Nativity

On Friday, we headed down to Cache Valley for a great family night.  We headed over to Nibley to attend a live nativity.  It was so beautiful and I was really grateful to be able to experience it as a family.  

They had such a neat barn and several other buildings filled with animals.  The highlight for the kids was DEFINITELY the hay ride.  It was driven by the two most beautiful horses and was so cozy riding over the snow meadow.  It was dreamy.

Benjamin's 2nd Birthday

This little man is two years old!

We love Ben so much.  He is sensitive, athletic, and thoughtful.  His little personality is coming out more and more every day.  We can't wait to see where life takes him.  I love listening to him count to ten, dance, play ball, and conduct his choo-choos wearing high heels.  He is one-of-a-kind and we love him exactly how he is. 

Here are some of his favorites:

Books:  Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle, Mighty, Mighty Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tawny Scrawny Lion by Kathryn Jackson

Activities: Riding the lawn mower, playing catch, doing anything outside, reading, playing with his trains and running.  

Food:  Pancakes and apples

Song:  I Am a Child of God 

Benjamin was SO ready for his big day.  He slept in and then was ready to PARTY!  Gramps and Grammy came up yesterday and so they were here to share our birthday breakfast of breakfast casserole, oranges, and orange juice.  

We then got ready for his birthday party.  Grandpa and Grandma came and we had so much fun.  Our little man would love life as a farmer.  He calls the lawn mower the tractor and can ride on that thing for HOURS.  So today was life on the farm...inside.  

Benjamin was a little unsure about all of the attention he was getting while opening his presents but he soon got more into it.  He is so loved and couldn't wait to get reading and playing with his toys.  We had a great time playing with the kids and catching up with one another.  We then had a yummy lunch and cake and ice cream.  

Things quieted down and our little big man took a nap and hung out the rest of the afternoon with Dad and big brother and then we went out to dinner as a family.  It was a great day celebrating our favorite two year old.  

We love you, Benji.  

Ward Christmas Party

Last night at our ward Christmas party the Primary kids did the nativity and sang some beautiful songs.  They all did such a wonderful job - but I was really drawn to a particular lamb and shepherd.  I love these kiddos and am so grateful to live in such a great community.  

HS: November

This month slowed things way down.  November was filled with sickness from the little baby and so we were completely focused on survival.  We took some days completely off when we had to but we kept to the basics and did school mostly from my bed.  At first I felt pretty guilty about it and then I asked myself, "Why?"  That is one of the joys of homeschooling is that real life and "schooling" can be so intertwined.  And I have no doubt that we will be just fine on our book work.  

We are continuing our study of the DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS.  This month we have talked a lot about various revelations.  We have reviewed the revelations about the priesthood, war, the word of wisdom, Jesus Christ, and tithing.  We also discussed the church in Kirtland, the warnings God gave to the people, the Saints leaving Jackson County, Zions Camp, the various Priesthood leadership, the Pearl of Great Price, the dedication of the Kirtland Temple and the visions that were received there, the trouble in Kirtland, the church in Far West, the name of the Church, the mobs in Missouri, Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, the Saints leaving Missouri, and Joseph Smith asking the President for help.  

MATH continues to go so well!  Jacob just completed his second unit and took his test today and did AWESOME!  This unit was all about addition and subtraction.  We learned growing patterns, counting by twos, adding two, adding two to odds, adding three numbers, commutative property, subtracting two, number line subtraction, story problems, and doubles 1-5. 

PRESCHOOL was something we just hit the giant pause button on.  Poor Sarah.  We read a lot of stories but nothing formal or planned.  She has been so patient in waiting and finally this last week we started up another unit.  This unit is all about kittens, the color purple, and kindness.  She is so happy to be "working" again.  I am itching to begin this new curriculum I got about a month ago (right about when I tanked) and I just haven't had the energy to get it all organized yet.  Crossing our fingers for January!

We didn't do any HISTORY this month until this last week.  We finally began our second unit and the kiddos are so excited (me too!).  This unit we are jumping into the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  I can't wait!  We've only done one lesson (that we stretched over two days because we were having so much fun with it).  We talked about ancient Britain which was so interesting and King Arthur. 

SCIENCE was another thing that got put on pause until this last week.  We had just barely started our new Space Science unit before we took our break.  This last week we started up again and the kids are so excited.  We just did one more lesson about the solar system and the sun.  We will begin studying each of the planets and Jacob is literally begging for more!

