Happy 5th Birthday Natalie!

Natalie was in princess glory for her birthday on Sunday Nov 15th. Her big requests were a robe, umbrella, and rain boots. And she hit the jackpot as you can see below.
She also received the labor of Gram's love- a beautiful pink and purple quilt with cats, ballerinas, and flowers. She loves it and likes to snuggle with it on her own comfy chair. Thanks Gram- it's awesome!!
She is a sweet little girl who speaks very quickly with lots of trills. She loves to color and loves anything beautiful. She gives kisses (and apologized to me this weekend that she wouldn't be giving me too many for awhile until her chapped lips heal). She loves school and has a very sensitive heart. Daddy is her favorite and she is quick to go to him when she needs comfort. For something special, we decided to go camping at O'Neill Regional park in Mission Viejo (only 20 mins away). The kids and I went tent camping with Gram and Gramps this summer, but we hadn't taken our tent out since before Peter was born. The kids are finally at great ages for it, so we thought we'd find out how one night away would work.

The kids loved it! The fire and marshmallows (or shmarsyellows as Henry says) were named as their favorite part. It was a chilly night, but everyone slept well and no one complained (except during the hike that they felt was too long). We got a great campsite under some climbing trees next to a dry river bed where the kids could play. One by one they each fell out of the tree (we still have one boy limping and making me wonder if we should see the doctor), one singed his long blond hair and the other his sweatshirt. If we stayed a whole week, I'm sure we'd end up in the ER. It was a lot of dirt and a bit of danger, but definitely worth it. Although one night may be all we can handle, we look forward to trying again soon. The kids are already planning the next birthday camping trip- hoping to get site #57 again.

Tomatoes for Breakfast

After Henry finished his breakfast burrito this morning he said he was still hungry so I told him to eat something out of the fruit basket. I suggested a banana or orange, but he insisted that he wanted a whole tomato (since I do keep them in the fruit basket). Natalie had to have one too. They seemed to enjoy them even though they were the Costco variety and not the yummy ones from Gram's garden.

And yes, that is Henry wearing his 'fuzzy bear' shirt at 7:30 in the morning. He was trying it on to get ready for a Star Wars dress up party tomorrow where he will be an ewok.

More Turbo Media

I just thought I'd let you know there are a few other ways to see some pictures of the kids and get updates on us- especially now that Eric has an iphone. Eric is on twitter so you can see some kid photos from his view there (which is also the same as what he posts on facebook).

We also have a youtube channel. You can find it by searching for user egturbo1. This is where we put videos to share with others- some that only a grandma could love- but if you have the patience there is something cute in many of them.

A classic in our family was last December when Natalie was trying on the flower girl dress she was going to wear in the Gannon wedding. I just happened upon her dancing in our bathroom and took this video. It's funny to look back and see how much she has grown since then!

For something more 'produced', you can watch Peter's First Drive- he was waiting until he was 3 years old so he could drive the little cars at Legoland. He must have rode those cars 10 times that day (gratefully it was slow at the park). Carson and Henry helped Eric put the music and effects on this one.

That's about the time that Carson got interested in making movies (with the encouragement of new friends here in the OC)- so you will find a number of his creations. Probably the easiest to watch is Man vs Ghost but he also has some lego stop action and some shaky camera clips showing our PA vacation. Carson has many more on the camera that he is waiting for me to give him computer time to finish editing and upload to youtube- so you can watch for these to come (if you have the stamina).

Probably the one that keeps us laughing the most is Who Ate This?. It's very subtle so you have to listen closely to get the humor- but I'll give you a hint- watch the carrot. But who can't smile at those swim goggles and the reality of what my lunch time looks like everyday?

Hope you enjoy! We'll generally just post videos to youtube without mention here, but I'll try to put a note on the blog if we come up with something we think everyone would appreciate.

Greek Mythology and the One True God

This year in our history classes we are studying Ancient Greece and Rome using Veritas Press curriculum. I don't think I ever studied Greek Mythology and so my first read through a book like d'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths brought shock at how absurd the stories could be! Of course the kids love them. Especially the stories of swallowing rocks and fighting against outlandish monsters!

Carson's personal favorite is Ares (the god of war). They often color pictures while I read aloud to them so he asked if he could print some of Ares, then decided to photocopy them to make a whole army. So all four of the kids were coloring while I read then recreated a war with the papers and duplo blocks.

















I've included a partial list of some of our favorite books on the sidebar, but one surprise we found was a book called Olympia: Warrior Athletes of Ancient Greece by Dyan Blacklock and David Kennett.

