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December 29, 2011

What We Learned This Christmas

This is just a fun post to tell you about the things we learned this Christmas and some things we will be doing differently next year.

Gingerbread Nativity

I saw an idea on Pinterest that I loved. It was to make a gingerbread nativity. I always balk at making gingerbread, because it takes so long and doesn’t turn out well most the time for me. I don’t use white sugar, so this may be why. I also don’t like to buy the unhealthy kits, because my kids always end up eating half of it before it gets discarded.

So when Bountiful Baskets offered gingerbread house kits without preservatives and hydrogenated fat, I immediately ordered some. We got creative and made this.

Read more…

November 23, 2011

Fostering Gratitude

A couple months ago, when the kids were complaining about some trivial things, my husband, Mike got out a huge piece of paper and announced we were going to make a gratitude list. We sat around as a family and thought of over a hundred things for which we are grateful. Then we posted it on the wall for awhile.

We’ve found that we need to remind our children often of all we have, especially when they start using a more demanding tone and expecting to get things they want without working for them. We adults can fall into this trap as well, so it’s good for us all to remind each other that we have so many blessings.

One of the best ways to do this is through service. We’ve taken our kids to South America to help them understand what they have and the value of serving those less fortunate. But you don’t have to go to a third world country to accomplish this. Experience in service can be just as powerful when it’s close to home. I try to keep my eyes open for opportunities to help people and involve my children.

Here’s a video of my boys singing a beautiful song about sharing, that almost made me cry when I heard them sing it at their school. And below you can see the items we put on our list of 100 blessings.

Read more…

September 16, 2011

Don’t Overreact! The Power of Calm

By: Nicholeen Peck

I was baking bread one day when I heard a commotion coming from downstairs. The children then came to tell me what was happening because they didn’t know where their friend was and had grown concerned. I  discovered that one of our darling little friends had broken a toy.

Read more…

February 20, 2011

Stepping Up When Mom’s Down

Posted in English,Home Educating        

A nasty virus has been going around our community and made it into our home. It passed from child to child, starting with a fever and fatigue, and ending with a pale face and cough. I got a sore throat, but no fever, so I thought I was doing fairly well.

Then a few days later, I experienced severe muscle pain in legs and hips, and a splitting headache. For a few days my emotions and energy levels were up and down. One minute I was feeling good and doing things, the next, I was crying or crashing in bed. It didn’t help that Mike was working a long string of nights.

Mike & Ian snoozing

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September 29, 2010

Broccoli Pepperoni Calzones

This dinner is a big hit at my house, especially with the kids. They love to help with preparation. I love this recipe I found a couple years ago, and have amended it to my own tastes.

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March 28, 2010

Increase Your Child’s Recall

Did you know that smelling peppermint could increase recall by 28%? That’s significant, especially if we could harness that power when our kids really need it, like during tests or recitals.*

I pulled out my peppermint when I was writing the thesis for my master herbalist program. It cleared my mind and helped me focus better.

You can just open the bottle and smell it, or you can put 3 drops in a little water in a diffuser like this. Read more…

January 31, 2010

A Winter Adventure: Sledding & Scenery

My kids talked us into taking them sledding this past week. They really committed us. I’ve been putting off all types of requests of this sort because of after-holiday busy-ness. So we’ve basically been relying on family fun outside of our own making.

As we drove up the canyon, I became very glad we had gotten off our duffs and made it a priority to bond with our kids. The scenery was spectacular!

Icicles Up Ahead

There were huge icicles off the side of the road. I was snapping shots as best I could as Mike zoomed by. And I couldn’t do it with the window open or I would have frozen everybody.

Icicles on rocks

These took my breath away,

Cliff Icicles (640x428)

along with the towering views.

Towering Mtn2

Up the canyon we arrived at our sledding destination. Here Raquel is holding a sled that I DON’T recommend using if you’re an adult. It has no cushion and jolts you every time you hit a bump. I made the mistake of going down on one with my kids, and my tailbone was sore for a week (thank goodness for muscle relief oil)!

Raquel Sledding

The little kids (especially Lily) were so adorable all bundled up and snowy.

Here Nathan has a sled I used to go down the hill head-first, yes it’s true. After Nathan used some heavy persuasion to get me to try it, I loved it! The body of this sled is lifted sightly off the ground so I didn’t feel every bump, it didn’t go too fast, and the front is movable so I could steer.

Nathan Sledding

This is my latest sled purchase, the Zipfy. It’s exhilirating! It’s got cushioning, goes fast when you keep your legs up, but is easy to control with feet to slow down or change direction. What a winner!

I had my video camera in my pocket, so I decided to run it as I was going down the hill, just for fun. I took one jump that put me so high in the air, I’m amazed I stayed on!

