Samson

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No Time to blog

I don't know why we have this blog. We never put anything here. So I am going to give some highlights about what we have been doing. Our family went camping to Payson in September. It was so beautiful. The fall leaves were out in full color. It was still warm and Mary and Jarom went swimming. This was also the first time we have taken our dog, Samson camping. He loved swimming in the lake. We all went fishing and caught a mess of fish. Many think fishing is boring, but that is not the case when you have a dog that likes to swim. We had a yummy fish fry back at camp. Also in September my Mom and Dick came home from their mission to Australia, It is so good to have them home, but we never see them. They keep going on one adventure after another. Also during the month of September we started back doing school. My favorite part of the day is doing school with the children. The sad part is that my house is not as clean as I would like it to be. In October we went to Thanksgiving Point and went to the haunted corn maze. That was fun. Mary and Jarom went Trick-0r-Treating with the Warners. They really enjoyed that. November went by fast. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my mom's house and after dinner we climbed the mountain and sat on the V. It made all of the pies taste so much better. The day after Thanksgiving we decorated our house for Christmas. It was nice this year because the children are old enough to really help. We had the Warner family come over and play games that evening. It was a fun day. Our oldest son Eric turned 16 yesterday. On Monday we went and played laser tag with the family. It was fun. Many more things have happened, but this is good for now. I'll see if I can post some pictures.

A singing contest.

Hi, I entered a singing contest so that I can get some free products for LiKen the Scriptures. If you haven't had the opportunity to vote then go to this site and vote for who you think is best. The one with the most votes wins. Thanks in advance.

http://www.likenthescriptures.com/news.php?action=view_article&article_id=192

A fun month

Last week in Yellowstone

It has been a busy August. First, the Cummings family came to visit Rose Park. We had so much fun with their family. We had several good meals and several sleepovers. The kids played all day and almost all night. It was good to have them back for a visit. Next, we had the ward campout. Our family went up Thursday and stayed until Saturday afternoon. There were 2 boats in the water the whole time. The family enjoyed going out on the tube. Larna did a little waterskiing. We have great pictures, but I don't know how to post them. I need to figure out that feature some day. Our family then went to Yellowstone with 2 of my sisters and their children. We went on a white water rafting trip. This was everyone's favorite part of the trip. We saw all of the regular sites at Yellowstone. We saw a grizzly bear, but it was far away. We also saw a wolf, that was also far away. We did see lots of elk and bison. We also found a place to swim on the Firehole River, just above Firehole Falls. This was also a favorite. Our children are older now and so we were able to go on some more difficult hikes, so we enjoyed seeing more waterfalls. Now the summer is over and we are getting ready for the school year.

Homeschool.

Many people ask me about homeschooling. I thought that I would share our experience. We started homeschooling when my oldest child was about to go into the 6th grade. He is now almost 16. My youngest daughter, who is 8 almost 9 has never been to public school. Jay has always wanted to homeschool our children, but I really didn't think that I could handle it. I didn't think that I was smart enough. So, what was it that made me decide to homeschool? It was a number of different reasons.

My children were not happy. I do not blame the teachers or the school. The personality and learning styles of my children just didn't match. They did not enjoy learning. It was right up there with cleaning the bathroom. I also went to a world wide leadership training and heard Elder Erying speak about how important it was to spend time with our families teaching them the gospel and that it was the parents' primary responsibility to do that. I remember sitting there thinking "When do I really sit down with my children and teach them the gospel?" In the mornings, I am rushing around to get them off to school. After school, I am working on their homework and going to piano, soccer.... and church meetings. I didn't feel that I was spending any time at all teaching my children the gospel or anything for that matter. My mornings were taken over by the school and my evenings were taken over by the school. We then decided that if I were to homeschool that I could have 4 -5 hours a day teaching my children what I wanted them to learn. We could do academics and the gospel. Also, we would not have homework in the evening. I went to every homeschool website and I read books about it and I talked to tons of people. I had a homeschooling family come to our house and I asked lots of questions. I went to homeschool conferences. I had no idea of how many choices there were. We fasted and prayed about it and felt strongly that this was best for our family. We decided on a curriculum and I wrote up a plan and we were ready to start.

