Monday, September 12, 2011

Too good for Facebook!

This story is just too good for facebook. I'm afraid the stories and cute things said that I put on FB are actually lost in the atmosphere. However, I feel they are safe here.

This cute little boy whom shall remain nameless...



Just asked me the sweetest question. One he asks a lot! But, this time he shared an answer he received from his father. Here's how it went down.

Trae: "Mom?"
Me: "Yes Trae?"
Trae: "Why are you and Dad in love? I mean, how did you fall in love?"
Me: "Well...."
Trae: "Oh, wait. I know! Dad told me. One day you were born. Oh wait, that's a different story. Um...Dad said it's cause you...wake...up...CRAZY!!"

Hahahahha!! Truer words were never spoken!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Weird Homeschooling Mormon!

*Warning! It's LONG!!

So, I've ventured into unknown territory. Somewhere I never thought I'd be. Well, not the weird part, or the Mormon part. I've always been those. Just the homeschooling part. Somewhere I plan on staying!! And I figure now that I'm committed, I should share it all with you. My name is Amber Gunter and I'm a WHM! In my head that stands for Weally Hot Momma! But in reality, I'm just a Weird Homeschooling Mom. And I love it!

Our choice to become homeschoolers came about with my kicking and screaming. Walter always wanted us to homeschool, but I didn't think I could do it. If my kids are anything like me, it wouldn't work! You see, my mom tried to teach me some things at home. Like, how to cook, make chocolate, make freezer jam, play the piano, can, etc. I had no desire to learn from her. I was convinced that those were things I didn't want to do and would just live forever with her so she could do them for me. Well, guess what? I love to do all those things, and everyday I find myself wanting to be more like my mom. I just wish she lived closer so she could teach me.

Anyway, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to teach my kids. But guess what? We are learning together and having SO MUCH FUN!! How did I go from kicking and screaming to loving it? Let me tell you. There was a lot of blood sweat and tears. OK, maybe just the latter 2...thankfully! OK, now here is how we got here.

Last summer I was going back and forth as to what we were going to do for school in the Fall. I didn't realize they had Pre K out here at the public school, so I did Joy School with some other moms from church the year before. It was fun. Then I heard about PreK in our area and that it was ALL DAY!! I was in shock! I couldn't imagine sending my 4 yr old away all day. I mean, she is the one that helps me! She is very impressionable! She needs her mommy! Then it came time for Kindergarten. They changed the boundary for our school so it was no longer all day PreK, but Kindergarten is all day here! SERIOUSLY!! I don't think I'm in UTAH anymore!! So at the last minute, as in 2 weeks before school started, I decided Grady needed some personal mom time and enrolled both Winni (all day Kindergarten) and Trae (1/2 day PreK) in school. They were to ride the bus to and from school. But when I learned that the bus would pick Winni up at 710 AM and she would have breakfast at school I decided I would take her. Luckily my good friend Stacey offered to drive her for me. It was really a blessing. My kids aren't even up at that hour, let alone dressed and out the door.

Winni and Trae both loved their teachers. I really liked them, too. I just didn't love that they got my kids all day. I had a hard time with the idea that I was sending my kids to school, well rested and happy and they came home exhausted and cranky. And then I had to do homework with them. It really strained my relationships with them. Winni started asking me to pick her up from school. Actually, she started demanding it. Trae would still ride the bus home, but Winni would come home with me. Something was going on and she was begging me to hold her tighter. One day I was late getting to the school to pick her up so they put her on the bus. I got there before the bus left and she saw me and ran off the bus crying. My heart was broken! Then she started asking me to homeschool her. I was a little shocked. She has great friends at school, was learning a lot and loved her teacher, but she wanted to be home. I personally believe that something was going on either at school or on the bus that was scaring her or making her feel unsafe. Or maybe she just knew I needed something like this so that I would do what I knew I was supposed to do. My little girl was changing, she was getting quiet, angry, and very tired. We decided that we would let her and Trae finish out the semester and then we would bring them home. Let me tell you, their last day of school was really hard on me. I cried when I rode with Stacey to take her to school, I cried all day, I cried when I picked her up, I cried the day before, and the day after. One lady from church asked me if somebody had died! You would think so. But really, someone was coming back to life. I knew in my heart that homeschooling was right for my family like I had known nothing so strongly before. I had never felt so right about anything in my life, except for marrying Walter. It was that strong! And that emotional! I was terrified and excited. I was unprepared and ready for anything. All I knew was that I had my kids at home with me and God would guide the rest.

