Vacation Part 1

Aaron goes to work conferences every couple of years and we always miss him terribly while he's gone.  This year we decided to tag along.  We found a great price on a Disney Resort, planned a couple of activities and drove down to Orlando.  The kids did amazing on the van ride down.  We almost drove straight down without stopping (16 hour trip).  But we didn't get any early enough start (we had no idea they would do so well!) and stopped in Georgia for the night.  When we got to the Port Orleans Resort in Orlando I was just blown away.  It was so beautiful and the atmosphere is so fun and carefree.  This is the view from our front door.  There were trees, ferns, and little ponds everywhere.  

The kids at the resort right after we unloaded our bags in the room.

There was even a ferry that took us from the resort to Downtown Disney.  Downtown Disney has lots of fun restaurants and shops.  It even has Ghirardelli store :)  Below are some pictures I took while we were waiting for the ferry to come pick us up (they come about every 15 minutes, we never had to wait very long).  As you can tell by the number of pictures, we visited Downtown Disney a number of times during the week.  The kids and I would travel over for ice cream or to browse the shops during the day. And we went over to eat dinner at Planet Hollywood and T-Rex with Aaron.

The boys on the ferry.

 Elliana and Joshua waiting for the ferry.

There are 6 pool at Port Orleans- Riverside.  Two have water slides and one was just steps from our room.  The kids and I planned to hangout at the pool all day while Aaron was at work.  Each morning I would get up before the kids and head out on a run (there is a jogging track through the resort).  And no, I was not the only one running :)  Aaron would leave for work and I would do weights; while the kids watched animal planet (yes, I brought hand weights with me on vacation !).  We don't have cable at home so this was quite the treat for the kids.  About 9:30am we would get ready and hit the pool.

To be continued....

A Birthday Party! and Dirty Art Work :)

Frosting for the pink cupcakes (no other color exists in this little girls world!).
I can't believe she's 5. She is an absolute joy.
Our dirty dishes sculpture :) Gotta have fun!
I added this picture because she just amazes me :)

Observations from an Outsider

This week my boys are taking standardized tests at a local private school. We have our kids tested to make sure they are where they should be (we actually expect them to be above their grade level in most areas, but it's also good to see if they need some extra practice).

I have mixed feelings about sending the boys to a "real" classroom. They always have fun and the school we use is very nice to let us jump in and take the tests with their students. And I like that they get to see what school outside our home is like. But I am reminded of all the reasons we choose to homeschool. I also observe things that reinforce my beliefs in this area.

Sitting in the lobby waiting for the boys to finish up the days tests I observed kids going to lunch, the office, to other classes, and some just wondering about (high school age). I was struck by the expressions on most of their faces. Ninety percent of them weren't smiling; in fact most had no expression at all. I was shocked when I peaked in on Joshua at lunch and saw the same look on his face. I talked to him later and he said lunch was fine, but it was also very loud. Exactly what I thought, he wasn't comfortable. It made me wonder if the kids in the halls also feel uncomfortable. Would they have the same facial expressions if they were getting their schooling at home?

Another observation I had concerned moms who send their kids to school..how do they get it all done???? I'm struggling to get housework done and spend quality and quantity time with all my kids. I don't like having to rush my kids out the door in the morning. I feel like I'm constantly starting something only to have to stop and be a chauffeur.

My kids show up in our school room with whatever they want wear that day. Now they bring clothes to me and ask if it's OK to wear to school. That just makes me cringe. Worst of all, I miss them. They are only away for half the day and I feel like I miss so much. If they were there all day I would only see them a few hours at night. That is not the kind of life I want for me or for them.

I also struggle with the amount of reading that they are getting done this week. It's normal for my kids to spend 1-2 hours each day reading. I don't see how that could happen in a regular school setting. And I think it would be hard to get that amount of reading done in the evenings.

