Welcome

Mildenstein School of Thought

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:43:43 -0500

I worked all day yesterday to prepare the school room to begin school again. I am very proud of how it turned out and I wish the pictures could do it justice, but they don’t. Oh well.
I feel more prepared for school this year than I ever have before. I already have all of my supplies and curriculum for the year. Aaron and I went shopping for the last of the school supplies a few days ago and we found this awesome educational store. The store has all of the posters and fun things a classroom needs. We were like kids in a candy store. We went a little overboard, but the schoolroom looks awesome!
The method from which I draw my inspiration for school is called the Four Year Plan. I started with this curriculum last year and the children and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Last year we studied chemistry and ancient history along with the regular reading, writing and arithmetic. This year we get to study biology for science. Here is a picture of the microscope we got. It is so cool!

We already tested it out and we got to check out frog blood cells. This is going to be such a fun year. I also got a dissection kit. This year we will be dissecting a frog, an earth worm, a starfish, a fish and a few more things. I am so excited! Thankfully I am passed the morning sickness phase of my pregnancy!
Most of the posters I put up have to do with biology. Although one of my walls has been dedicated to The Constitution of the United States, The Pledge of Allegiance and a Map of Texas with facts about Texas and the Texas pledge of Allegiance. (Yes, they have their own)

I will be trying out a new handwriting curriculum that my sis-in-law Bek recommended called Handwriting Without Tears. Along with many other new books for the year.
I love educating my children at home. It is an amazing experience. Watching them learn to read and write and everything in between has been amazing. It is a lot of hard work and a ton of prayers, but well worth the effort!
I will keep you posted on how the year goes!
Here are a few more pictures of the school room. Enjoy!

Baptism

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:08:15 -0500

On June 7th Samuel was baptized. It was a wonderful day with a wonderful spirit.
I love this part of motherhood so much. Being able to watch my little children grow and watch them make good decisions, is such a blessing and a privilege.
I am also very deeply grateful that my children have a father who is worthy and willing to baptize them. I did not have the privilege of such a blessing when I was baptized. Although I am grateful for my grandfather who baptized me and my uncle Brian who confirmed me, it is a true gift to watch as my children get to have their father be there for them in this most special way.
Aaron is wonderful and I am eternally grateful to be his companion and have him as the father of my children.
A baptism is a good time to reflect upon life and what it is truly about. I am thankful that God has a plan and baptism is a big step in that plan. I feel privileged that I get to take those steps with my little ones.

Come Visit and Stay!

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:35:15 -0500

At the end of May my sisters came down to stay with me for a week. My sister Jessica stayed for a week that is, Maria is staying for longer! It was so much fun to have them here! They were life savers too! While Jess was here we had Sam’s pirate birthday party. Maria made this awesome cake!

While Jessica made a fun treasure hunt for the party guests to find their treat boxes. They were life savers! Bria was amazing in helping too with all of the decorating and helping straighten up the house before the guests arrived.
Unfortunately for Jessica the children all got sick during her visit, so we didn’t get to go and do the things we planned. We did get to have a few nights on the town which were really great! We also made our way to downtown Hutto to play with the hippos.

It’s Great to Have An Eight Year Old!

Sun, 18 May 2008 20:01:23 -0500

Time really flies when it comes to raising children. It seems that only yesterday Sam was a baby and now he is eight! Unbelievable!
I have learned a thing or two about Sam in these last eight years. One thing that I have learned is that he is extremely curious! His first words were literally “whas dat?” (what’s that?) He tries to figure out how things work all of the time. It was really cool when Aaron was working on an engine one day. Aaron was cleaning one of the pistons out and teaching Sam how it worked, and Sam said, “Oh, so it works kinda like train wheels.” Aaron was so proud! He is constantly building and figuring things out. He loves airplanes, engines, and basically anything technological.

This Time Last Year

Fri, 2 May 2008 16:01:54 -0500

As I have previously posted, there are many things that I miss about Utah. Right now I am missing camping with our dear friends the Tarbet’s, Harral’s, Clegg’s and the Johnson's.
Our friends Tara and Brian were so kind to invite us on some of their camping adventures. One of these adventures took us to Snow Canyon in Southern Utah. We were there for Mother’s day weekend last year.
We had so much fun! We got to go learn about birds on Saturday morning with a park ranger, it was really cool.

The park we camped at wasn’t very far from St. George so we took a drive into town in the afternoon when the temperature was on the rise, to cool down with the best frozen custard I have ever had. Nielson’s Frozen Custard is definitely worth checking out if you are ever visiting St. George, Utah.
On Sunday morning all of the husbands surprised their wives with flowers. Here’s a picture of mine.

Aren’t they gorgeous!
The camping trip was wonderful and we were invited again back this year, unfortunately we won’t be able to make it, but I will remember the good time I had last year!
Thanks again my dear friends!