Roman Royalty & A Very Happy Little Cowboy

Craig has a lot of regulars at his restaurant, two are Melissa and Dave. They work together and come into Pei Wei once a week for lunch. Melissa is lively and likes to throw a BIG bash every Halloween. This year she insisted that Craig come. The party was to be held at her home on Saturday night. After several trips to four or five different Halloween stores we FINALLY had all that we needed for our costumes. Let the record reflect that I wanted us to dress as Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots, but Craig wanted to be a Gladiator, so I gave in and chose to be a Roman queen instead of the red robot. Craig's make-up was so good that even his close friends didn't recognize him at first. He over-did it a bit on the make-up, intending to make himself look grungy and battle-ridden, he instead looked like a blue-eyed African, and because he HAD to add battle wounds to his arms and legs, my shower looked like a crime scene as we jetted out the door for the trek across town to Melissa's house.

The party was full of people I didn't know, but the nachos were good and so was the guy who sang "Sweet Caroline" during Scaryoke. The most unfortunate part about the evening (and the reason there are no photos accompanying my past few posts) was that I asked someone to take a picture of Craig and I, and she dropped my camera on it's lens and broke it. :( For those of you who know me, you know this is a serious tragedy! Luckily, I can still get to the photos on the memory card- I just need to take it to the store, but I can't take any new photos.

For Halloween night our family was, once again, invited to the Garner's house for their annual Halloween dinner and party. Every year Pattie spends the day making homemade soups. Others bring appetisers and breads, and we have an early dinner just in time for the kids to put on their costumes as the sun is setting. The men then take the kids trick-or-treating in a large group around the neighborhood. Because I don't feel like teaching him that he is entitled to a new costume every year, this year I told Carson that I was not going to buy him a costume for Halloween, but that he needed to create one out of the costumes he already has on hand. He chose to be a cowboy, and because his 6-shooter was broken months ago, Craig decided that he would buy Carson a new one to carry in his holster on his hip. Instead of buying him the plastic one from the regular store, we bought him a metal one they were selling at a costume shop instead. It's a real working cap gun and reminds me of the old metal 6-shooter I used to tote around when I was a little girl. Carson is gaga over this gun- he thinks the fact that it is metal instead of plastic is SO special, and has carried it with him everywhere we have gone since he got it. A brand new realistic 6-shooter and a bucket o' candy.... what more reason does a little cowboy need to be very happy?

Musical Theater, Shakespeare, and... Manure???

Only in Utah could a field trip include all of these!

Monday morning we left for St. George at 9am. We checked into our room and spent a couple of hours at the pool before getting cleaned up for the evening's big event- The Little Mermaid at Tuachan!

We arrived at the red-rock ampitheater at 5 o'clock where we were wisked throughout the backstage area on a private tour. Photo ops everywhere as we saw the cast member's lounge, the costume design department, the make-up and dressing rooms, the tunnels that lead from stage left to stage right, and even got to see how they do their famous stage flooding!

Following the backstage tour we ate a dinner of pizza and Dr.Peppers at a picnic table then were entertained by a family of children violin players before finally being allowed back into the theater to take our seats for the show. We were SO excited; popcorn purchased and bundled up for the evening's chill in our jackets and blankets, the play began. We were in amazement and awe from scene one, act one until the standing ovation which met the final curtain call! The special effects were like nothing I had ever seen before, and being that I'm from Vegas and have seen more than a few shows on-strip, that is HUGE! Mine and Carson's favorite part was when prince Eric fell overboard from his ship, then sank down, down, down to the depths of the sea only to be rescued by the beautiful mermaid Ariel! Following the show were more photo-ops with key characters of the play including Sebastian, Ursula, Flounder, King Triton, and, of course, Prince Eric and Princess Ariel.

I didn't sleep hardly at all (as is usually custom for my first night in a new place) that night, so the next morning when the majority of the group set out for hiking and touring, Carson and I opted to stay behind at the hotel and do some "pool-school" along with Matt and Christine. Who does schoolwork while relaxing at the pool at a hotel!? Homeschoolers do! :)

Later that afternoon we caravaned north to Cedar City where we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Main Street- the BEST enchiladas verdes EVER, and don't even remind me of the stuffed churros! The only thing better than the food was the company we were in- Taylors, Morrises, Coombses, and Prescias, we love you!

Following dinner we headed to the Shakespeare Festival for the 7pm showing of A Winter's Tale. The play wasn't quite what Shakespeare wrote, but rather this director's spin on it. Although the dialog was period-correct, the costumes were not, and there was bare minimum done for stage dressing and props. This combination proved to be both confusing to me, boring to Carson, and overall disappointing to us both. I think that the next time I take him to see a Shakespearean play, he will be in middle or high school. Not everything can be perfect all the time though, right?

