Live with you forever....

The other day I was helping Mykah get dressed, and we were putting on her tights-part of her daily uniform.  As she was putting her foot in to the carefully synched up sock, I made the comment of how tough it was to get her tights on.  In reply she said "I should be the Mom and you should be the kid".

I smiled, as she is quite the little mommy, and said "Someday, when you are married and have kids, I will be their grandma"

We discussed this idea for a minute and then she was quiet.  I looked up and she had tears in her eyes, and she very slowly said "I don't want to get married, I want to live with you forever."

I smiled at her sweetness, and hugged her.  "Ok, you can live with me forever".

Ahhhh, the innocence of a 4 year old....

Phoenix

The girls after their recital in Virginia

I was disappointed with my lack of pictures taken this last weekend.  While JJ flew out to Chicago for the weekend of classes, the kids and I camped at the KOA in Apache Junction, AZ with our friends the Wilds girls.  The Wilds are friends from Portsmouth.  A navy family whose daughters quickly became Annika's best friends and their mom quickly became my good friend, perhaps the connection was so easy because of our Michigan homeland.  They PCS'd to San Diego last August (2011), much to our disappointment, but we were  so happy to be within a days drive now, and even better to have a nice middle meeting point to hang out in-Phoenix!

The kids had a great time just hanging out.  It was as though the last year and some months had never past.  On Saturday we drove up part of Apache Trail, with a stop at Goldfield Ghost Town, an obvious tourist trap, but a good spot to stop for the kids.

Watching a gunfight in Goldfield Ghost Town 

After the ghost town, we continued on down Apache Trail, past Canyon Lake-just beautiful, and the road is a paradise for Motorcyclists-and stopped at Tortilla Flat, the last official stage coach stop on the Apache Trail.  They have a fun restaurant with great burgers and saddles to sit on.  The kids enjoyed the atmosphere, and signed a dollar bill to add to the collection on the walls.

Afterwards we tried some prickly pear ice cream. 

On Sunday Julie and the girls headed back to San Diego, and we ran errands, packing up the RV with supplies until the next time we head to town.  The kids were less than thrilled with IKEA, and all the other stops on my list, but what do you do, when your opportunity to shop is so limited? 

Bath time

Have you ever seen such a big baby?

Homeschooling on the rez

Annika, trying to carve into the rock.

I've said it before, but it's worth stating again that I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to homeschool my kids.  I never thought I'd have the desire to homeschool, but after moving to Virginia, the 3rd state in 3 years, and knowing that would possibly be the pattern for the next 20, it seemed the right thing to do.  I'm thankful for the chance to spend so much time with my children, to learn with them, to have the flexibility to learn outside of the "classroom", to travel anytime we want to, to show them the world.  However, just like being a parent, it comes with a huge and sometimes heavy responsibility.

Exploring a female hogan

 Although going to public schools was a great experience for me, I know that I am lazy when it comes to school work.  Somehow I was able to get by with good grades, even being in the honor society, without much studying, or hard work.  I was able to juggle many extracurricular activity, take college prep classes, and hold a job all while succeeding in school-however I realize now that I failed myself and did not retain the things my teachers taught me.  I know you can only retain so much information, and you retain most of what you use on a regular basis, but I was able to store the information fed to me in my short term memory for the tests and release it once I didn't need it anymore.  I am hoping for my own kids, that learning together, and through experiences, they will retain more of what I am teaching them.  Relearning along side my children, I am able to try and help them connect what they learn today with the things we learned in years past.

However, there are many nights that I lay awake and pray that I am not failing my children.  I do not have the schools or other teachers to blame when they are struggling with something.  I cannot write the teacher a letter and tell them that my child needs more help in a certain area.  The responsibility falls on my shoulders when they need more practice or a little more tutoring to succeed.

Mykah displaying her stone cairn

Often times I have to remind myself that the things they struggle with, they would struggle with in school and I have the ability to give them more time and more practice then they would get in school.  I remind myself that in their struggles they would either be singled out into "special groups", labeled, or left behind-which could hurt their self esteem and prevent them from reaching their full potential.  I have to remind myself that everyone learns or makes connections at different times in their journey, and while one child may excel in one area, another excels in quite a different area- but in their differences they will succeed in being what they were meant to be.