So, we started after New Years. I can't say I didn't question myself, cause I did, a lot! But somehow we have figured things out and continue on. I let Trae play for the rest of the year. If he wanted to join us in Math, he did. We focused on Math and Reading for Winni and all the other subjects just happened in life. It was great. I got to see the a-ha moments in my children's lives. We had so much fun! Everything we did counted as educational. Now this year has started. I've got Winni in 1st Grade

 
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and Trae in Kindergarten.

 
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We are trying to stay close to the TJEd philosphy as much as I feel comfortable. My goal is to teach my kids how to be whole people! To teach them how to give back to society. To be contributors. To know how to care for themselves and others. That is my top priority right now. You know, to teach them to be more like me! :) I also want to play with my kids. To learn through play and to have a good time doing it! When my daughter is laughing hysterically during Math, I think we are off to a good start!

AWESOME ACADEMY is IN SESSION!!

 
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Saturday, July 16, 2011

my husbands and his mobile antics...

so, my husband decided to look into mobile apps and ran into this:
www.memeapps.com
He says it is a neat idea and might help him break into the app world and might also help with some cross-platform issues, but it is still new. So, if you are looking for something fun to do, give it a go!!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Blogworthy...for rizzle!

Today started as any other day does. My 3 oldest were in my bed!

But everything after that went differently. Trae asked me if we could read scriptures. We are currently reading 1 Nephi and are to the part where the Spirit has told Nephi to kill Laban. Nephi is struggling with the thought of killing a man. We are in the middle of his questioning of the spirit. Trae said, 'Mom, we gotta read scriptures so we can find out if Nephi killed Laban the bad guy!' There was my paycheck. He was listening to what we were reading! I was so excited. Then we had breakfast and decided to start getting ready for General Conference to begin. We called Kristen and invited her and her girls over for a fun filled day of hearing from the Prophet and Conference crafts. I had received an email the night before from Walter saying he was finally USA bound and would be in Key West sometime today. I was looking forward to hearing from him. When I realized that the Caller ID was telling me that he was calling from his cell phone I got all sorts of excited! If his phone was on and usable then he was on home turf! yeah!!

So, we talk for a little while and he tells me how the weather is beautiful in FL and I tell him it's frigid here! He asked me what we had for lunch, I told him about our bean and cheese burritos. He said he was about to head out for oysters in a half shell, whatever that means! All I knew was he was eating gourmet and we were eating from a can. As I talk to him I am still entertaining Kristen and her girls, so I'm halfway his. I hear a knock at the door and figure it's just one of the kids. Then I see a weird car out front. So I head for the door and you know what??? THEY'RE HOME! Who's 'they' you ask?

THEY...



No, not him and that virgin daiquiri, him and that mustache! Apparently it didn't bother me all that much, well maybe it did. The neighbor did hear me scream and came out to see which of my kids (he probably thought it was Grady) had fallen and if I needed help! Once he realized what all the fuss was about he went back to working on his car. Back to me, I screamed and hugged him and (might have) kissed that mustache face! For the first time, out of the 5 times he's deployed, I cried when he returned. I think it was the surprise of it all, but I am so happy he surprised us! Turns out, he is a better liar then I thought!

So, before Kristen and girls ran away from us crazies, we got her to take a picture for us. Don't mind the pasty white no-longer-single mother of 4 who looks like she could use a beach vacation look that I'm sporting. It's what I do. Embrace it!



And, of course, proof that I kissed that nasty lip, even if it was painful



He was promptly sent up the stairs to shower and rid himself of those 5 hairs on his upper lip!

Also, it was very surprising to me that, within about 1 hour of him arriving home, I became exhausted! Just knowing that he was home, safe, and ready for daddy duty, my brain must have released some melatonin and I was ready for a nap! Ahhh....HE'S BACK!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day

I know. Don't hurt yourself trying to figure out how I made it all the way to Valentines Day on the actual Day of Valentines! I'm trying to keep you on your toes.

I'm not one to love Valentine's Day. In fact, growing up I disliked Valentines the most. You see, I went to a different school than my neighborhood/church friends. Because of this I felt that I needed/wanted to deliver Valentine's at night to them doing the ol door bell ditch method. It was so fun. However, nobody brought me a Valentine. Every Valentine's Day I would sit in the living room waiting for someone to ring the doorbell so I could run and find a Valentine for me, but it didn't happen. My sister got Valentines. I didn't like her very much. I guess I was a little obvious in my sorrowful state and my sister had the nerve to decide she was going to try to make me happy. She delivered a Valentine to my door, doorbell ditch style. I was so excited, until I found out it was from her. I'm sure I was ornery about it, but to this day I remember how much she loved me. I remember her thoughtfulness like it was yesterday. I was probably cranky to her about it because I always looked up to her and to think that she wanted to do something to bring me joy and happiness was more than I could understand. But I get it now, and every year I think about my sister Julie on Valentines Day.