LANGUAGE ARTS was something we continued to plow through this month.  Jacob is doing so well and I feel like his fluency and confidence has grown so much.  It is so much fun to watch.  This month we discussed more poetry, regular past tense, inflectional endings ED and ING, the different sounds of Y, past, present, and future tenses and adjectives.  I am so proud of him. 

HANDWRITING continues to go well.  Jacob is starting to transition to doing more phrases and sentence type of copywork rather than just doing letters and numbers so it is a little more interesting. 

It took us a whole month to get through our read aloud but we really liked it!  We read Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.  I had never read this before (but, of course, have seen the Disney movie, as have Jacob) and so it was really interesting to compare it to that.  In case you are wondering, it is WAY different.  The same arcing theme but definitely different in how it is achieved.  And Pinocchio is way more of a rascal in the book than the movie.  But Jacob and I loved talking about it together. 

Even though it has been our hardest month homeschooling (due to me being so sick) I am still proud of what we were able to accomplish.  It's also been really sweet for Jacob to witness all of the sickies.  He was so sweet and patient with me.

A New Baby

We are so thrilled to announce that we are expecting another baby to join our family!  

This little one is already so very loved.  The kiddos are so excited to have another baby join our family.  If it were up to them we would have a dozen babies!  They are busy picking out baby names and are all convinced we are having a baby girl.  This little one will be joining our family the beginning of June - we can't wait!

Also, I know many people wonder about my pregnancies.  This pregnancy has been comparable to my other pregnancies.  I went down about six weeks and have been struggling ever since.  I've been put on various {new and old} medications to try and combat the symptoms but I've had as much success with them as I have before.  It has kept the actual throwing up minimal but the crippling nausea remains.  Plus, I also have to take other things to combat the side effects from the nausea medication so I pretty much feel like I am constantly taking something for some reason.  

We've had some increased concerns with this baby (more than our other children) but our little one appears to be happy and healthy and we are feeling very grateful.  We cannot wait for June!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a little up in the air.  We were actually planning on going down to Draper to spend it with my family, but then we saw that we were supposed to get a dumping of snow and were worried about traveling with the weather.  So we decided two days before to do it on our own.  It ended up all coming together fine and we had a great meal filled with thankful hearts.  We have so much to be thankful for, this year, and every year.  We are so blessed.  

I Am a Child of God

"I am a child of God,

And he has sent me here,

Has given me an earthly home

With parents kind and dear. 

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,

Help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do

To live with him someday."

Jacob and Sarah did such a wonderful job with their Primary program this year.  This is what the kids decided to share for their program:

Jacob: "My name is Jacob Berning.  Jesus was friendly to everyone.  I will be an example of Jesus Christ by being kind to others and being a good friend."

Sarah:  "My name is Sarah Berning.  I am a child of God.  I can ride my bike.  

Slow Days

November has been filled with s...l...o...w days.  We have stuck to home and life has been ultra simple.  But, you know what...I love simple and slow.  

Halloween

These three are the BEST!

Dragon

Belle

Astronaut 

HS - October

And just like that another month has come and gone with school!  October was full of fun things and we finished up a lot of units too!

We continued our study in DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS.  We are going a little faster than I wanted but we are hurrying to be done by January.  This month we covered the missions to the Lamanites, learned about Zion, the first Bishops of the Church, the Law of the Church, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, gifts of the Spirit, the revelation to settle in Missouri and the beginning of that settlement, the Doctrine and Covenants, how parents should teach their children, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon's mission, the three kingdoms of heaven, how Joseph Smith continued his work despite persecution, and Joseph Smith visiting Missouri again.  

MATH!  Math is going so well.  I cannot gush enough about the curriculum we are using.  It's just beautiful.  Jacob is doing so well.  We are still on his addition and subtraction unit.  We've done tally mark addition, ABB patterns, subtraction, talked about the minus symbol, taking away from five, making squares, practiced taking away with tally marks, making hexagons, and practicing plus one and minus one.  

PRESCHOOL!  Sarah's preschool is still going good but still needs a change.  This month I got a plan in place for what I think we will begin doing but it's going to take me some time to get it all together.  As much as I want to dive right in, it probably won't begin until January and that will give me a couple months to get things set up so I am not constantly rushing to get things ready.  