I did see a lot of positive things while observing. The teachers are amazing and most of the kids are very friendly. The school is obviously doing a good job. And I am thankful that they allow us to join them. But I am so thankful for our little school and the blessing of having my kids at home :)

Fun and Effective Workout

I came up with a fun and very effective workout! I needed to run 3 miles but I wanted to run it in small segments (achy legs from my 6 mile run this morning). I kept track of my calorie burn and it was WAY higher than just running 3 miles (like 100 calories higher!). Stopping every half mile made the time go by faster and I felt better during the run (the weight intervals let my legs relax and get ready for the next run).

The workout:

run .5 miles

20 wide front pull-ups, 20 chin ups

run .5 miles

20 narrow pull-ups, 20 wide front pull-ups

run .5 miles

15 chin ups, 16 narrow pull-ups

run .5 miles

20 heavy pants, 18 lawnmowers

run .5 miles

18 back fly's, 12 heavy pants

run .5 miles

17 lawnmowers, 21 back fly's

2 months!!

In two months I will be running the Chicago Half marathon on behalf of As Our Own and in honor of a little girl named Avishi.

You can click on this link: As Our Own, read Avishi's story, and donate to an amazing organization :)

The following information was taken from the As Our Own website.

India has the highest orphan population in the world. The orphan epidemic has robbed 25.7 million children² threefold:

Without parental protection and care, vulnerable children fall prey to predators who are always on the lookout for child sex slaves or forced laborers.

Surviving on the streets is no carefree childhood—orphans must scavenge daily for a bite to eat to survive.

The future is grim. With no education or training, there is little hope for escaping the brokenness.

Both boys and girls are orphaned, but girls have it especially rough. Although it is officially outlawed, many mothers abort female babies before birth.⁵ And girls who survive the womb are often without protection and are targeted, exploited, and enslaved more so than males.

Without intervention, generation after generation will be robbed and girls will continue to be victimized.

The unthinkable is happening each day in the red-light districts of India.

Little girls—some as young as 7 or 8 years old—are being forced into the sex trade.³

The hopelessness of extreme poverty spurs on destructive, treacherous situations that put children, and especially girls, at great risk.

Many girls are kidnapped and abducted . . . others are deceived and mislead by promises for a better life . . . and some are victims of second-generation enslavement because their mothers are also enslaved.

Life as a sex slave is horrific, full of terror, abuse, and neglect. We’re told from inside sources that most sex slaves die between 35 and 40 years of age.

Any way you look at it, life in the sex trade is not much of a life.

Striving for something is never easy

I ran 23 miles this morning. Those last 5 miles always seem to be really hard. I know with time they will get easier :)

Feeling pretty exhausted so I will leave you by saying....

She's 5!!!!!

We have lots of traditions around our house and birthdays are no exception! It all starts the night before when we covertly sneak into the birthday boy/girl's room and decorate! They wake up to balloons and streamers everywhere!One happy little girl :) LOVE that smile!
After they wake up we open gifts...

Our birthday celebrations last all day! This of course means that every birthday at our house is a NO SCHOOL day! We spend the entire day doing activities that the birthday boy/girl likes. It always includes a lunch date at dad's work. Time to go party with my girl!!!

March Totals

I have a running calendar that I use to keep track of my mileage. In the month of March a ran a total of 142 miles! And I ran those miles in 15 workouts (actually not 100% true, I run doubles two days per week; so that is 15 days when I ran) ! I smashed my goal and look forward to doing the same in April :)

Because I am someone who loves to get sweaty and kill myself in a good workout almost everyday I receive lots of comments and funny looks. People tell me I'm crazy and it's not worth it..blah..blah...blah... I'm not someone who cares what other people think. I don't dress or behave to impress others. I am who I am. I'm happy with that and if you're not then just keep on walking.

There is however a comment that I receive that really annoys me. Not because I care what they think of me, but because they are so WRONG that it drives me crazy! I can't stand it when people tell me I'm "obsessed" with working out, running, biking.... Just because I happen to love something you detest doesn't make me obsessed. It makes me an athlete.

I love this quote-
Funny picture of the day..

Awesome!!!

Check out these awesome counting songs! Search "havefunteaching" on You Tube :)