This has been one of the most amazing journeys that I have been on. I have had so many wonderful spiritual experience with my children. I bet ya never thought that academics were spiritual. The whole way that our family thinks is different. Everything we do is educational. We try to find a lesson in everything. Jay is much more involved in teaching the children. I often see him teaching them an important educational or gospel topic. I have found that it is important for my children to see me learning. I do all of the assignments that I ask them to do. I read all of the books that they do. I also do my own studies. I love homeschooling. I love being with my children and I do still have time for myself. I actually have more time. It is wonderful when my children are sick. I can let them be sick and not try to send them back to school before they are well. I feel like I have more control over what is going into their brains. I am preparing them to do great things. I am helping them discover their mission in life. For those of you who are interested, I will be posting my plan for 2009 as soon as I figure it out. I will also post a weekly update of the good and bad of my homeschooling adventures.

Here is a sample of a typical school day last year:

7:30 Devotional:
Family scripture study
Recite the pledge and preamble to the constitution
Family theme
Calendar
Read part of the constitution
Sticks - children recognize good deeds of others in the family with a stick for each deed

8:00 Breakfast - All the kids help cook and clean up.

9:00- 1:00 School
The children write on the white board what they want to do that day. I approve it and add a few things that I feel they need that day. I then spend private time with each of them. We also do some group activities, and go on field trips.

Mary
Read, workbooks, craft, math, cursive, Utah book

Jarom
Read, math, art project, guitar, typing, Utah book

Parley
Read, write story, math, spelling, read science book, Utah book

Eric
Read, blender ( computer graphics program), trombone, math, Spanish

Eric went to part time high school last year. He had Seminary, band, and wood shop
Mary went to a little private school. She learned many things at the school in addition to her regular homeschool schedule.

Eric is doing the N.A.R.H.S. program for high school. Parley will start it next year. http://www.narhs.org/

The Ten Virgins: A Musical Parable

Several months ago, Larna suggested to the Relief Society that they ought to consider doing a musical play based on the parable of the ten virgins. They loved the idea and asked her to direct it, since she wasn't already busy enough :-) So, they worked hard for months preparing for the big performance. Everyone who was willing and able to participate was involved.

The night of the big performance was Tuesday, June 3rd. We had a good sized crowd. It was an emotional experience for all involved. Even in the rehearsals I kept crying as I was taking care of the music and the sound. After the show, hordes of people were crying and talking about what a touching and wonderful experience it was. But, I think the actors were even more affected by the whole experience. Many of those ladies who don't get to interact much with the Relief Society, because they are in different callings, were able to share a deeply meaningful experience with each other. I'm sure they will rememnber this for a long time. At the end of the show, when they were all singing the last song, they were all lined up on the stage holding their lit lamps. If you look at the painting at the top of this post, that looks very much like the final scene.

From the costumes to the props, scenery, acting, it was all very well done.

There were three narrators: Suzie Marchant, Mary Ringwood and Zina Riches

The ten virgins were: Terri Marsh, Kellee Marsh, Talitha Marsh, Becky Hamson, Jennifer Warner, Kristi Dixon, Lori Clausen, Cassie Rowley, Karen Heaton and Larna.

JoDell was going to do a part, but had pneumonia for a few weeks and had to drop out. She would have been so good. But, Becky took her place and did great. JoDell is doing much better now.

I Smell a Rat!

A couple of years ago we had a terrible rodent infestation in our home. They got into our food storage and ruined quite a bit of our food. We had also found that rats in our shed outside had made a mess and destroyed a few items there. We tried several methods to get rid of them. Finally, after a combination of commercial grade poison and several traps, we got rid of the last perpetrator. Our food storage has been undisturbed ever since, but my animosity towards those critters has not waned.

