Adventures I Should Have Blogged

No posts in nearly two months means that LOTS of life here at the Woody Hacienda and Wonderwood Academy has not been documented. There have been way too many adventures between then and now to attempt to even highlight them. I have to be satisfied with a list. Here it is, in chronological order:

October 12, 19, and 26 Angel Choir rehearsals - We're loving the experience!

October 17-19 Trip to San Diego to celebrate Woody's birthday. Of course, it was also an "extended field trip." We had a great time adventuring at Balboa Park, Old Town, the trolley tour, missions, the Point Loma lighthouse, and the Wild Animal Park.

October 23 The girls had their last piano lesson until after the holidays. Life is already starting to get crazy!!

October 25 Aunt Debby hung out with us and then joined us for the annual Trunk or Treat party at church. Jelly and the Doodle dressed as Renaissance witches. (Possibly influenced by our current Middle Ages/Renaissance studies, and the fact that Jelly wanted something a bit more "Halloweenish, but not scary." When Doodle saw the pretty costume, SHE wanted one JUST LIKE IT! To Jelly's credit, rather than being annoyed, she immediately responded that, "No, I don't mind. We can be twins!" I just pray that their close relationship endures the teen years.

October 29 Liahona Field Trip to Griffith Park Observatory - We're studying astronomy and this was our first trip to the observatory since it reopened after a HUGE renovation. It is amazing!

October 31 Our new family Halloween tradition is to let the girls dress up and then we have a family adventure. This year we utilized our membership to the Aquarium of the Pacific and hung out with our aquatic friends. Pumpkin pancakes at IHOP were a tasty treat to top off the holiday. (The girls definitely didn't need more candy - more than sufficient was obtained at the church Trunk or Treat.)

November 1 Woody began rehearsals (as the tenor soloist) for the 5th Annual Messiah Sing-Along, sponsored by the Yorba Linda Arts Alliance. It's a tradition that opens our Christmas season the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

November 4 Civics Field Trip - We voted and then watched the returns come in. You win some, you lose some. Enough said.

November 5 Liahona had our first quilting class at Heritage Park. We got a fabulous intro and mini history of quilting, a hands-on opportunity for kids and grown-ups to use a rotary cutter, and made decisions on what kind of quilts we want to make. We'll get supplies over the holidays, and begin in earnest after the first of the year. Cool.

November 8 and 13 Woody auditioned, was called back, and got the part of Zacharias in the Savior of the World presentation. Our enthusiasm continues to build as we share this experience as a family. His beard is really coming in and it's going to be a busy winter and spring!

November 9, 23, and 30 Angel Choir rehearsals continue as we prepare for a concert in December. Everyone is still enjoying the experience and the girls are getting an awesome musical education. It's a little daunting, but they're loving it!

November 12 Liahona takes a free field trip to Albertson's - with a focus on learning to be "Healthy Eaters". We weren't sure what to expect, but a great time was had by all, and we gots LOTS of free stuff!

November 14 The Primary kids had a special practice for their Sacrament Meeting presentation, "I Am a Child of God." This was Jelly's last. Next year at this time she will have been in the Young Women program for several months already. She is truly growing into a wonderful young lady.

November 15 The Freeway Complex fire burned closer than any we've experienced before. Our bishop's family, as well as two other families in our ward, lost their home. Half the ward was evacuated. Jelly was packed and ready to go. Doodle handled her fears by escaping into one of her favorite movies. Though it's been amazing to see the strength and love of our ward family as people step in to serve each other, I hope we never have that experience again.

November 16-19 Though the smoke was still in the air, we knew we were safe. After a unique Sacrament Meeting (folks were still evacutated from many areas) Woody traveled to San Francisco on business.

November 23 The Primary Sacrament Meeting Program, having been postponed a week due to the fire, was a resounding success. Both Jelly and Doodle put their whole hearts into singing and their speaking parts. Looking back on past programs, my mama heart was prilled (proud and thrilled) to see the way they have progressed each year to overcome their shyness and fears. Yes, the shyness and fears are still there, but did NOT stop them from sharing their growing testimonies through music and words.

November 27 We have SO much to be thankful for!!!