This month she finished her bear unit!  She loved it!  The emphasis was on the color black and obedience.  Obedience has been a topic brought up a lot lately so this was timely ;)  We then moved on and finished his third unit - DUCKS!  This unit was all about the color yellow and patience.  She was so adorable and brings up being patient a lot now.  I do love how it has helped us talk about these virtues a lot more in the home.  

HISTORY!  We finished up our first unit in history!  We have really loved talking about ancient history.  I've been so impressed with what Jacob (and Sarah actually!) have absorbed.  This month we learned about Abraham, Isaac and Rebecca and the Ancient Trade Routes, Joseph in Egypt, and Moses and the Passover.  We also finished our book, Boy of the Pyramids by Ruth Fosdick Jones.  It was a really fun mystery book that went perfectly with what we were learning.  It has been really amazing for ME to make connections that I never have made before between these biblical events and how they relate in history as a whole.  I've loved it.  We are excited to move on to the next unit!

SCIENCE!  This month we finished up our water unit!  This unit has been so fun and we have learned A LOT.  This month we learned about icebergs and glaciers, groundwater, water power and clean water (this lesson was really powerful to discuss and show the kids how precious CLEAN water is and how inaccessible it is to many).  

As much as we have loved water we were all excited to move on to our next unit - SPACE SCIENCE!  We have only barely begun but we are excited!  We did a little introduction to space and discussed the solar system, what a galaxy is, and the Milky Way.  Then we learned about stars - how they are formed and the different brightness of stars.  We watched some amazing time lapse videos from Mauna Kea (which I had never heard of but would love to visit now!).  They were incredible.  

LANGUAGE ARTS! This month has been awesome.  He is continuing to make good progress with his spelling, phonics cards, and has passed off several of his sight word ladders.  He ALSO memorized a poem this month called, "Whisle" by Dorothy Aldis.  It's adorable.  

"I want to learn to whistle,

I've always wanted to;

I fix my mouth to do it, 

But the whistle won't come through.  

I think perhaps it's stuck

and so I try it once again;

Can people swallow whistles;

Where is my whistle then?"

This month we learned about consonant blends BR, TR, and DR, what a subject of a sentence is, verbs, artwork, AR and OR words, and /ER/ phonograms (ER, UR, IR).  We also dived into the life of Beatrix Potter and her connection with nature and read The Tale of Peter Rabbit (one of our favorites!).  We also did some art appreciation and discussed some paintings from Meyer von Bremen.  Jacob even wrote a letter to him about what he liked about his painting.  It was so sweet.  

HANDWRITING!  Jacob's handwriting is so beautiful.  I secretly (or maybe not so secretly) love it.  He continues to work on his copy work while I read aloud to him.  We finished Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore which was sweet and funny.  And then we just finished The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne.  Jacob loves it and even asked me to start reading it again as his bedtime story.  The end of that story makes me teary eyed every time.  When Christopher Robin knows he is growing to grow up and things are going to change.  I feel like we get closer and closer to that time every day with Jacob.  If you have little boys especially, read this book to them!

"...wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place, on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing."

It has been a great month of learning!

Fall Festivities

At the end of the month, the kiddos and I headed south to Draper to spend a couple days with my parents.  Sadly, shortly after we got there, Benjamin came down with bronchitis and so I mostly stayed home with him, while Jacob and Sarah were immersed in Halloween goodness!

One morning, my Mom, Melina, and Megan took Jacob and Sarah to Gardner's Village.  They were so excited to see the witches!

Then later that day, Melina took the kiddos to the pumpkin patch when they played lots and it sounded like they had a wonderful time.  

The MAIN event the kids were excited about was going to the Boo at the Zoo again.  We went last year and I think it is a tradition that is going to stay for awhile!  We were a little worried about taking Benjamin but we thought since he was going to be nestled in the stroller the whole time he would be okay.  He loved it - and so did the others!

Bronchitis

If there is one word to sum up October it has to be BRONCHITIS!  Uggg...it cycled through each one of the kids and it was no fun.  

Sarah was the first to go.  She sounded so sad when she spoke and we teased that it was like living with a mountain lion in the house.  You could hear her breathing (or purring) from the other room.  It was so loud!  One thing about our kids is they never slow down.  Even when they are sick.  We pretty much have to force them too.  So we knew it was serious when all Sarah wanted to do was snuggle and not move!