It was a very late night by the time we got back to St. George and got the boys in bed, and 5:30 am came early! We needed to be cleaned up, have breakfast and ready to go by 8am to make it out to the farm by 8:30. Once we arrived at Staheli Family Farm day 3 of our adventures began! Christine locked the keys in the van, we couldn't get it open (sorry to all the men who tried), and had to call the Washington Police to come open it for us. Much laughter and joking ensued, with our rescuer joining in, and once again, the Taylors, Morrises, Coombses, and Prescias proved that when we are all together there is never a dull moment! After I unsuccessfully tried to purchase the kind officer's car opening tools (for future use because this was Christine's second time in a week locking her keys in the van) we headed into town to get some lunch for our tiny farmers, all of whom were by that time, mucking stalls, riding horses, feeding the llamas and pigs, and watering chickens. When we had returned with and eaten our lunches we took a wagon ride across the street to the corn field which had been cut into an intricate maze where we turned and returned our way from beginning to end.

Christine, Matt, Carson and I returned to the hotel where we enjoyed the use of the pool for the next few hours before setting out to see the town of St. George. We wandered in the car back out toward Tuachan and into the next town, found a housing development way out in the desert with it's own fire department (where we briefly met a fireman... this makes one policeman and one fireman if you are keeping count) before navigating our way back into St. George for some Starbucks and dinner. We decided on Kneaders for our dinner, and the sandwich and soup (along with the coffee) were perfect to keep us alert for the drive back home.

What we gained: a love for musical theater and the desire to open a Kneaders here in Vegas!

Renaissance FUNstival!

It was mine and Carson's first time ever attending a Renaissance Festival. I knew the moment Carson found out he got to dress up for the event, that he was going to have a great day...
While the other kids in the group chose to go as ladies and queens, knights and kings, my son chose to go as Robin Hood. We had a talk about how Robin Hood is most known for how he stole from the rich and gave to the poor; it's seemingly romantic, but when it comes down to it, it's socialism... and theft, which is a violation of one of God's commandments. My parent-eyes are seeing lots of negative lessons being taught in glorifying manners in all medias, and while it irks me something fierce, I like the teaching opportunities that times like these provide. Carson has an extremely advanced way of rationalizing and is quick to recognize propaganda when he sees it, so talking about things like this is quite normal for us. With that in mind, I dubbed him "Carson of Locksley" instead!
We arrived at Silver Bowl Park just after 9am and waited for the last of our homeschool group to arrive before heading into the faire. Once we entered, the kids were met by a playful man who invited them to be participants in a show later that morning, but because of other shows we wanted to see, our kiddos missed being performers.
Our first show was a real jousting tournament, and Carson was in awe of the size of the clydesdale and shire horses being used for the event! Kristi and I planned on letting the kids ride them later in the day. Our knight, Sir William something-or-other, lost to the other side's knight, Sir Jacob blah-blah-blah, in a sudden-death laissez-faire round where Jacob sucker-hit William in the back before the jousting round even began, then WWF-styled him from atop his horse while William was on the ground. Oh well! Our side lost, but we got to see our knight and his horse up close after the show!
It was a quick walk from the jousting arena to the next show at Ceasar's, and the show had already started as we took our seats to watch. This was the show that the kids had been invited to participate in, but we couldn't possibly have gone to the renaissance FUNstival without attending a jousting tournament show! There was another group of kids participating instead, so we just sat and watched the slap-stick style show.
After Ceasar's, we headed on over to the giant pirate ship to watch Bird Recovery International's Pirate Parrot Show! This one was my favorite show. The birds were SOOO beautiful and colorful, and seeing them do fly-overs was absolutely magestic! Carson held up a dollar bill and one smaller bird landed on his arm, shimmied down to his hand, took the bill from his fingers, folded it twice, then flew the bill back up to the ship and put it in a jar! After the show we even got to hold a big, beautiful turquoise, yellow, and red parrot. It was awesome!
Lunchtime followed the bird show, so we spread our blankets under a big shade tree and ate a period-style lunch of turkey legs, corn-on-the cob, and grapes. The kids had slushy treats and played giant jenga with the king, his high priest and a couple of their friends afterward until it was time to hit the games!
They got to throw tomahawks where Carson hit two bullseyes! (watch out!) They battled a band of outlaws with foam swords and knives, tried on different pieces of armor and did a round of archery before we headed over to the camels for camel rides! It was $6/ person to ride the camel, but when will we ever get the opportunity to ride a camel again?! So the camel trumped the horse ride in priority! After the camel ride we hung out with different guilds. We watched a woman spin wool into thread, met her Newfoundland dog, and did some painting. Another guild was playing a knife-tossing game (crazy!) and allowed us to hang out with them, showing us an extensive collection of weaponry and armor, and teaching about each piece's use, and letting us handle them!