November 30 5th Annual Messiah Sing-Along. Aunt Debby spent the Thanksgiving holiday with us and joined us for the first seating of the sing-along. The girls and I are Woody's best fans, so we were there for BOTH seatings. We love supporting Daddy and we also love the way this experience helps to usher in the Christmas season with a jubilant spirit.

December The entire Woody family is busy rehearsing for special Christmas concerts, but none is busier than Woody himself!

December 1 Christmas School is in session at Wonderwood Academy. We are participating (along with God daughter, SwimChick) in a special HOAC Co-Op on the Twelve Days of Christmas. More on this later.

December 2 Our baby, the Doodlebug, is nine years old!! This was a year for a family celebration, so she got to plan the entire day's menus. She developed a love for hand sewing when she was tiny, watching her Grandma Joy, and still talks about how she used to "help" put in some of the stitches. Watching Aunt Debby work on her current project revived Doodle's desires for a project that she can do "by herself." So, her special birthday gift was to select a printed cross stitch project. She's making a pillow case with a princess design. So far, she's stitched two of the butterflies and is VERY happy.

December 5 For at least the third year (I need to check on this) we attended the Orange Stake's Creche and Christmas Concert. It was especially fun this year to look for nativities from the countries we have been and will be studying in our Christmas unit at Wonderwood. We'll be adding some of the pictures we took to the girls lap/notebook projects. The concert, featuring the Anaheim Mormon Chorale (where Woody sings tenor), brought even more of a truly tangible spirit to our holiday season.

December 6 In a new joint effort, the Chorale joined with the Yorba Linda Orchestra for a combined concert. We weren't sure just what to expect, and so were VERY pleasantly surprised at the quality of the orchestra's sound. Conditions were less than ideal for the chorale members, but in spite of staging challenges we thoroughly enjoyed yet another wonderful holiday musical experience.

December 7 An amazing testimony meeting set the tone for a special Sabbath. We then basked in the spirit of a quiet afternoon at home, followed by an earlier-than-usual Angel Choir rehearsal. Only one week left before we sing in our stake's Christmas Concert. The day was capped by the First Presidency Christmas Devotional broadcast from Salt Lake. We normally watch it at home, on BYU TV, but since we were already at church, we stayed to share the experience.

There is a place in our family traditions for the secular side of Christmas, but I've been really pleased with the out-of-balance emphasis that we've been able to maintain with the sacred, spiritual, "real reason for the season" so far this year.

Not to worry - the girls have had and will continue to have opportunities for the just-plain-fun parts of the holiday, too. Our tree is up and has lights on it, so far, and our family tradition of holiday movie watching has also begun. (A little later than usual this year, but finally begun.) We're decorating a bit at a time, so there are red and green boxes stacked in a couple of corners. Shopping is almost done, and crafting and baking are on the horizon.

Stay tuned for updates. :o)

Preparation for a Surprise!

When you rely heavily on someone to do physical things for you, managing to do something for them that is a complete surprise is a bit tricky.

BUT...

The girls and I are going to take Woody/Daddy for an overnighter next weekend because it is going to be one of his significantly-numbered birthdays on Saturday. So this morning, after HE cooked breakfast for us, we did a choral reading of the following poem for him:

A Birthday Surprise, October 2008, dedicated to our own Woody

To the Daddy that we love the best,

Way more than we love all the rest,

We want you to know,

That you’re going to go,

On a trip to a place that you know.


Your birthday will be tons of fun,

We hope that we’ll see lots of sun.

This Friday we’re leaving,

So don’t you be grieving!

A surprise for you now we’re achieving!!

So it's not great poetry - something like a modified limerick form - he loved it anyway. We had to tell him that much to make sure that he's clear as far as work goes. It IS a regularly-scheduled Friday off, but that doesn't always mean that he TAKES if off. That is, unfortunately, one of the side-effects of having him work from home most of the time. Also, he'll have to help with the packing, even if it is for just one night.

We're so excited!

Hopefully he'll be over his bronchitis by then, and even more hopefully, noone else will get it.