The cruddy thing about this was I think it would have been easier if they had all got it at the same time but this lasted THREE WEEKS!  It was seriously like clock work.  Sarah began having signs on Wednesday, by Friday she was completely out, and then on the up by Tuesday.  Then Wednesday, Benjamin took a turn and got it (he definitely was the worst, his cries were guaranteed the saddest sound you ever heard!), and then the next Wednesday Jacob got it.  I think we have broken the cycle though - or at least Mark and I are crossing our fingers!

30th Birthday

***So I actually tried to update the blog several weeks ago but for some reason my pictures are not moving over from my phone to my computer.  It's frustrating and I still can't seem to figure it out.  So until I do, unfortunately all I have is my ramblings.  Sorry!***

In October, I got to celebrate my 30th birthday!  WOOT!  I had a lot of people warning me that 30 was their hardest birthday ever - but I am really happy to say that that was not my experience!  I've reflected on that a little and I think it's because I am pretty much right where I thought I would be at 30.  I realize what a blessing it is to say that, and it's not to say that life is perfect, but I have a great husband who is also my best friend and three children that I love and get to spend every day with.  I am a very happy and blessed woman.  Plus, maybe it is just me getting older but 30 doesn't seem that old to me anymore!

I definitely had a first EVER for my birthday though - and that was waking up to SNOW!  I couldn't believe it.  We had a good couple of inches of fresh snow to wake me up.  I was so excited.  But then got a little bummed because my birthday activity was to go to the pumpkin patch (which is one of my FAVORITE things to do!) but that seemed less fun doing it in the snow.  So we spent the morning having a lazy breakfast in bed and just hanging out.

I knew we had to do SOMETHING though and so after Ben got up from his nap we headed over to Logan to go bowling!  It had been YEARS since we have gone bowling - and the kiddos had never been!  We had the whole place to ourselves most of the time and it was a hoot!  I did HORRIBLE!  It got pretty embarrassing for awhile.  And let's just say that every. single. person. did better than me.  We had a great time though and that's all that matters!  The kids are already begging to go again!

After bowling, we went over to Pizza Pie Cafe.  We ate and ate and ate.  So much yumminess!  It was a great way to end the day.  

It was a great day filled with time with my favorite people.  I truly am so grateful for every minute I have with them.  They make my life wonderful.  They are the reason turning 30 is so easy.  I mean...really...I'm just getting into my prime!

The Correct Name of the Church

"It was the Savior Himself who said, 'For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.'

'Ye shall call the church in my name...

And how be it my church save it be called in my name?  For if a church be called in Moses' name then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church.'

Every Sunday as we worthily partake of the sacrament, we make anew our sacred promise to our Heavenly Father that we are willing to take upon us the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.  We promise to follow Him, repent, keep His commandments, and always remember Him.  

When we omit His name from His Church, we are inadvertently removing Him as the central focus of our lives.  

Take the Savior'r name upon us includes declaring and witnessing to others - through our actions and our words - that Jesus is the Christ.  

If we as a people as an individuals are to have access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ - to cleanse and heal us, to strengthen and magnify us, and ultimately to exalt us - we must clearly acknowledge Him as the source of that power.  We can begin by calling His Church by the name He decreed.  

My dear brothers and sisters, I promise you that if we will do our best to restore the correct name of the Lord's Church, He whose Church this is will pour down His power and blessings upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints, the likes of which we have never seen.  We will have the knowledge and power of God to help us take the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord.  

So what's in a name?  When it comes to the name of the Lord's Church, the answer is "Everything!"  Jesus Christ directed us to call the Church by His nae because it is His Church, filled with His power."

The Correct Name of the Church

By President Russell M. Nelson

HS: September

Another month has flown by and it has been full of learning!  I feel like we have really hit our stride this month as far as school goes and so that has been great!

We've continued studying in the Doctrine and Covenants.  It has been so amazing.  The depth of our gospel conversations this last month has been incredible.  There are angels in our home and in our school.  It's incredible and I love it.  

One thing that I have decided to do which kind of puts a kink in my original plan (but I am totally okay with!) is speed up our study of the Doctrine and Covenants.  In the upcoming months, and beginning in January, there will be a new manual for teaching in the home released by the church.  This is such an answer to prayer.  I am so excited for it!  Really excited.  So beginning in January we will start studying the New Testament.  So I am trying to move things forward a bit so we are ready for that.