Isaak racing through the trail in Arches National Park, UT

In Virginia, they had the opportunity to join a co-op where they had the opportunity to be in classes with friends, and learn from other mom's who had different teaching styles and gifts.  Here in Kayenta we are seeking other opportunities.  Again, I have to remind myself that it took over 2 years to find the co-op that fit us best, and while there are not co-ops here, there is the opportunity for them to join the specials at the local elementary school.  I am looking into that and am hoping it will be a positive experience.

In Virginia, we were blessed to have many friends who were homeschooling their kids.  I enjoyed the support and camaraderie of friends who were on the same journey as I was, to be reminded that everyone has struggles and to be able to brainstorm ideas to help one another and share stories of successes.  My kids also enjoyed being surrounded by other kids who were home-schooled, which gave me a much needed break each day.

We have only home-schooled in Virginia, a state and an area that is saturated with homeschooling families.  Homeschooling on the reservation is a new experience, with new opportunities and experiences.  Our kids are being immersed in a new culture, they are experiencing a new area of the country that is completely different from any place we've ever lived before.  Together we are able to volunteer at an animal shelter, an opportunity that I know they would not be able to have until they were teenagers in any other place.  They have responsibilities there that most people don't have until their first job and are learning such valuable skills and gaining such a unique experience that has already changed them significantly.  I know that they will retain these things that they are learning, because they are experiencing them first hand.

In the times I am stressing out, that I am not doing enough and I see the laundry piling up and the boxes, still needing to be unpacked.  As I dream of projects I'd love to work on, or things I'd love to do for myself, I am constantly learning to be thankful for this time in my life.  I realize how quickly time flies.  I have to remind myself that there will be many hours when the kids are grown up, that I will be able to work on my projects and my house will someday be cleaner, but I will long for these moments of time with my kids.  And my prayer, is that as a result of this experience, the kids will be able to achieve their goals and aspirations.

The Grand Canyon

 Who gets to swing by the Grand Canyon on their way to get groceries?  We do! While we might need to load up the "wagon" and travel into town to get supplies, we do have the benefits of amazing rest stops, and views!

 We left Kayenta after JJ got home from work and drove to the south rim in the dark.  As we were looking for a place to park "Shake Down", I had visions of movies where the people are driving in the dark and unknowingly drive off the cliff-it was slightly eery. 

 But in the morning, we had an amazing view... and with our national parks pass, it was free!

We can't wait to go back.

Monument Valley

We live 18 miles from the Utah border, and just a few more from Monument Valley.  While JJ talks about Monument Valley and other famous natural attractions as being places he's always dreamed of seeing, I can't say I'd ever given it much thought.  I remember my Dad always dreaming of taking us out west to Yellow Stone Park, and the Grand Canyon, but I honestly have never heard very much about these other places.  I was a bit surprised to find that I think this rocky, reddish-brown landscape is beautiful.  I tend to favor the lush, green Appalachian Mountains, with deciduous trees that change with the seasons and grass to cover the rolling hills. Growing up in Michigan where you have a variety of landscapes, from fields of corn, and wheat, to the great lakes with their beautiful sand dunes, orchards full of fresh fruits, rolling hills and flat lands, towns and cities that offer variety of their own, I thought the brown desert with very little civilization would depress me, but instead it's inspired awe.

(here we resemble the crayons for the backdrop:) )

 So much of the landscape here looks unreal, like a painted backdrop in our photographs. 

 We weren't able to do any hiking on this visit.  JJ was healing from a foot injury, and so our tour of the Valley was from the van.  but it was beautiful just the same.

This is called Artist Point.  It is a perfect place to spend a day or several, painting the lovely view.

 Like most Americans, Monument Valley was a place I had only seen in Forrest Gump, but it's worth seeing in person, tourists and all.

As we were checking out the above sign, a bus load of Chinese tourists arrived.  As you can see, they take their photography very seriously.

We have discovered that Admrial is quite the tourist attraction as well.  He has been photographed and admired at many of the places we have visited.

If you'd like to visit Monument Valley, remember that you will have a place to stay:)