Wonderwood Academy 2007-8

Jelly – 5th grade
Doodle – 3rd grade

Math-U-See
Learning Adventures – A World of Adventure
Hogwarts Correspondence School Yr. 4
Typing Instructor Deluxe
Rosetta Stone Spanish
Piano Classes
Swimming
LOTS of library books on LOTS of topics,
because we’re still quite partial to Charlotte Mason and her living books!

Our main course of study:
Learning Adventures – A World of Adventure
Finishing Greece
Rome
Middle Ages ?

We started this school year almost a month later than we usually do, but still started when “most” public schools do – the week after Labor Day. Due to my recuperation, we started off with only half days, but it didn’t take long to work back up to our usual school schedule. The girls got used to taking impromptu breaks, as we didn’t always know exactly when the home nurses were going to come. It’s nice to be back to “normal” now. :o)

A typical day looks something (we are not at all rigid, but do function better with a basic plan) like this:

* Wake up, breakfast, get ready, and chores done by 10:00 a.m.
* 10:00 – 10:45 a.m. Devotional and Scripture Reading/Study (On Mondays, we also do the Nat’l Anthem or another patriotic song, and the Pledge of Allegiance.) Sometimes this includes the Bible portion of the Learning Adventures curriculum.
* 10:45 – 11:15 a.m. Copywork and Memorization
* 11:15 – 11:45 a.m. Math-U-See
* 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch and “Recess”
* 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Learning Adventures or other Unit Study, including Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Fine Arts – It isn’t really a non-stop, two-hour block, because it includes reading aloud together as well as our notebooking, lapbooking, hands-on, and sometimes extra Hogwarts classes or projects. (We used to do “Show and Tell” every Monday right after our lunch break, but it isn’t a regular thing anymore – I hate to think that the girls are growing out of it. Maybe I need to call it something else, and get us going again. It is great practice for giving talks, speeches, or presentations.)
* 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Typing and Independent Reading (While one dd does a lesson on the computer (Typing Instructor Deluxe), the other reads silently. (Sometimes Doodle likes to go in Mama and Daddy’s room to read “out loud” to one of her dolls.) Then the girls swap places. We’re also planning to add Rosetta Stone Spanish into this time slot, but I still haven’t figured out the Management software yet, so for now, Spanish is informal, with an occasional bit of notebooking.

We go to the library as a family quite often. The Learning Adventures curriculum relies heavily on living books, which is one of the reasons it fits us so well. When the girls were little, we went once a week at Storytime, and just checked out books then as well. We don’t really have a regular day anymore, but still are VERY faithful library patrons. The girls were thrilled earlier this year when they got their OWN library cards. Now they use the self-checkout machine like seasoned veterans. :o)

We meet with our local support group, Liahona, on Wednesday afternoons. If we have a field trip, we may not “do” any other school that day. If it is a park day, we try to get in our usual morning stuff before we go.

We officially finished our study of Ancient Greece in November by sponsoring a field trip to the Getty Villa, in Malibu, CA. It was a bit last minute, but some of our homeschool friends were able to join us.

A wonderful time was had by all - even when it sprinkled on us a bit it did NOT dampen our spirits. We also had a Greek feast at Daphne’s Restaurant, in Anaheim Hills, CA. The girls want to go to Getty Villa again, so we have plans to celebrate there when we finish our study of Ancient Rome - we’ll just change our focus from Greek to Roman exhibits, tours, and presentations. No problem. :o)

For the 4th year in a row we participated the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the Yorba Linda Messiah Sing-Along at the Nixon Library. Daddy Woody is the tenor soloist. The girls are already VERY familiar with some of the Christmas selections, so it has been easy to add a study of Handel and the Messiah to our study of Rome. The life and ministry of Christ occurred within the timeframe of the Roman Empire, so studying the oratorio now is working out well.

Since Doodle’s birthday is in December, and since our family loves trains, it was just a natural for a very special party theme – a Polar Express Pajama Party! I’ve already blogged lots of details about it, so you can get more info here.

Polar Express Pajama PartySnuggled in and ready to watch the movie,with their stockings full of movie-watching goodies.
At Christmastime, we continued to work on the Symbols of Christmas lapbook we started last year. We listened to music, sang, read LOTS of holiday stories, crafted, and baked. We did a LOT of gingerbread, in honor of our Mawgs.
The girls each put together and decorated a house from a kit.
One was a Wilton, and the other was from Trader Joe’s. I think they both turned out great!

