What's your favorite habitat?

Every morning, after the older kids go to school, Charlton and I sit down on the couch and read books for an hour or so. It is my favorite time of the day with Charlton. After that we both head to our respective destinations - I start on my daily chores and projects, and Charlton goes upstairs to play with his toys. Later on he comes downstairs to be with me; sometimes we play board games, and sometimes I take him to story hour or music time. And then we pick up James and they play together. I like our little arrangement, but I've noticed that because we've got to pick up James at 11:30, I don't take him to as many fun places for his age as I used to take my older kids. So this morning when he and I were reading several books about animals, I thought it would be fun to take him to the zoo. Charlton is at a wonderful stage now wanting to learn and see new things each day. It is also so amazing to teach him because he has the best memory I've seen in any child of similar age. We prepared some lunch, I printed a collage of animal pictures for both of my boys, and then when James came home we took off. On our way there, we talked about all the animals on the collage and I gave a few facts about each of them, such as their habitat (land vs. water), appearances (stripes vs. patches, scales vs. fur), and feeding habits (carnivores, omnivores, herbivores). We even sang some animal songs in the car. I had forgotten how fun it is to teach toddlers! (James knew most of the answers so it was fun for him to show off to his younger brother and help with the teaching process.) I had also allowed the boys to choose a few toy animals and take them along. Charlton chose a giraffe and James chose a tiger. They carried them all over the zoo.

When we got there, I had them have fun and run around, but when I would see an animal that was on their worksheet, I would draw their attention to it. Charlton was very interested in learning about each animal. When he remembered a fact about a particular animal he would tell me.
Lemurs are Elijah's favorite animals, and these were so adorable and very curious. They loved following us around. The top picture is of one of the mother lemurs; she had three babies, which when born are initially black.

I love bats, and the bats in this zoo are numerous and they all like to show off.

James was a bit afraid of the goats, but Charlton just grabbed a comb and tried to brush every single goat and sheep that was in the pasture. (so, Elijah, no worries; we've got a child who loves goats.)


Camels were one of the animals we talked about. James loved learning about them, but Charlton wanted to ride them (they had seen an episode of Tintin riding them).


The Tiger was James' s animal of choice. We were rewarded this time because all four tigers were awake and active. We could see them very clearly.


I had left the giraffe exhibition for last, and Charlton kept asking me about them. When we arrived there he was jumping for joy. That, combined with the all the words he was trying to say about the giraffes (he was getting frustrated trying to say 'patches' and I couldn't figure out what he was trying to say either), made it a hilarious moment. He loved seeing the baby giraffe drink water and the mom, and dad giraffe taking care of it. I think from all of the things he saw today, that was his favorite.

As we were preparing to leave, James asked me if he could go on a couple of rides before heading home. I thought it to be a good reward for James since he had been very patient and willing to do whatever Charlton had wanted today. On our previous visits to the ride area, Charlton had only wanted to ride the carousel, and even that with a lot of trepidation. Today, however, he seemed fearless...well, almost. When James wanted to ride the airplanes, Charlton didn't seem to be so sure, but he did it anyway. Riding in the cars was another matter. He had a blast! I couldn't have enough of his loud laughter and racing noises. This was Charlton's habitat.
We had to say goodbye to the zoo and the rides and head home. It was time to pick up the older kids. Well, as I'm about to enter my car, I noticed that I had a flat tire. I was bummed for many reasons--I didn't know how to change a tire, and once again I hadn't allowed myself enough time for contingencies. I said a prayer, and then I called my husband who directed me to call our auto service. After I did that, I called a friend to pick up my older kids. As I was waiting, I felt grateful for many things - for having a husband who takes care of us and our safety, for friends who help out willingly, for having the auto service available anytime...but most of all, for having had this incident happen in the parking lot, and not on the highway. I offered a prayer of thanksgiving, and as I did I couldn't help but feel that this was more of a blessing than a trial. Elijah and I have been wanting to get new tires for quite some time, but as it happens with all of us, life got busy and we kept putting it off. I felt Heavenly Father was sending us a reminder to take care of that issue so we could be safe. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for the Holy Ghost that helps us communicate with him.