On our way to our final guild we stopped to buy the kids something special. for Carson that meant a mini marshmellow blowgun made from pvc pipe. Boy is that kid a great shot! We laughed so hard as the kids sneakily shot passersby with mallows then pretended nothing happened. The last guild we spent time with before heading home was that of a Venturers group (888) which was sponsored by a guild of Vikings! Our boys played bow & arrows and swords with their boys while we chatted about the scouting program and got some information from the Vikings for future use in our period studies. When their dinner arrived it was our cue to end our day and head home.
Once we were seatbelted into the car and heading out of the parking area (7:20pm), I heard Carson in the back seat turn to Matt and say, "Dude! We just had one of the most awesomest days EVER!" (Note to self: buy that grammar program), and Matt agreed!
I was truly a Renaissance FUNstival!!

　

Den 3 Crazies Camping @ Valley of Fire in the Summer!

The hot temperatures didn't deter Pete and Tim (our den leaders) from administering the program though. Shortly after breakfast on Saturday morning the men began debriefing the boys for their hike out in the hot, dry wilderness. They talked of the need to walk in a single-file line so as to leave the least amount of impact on the environment as possible and did equipment checks in addition to going over the rules for safety. (Note to self: I need to buy Carson a camelback with extra pockets to hold his first aid kit, compass, and mirror... oh, and I need to get him a personal first aid kit, compass and mirror... and while I'm at it, a wide-brimmed hat.) Perhaps I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was!

Tim took photos of each of the boys in this same spot while out on the hike. I love a fellow photo-enthusiast; I got some great photos without actually having to go hiking in my flip flops! (I forgot, of all things, my tennis shoes on this trip)!

In the mid-afternoon a storm came over the ridge east of our campsite, but the wind was headed north by northeast moving it fast enought that the cooling rain eluded us, but the wind did not; can you say sandblasted? Bent tent poles and sand in every nook and cranny of our bodies is what we were left with.

The passing storm above the firey rocks made for a beautiful sunset though, and we enjoyed the colorful show while preparing our hobo pack dinners, a staple of den 3 campouts!

A clear, star-studded night met us as we gathered around the campfire for smores and dutch oven cobbler for dessert just before a couple hours of story-telling, charades, and astronomy- horray for the show brought on by Venus! On Friday night when we were laying down to sleep, Carson and I both saw a bright flash of light streak across the sky. We thought it was a shooting star, but later learned it was a piece of the NASA satellite burning up as it entered the atmosphere.

Man do we love cub scout camping!

Bridging

As of tonight Carson is a first-year Webelo Scout. The bridging celebration was great; the good food and good friends made the 108 degree heat more bearable for sure! Carson's entire den, with the exception of one boy who is still undecided, has made the decision to stay with the program and continue on to the next step in scouting together. I am especially happy about this because Carson and the other boys get along so well and his leaders and the other parents are just good people that Craig and I have fun hanging out with. Hopefully the one boy ultimately decides to continue on as well- we would miss he and his family otherwise!

As a Bear Cub Scout Carson earned his Bobcat patch (this was his first year of scouting), his Bear rank patch, the Leave No Trace Awareness Award, the Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award, a total of 8 arrow points (the first one gold and then seven subsequent silvers), 34 belt loops and 12 pins in addition to several other participation patches for events like Scouting for Food, the Pinewood Derby, and Cub Scout Expo. For anyone who is familiar with scouting you know these are awesome numbers!

Congratulations to our son, you should be proud of your hard work and accomplishments! We are so excited to see what this next year will bring!

Social Slate

Social activities for Carson have been at the forefront of my mind and the focus of most of my laptop time this past week. I have learned about SOOO many options available for him! Aside from the field trips, co-op classes, and PE days with Joyful Journey Homeschool Group here's what's up for consideration:

Cubscouts is a MUST! He will be bridging to a Webelo tonight, and I am very excited for all of the new adventures this year will bring him and our family! Pack 500 is where we will be staying as he likes the friends he's made there, and this association will allow us to continue to develop those friendships. Also, I am the pack treasurer and you know I can't very well abandon that post- I'm a service addict, I think.

Another friend of mine, Heather McDonald, is a homeschooler but is not affiliated with JJourney, but rather Las Vegas Home School Group, a homeschooling support group, or playgroup as she calls it. They have fun activities like ice skating, parties, and a No-girls-allowed Boys Club!

My friend Joy Stalians, mother of a fellow den member of Carson's, has the inside scoop on chess club and tournaments and has agreed to let me know when they get going again for the fall. Carson began playing chess in Chess Club during first grade. He has only played with his dad and online so far, so I'm excited for his first tournament experience!

JJourney also gets phenominal rates for swim lessons @ Water Wings Swim School. Lessons will begin in January and go through April or May.