Because we were actually at HOME on Christmas Eve, we had a special celebration. The girls received Owl Post, with directions, supplies, and gifts for “A Hogwarts Holiday – Christmas in the Great Hall.” They had fun decorating 12 mini trees with different themes after a breakfast of cauldron cakes and other British breakfast items. Lunch was pumpkin pasties and butterbeer, and we had Quidditch Players Pie for dinner, washed down with pumpkin juice, of course. During the course of the day, the girls brewed potions, made treats from Honeydukes recipes, and played games including a variation on Wizards chess and Harry Potter Scene It.

A magical holiday.

Our focus this year was to have a JOYFUL and peaceful holiday. We attended two Christmas Around the World celebrations - our plan is to make that our holiday theme next year! So cool!

2008 started out with a bang! For three years now the girls have actually stayed up playing family games and listening to Daddy Woody read aloud (Inkheart) until midnight to welcome in the New Year by banging on pots and pans, blowing horns, and pulling “poppers” that explode with bursting confetti streamers. Good, um, not-so-clean, fun! ;o) Those things are messy like crazy, but not too bad to clean up. Especially if the girls decide to pick up all the streamers and decorate Daddy! Everyone gets a big hug and kiss at midnight, and this year we toasted with Martinelle’s Sparkling Cider. Yum.

In January, we celebrated a milestone event. Doodle and two of her cousins have all been baptized within the last six months. There is another picture of these three as babies, each in a car seat – three in a row in the middle of Grandma’s living room. If I had a digital copy, I’d post it here. Hmm… maybe we can scan it.

This one was taken at the celebration party after Ben’s baptism. (His was the last of the three.)
Definitely cute cousins.
February fun has included making and delivering chocolate rocket valentines for friends and family. We got the idea a couple of years ago when some friends launched and landed Livesaver rockets at our house. We adapted the idea, making ours from Rollos, Hugs, tissue paper, tape, and a bit of hot glue to hold the nose cones in place.

These are the lapbooks (all from Hands of a Child) we’re working on right now. They coordinate with our Learning Adventures – A World of Adventures. We’re in the Ancient Rome unit, with rocks, minerals, and volcanoes as our science topics.
Ancient Rome
Gladiators
Rocks & Minerals/ Rodney Rockhound
Volcanoes

The plan is to finish Rome by the end of March, and start the next unit, the Middle Ages, at the beginning of April. It probably won’t happen quite that way, though – we enjoy rabbit trails and extra projects too much!

We also have plans to do these lapbook studies in HOAC coops this spring:
Cinderella Stories Around the World
Mythological Creatures Around the World
Art Appreciation
Music Appreciation

We continue to add timeline figures and other entries to our Book of the Centuries. The girls really enjoy looking through them and at their finished lapbooks.

Home and school, for us, together are most definitely a magical adventure and a winning combination.

I can’t wait to see what adventures await!

Doodle's Day

Saturday came and went, but will never be forgotten!

Doodle has been 8 years old for over a month, but she chose to wait to be baptized until her grandparents could come from Texas to share her very special day. She has been so excited since right after Thanksgiving. That's the magic time, because after that, the next holiday in our family is her birthday. Last Friday, though, she was nearly beside herself... "Mama, I'm going to be baptized tomorrow! I was a little nervous, but now I'm not at all." And the peace on her face verified the words.

That same peace and joy was there all weekend, and though it has been a bit of a challenging week, she is still very much at peace. Her excitement also has not waned. Today she told me, with joy sparkling in her smile and in her eyes, "Mama, I've been a member of the Church for five days now!"

Many family members, friends, and members of our church family were able to share Doodle's special day with her. She, and we, will always be thankful for them. We are blessed to have a supportive family, and true friends. In an account of the baptism to an auntie that wasn't able to make it to the service, it was reported that Doodle glowed. It's true. The Light of Christ was most definitely in her countenance. My mama-heart was so full of joy!

Doodle is striving to strengthen her relationship with her Savior, learning to rely on her new companion, the Holy Ghost. She wants to make wise choices, and to shine that Light as an example to those around her. I'm so glad to be able to travel with her, and her daddy and sister, as we make this journey we call earth life.