The service man came within twenty minutes, and then we were off. I picked up my older children, and then together--safe and sound--we headed to my favorite habitat...our home.

Memorial Day Week

We had a very ordinary week but it truly was full of love, learning and fun.

On Monday, Gillian had Activity Days right after school. She was glad she could attend once again since swimming was over. She had missed being with her church friends. She also brought a friend from class to introduce her to Activity Days. They did some kind of treasure hunt, and when I told Elijah I just thought it very silly to waste their time doing such things for Activity Days, Gillian exclaimed that not everything had to be educational or spiritual. I'm known for having a lot of fun in my life, bu the thing is I feel that fun should be educational at the same time, especially if it's going to be a church led activity. Elijah helped me out by saying that being with friends who have the same standards is some kind of social education. We'll leave it at that. The boys had fun at the playground, and later on when we picked up Gillian and dropped her friend home, we stopped by the library for some needed "education." :) What is your thought process about combined fun and education?

Tuesday was spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, and tidying up. After school I took Gillian to choir for her semester evaluation. She did very well, and is looking forward to attending their summer institute in July, participating in Carmina Burana at the San Francisco Symphony Hall in August, and starting anew with the chorus in September. For now, we are excited we can use Tuesdays for ourselves, perhaps stay at the beach till sunset and learn fractions while making sandcastles (just kidding!) After choir, we had dinner and then I had the kids watch Matilda so they could feel the importance of learning and the magical power of books. Just joking! Truthfully, I let them watch a movie because I was exhausted, but hey who is complaining about the moral of the story.

On Wednesday, the older kids were excited to show us around their classrooms; it was open house, and they had exhibited all of their work accomplished throughout the year. Having worked with them closely on a daily basis, this wasn't much of a surprise to me, but I tried to show enthusiasm, especially after seeing how proud our kids were. The only downfall of open house is the fact that we come back with loads of stuff, some of which you know will end up in ..."you-know-what." In fact, just today I had to chuck Gillian's mission model out. What can you do with such a thing? My storing system is pretty simple; I keep what I like, which is mostly their art (mainly drawings), and a little of whatever else is interesting such as science reports and stories. Math worksheets unfortunately get thrown out. Big items that can't fit in a filing cabinet get the attention for a few days and then they follow math papers in their way to recycling. Where do you store your kids' school projects? Do you have an easy system of organizing their stuff? What do you like to keep?

Thursday was a sweet day for me; I got to spend it with each of my kids individually. In the morning, I accompanied James to his field trip at the Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley. They started their field trip off by riding in one of the few steam trains still in use. The drive was short, but very refreshing and beautiful. The kids had a blast.

After the ride, the tour guide led us to the round house where the kids saw more steam engines and learned the history of Tilden Park (a WWII military outpost, later planted and converted into a park). I loved it that James seemed so interested and asked several good questions. Later on when we got home, he asked me if I could print some steam engine coloring pages for him, and when I did he explained to me the parts in each steam train. After the tour, we had to stop by the farm and feed the animals. The whole place stunk and I wanted to get away as quickly as possible, but the kids were having fun petting and feeding the animals.


When James and I got back home, we found Charlton and my mom taking a nap, so after reading a couple of books, James and I tried to do the same. It didn't quite work because James was too excited about coloring some steam engine trains. While he colored, I read.
Thursdays is also Gillian's piano day, so after picking the older kids up and dropping Jefferson off, Gillian and I drove to her piano lesson. On the way there, Gillian was in the mood to talk, and I loved every bit of it. She told me about her friends, her favorite classes, and what she had done that day at school. We then proceeded to talk about her goals for the summer which included but not limited: developing her running skills, perfecting her grammar, reviewing math facts, writing more stories, and becoming better in piano practice. We got to discuss the importance of working hard and having faith in yourself. She mentioned that she is loving piano, but hates to practice. I shared with her that I feel sometimes like that about certain things, and because I know it is important for me to do those things however hard they may be, I try to ask the Lord to help me. This notion of asking the Lord to help us with confidence and a desire to accomplish hard things is so simple but I so often forget to apply it in my life. Yes, I ask my Heavenly Father to help me with situations or issues in my life, but it feels differently when I'm asking with a specific quality to help me in overcoming that situation or issue. Just the other day I was telling one of my friends that I was having trouble finding enough confidence in achieving a specific goal of mine; she flatly asked me why I was having such hard time with this when regardless who I was competing against I was already ahead of everyone because the Lord was walking alongside me with each and every step I took. How simple of a testimony but how true. Gillian and I decided to sit down after school was out for summer break, and make a list of her goals, and then ask the Lord to help her. I love one-on-one conversations with my kids.