My freind and fellow JJourney member, Christine Taylor, has her son taking MMA classes (Mixed Martial Arts) from Rodrigo Artilheiro of Extreme Couture. He does the classes at Calvary Chapel Spring Valley.

A former co-worker of mine from INO 204, Amy Manness, has her children involved in theater through Rainbow Company Theater. I am considering getting Carson involved in this because he LOVES to perform.

This is all that I have found so far through connections that I already have, however, I'm still open to other suggestions. My greatest focus in the area of socialization is to make sure that Carson is 1. doing things he loves to do and can become passionate about the more he becomes involved in it, and 2. interacting with different groups of people from different backgrounds and with different interests. The purpose of this would be to recreate the exposure to diversity that you assuredly get within the public school system. It is important to me that Carson be rooted in his own culture and beliefs, but know how to interact with others from all backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems in the hopes that he will choose to be an apologetic to Christ.

Decision Made

After many hours of thought, prayer, consideration, weighing options, listing pros and cons, and talking with MANY different people about it, I have decided to opt Carson out of public education and homeschool him. In reality, I am SO excited for what is to come for him! I am currently propped on my king-size bed surrounded by curriculum books, bibles (different translations), curriculum catalog, accordian files, notebooks, sticky notes.... and I know my pencil is here somewhere! I have already decided what curriculum I will use for each subject, but am wading through it preparing myself for what is to come. I'm making a list of things I need to buy (some supplies and more curriculum programs), and searching the internet for the greatest deal- of course!

Here's what's in store for Carson for the 4th grade: For his core he will be following the My Father's World curriculum, a Christian-based program that encompasses Bible, Reading, Geography, and Science (although he loves science, so we will be supplementing with Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day). We will be using Math U See for Mathematics, and The Phonics Road to Reading & Writing for Spelling, Grammar, Writing, and more Reading as well as using Rosetta Stone's language development program for Spanish. We will be joining Joyful Journey Homeschool group, a group of like-minded Christian parents and children, and I cannot wait for the annual school year planning retreat in a couple of weeks! For socialization (as I'm sure some of you are really concerned about right now) we will meet with the homeschool group (about 40+ kids) twice weekly for group classes (to be planned at the retreat) and for Physical Education and feild trip Fridays! Additionally, Carson will continue his involvement in Cub Scouts as he advances in rank to a Webelo. I have opted to keep him in Pack 500, the pack from the area we used to live in, in the Northwest, which we'll travel to 4-7 times per month. Additionally, our homeschool group gets fantastic rates on swim lessons (once/week from about January through Aprilish?), and he is currently considering what classes he would like to take at the community center up the road from our house (although Thai Kwon Do is at the forefront of his mind at the moment)! So, lots of learning to be had (at his own pace and from the level that he is at I'll add :) ) and lots of opportunity for being the wonderfully social 9-year old we all know him to be!

I know that this decision is leaving some of you scratching your heads right about now, so let me just say this: I love you and I'm already aware of your opinions regarding homeschooling, and although I value you, you are not the sole weight in my consideration. As I stated in the beginning, much consideration for the needs of my profoundly gifted son, much weighing of the pros and cons related to lifestyle, time, money, social exposure, etc, and much quiet prayer were spent prior to coming to this decision.

The CCSD has failed to provide the level of education my son needs, and it is shameful like denying a special needs child their remedial education services would be. Our nation has it backward: catering to the less-than-status-quo while the remainder are left to their own accord. Carson was "so bored!" for the majority of his classroom time for the past 3 years. He stated as a first grader, "Going to school is a waste of my glorious days."

While in the car on our way home he would tell of his typical school day: "We waited for everyone to get ready for the day, then the teacher taught and I understood and just tuned her out while she explained it again so I could do my work. When I was done though, I got bored because most of the rest of the class was doing their work, and the rest of them were still trying to get it while the teacher explained it AGAIN! I didn't have anything else to do then, so I just took out my markers and stuff and started drawing until it was time to go to lunch. After lunch we had a little bit of recess then went to library, and then in the afternoon I went to GATE. Oh, here's the papers I have to do for [additional] homework because I missed them while I was in GATE [doing other awesome studies because I'm a smart kid who is rewarded for his good job and effort with.... more work]. Momma, can I have a snack when we get home?"

I grew tired of hearing this same story, knowing he wasn't reaching his potential, and I know that he will be all but bored with what I have planned for him now- although recess at the park across the street from our house is on the agenda, as are library days... and maybe even doing school in the park! The possibilities are seemingly endless, and I am EXCITED for each and every adventure, challenge, and opportunity this decision will bring to us! Perhaps we could start early and have our first day at the pool... I could take his materials in a backpack, pack a lunch in the cooler, and we could sit by the pool and do school, taking "recesses" in the pool- I could call it PoolSchool! :)