I am filing away the memory of the strength of spirit that I felt on Saturday - to be able to pull it out on those days when my own spirit isn't as strong as it should be - adding it to my store of "golden" moments. I think most of us have those times when we struggle, for lots of different reasons. When I do, the memory of Doodle's day will be one of those I count on.

I am learning so much from our amazing daughters.

Polar Express Party Weekend

It was the Doodle's first ever sleepover party. A December birthday and our family love of trains made the theme an easy choice - A Polar Express Pajama Party! We kept things simple, and had simply a trainload of fun!!

I started here, and then added other Christmassy train ideas. Invitations were, of course, tickets to ride on the Polar Express. As guests arrived, Woody-the-conductor took tickets and pictures on the front-porch platform. After baggage had been stowed, passengers were escorted to the Dining Car because we needed the table for crafting! We had pre-cut and punched very large stockings made from brown-paper grocery bags. Each girl laced up and decorated her own stocking, which was later filled with movie-watching treats. The Polar Express movie soundtrack, a birthday gift from our Vancouver friends, added atmosphere as it played in the background during the whole party (except for when we were watching the movie).

We had games planned (Conductor Says, Snow Blowers, Polar Express Pick Up) but ended up not needing them. The girls visited and laced, while sipping hot chocolate (or apple cider) until Jelly got back from her Downtown Disney Scavenger Hunt. It was an Activity Day activity for the 9-10 year-old girls from church. She did her stocking early, so as not to miss out on the fun, and we used it as a sample to show the guests.

We gathered in the Lounge Car for present opening (Doodle made the same wish for each gift-giver before she opened their gift - that she would have a very, Merry Christmas), then trouped back to the Dining Car for cupcakes and peppermint icecream. Each girl decorated her own snowman-face cupcake, then the Doodle made her magic wish and blew out eight candles on a snowflake cake.

Passengers donned pjs and spread out sleeping bags in the Sleeping Car, then the Conductor passed out filled stockings and started the movie. We actually had only one guest who hadn't seen it before, but the magic was still there for all of us, so each passenger who "truly believed" received a Christmas bell.

Lights were out just AFTER toothbrushing (a must after all the goodies!), singing Away in a Manger, a family & friends bedtime prayer, and just BEFORE midnight.

Breakfast was turkey bacon, scrambled cheesy eggs, milk, and juice, supplied by the dining car staff (assisted by NJB, one of our cute nieces who happens to be a very good cook!), and personalized snow-people biscuits created, decorated, and devoured by the girls.

Thank-you-for-coming-to-my-Polar-Express-Party goodie bags included a booklet we made from free puzzles, coloring, and story pages found on the www, lots of Christmas-train items (crayons, notepad, pencil, stickers galore), a mini Connect-Four-style game that was a huge hit, and twisty-type red/green/white lollipops, all from Oriental Trading Co., and the favorite, a classic Christmas candy train for each passenger, made by Doodle and I the day before the party.

Even when the party was officially over, the fun continued because we had out-of-town cousins in town. The girls played, inside and out, all day long! It was awesome to see them strengthening their relationships and making some memories.

We took Jelly and Doodle, and the three visiting cousins to our church Christmas party later that night. It was a wonderfully-done Christmas Around the World. We learned some holiday customs and traditions and sampled festive foods from fifteen different countries. (Wonderwood Academy is going to do a whole MONTH of Christmas Around the World in 2008, as part of an online co-op sponsored by Hands of a Child!) A Sing-Along Christmas pageant followed, with Jelly as one of the beautiful angelic messengers. Doodle invited our neighbor's tiny granddaughter (who adores her!) to sit with her during the pageant. Adorable!

Not to forget - Cousins were safely delivered home late Saturday night and we spent Sunday with family, chillin' and then attending the Christmas concert of the combined Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park stakes (directed by Frank Turner), where one of Woody's sisters added her voice to the soprano section. We even visited with a couple of folks from our old ward after the concert. A nice night.

From the train platform to the First Christmas story pageant to the holiday concert, many memories we'll all treasure were made this weekend!