Easter in Texas

This year for Easter my mom, niece and my three children drove out with me to spend time with my sister Amy and her family. 14 hours and three states later we FINALLY arrived in Dalhart, TX.    Where's Dalhart you ask?

It's in the Texas panhandle near the New Mexico/ Oklahoma border.   My middle daughter Miss K said on the way there,  "There is nothing but cows, a lot of fields and places for mom to use the restroom here."    All the coffee and drinks to keep me awake caused us to stop a few times. It was a very long drive, luckily the kids did awesome on the drive there.  Not one time did any of the 4 kids complain.    It really made the drive nice.    If I hear the Justin Beiber CD one more time though,  I might scream.  All kidding a side they really did do great.  I couldn't of asked for better behaved children.

Amy gave us a tour of the town which took about 15 minutes. Coming in to Dalhart there is a stock farm. You will smell it before you see it.  Miss K said, " I know where they get their milk from." She was horrified when she realized they did not produce milk here, but beef. Not something she had really ever thought of before.   Not sure if she'll be eating a hamburger anytime soon.  She said she's sticking to chicken.   I guess I won't tell her where her chicken comes from yet!

 My niece Alexus was surprised how quiet it sounded.   Yes, she's a city girl.    The weather was perfect and the kids enjoyed hanging out with their cousins, including their new cousins Jocey and Micah. Miss A and the others really liked the time they spent at the park and running around. 

Matthew and Miss K walked the back ally looking for treasures with his medal detector.   They found an old earring and other misc. items.  

We had two Easter egg hunts.

Little Man got the hang of it right away.   He was so excited every time he found one.   "Amy I found another one," he yelled.
   He was disappointed to realize he was not able to eat ALL the candy in one day, not that he didn't try.

The older girls helped hide the eggs at the church egg hunt.  They were disappointed they were "too old" for their own hunt, but enjoyed watching the younger children find the eggs.  They were planning with each other how to help the little ones get the most eggs.

We also found out that Amy is Betty Crocker.

She showed me how to make chicken and noodles and cupcakes.   Luckily, her mother in law Debbie has rubbed off on her some, since we know she didn't get her skills from me.hee hee.

He loved the candy

Hopefully next time Mondo will have enough vacation time to join us.   We had a great time hanging out with your family, including Randy's  mom Debbie.  They have a beautiful home and family.   Just wished we lived  closer. We'll be out that way again in 2012, if all goes as planned, on our way to visit my cousins in Arkansas.

Little Man checking out what's in his egg.

Here are some other pictures from our trip.

Amy and I 

Miss L finding some eggs.

Miss A with her cousin

Miss K and her cousin

My nephew and niece

What a cutie!

Cheese 

Miss L and Me

Fun with the Cousins

Here's some pictures from this past weekend.   The cousins put on a fashion show, with Emily as the head designer.    It's so nice to have family.  Even though my cousins lived several hours from me when I was growing up, it reminds me of all the fun we would have when we got together.  

Cousin love

Miss K

What cuties.

Where did my nose go?

All the cousins

She loved horse back riding.

Miss A during the fashion show!

To Homeschool or Not To Homeschool

To homeschool or not to homeschool?.  This is a questions I have gone back and forth on for over a year.   It would actually be online school, most likely K-12, but at this time still just thinking about things. Technically K-12 is not considered homeschool, but public school online.  They do receive funds from the state, but the children do the schooling from home.   It is just so hard to decide what is the right choice.   Fear of messing my kids education up is one of the big ones, but so far this year the public school hasn't done such a great job.  (At least for my 4th grader.)    I do love the teachers, for the most part, at our school just not the administration.    When did schools stop putting the best interest of the kids a side and start going more with politics and trying to make everyone happy?  I guess it has probably always been this way.  

My oldest has been asking for a while to be homeschooled.  As most of  you know, I always have tons of children at my house.  Whether it be my friends children, family or neighborhood children.   So the lack of socialization argument for NOT homeschooling is a non issue.   We also belong to church groups and swim groups.    

To assist Miss A with catching up on 4th grade Math I have signed her up for a program called , Time 4 Learning.   Miss K will also be using this program this summer.    It is a pay site, and can be used as a homeschooling curriculum.   We are mostly using it for math, however it also has reading, social studies, etc.   So far they are really liking it.   The only bad reviews I've seen regarding the program is the social studies and science section could be a little stronger.  Since we're using it as a supplement though, I'm not concerned. 

The important thing with parenting is to remember each kids is completely different. So what works for one child , 30-40 kids in a class, may not work for your other child.   I have one who could be in a room of 1000 kids and still excel and one that really needs more 1 on 1 attention, and less distractions. 

At this point we are going to see how the summer goes.  If I really see a huge improvement, we may decide to keep her home next year, depending on what she decides she wants to do.  If she really likes her 5th grade teacher, we may continue to use Time 4 Learning as a supplement.    

Family from Arkansas

Over the last two and half years I have been getting to know my cousin Ronnette, or Ronnie as we call her.   I have known of her all my life, but due to some circumstances, which I won't go into on here,  we did not grow up together.   We met last year on her birthday during a layover in Phoenix, but this week was able to spend two days together.   

Ronnie and  Bridget, her partner,  drove down from Arkansas and stayed two nights with us before continuing on to California.  Just like before it seemed like we had known each other all our life.   Last time Mondo stayed home with Little Man when they visited, so this was the first time they were able to meet my whole family.    Little Man took to Ronnie right away, and started calling her Opa.  At first I thought he was saying papa, but I was quickly corrected.   Not sure where he got the name from , but he lit up every time she entered the room.  All the kids enjoyed their time together with their new family. 

On Thursday night my Mom, Dad, niece and sister Julie came over for dinner.   My mom had not seen Ronnie for over 40 years.   We all had a great time.   

I don't have any pictures right now. Once again, I forgot to charge my camera battery.   They took tons, so once I get receive them I'll post them on here. 

Ronnie and Bridget , we hope you enjoy he rest of your travels.   Hopefully we'll be able to visit you next summer.