The illustrations are incredible- very intricate modern drawings with a cartoon feel but so much emotion in every picture. There are lots of warriors and fighting in the book- so it may not be for all kids, but my boys were enthralled. The book tells the story of how the King of Elis began the Olympics in the 8th century BC and describes what occurred on each day of the festival.

One of the drawings shows the temple of Zeus and all the crowds gathering around to make sacrifices and worship the gods. Henry (who is quite the deep thinker and loves to ask questions) asked, "Mom, are these people still there?" Then in a very somber tone he added, "That must have made God so sad to see all those people worshiping idols".

It stopped me and brought tears to my eyes- how true he was! This was real history, these were real people, and the one true God was watching. He has always been watching and is still watching today, and much of what he sees is idolatry.

In our bible studies we are still in Exodus, so we've been emphasizing the fact that God chose Abraham and promised to make him a great nation. But here was a time to point Henry forward to the fact that after Jesus came, he sent missionaries like Paul to preach to the Greeks. Jesus died to save the very nation that came up with such an elaborate system of gods. And he came to save sinners like me from every nation of the world!

So for my big kids, our study of Greek mythology has helped to distinguish between the true God and the greek gods. Unfortunately we may be confusing poor little Pete (3yo). At this point he seems to be mixing it all together, but that's true about a lot of things in his world these days.

Homeschool at the Turbo House

School has been the major thing keeping me busy these days. This year we are filing a 'PSA'- private school affidavit (rather than schooling through a charter school like we have done the last three years). One benefit is that I can schedule our curriculum so that all of the kids are studying similar topics. So for example, we've been doing a unit on horses where the kids are each reading age appropriate horse literature, learning about equestrian science, and drawing horses. We are also studying history (Ancient Greece & Rome-that's a Trojan horse below) and bible (OT- Joseph right now) together.

Another benefit is being able to challenge and work with each kid right where they are at. Natalie and Henry are each learning to read at about the same level so they do all their phonics and math together. But Henry loves listening to higher level literature (and asking lots of questions!) so he's in on all of Carson's read alouds. Natalie is adamant about learning cursive now (not sure why she's so eager- probably because it's 'prettier'). Carson loves to read- he's been reading through Maguerite Henry's horse novels much faster than I expected so I keep adding more on. He's not crazy about math but is doing very well at it. Last week he had to memorize a poem and did a great job! In general, preparing the curriculum has been more work for me, but it also helps me to own the process and to truly feel like I'm teaching the kids. It's awesome to see progress and to learn with them.

One new thing we are doing this year is 'memory period'. We begin our morning all together singing songs (with some funky hand motions I come up with) that help us memorize information. We've been working on the Westminster shorter catechism, bible verses, and skip counting.

And what does Peter do? He has a seat at the school table with us and works on his dry erase work books- mostly just coloring (i mean scribbling) until he wanders off to play with his duplos. He is generally cooperative (although he does know what 'zip it' means since he is the most talkative person around the house). He loves when Carson reads to him and also gets to do starfall on the computer for part of the morning- one of his favorite times of the day.

For anyone who cares, here's the curriculum we're using:

Math: Saxon1 and Saxon5/4
Phonics: Veritas Phonics Museum
Grammar: Easy Grammar 3/4; Primary Language Lessons
History: Veritas Ancient Greece and Rome
Bible: Veritas Genesis to Judges
Science: unit studies (horses right now, will do plants)
Spelling: Spelling Power

And i still need to come up with a name for our school by the time paperwork is due in October... any suggestions out there?

Swimming at the Pool

Irvine is famous for its swimming program and pools. We don't have any aspiring Olympians yet, but each of the kids has been improving as we go to the community pool at least three times a week. Carson can do flips underwater and touch the 8 ft bottom. Henry made huge leaps of progress when we got him a snorkel- finally got the hang of swimming with his face in the water. (And notice his missing teeth just growing back in.)Now that Natalie has recovered from a series of ear infections, she's been eager to put her head under water and been jumping off the side of the pool. And Peter will also put his face in, as long as you aren't the one telling him to do it. There is also a 1.5ft baby pool where Peter loves to play 'fishing' with his big sibs.


It's nothing compared to the kids in the local classes where 3yos have to swim the butterfly 50 yds before they can sign up for the class (!), but I'm happy with the improvement- and it's alot of fun. Our weather still isn't feeling fall like at all- so hopefully we still have many days at the pool to come.

Family Photos

Here are the results of our family photo shoot in Laguna Beach. Pretty handsome bunch if I do say so myself!