had been watching way too much TV :).  I think it was for a good cause, though.

I learned a ton and read a lot of amazing stories.  Here are some of the things I learned through my research:

-After months and months, when the wall was almost done, I happened to be looking up at it while eating breakfast and I realized something that I had missed--Joe and I are related!  I know what you're thinking...that explains so much :).  I kind of expected to find a connection since we both have a lot of Mormon pioneer ancestry but it was so weird actually seeing it in writing.  We have the same great great great great grandparents which would make us fifth cousins!  Yikes.

The mother in the center is our common ancestor:

Her son and daughter that we are each descended from both died in their 20's so they are not in the picture.

I like to think of us as a modern day Mary and Matthew:

That makes inbreeding seem a little more glamorous, right?

-That wasn't the only connection I found between our ancestors, though. I was reading the personal history of one of Joe's ancestors when I found a reference to one of my ancestors.  Joe's ancestor was writing in her history of how poor they were soon after their arrival in Utah.  She said she had some kind of sores on her feet and her neighbor Walborg Nielsen brought her some pork that she could put on her feet to help them.  But, she wrote that she was so hungry that she just decided to eat the pork.  I remembered the name Walborg since it is so unique and sure enough that was my great great grandmother!

Here she is:

-I learned more about what countries my ancestors came from.  I always thought I was only English and Danish but I found out I have Norwegian and German roots, too.

This man was born in 1758 in Massachusetts but his grandparents, I believe, came from Germany in the early 1700's:

He was actually married in the Trinity Church in Boston on Christmas Day in 1777.  What a time and place to begin a life together!  I don't know if he fought in the Revolutionary War or not, although I have other ancestors who did.

-Joe's ancestry is similar to mine--a lot of English and Danish but he also has Swedish, Scottish and German ancestors.  During my research, I discovered that he has an ancestor who came to the US from Poland in the 1600's.  I was amazed!  I guess I didn't realize there were immigrants coming to America from Eastern Europe at that time.  Plus it was cool to find out that my kids have some Polish in them.  Here's a little blurb I found about him on a different site:

Zaborowski, Albrecht (Olbracht)

Early settler. Born in Pokrzywna, Poland about 1638. In 1662 settled in New Amsterdam (New York City), became acquainted with the language of the Indians and soon after acted as their interpreter. Through his marriage and successful transactions came into possession of large tracts of land in northern New Jersey on the bank of the Passaic River, N.J. In 1682 commissioned first justice of the peace for the Upper Bergen County, N.J. Died in 1711 in Hackensack, N.J.

source

-I loved reading the personal histories of our ancestors that converted to the church.  Joe and I both have a pretty deep Mormon history.  When I read all of their stories of faith and sacrifice for a cause they believed in with their whole hearts, despite persecution and sometimes estrangement from their families, it strengthened my own faith.   I am in awe of their commitment to the truth they felt resonate in their minds and hearts.  It carried them through long journeys across oceans and plains, times of hunger and deprivation, and even difficult doctrines that I'm sure were at times challenging to their faith.

One of my ancestors, Elizabeth Simpson, came from a fairly wealthy family in England.  She joined the church when she was about 32, after her first husband died and she was left with two children.  She married a man who was also a member of the church but then he died 5 years later leaving her a widow again with now 5 children.  She wanted so much to come to America and join the other Saints which she was finally able to do in 1856.  From her history it says this:

The opportunity came, and in May, 1856, she found herself and five children, ranging in age from six to nineteen, aboard the ship Horizon ready to set sail for America. While they were waiting in the harbor at Liverpool, a row boat was seen to approach the ship, and soon her two brothers came aboard to make one more effort to persuade her to remain in England. They pleaded most earnestly and said, "Elizabeth, don't take these little children at this time of the year and go to those God-forsaken Mormons and to such a despised place as Utah." They promised her she would never want for anything money could buy, as they were financially wealthy and would gladly care for her and her children. She turned to them and said, "I am going to Zion. The gospel is true, and Joseph Smith is a prophet of God." Her brothers returned home and she started on the voyage of six long weeks in a sailing vessel.

Little did she know the troubles that were ahead of her.  She ended up joining the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company to cross the plains to Utah.  But, the miracles weren't over either.  I could go on and on about her but I won't here.  She and all of her children did make it Utah alive.  You can read her history here.

I put these two pictures of Elizabeth side by side on our wall--

One from her youth in England, and one from her later years:

I found myself particularly drawn to the stories of women who were in polygamous marriages.  I wanted to learn more about them and their lives.  I found a story of a woman whose first love died soon after their marriage.  She became a 2nd wife to a man who took good care of her and had a large family.  Another ancestor, after having a child and after her first husband died of measles,  became a 2nd wife to man who then ended up also marrying her sister.  Sounds like an awful situation, right?  I'm sure it was tough at times, but once polygamy was outlawed in the territory of Utah their husband ended up moving to a house down the road and living alone for years.  He said he didn't want to separate the sisters who had lived together peacefully for so long.  Some women defended the practice until they died.  I myself have never felt that it was some kind of expression of sexual deviancy, as many have argued, but I've never felt comfortable with it either.  The fact of the matter is,  as my dad always says, if it weren't for polygamy, I wouldn't be here. You can read more about polygamy in our early church history here.

I learned that marriage was a lot different back then.  It was often more about practicality and survival than love.  Also, so many died at a young age that it was rare to find a couple that lived long lives together.  Anyway, I really appreciated the insight into different times and places.

-I found a lot of awesome pictures...
I'd always been told that my grandpa weighed 12 pounds when he was born, but it was hard to imagine since he was a pretty slight man when I knew him.  So, I loved finding this picture of him as a baby, with his mother and sister:

I love this picture of my great grandma and grandpa.  

I knew my grandma since she lived to be 100.

Speaking of that same grandma, I love these 5-generation pictures I found recently (the 2nd was meant to imitate the first):

(The baby in the top picture is my grandma.  The baby in the bottom picture is my cousin.)

I loved finding this next picture of my great-great grandparents and their family (my great grandma is in the back row, second from the right).  I'd always been told about how this family had found a baby on their doorstep and had raised her as their own (the baby in the picture).  But, I didn't know that their 16 year-old son had died that same year after being hit by a train.  He had apparently been up all night irrigating and they think he may have fallen asleep on the tracks while waiting for the train.  The baby ended up being a great comfort to the mother in her grief.  That baby lived a wonderful, faithful life and my mom was named for her and remembers her well.

Do you see how they added the picture of their son who died?  It was probably the most recent one they had.

-The biggest thing I felt while doing this is that I need to leave my own record!  That means writing in my journal and also writing here on this blog.  I want my own grandchildren to know about some of the things that I experienced--the good and the bad.  I want them to know of the faith I have too.  I'm so thankful for the strong men and women that I come from.  They surely had their own weaknesses and faults but they tried to live good lives.  I'm grateful for the legacy they left me and especially for my faith that families are eternal.  

I'll finish this very long post with a quote I love by Hodding Carter: 

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.