After finishing with Gillian, I drove Jefferson to Cub Scouts. I had a school board meeting in between, but I left a bit earlier in order for me to be with Jefferson at his cub scout activity. They made a simple bird feeder, and hand-made "squize rocket." That was his favorite part. On the way home, he was enthusiastic about inventing and was telling me that to invent you just need ideas and a determination to not quit. I smiled at my future inventor. I have no doubt that with that pure faith of his he will reach for the starts in all that he does.

I think car rides offer the best opportunity for conversing with your children, spouse, or God. And at times when I'm alone, I love it when I can just pause and not think, allowing my brain to regenerate itself. Relaxing and doing nothing is the hardest thing for me, with the exception of reading, which I don't quite qualify as absolutely relaxing since my mind is really working hard still. While driving I often find myself mentally making lists and assigning tasks. Although that's necessary for me to feel organized, I often long to just ponder about my life and analyze where I stand. This is a necessary step in accomplishing your goals. As Socrates said, an unexamined life is not worth living. I like being in the car by myself because it's the only place where I'm not intruded. As a mother it's hard to find personal time on my own, and so you make it happen with what you have. I've felt lately that I need more pondering time on my own. How do you find time to ponder? What are some places you find it easy to think without being interrupted?

On Friday, Elijah surprised Charlton and me by coming in the morning and bringing us some fresh doughnuts. I was very happy to see my husband in the middle of the day, but Charlton was the one who really got excited being with dad and asked him if he could help him water the garden. Seeing my children interact with Elijah and myself brings joy to my heart; there is so much love, respect and openness between all of us that I truly count myself blessed. Furthermore, as I notice the various things and ways that Elijah and I teach our children, I can't help but truly wish the world understood the need for two parents, a loving father and mother, in raising happy children. Before taking off back to his work, Elijah managed to find a few minutes to indulge Charlton in watering the garden.
Friday afternoon was no different than any other day after school - my kids love being together and play very well with each other. They enjoy having play dates with friends of their own, but I don't feel pressured in setting them up. They have each other and for the most part they have so much fun. Here are a couple of pictures of them playing Colonial period games involving even their youngest brother, who undoubtedly feels in heaven sharing the experience with his older siblings.

On Saturday we slept in, ate good breakfast, and then took the whole family picking fresh fruit at nearby farms. We picked blackberries, cherries, and peaches. Later on we were given some strawberries as well. We had such a good time eating and picking that it didn't feel like work at all. Each of the kids got some kind of fruit they love, and Elijah got a lot of blackberries to make delicious pies. By Sunday he had made five pies - we kept three for ourselves, and gave away two. We couldn't believe how quickly one pie went; one forgets there is seven of us right now and we all love Elijah's pies.

For Memorial Day, we had planned to go down to Monterey Bay for the day and let the kids have fun at the beach. But the weather didn't cooperate, and so we decided to stay home instead. Elijah worked on his projects, I read, mom sewed, and the kids played. I'm not complaining!

For Family Home Evening, Elijah shared his thoughts about the importance of serving our country so we can enjoy the freedoms we have. Afterward, Elijah and I both shared information on our own family members who have been in the service in various capacities. It was neat to see the children connect a national holiday with their own family. Maybe next year I'll try to write some of their stories down and create a book with pictures and life portrayals of their ancestors who served their country. What are some ways you have found that helps your children relate to their ancestors?

And with that, I'll close for tonight. I hope you all had a good and meaningful Memorial Day.