Paxton Going to Work

We have this cute coupon book with things like, "Pick any movie at the video store tonight" coupons in it. Well, we recently gave Pax one that said "Go to work with Daddy or Mommy". Since he's been to my work a lot, we thought it'd be fun for him to go with Caleb. The plan was to meet Caleb in the park, and after a little picninc, Pax was off to work. He was so cute the morning of, as he picked out his "work clothes". He said "no" to the first 3 shirts I offered, and changed his shorts twice. Then he wanted to pack his bag. We put in a few movies, some little cars, books, and lots of snacks (he kept adding more).

Caleb said he did great. He mostly watched movies, and ate almost all his snacks (there were a LOT). He got to see the snack room and the game room, and played pool with daddy at the end of the day. I was so excited to see him when he got home, but he was chill. He said it was good, but that daddy's work was kinda boring. And he liked the snack room.

6 little munchkins

I have dear friend, Rochelle, whom I was pregnant with all three times. Our kids have been friends since the womb, and it is such a special relationship for them to have. Well, being the crazy, spontaneous, unschooling mama that she is, she drove down from Pasadena to be with us for the day.



We were already at the park with another unschooling friend when she arrived. And as soon as the kids saw each other they immediately connected, and played together non-stop. We spent over three hours at the park.



Elijah lost his first tooth at the park! He says it was because he ate some sand.



Then we came home and played some more. The girls wanted to be alone with their Polly Pockets, so the boys wrestled and played pirates while Rochelle and I talked.



We ate a delicious shmorgas- board for dinner, and then headed to the beach when Caleb got home. After playing in the waves, building sand castles and climbing the rocks, it was time for our friends to leave. It really was a wonderful day.

knee art

ALL RAW

I've recently began a raw food journey. It's a way of eating that I've heard of before, but it never appealed to me. Why have I began eating that way? Well, over the last few years I've had a growing problem with my joints. I've seen the doctor three times, and each time they say the same thing. "I don't know what you have." Thankfully the tests for rheumatoid arthritis have come back negative. But I don't fit the profile of osteo-arthritis either. Yet, my symptoms are getting worse.

I recently met a woman who has a chronic pain issue. The doctors put her on steroids as well as some other things, but she was not improving. She was encouraged to go all raw by a friend, and when she did her pain finally vanished. Her story inspired me to look up whether or not others with joint problems have been helped by this. I found that there are! So, I began.



In the raw food diet, you don't eat food that's been heated over 110 degrees. Apparently once the food is heated it looses most of it's nutritional value and all of it's enzymes. Our bodies often heal once we put mostly whole foods (with all their nutritional value intact) in them. There are a lot of testimonies out there of people who have healed through this diet. So, what do I eat? A lot of nuts, seeds, sprouted berries, avocados, coconut and fresh fruits and veggies.

It's been a week since I've started and I've already seen several positive effects. I've felt much more energetic and have been able to go off my coffee addiction. This in itself makes me very happy! I don't have the sluggish feeling I used to have during the day. And I'm no longer bloated. My joints have not seen an improvement yet. I've read that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. I'm hoping to eat all raw and vegan for at least a month, and evaluate after that.

rolling down a grassy hill

Remember doing this as a kid? I loved doing this. But it always kinda hurt, and was a bit disappointing. Yet I did it every time I saw a big grassy hill (and was allowed to). Charis is the same. It always tempts her, and she is generally a bit disappointed. But I love watching her do it. And then there's Pax who wouldn't even walk on grass without shoes for a long time. I think he tried rolling once, and has never been tempted since. My guess is that Jonas will be a roller.

baby photographer

My little one year old loves to take pictures on my digital camera. Im thinking I should buy him a special kids' camera, because he is so into it. And he's pretty good! The best part is when you show him the picture he took, he throws his head back and laughs every time. Here is a sampling of his work...






I couldn't believe how well this last one turned out. I think I might use it for my profile picture!

Torrey Pines State Beach Park

Just a few miles down the road is this beautiful place that I'd never been to. My friend Mim suggested it for our Monday hike. I was astonished by how beautiful it was and we ended up having a hot and fun adventure.



The kids were all about the binoculars, while we were in the parking lot. But guess who got to hold them the whole time. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of how cute they were pouring over the map. They all wanted to be the map leader, and insisted they knew where we were. It was pretty funny.



