I never did an end of the year re-cap of our homeschool year for 2011-2012.  So, this is to try to capture the fun things that we did during the year.

We tried Co-op for the first semester and these are the other kids that also participated

Homeschool friends held a “Thanksgiving Fest” at their home

A couple of families came over to make candy houses…these are Mason’s and Kalani’s master pieces

Valentine party and card exchange…Lots of kids and lots of fun

Easter Egg Hunt and picnic with friends

We attended the Houston Symphony

Kalani had a science class once a month at the Natural Science Museum…this class was about teeth

We hosted a book club at our home twice a month…this was a fun activity for “James and the Giant Peach”

A group of us went camping

The kids had art club twice a month and end of the year they made tie-dye shirts

We attended the Police Academy during Police Week

We went back to a wildlife park that we attended a couple of years ago

We do our schooling at the dining table

We have loved homeschooling.  I have a good idea of what Kalani knows and what she struggles with.  We try to teach her about the world and her interests.  If she has a question, we search out the answer.  We also do many social activities so she can interact with other kids and I can interact with adults.  And because Kalani is around adults often, she isn’t afraid to ask questions or make comments to them.

More homeschool photos

Back in May, Mason turned 3. Here are some fun photos that show what interests Mason has right now in his life.

Stages of Mason

Happy Birthday To You ( cha cha cha)

He loves all dinosaurs

He has been using an iPad for more than 2/3 of his life

He loves to hold babies.

He loves to hold our bearded dragon

He LOVES to swim. He stopped using flotation devices right around his birthday.

He loves to get dress for church

3 Fun Facts About Mason:

-He loves to make cookies and help out in the kitchen

-He has a favorite blanket that he takes all over the house and in the car

-He is emotional…cries when you tell him no, or won’t do anything you ask him to do if he is upset, or will throw a control at the TV when you tell him to leave the room

This past week Matt had a conference in San Diego, California.  Since Matt already had a hotel and frequent flyer miles, we decided to make it a family trip!  San Diego was great.  The weather was nice, warm during the day and cooler in the evenings…something different from the Houston weather we are use to.  The kids and I were really only in San Diego for 2 full days.  We arrived to the hotel around 5pm Monday night and then checked out of the hotel on Thursday at noon.  But, during the time that we were there the kids and I had a jam packed schedule!

MONDAY:  Fly in to San Diego, rent a car, drive to have dinner with cousins

Dinner with Sam & Melinda (Sam is Matt’s first cousin)

TUESDAY: Mormon Battalion Museum, San Diego Temple, LegoLand, Padres Game

We traveled back to 1847 to learn about the Mormon Battalion and what they did for San Diego

Across from the Mormon Battalion there are these old homes that have been restored that the kids liked walking around to look at.

San Diego Temple is now where Kalani wants to get married

Padres vs. Pirates at Petco Park. One of the CR vendors was hosting.

WEDNESDAY: San Diego Zoo, swimming, walking around San Diego

San Diego Zoo is HUGE and great for all ages

Kids had fun swimming in the hotel pool…but it was a bit too cold for Tia. We are use to the 80* swimming pool water, and this water wasn’t that warm.

Walking around San Diego in the evenings. As we are passing some restaurants a few of the hostesses outside smile and wave to Mason commenting how cute he is as we pass by. He then calls out “Mom! All the big girls love me! They say hi to me! .. And I say hi to them!”

THURSDAY:  Playing at a nearby park and flying back to Texas

Having tired kids is a good indicator of how much we crammed in a few days.

We had a great time being together as a family.   Fun memories were made and you can see more photos of our vacation here:  San Diego Vacation

For the past 2 years I have taken our kids camping by myself while Matt worked.  Finally after being married for 9.5 years and having 2 kids, Matt joined us on a camping trip!

"We are a happy family"

Mason loved playing with our friend's dog

Kids enjoying nature

Talking to friends around the camp fire

5 families that all went camping together

Thanks to our friends who planned this trip and invited us to tag-a-long.

We have had a busy summer. It seems like something was going on every week.

First off was Girls Camp. I was the camp director for about 28 girls from our church that were between 12-17 years old. Camping in Texas is different. It is hot, humid and you have to worry about hurricanes. And to get to any location where there is water or hills is FAR from Houston…like 5 hours away far. We planned and planned and then things changed. Then we planned some more. It all turned out really well and I was happy to be able to teach these young women and get to know them better.

While I was at girls camp, Matt had a work trip to the Philippines. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and wants to go back. He already has a post about his trip here.

Then Matt returned home for a day before he left to Florida for a conference.

The following week we had some friends from California come to visit for a few days. We would love it if they would move here so we could see them more often.

The last week of June we flew to California for a Farley family reunion. It was great to see our extended family again and Kalani really loved being around a bunch of cousins her age.

These cousins are all about the same age

Grandma & Grandpa with most of their grandkids

Grandma & Grandpa with most of their great-grandkids

The month of July has been a little bit calmer…at least not needing to be in the car for hours or take an airplane. I watched my cousins for a week while their parents attended a funeral in Utah. And I was busy planning a super fun Harry Potter party and decorating for a couple of weddings.

One more trip for me this summer and then we start back into school, co-op, gymnastics or swimming, choir, art, book club, and any other fun activity that we can schedule in. And I also have the great blessing of being the young women president over 30 girls ages 12-18 in our church. My life is busy. I may go crazy. But I’ll have fun going crazy!