Last week Jarom had a birthday. He loves animals and wanted some kind of critter. He thought about maybe a lizzard, or a bird. Then he decided that what he really wanted was a rat. Yes, that’s right, A RAT! Well, he’s such a good boy and we didn’t want to tell him no, so we went down to the pet store and let him pick out one. He named him Alvin. As soon as we got home, Samson smelled a rat and wanted it in a big way. We put Alvin in a cage on the kitchen table. Samson was going crazy for the next two hours straight. He wouldn’t leave us alone, because he wanted that rat. A week later now, Samson still goes crazy when he sees Alvin. We are trying to train him to be nice to Alvin, but I’m not sure it will ever sink in.

Did you know that rats are very friendly, smart and they never bite? It’s true. You can train them too. They will come when you call them. It doesn’t take long holding Alvin to get attached to him. He is really quite sociable. Jarom takes him out of his cage several times a day and holds him. I guess a rat is not so bad, as long as he stays out of our food.

Why are we so busy?

I hear people talk about their favorite tv shows and I wonder, "how do people find time to watch tv?" I'm lucky if I catch part of the ten o'clock news. Anything besides that, forget it.

Larna has four callings, officially, but unofficially, she really has five. As I am the high council advisor to missionary work, we get a lot of requests to help out the missionaries, which we do often and with great delight. We have decided that my missionary responsibilities can be considered Larna's fifth calling. She spends at least as much time on that as she does the others put together.

Two weeks ago we took a group of African refugees to a stake center where all the African investigators in the valley meet to be taught through a translator. The translator is a wonderful and friendly African born member of the church. He also sings in the Tab choir. Last Saturday we attended a baptism where six of those refugees were baptized. We expect about seven more to be baptized tomorrow (March 1st). Last year in the stake we had 58 convert baptisms. I expect to exceed that this year. Miracles are happening. Life is good.

Besides all the time we spend homeschooling, Larna and I seem to get involved in everything else. For example, about a month ago we both got our licenses as HAM radio operators. Then we got two HAM radios, one mobile unit and one hand held. We are hosting a class at our house tomorrow for a group of friends to come get some hands on training with HAM radios.

Because she wasn't busy enough already, Larna proposed to the Relief Society enrichment committee the idea of doing a play based on the parable of the ten virgins. They loved it and made her the director of the play. They plan to perform it some time in June, complete with a wedding feast.

Last night I had a rare evening. I didn't have any meetings to atttend, or any other place to be. I had an entire evening to myself. It has become so rare to have a free evening that I have forgotten what to do with spare time. I was lost.

I decided to clean out and organize the storage room. We had just added another truckload of supplies to our storage and it needed to be properly repackaged and put away, which I did. It is a good feeling to have our shelves full of the necessities.

Usually, spare time for me comes only in 30 to 60 minute increments. But, when I don't have time to get involved in a big project, that is just enough time for me to participate in some relaxing therapy, also known as making bullets with my new reloading kit. I can make about 50 bullets in 30 minutes. It is good therapy.

Eric has taken up the trombone and plays in a band at West High. He's still a beginner, but is progressing and enjoys it. He also received his patriarchal blessing about a month ago. He is now six feet tall. Well, that was a couple of weeks ago, so he could be taller now.

Parley is also growing like a weed and is now taller than Larna. He always wants more pets. I guess a dog, a turtle and a fish tank are not nearly enough. His favorite tv shows are documentaries on animals. Some day that boy will own a pet store.

Jarom and Mary are progressing in gymnastics. It is helpful that we have a trampoline in our back yard, thanks to the Cummingses.

Samson is 4 1/2 years old now and still thinks he's a puppy.

Later

Just getting started

OK, so we're supposed to have a blog, I guess. Everybody else does.

So, as soon as I figure out something useful to post, with pictures and all, I'll put it up here. For now, I can at least say that the Eubanks family has a blog.

More to come soon.

Jay