There is a really cool nature center at the top of the hill. It is filled with real stuffed- animals you can pet. Charis and Jonas were really into that. They have hawks, mountain lions, rattle snakes, birds, coyotes, etc. And the lady working there was happy to talk with the kids about the animals.



Charis found a secret path that took us through a canopy of brush. It felt very adventuresome. We can't wait to go back when its a bit cooler.

grandma and papa's house

Caleb was gone for the weekend. He and Shiloh treated their mom to a weekend away at Pismo Beach. So, me and the kids spent some time at grandma and papa's house in El Cajon. As soon as we got there they ran through the sprinklers.



Charis played Polly Pocket with Rachel. It was awesome. They talked in British accents and played with those tiny dolls for 45 minutes!



I was having serious flashbacks as I watched my kids ride their bikes around the cul de sac. I still have a scar on my knee from a crash I had on that cul de sac. But everyone was safe this time.



Okay, this made me laugh really hard. My dad shows up with Jonas who is shirtless, with Charis' helmet on, riding this huge and ancient red bike. We love Pa pa.

Clay Scluptures and Calculators

I had a day of feeling like nothing productive or "educational" was happening. I felt we needed more. More what I don't know, but it seemed like a wasted day. We usually go out in the morning and do something cool and then hang out at home for Jonas' afternoon nap. Well today we stayed home. And I felt like I was being a bad mom. So I did something that helped. I wrote down everything we had done so far that day. Seeing it on paper, and being mindful of it, made me realize what a lovely day it had been. Exactly the kind of day I like.



Besides making amazing sculptures and playing with calculators, we painting little figurines. Made a pillow castle. Charis made her own book all by herself. We colored. Looked at the cover of video games and discussed the pictures. Snuggled. Listened to music. Danced. Took a shower together. Did laudry and cleaning "together". Ate and drank together. cuddled. made balloon bombs. and talked a lot.



And did a ribbon dance. of course.

two cakes in two days

The day after Charis made a cake, Paxton wanted to make a cake with mommy too. So, we ended up with 2 chocolate cakes!

an unschooling moment

I felt frustrated with my little girl today. She was a bit grumpy and we were just struggling to enjoy each other. She announced at 7:00pm that she wanted to make a cake. My first reaction was annoyance at her insistence. So I told her she could make one by herself if she wanted to. So she listed the ingredients she was going to use (2 eggs, flour, salt and honey). From then I was sucked in. And gladly so. We had a really fun time of measuring, taste testing, shooing away the boys, and eventually eating our healthy chocolate cake.

rock climbers

We have been going to R.E.I. to climb the pinnacle for a couple of months now. And Charis finally reached the top and rang the bell! It was so fun to see her progress every time, and finally do it. She was so proud of herself. She really is a little monkey.



Paxton has also been working hard at getting to the top. Although he hasn't made it yet, he has improved with each visit.

true love

I really like this guy.

geo trax

We've had these stored away all year. So, after rearanging the house (so they'd fit) Caleb started making tracks with the kids.



One of the best parts was seeing how much Jonas enjoyed them. As well as all the variations of tracks that were made.

an international night

This photo doesn't do justice to the delicous spread of Thai food we had. The menu ranged from Pad See Ew to Chicken Curry to Thai iced tea, ending with a dessert of sticky rice with mango and coconut ice cream. We had such a fun night of eating, talking, playing and more eating.



This photo also does not do justice to the situation happening. All 8 kids decided to see who could scream the loudest - at the same time. Notice one of the girls has her ears covered! It was really loud.



It was an unschooling family event, and true to form, everone was up for a late-night spontanious walk to the beach. It was a perfect ending to our party.

art

Paxton and Caleb created this amazing artwork. It proudly hangs above our kitchen entryway.

local learning

This summer I have been going on local "hikes" every Monday with a couple of friends. This Monday's was to be another lagoon walk, but we got much more than that. When we arrived at Agua Hedionda Lagoon we found out one can't walk to the lagoon from the nature center. At first it seemed like a wasted trip. But there was a local volunteer there who shared with our kids his passion about the local terrain, native american dances, basket weaving, herbs, etc. I was amazed at how interested the kids were in it. We stayed and listened to him for over an hour. It was truly an organic experience. We did finally drive down the road a bit to walk. It was a suprising day.




And can you believe this kid's hair! Seriously, who is his mom?