So, with that dirty laundry out there drying, we'll move on to this Valentine's Day. I wanted to make it special for my kids. Since I pulled them out of public school and started homeschooling them (what? I didn't get to that part in my catch up? Ooops. I will. It comes after Christmas. :)) I was worried they would feel left out of holidays like this. We still bought Valentines and made them for some of the kids friends. But from me, they got an experience. I found this fun idea at Gourmet Mom on the Go

They sat down for dinner and were handed a menu. The menu looked like this on the cover...


Then inside was where they placed their order. On the blank line they wrote the corresponding number for what they wanted during that course. But, of course, they didn't have the 'translation' available to them.


Winni was pretty excited when her first Course was the Ice Cream Sundae, Orange crush, and a toothpick.


Maeli's first course was Orange Crush (orange soda), jam and a toothpick. I have to say, she is the only one who didn't complain that they didn't have the right stuff. :) And she did awesome with that toothpick.


Grady is easily pleased! His first course was a toothpick, a napkin, and Parmesan Cheese. He thought he hit the jackpot!



Traes first course was a knife, a napkin and an ice cream sundae. He was so excited that he got the ice cream just like Winni. Then he realized he didn't have a spoon, just a knife. At that point he didn't want to play the game anymore, but we forced him to. It's called Forced Family Fun for a reason!! (thanks Lori!)



The meal was 4 courses long. I think Maeli is the only one that touched her food before the final course. She was done with her jam before I could get her her 2nd course. What a good girl. Since this was so much fun, and I was surprised at how well my kids ordered, here is the rundown of their meal.

Winni
2nd- knife, jam, and a roll I was really impressed with that one!
3rd- napkin, spaghetti sauce, noodles
4th- cheese, spoon, carrots, fork

Trae
2nd- fork, toothpick, cheese this was just like adding fuel to the fire. At one point he got up and got himself a spoon. He was determined to eat his ice cream first. He eventually just used his fork!
3rd- roll, jam, carrots
4th- orange crush, spaghetti sauce, noodles, spoon his beloved spoon, and he had no ice cream left!

Grady
2nd- carrots, knife, ice cream sundae
3rd- noodles, spoon, fork
4th- orange crush, jam, spaghetti sauce, roll

Maeli
2nd- roll, spaghetti sauce, noodles
3rd- spoon, carrots, fork
4th- ice cream sundae, knife, napkin, cheese

Daddy of course I made him play!
1st- napkin, roll, spoon
2nd- ice cream sundae, toothpick, noodles
3rd- orange crush, fork, spaghetti sauce
4th- knife, carrots, jam, cheese

I was surprised that nobody got spaghetti sauce before noodles. They were all fairly good sports. As you can see, Winni, Trae, and Grady got ice cream before spaghetti. Although they didn't eat it right when they got it, they did eat it before touching their spaghetti...and then they were full! I think my kids know that I love them. They are pretty awesome! Love you monkeys!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Maeli turned 1!

My baby! I didn't think this day would come, but she woke up and turned 1!


And she looked so cute doing it! Daddy tied her birthday balloon to her onesie. She was a little confused...


We had some friends over for cake. Yeah for naked babies and cake!

My kids are growing up so fast!


Notice our neighbor friends came over for cake, not cake and presents. Sorry Maeli. It's called 4th child syndrome.


I'm not a horrible mother, completely. She did get a baby doll. :) And this yucky cake I made.



Luckily I picked up a back up cake. :)



Happy Birthday (3 mo ago) sweet baby girl! We love you so much!

October

Apparently, I am the worst mom ever! Not only did I not blog about Halloween, I didn't even take that many pictures! In my defense, I was taking video instead. At least we'll have something to show their dates when they are older!


These pictures are from the school parade.

Trae was Diego. He loves Diego. I think he wears this costume at least everyday!

Grady tagged along. He was the cutest Buzz Lightyear. There were at least 2 other Buzz's, but this one stole my heart!


Winni and her friends Alexis, Bella, and Kianna. She was the only Ariel I saw. woot woot!

Then we had the Branch Trunk-or-Treat. Remember Nancy? The girl who 'looks like me'. Well, apparently she also thinks like me. Here are our kids with their Halloween Twin.


Ariel. Looks like Eric is doing pretty well. Check out the size of those rocks! :)

Winni and Sabrina. I realize Sabrina has no hair. Isn't she so cute! She likes to pull her hair out in chunks, so they shave her head. Poor girl. Dear Sabrina, stop pulling your hair out!

