The Clarkson Family: Busy!

Here is what we have been up to...

I started homeschool with Matthew last month, about 4 weeks ago, and it has been AWESOME! I am using the K12 program and the curriculum is unbelievable! Art is real art (learning about lines and how they create movement and mood) and History is so much fun learning about Nomads and Egypt and mummies that now Matthew wants to be an archeologist (which was my major for 2 semesters in college before changing to Health Science). Science, language arts, phonics, math, music and PE are all awesome too, I could go on and on, but if any of you are interested in it, LET ME KNOW! I'd love to go into more detail!

The coolest thing is that Andrew and Isaac get to join in on art, music, PE and some reading! Here they are doing an art lesson, making a print.

Levi has been such an amazing baby! He loves his baby toys and even though he was getting tired, didn't want to get out of his baby toy! So, he just fell asleep in it! So funny! He has red hair and blue eyes, is super chubby (weighing 20 lbs at 4 mos) and is such a great sleeper! He sleeps from 8pm to 5am, eats and then back to sleep until 8 am! He also takes 2 naps per day and is so happy and smiley! He also sleeps in his crib (my other 3 slept with me and would not sleep in their crib, so I didn't get good sleep)! He is awesome! He is getting his 2 bottom teeth and can roll over from back to stomach.
My sister in law is going into photography and took some AWESOME pictures of my boys! Here is a funny one of Isaac who would not smile for anything! We'll have to try again next time! Don't you just love his rolls?

Current Favorite Quotes From My Current Favorite Books

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Benjamin Franklin

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw

"Rather than turning inward to 'find' herself, she has 'created' herself throughout her life by serving others, building her character, and rising to the challenges life has presented her." Maria Covey Cole

"Contentment should be the hallmark of the man or woman who has put his or her affairs in the hands of God." Phillip Keller

"If a woman wants to become a finer mother, she must first become a finer person." Maria Covey Cole

"Wise and good men are in my opinion, the strength of the state; more so than riches or arms... I think also, that general virtue is more probably to be expected and obtained from the education of youth, than from the exhortations of adult persons; bad habits and vices of the mind being, like diseases of the body, more easily prevented [in youth] than cured [in adults.] I think, moreover, that talents for the education of youth are the gift of God; and that he on whom they are bestowed, whenever a way is opened for the use of them, is as strongly called as if he heard a voice from heaven...." Benjamin Franklin

"I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue." Samuel Adams

"Life is a mission and not a career, and the purpose of all our education and knowledge is so that we can better represent Him and serve that mission of life in His name and toward His purposes." David O. McKay

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"I have been quoted as saying, 'Do the best you can.' But I want to emphasize that it be the very best. We are too prone to be satisfied with mediocre performance. We are capable of doing so much better." Gordon B. Hinckley

The 5 Metastasizing Cancers:
Comparing
Competing
Criticizing
Complaining
Complacency
These lead to feelings of discontentment and can get us caught in the "thick of thin things." Stephen R. Covey

"Lasting contentment comes from pursuing the true reasons for our existence: looking for, finding, loving, and serving God and His children. All other pursuits are mere distractions." Maria Covey Cole

"The science of government is my duty to study, more than all other sciences; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation ought to take place of, indeed to exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must study politics and war, that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain." John Adams

"We frequently speak of the strength of the priesthood and properly so. But we must never lose sight of the strength of the women. It is mothers who set the tone of the home. It is mothers who most directly affect the lives of their children. It is mothers who teach infants to pray, who read to them choice and beautiful literature from the scriptures and other sources. It is mothers who nurture them and bring them up in the ways of the Lord. Their influence is paramount." Gordon B. Hinckley

"I have noticed that daily we meet moments that steal our self-esteem. They are inevitable. Pick up any magazine; you see people who look healthier, skinnier, or better dressed than you are. Look around. There is always someone who seems smarter, another more self-assured, and still another more talented. In fact, each day we are reminded that we lack certain talents, that we make mistakes, that we do not excel in all things. And amidst all this, it is easy to believe that we do not quite measure up in the great scheme of things, but are inferior in some secret way....
"If you base your self-esteem, your feeling of self-worth, on anything outside the quality of your heart, your mind, or your soul, you have based it on a very shaky footing. So you and I are not perfect in form or physical figure? So you and I are not the richest, the wisest, the wittiest? So what?" Paul H. Dunn

"To teach, encourage, cheer up, console, amuse, stimulate or advise a husband or children or friends, you have to be something yourself. And how to be something yourself? Only by working hard and with gumption at something you love and care for and think is important.
"So if you want your children to be musicians, then work at music yourself, seriously and with all your intelligence. If you want them to be scholars, study hard yourself. If you want them to be honest, be honest yourself. And so it goes.
"And that is why I would say to the worn and hectored mothers who longed to write and could find not a minute for it: If you would shut your door for an hour a day and say: "Mother is working on her five-act tragedy in blank verse!" you would be surprised how they would respect you. They would probably all become playwrights." Brenda Ueland (1938)

8 comments:

Jamie Sue said...: I'm glad you're having so much fun with the k12 program. Sometimes I think I should've done that this year for my kids, but with everything that we had going on, I just couldn't even think of adding on something new. But if we go back to Cali, then I'm gonna REALLY wish we were doing k12. Oh well, I guess there's always next year, right?

LOVE LOVE LOVE the pic of Levi! He's such a cutie! :D; September 20, 2009 at 3:51 PM
Karly Michelsen said...: You are so lucky that he is such a good sleeper. Even Lyla doesn't sleep that good. Have you started feeding him solids yet? If not, when do you usually start?; September 20, 2009 at 4:44 PM
kp said...: I don't know how you do it super mom! 4 kids and doing your own pre-school. I'm going to be so old by the time I have kids I don't know if I'll have the energy! Love the pics, your boys are cute as always. Although, Levi must have been disgruntled about the pictures, I think he's flipping us all off!; September 20, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Bec, Tim and Boys said...: Ha! Kristen, I totally didn't notice that... It just adds to the picture though, don't you think?; September 21, 2009 at 6:17 AM
Unknown said...: I've been wanting to ask you how's homeschooling going. (We got off our regular nurse during Sac. Mtg. schedule!!) I'm glad it's going so well.

Ok, that pic of Issac on the side is pretty much adorable! I've decided if he marries Lauren- their kids will have the cutest dark eyes!! Just sayin'!! :); September 23, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Mica said...: Hey....I've been thinkin' about ya! Sounds like you are doin' great though! Levi is getting so big...what a little cutie! And I'm with Allyson....the pic of Isaac on the sidebar is soooooo stinkin' cute! He's gonna be a little heartbreaker....handsome little guy!!! :); September 25, 2009 at 8:50 AM
Scott and Kaitlin said...: Becky!! The first thing I noticed about Levi's picture--besides the wonderful picture quality and the fact that he looks so mad--is that he's flipping us off! haha! So funny! I'm so happy your boys are learning so much! :); October 15, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Scott and Kaitlin said...: I mean, learning so much academically. ;) ahaha; October 15, 2009 at 7:06 PM

The Clarkson Family

Busy!

8 comments:

How many licks to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

Heaven on Earth

About Us

Mormon Messages

Levi 12 mos

Isaac (3)

Andrew (5)

Matthew (7)

Current Favorite Books

Blog Archive

Our Blogger Friends

Family 2007

Family 2008

Family 2009

Family 2010 (Spring)

Family 2010 (Fall)

Current Favorite Quotes From My Current Favorite Books

Websites We Like

People I don't know but like to read their blogs

Great sites for kids!