After enjoying some hot cocoa I had brought with us, we headed back down the mountain seeing some interesting sights as we did. Our little ones squealed with excitement when they saw this big snow plow passing by,

and these wild turkeys.

I made Mike pull over so I could get a clear shot of this baby.

One of my favorite things about living in Cedar City is seeing the red rock peeking out from underneath snow in the winter.

I can’t help but praise the Creator for beauty such as this and days like today.

January 3, 2010

Teaching Kids Through Travel: Our Trips to Bolivia

From the time our children were born, we’ve talked about exposing them to other cultures and by so doing, widening their vision of the world. We also wanted our children to understand the bounty that we enjoy in America and to internalize the importance of service. I’ve come to realize that children will learn these values if the parents exemplify them and are passionate about them.

Bolivian children

Bolivian children

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December 24, 2009

Our Annual Family Newsletter

Dear friends and family,

We love the Christmas season and the opportunity to receive and share photos and letters with loving friends and remember our Savior. This year, we turned the letter writing over to, ME! Raquel.

Raquel Scarf Web

Baby Joel is bouncy and very fun to be around! He is running like a pro and is starting to say some words such as Mom, Dad, and “A phone.” He is a happy wanderer (like previous models) and loves food and the dogs.

Joel Close Web

Liliana is our little girly-girl, loving to have tea parties and play with her dolls. I personally don’t love her ALL the time, having her in my room and all.

Lily Leaves Web

Seth is our locomotive. He had fun this fall doing Joyschool with Lily and some other friends. He and Isaac get along really well. He is great at unloading our dishwasher.

Seth '09 Web

Isaac is loving the charter school here! He is great at making friends and making people laugh. After all, Isaac means laughter! He loves to do everything Nathan does.

Isaac '09 Web

I, Raquel, love making things, especially treats. I am trying to be an organized girl. I really like rock-climbing and ballet, newspaper club at school, and violin. I also love to write books!

Raquel '09 Web

Nathan loves playing the guitar. He is still into designing and engineering. He played baseball this year, and flew a plane!!! He and I are taking both piano and voice lessons.

Nathan Web

We have had a friend, Natalia living with us since May. She’s a real help. All of the kids love her!!!

My Mom, Jenni, has been working and working on her new blog about doctoring, cooking and schooling at home, and is having fun with it. She’s also taking voice lessons and singing a lot.

Jenni headshot web

My Dad, Mike, has been teaching at George Wythe College and working in the ER. He is in his fifth year helping with the Boy Scouts (maybe he still hasn’t learned everything he’s supposed to).

Mike Web

Highlights of our Year

Nathan: Working as a program seller at the Shakespearian Festival, hiking around Machu Picchu

Program Selling

Me:  Being a Scottish doll in Coppelia. Program selling. Whale watching, Boston Science museum, Louisa May Alcott house

Isaac: Visiting the Native People at the Plymouth Plantation on our Boston trip, going to the charter school

Seth: Playing Dominoes at Grandma’s house, Joyschool

Lily: Going to Joyschool this fall, playing with her kitchen set, cutting her own hair

Joel: Joining the big kids in nursery at church

Dad: Taking Nathan to a Springsteen concert, taking a great group to Bolivia, the Minuteman museum

Mom: Finishing her Master Herbalist degree (finally!), launching her Dr Mom Essentials blog

We love hearing from you all and seeing your beautiful lives and families. Thank you for keeping in touch and sharing your friendship with us. We hope the Lord’s richest blessings will be with you and yours throughout the coming year.

Love, Mike, Jenni, Raquel, Nathan, Isaac, Lily, Seth & Joel

November 27, 2009

Walking the Freedom Trail

History was never my favorite subject in school. Part of the reason is the way it was taught to me, by professors, out of textbooks – boring! It made me think that history was just a bunch of dates, names and facts that had no practical relevance to me. I couldn’t have cared less.

After reading A Thomas Jefferson Education, I think about “learning” differently, and I see history through new eyes. I have more of a desire to know WHY things happened and pass that desire on to my children. For this reason, I jumped at the opportunity to accompany Mike to his continuing medical education conference in Boston with our older kids. It was a chance to make history come alive for us.

Read more…

September 8, 2009

Making Applesauce: Family Style

After eating flavorless applesauce from the store, thinking about the homemade stuff makes me salivate. So when I found a smashing deal on small, tart apples at the farmer’s market, I had to go for it. Besides, my handsome honey loves tart apples.

Tart Apples from Farmer's Market

I was excited about throwing all these small apples in the pot and cooking the halves, but after we started cutting it was obvious there were lots of worms in them. We perservered and cut out bad parts for a while. Read more…

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