Not so much a twin, but definitely a super team!

Maeli and Zach. Another reason to go Trick-r-Treating on Saturday instead of Sunday. These 2 observe the Sabbath.

And the space dudes!



To Infinity (or the moon) and BEYOND!!

I just now realized I know I have more pictures of Halloween. But, I'm pretty sure they are on the camera we left somewhere in Georgia. sniff sniff. Dear Georgia, if you find my camera, could you please send me the pictures? Thanks.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Remember

So, remember when I acted like by 30th birthday was no big deal? I lied. Seriously. I'm kind of a big deal...to my kids. So, I make myself a big deal to other people. I threw myself a Murder Mystery Party and invited my new friends! The closest people walked to my house, then some crossed state lines, and others, the farthest, drove an hour! Talk about a self esteem boost!

Here he is. My Walter. Isn't he the cutest preppy boy you ever saw? I did good!


Jerry! He looks sweet and innocent, but don't let him fool you!


Amy and myself. Amy is my friend I stole from the Smyrna Ward. She and her husband Jerry, along with Lorien crossed state lines to be with me. They rock!


cheeeeeeeese!


Hazen aka OK, I don't remember anyones names and I can't see their nametags. But that doesn't really matter. I know this is Hazen and Stacey. They are our favorite neighbors here in MD. Stacey is awesome and she understands my need to feed my kids healthy. We both boycott McDonald's!

Ariane and Marc. Marc's aka is religious, for real. At church we call him Pres. Robinson. He is our branch president. Don't you love the tattoos?? He looks righteous, right?


Lorien. She loves Apple. She also loves making fun of Walter. And she's good at it!

Jessica. Another C-town friend and neighbor. Her husband, Sita, was late. After I stopped being the photographer. She's got a little boy that's 2 that thinks my house is fun. Or he used to. He hasn't stopped by in a while.


BJ and Nancy. These guys are some more church friends. They live in C-ville, not to be confused with C-town. People (read: old people and Nancy's brother) get us confused. I don't see it. She is smart and runs a lot. I'm not so smart and eat a lot. hmmmm..... They were our detectives for the night, but by day they are both Biology teachers at the local Community College.


These 2 couples are the local transplants, like ourselves. We have Allen and Katie Voelcker and Kristen and Matt Steck. Katie is Katie Carter, of the 12th ward. As in, my parents ward. They moved out here after they came out to see why we moved out here. What can I say? We are fun! Kristen and Matt are both from Utah and were in Katie and Allen's ward here. They tricked them into moving out here, too! It's our own little Utah.



Oh, and in case there were any questions. Hazen was our resident thug! The local trouble maker who ended up working for the CIA!


Of course, it was a murder mystery dinner. So, there were some casualties.

Not in death order, but still dead by the end of the night.

Katie, killed by Ariane


Hazen, killed by Ariane, with the hammer. She killed him in the kitchen, with everybody around, and nobody had a clue. She's good...and bad!


Amy, again, killed by Ariane. I'm tellin ya. Watch out for those Preacher's Wife types.


My poor Walter. He was the first to go. However, Ariane didn't kill him. His characters 'best friend' did it. Thanks Hazen! Knock him out early so he can start the clean up.



I made Cafe Rio Pork Salads for dinner and it was AWESOME! I love inviting people who like good food over. It makes them think I'm a good cook when I show them a little love.

Then for dessert I wanted something to the effect of Death by Chocolate, but I really wanted Better Than Anything cake. So, that's what we had, but I still called it Death By Chocolate. A little confusing, but who cares? It's my birthday...or it was almost 5 months ago!



Oh, and Kelly T. check out these pants! Kelly gave me these pants back when we were visiting home in January. Her instructions were, 'find somewhere to wear these!' She was laughing. But I took the challenge, and these 'liquid porno pants' as I soon learned they are called, are pretty dang sezy! :)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

BE MINE!

I have GOT to get me a new camera so I can start blogging again. I miss it, but I can't blog without pictures. It's just not right! So, until my new camera shows up, I'll do some catching up...starting tomorrow? Anyway, for tonight I wanted to remember something my kids were doing today.

Lately, Trae has had a lot of questions about Walter's mother, Winifred. If you remember, Wendy died a couple days before Walter turned 4. While in SC over Christmas this year we talked about her and the bridge she died on. We also visited with her side of the family and helped the kids figure out how all of these people are related. So, she has come up in conversation a lot. Today they were playing in the other room and pretending to make Valentines. I heard Trae say that he is making a Valentine for Grandma Wendy. It was so cute. I'm sure she would love a Valentine from her sweet grandson.