This month we talked about the Angel Moroni and the Gold Plates, Martin Harris and the lost pages, Oliver Cowdery, Joseph and Oliver getting the Priesthood, Witnesses seeing the Gold Plates, the preparations and organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some of the early miracles that happened in the church, early growth of the church, Samuel Smith's Mission, Joseph and Emma, and how only the prophet can receive revelations for the church (but we can receive our own personal revelation).  So much goodness!

Next up is MATH!  Jacob is doing so well in Math and we both truly love doing it every day.  We finished our first unit which mostly focused on number sense from 0-10.  So much of this was review but there was some new things sprinkled in there.  We talked about some addition stories, introduced the plus sign, tally mark addition, number line addition, introduced the penny, adding pennies, and ABCD patterns.  We don't really have a lot of tests (because I can usually tell if Jacob is understanding something or not) but we did have a test after we completed his first unit - 100%.  I was so proud of him.  

We started up his second unit which has a much bigger focus on addition and subtraction.  So far we have practiced adding on, and making five, four, three and two.  

Sarah's preschool is one thing I feel like needs a change.  It's going okay but that's all.  I feel like we are both kind of indifferent about it and so I am working on making some changes.  We will probably still use the things I got for this year but let it work as more of a supplement and bring something more to the front.  This girl loves to learn and it has been fun to work with her more independently and find out more how she learns.  I can't wait to dive in more and thought we would need to give it more time but this girl is ready to be all in!  Let's just hope I can keep up ;)

This month we did finish her bunny unit which focused all about love and the color red.  

We also started our second unit all about BEARS!  The emphasis this time is about the color black and obedience.  

History has been great!  I feel like Jacob is really beginning to enjoy it and that has been a lot of fun to see - because history is my favorite!  We are still talking about ancient history.  And this month has been all about ANCIENT EGYPT!  We've talked about their daily life, writing, government, buildings, and beliefs about the afterlife.  We also talked about Herodotus who is considered the father of history and his findings about Egypt and the power and importance of history.  We have also been reading a great book called Boy of the Pyramids by Ruth Fosdick Jones.  And Melina was able to show Jacob some of the neat things she got when she traveled to Egypt a couple years ago.  It's been awesome.  

Science has been going really well also.  We are still learning about all things water!  We've talked about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, the water cycle, bodies of water, how water shapes the earth and oceans, currents, and tides.  

Jacob is also going full speed in his language arts now!  One thing that has been so amazing this month is his spelling!  He is doing so much better and I am so proud of him.  It does not come naturally but he is really putting forth a lot of effort and that is all I ask!  He finished his first spelling chart this month and we were thrilled (we've been working on it since June!).  

He also finished reviewing all of his kindergarten phonics cards and is not working on his new first grade ones.  

This month we worked on syllables, poetry, previewed the phonogram OU and EA, did a lot of work on the EE phonogram and began working on common and proper nouns.  One project that Jacob probably spent a good week on was his "All About Me" Book.  He worked so hard on this and it turned out fantastic.  It's definitely a keeper and it was fun to hear about the things that he loves.  There was some surprises ;)  

Jacob also works on his handwriting while I read aloud to him.  We finished Homer Price by Robert McCloskey (which was hilarious), then read Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates (absolutely loved, very tender and sweet), and are now reading Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore.  

We ended up only go on one formal hike but we have been spending a lot of time outside.  

For art appreciation we are still studying ancient art.  This month we studied the Standard of Ur, the Pyramid of Djoser, the Bent Pyramid, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and Stonehenge.  

Music appreciation has also continued to go well.  We are still studying Johann Sebastian Bach.  This month we have listened to the Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor and Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (SPOOKY!).  It's been so fun!

This month our state study just didn't happen.  Time just slipped by me and before I knew it we were in our last week and I didn't want to just scrunch it in there.  I am still not quite sure WHEN to do it - but we all love it and so we've got to find a time somewhere!

We did do an art project this month!  We talked about sunflowers and then did some watercolor.  Life is always better with watercolors!

That felt like so much WORK writing down about all of our WORK.  Our days are busy and full.  I am grateful for this life and what we are trying to do.  

If someone could help me figure out how to more effectively keep my house clean and keep the seemingly endless piles of laundry from drowning me at all times though, I would love that!