The rest of the 2021-2022 School Year

 What? am I actually posting to this blog?! Yes, yes I am. It's for you....my children, grandchildren and their wives of the future who are reading these yearbooks that are dusty in my basement. Are you actually reading this? Do you find it fascinating? BTW....how's life right now?... because the USA president (Biden) basically just said we're on nuclear Armageddon's doorstep....so...glad you exist....  

ANYWAY....hi future SELF because let's be honest, YOU are the one actually reading this. 

Okay I have a lot to unpack here, and I'm obviously in a weird mood, so here we go:

I left off when we were in Dubai. We continued to be in Dubai for awhile, and we saw incredible things including the TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD on Daniel's birthday.

But is that truly important? Is that what William paid attention to? Is that what William took photos of? NO instead it was any cat that crossed his path. THAT was what he would always take photos of. 

And we did do school there. Here's some excepts from Hyrum's writing book which he finished (is this writing book several grade levels below where he should be? Yes. Is he severely dyslexic? Yes. Do I think that he has a chance at succeeding at life regardless? Yes. Will he get all his university English done before he moves out of my house? Yes. Do I still feel vulnerable about my kids academic levels? Yes.

Hyrum's writing just cracks me up. Seriously. And so does Daniel's, check his out:

And then we went back to the states. It was good to relax in Arizona for awhile. We were able to take part of their homeschool world there, which was so nice. My boys were even able to go to a reptile show at their library...or homeschool thing...or church...I don't know. Their Aunt took them, but I'll take credit in this blog for it. Sure.

Auntie Heather also arranged for them to help at a food packing warehouse that helps starving children. It was actually a really cool organization. Highly recommend helping out at "Save my starving children."

And Aunty...or someone other than me...got them to decorate for mother's day and it was oh so cute..

And even with these things, we managed to do the bare minimum of reading writing and arithmetic as well! Even when catastrophes such as this happened:

Only those who have taught All About Reading can understand how the mere photo of such an event could strike fear into a mother's heart.

And then it was on to Utah where I was finally able to show my kids the Timpanogos caves! They were even way better than I remember when I would go there on field trips as a child.

And we went to a Utah thing that I had never been to before, the Boneville Salt Flats. 

But the highlight of our Utah trip (beyond seeing my parents) was the LDS Homeschool conference. My boys LOVED it and the Peavoys came down! 

One awesome thing was the talent night at which Maxwell displayed a 3d model he designed and printed of the Vanuatu future temple. and Hyrum did a "mentalist" type comedy show. Very fun

And then we were off to California! We saw cousins, and we went on many field trips. Including to Sacramento, where we learned all about the Pony Express, which was perfect because Daniel was writing about them anyway for his school.

And we went to San Fransisco, which was really cool because my kids LOVE the books by Virginia Lee Burton book about the cable car, so to go on a cable car was way too special.

But the absolute highlight of the trip was when the teenagers (yes....Daniel is a TEENAGER now!!!!) got to go to Trek with their cousins.

And YES we did do more reading writing and arithmetic. Enough that we got to the point where I feel like summer actually starts, which is when Rightstart Math books have been completed. I feel like I'm more excited than the kids when this happens each year. 

(Abraham's math is on the top and William's is on the bottom. FYI)

And, hands down the coolest thing we did that summer was MORONI"S QUEST!

Sadly this is the only photo I could find of this even though they are not in their full Book of Mormon costumes. 

Can I just say how grateful I am that my kids were able to go to all these awesome events? Did I mention they went to a father son's campout in Dubai and then one in Arizona, and then the LDSHE and then a different Homeschool convention and then they went to Trek and then to Moroni's Quest?!?! It was like they got paid back for all the things they had to miss during COVID. 

They were really affected by these things. In fact, to night as I started writing this, Hyrum and Daniel came into my room and read their scriptures on my couch before bed. Come on. How awesome is that?

Yep. I'm blessed.

That is all. 

Oops. I Guess I'm not Committed After All

When I stepped out from under the umbrella of government monitored schooling, I thought I would still keep up this blog. "I don't make this blog for them! I make it for my family!"

And then the longest break from writing during the school year happens immediately. 

Ooops.

BUT I do plan on continuing with this blog and to do it more often. 

I must rationalize away my absence. That will be the bulk of this post.

First, Dustin and I spent three weeks (almost) in Texas learning how to sail. This was truly an educational experience, and we plan to pass that education on to our kids once the time is right.

Our hardest course was the navigation class that might not even be useful in the end because of GPS. I actually loved learning it though.

Our instructor (Craig) was the BEST! Literally, he is the best. He was ranked #1 out of all ASA instructors!

While there, we went to the NASA Space Center, and THAT made me miss my kids! What a cool educational experience!

While we were gone, my boys were doing little bits of school, and being loved by their cousins in Arizona.

The above photo is of the littles even going to a homeschool co-op for Valentine's Day! Very spoiled to have so many people love and care for my kids.

And then.....wait for it....we flew to Dubai! 

WHAT?! Yes, Dustin needed to go for work and WE ARE STILL HERE! It's been a month and a half. We have had crazy adventures. The first week we were here, time seemed to slow down mentally because we were All. Day. Every. Day. having sensory overload of novel experiences. 

My favourite being going to the World Expo. You know Prince Albert's Crystal Palace, Tesla's Alternating Current, Alexander Graham Bell, The Eiffel tower, you know, just some of the most important moments in modern history? You remember how they all happened at WORLD FAIRS? Well, they are still going on, and WE WENT TO ONE!!!!

The amount of awe struck and innovation and over-the-top stuff we saw was immeasurable and we didn't even see half of it. We DID see our friend from Vanuatu at the Vanuatu pavillion though!!!

At the United States pavilion, it was very NASA themed, complete with a REAL moon rock that they let you touch! and some space station exhibits, so I almost felt vindicated for not taking my kids to the Houston Space Station. 

 We went to our first day (yes we went multiple days and still only saw a portion of it) at the Expo with our new homeschooling friends, the Lanzes! This world is small for LDS homeschoolers!

Some of the more interesting things about our UAE stay: We went on a day out to explore the other Emirates, and followed advice of another Worldschooler, and ended up at this *new* ancient cliffside village.

We went to a Holi Colour Festival where we were the ONLY people of European descent at the entire event (half the people in Dubai are from India) 

And we've been to the largest water park in the world that....wait for it....has waterslides that go through an aquarium!!!

And here is a Dubai (and Abu Dhabi) photo dump, but scroll down, because I actually did do school since the last time I posted (Who am I talking to anymore? John! Heather! Mike! Are you still interested in my life even though we don't go to the alternate school anymore? Uhhh Anyone? Future me. Hi Lindy! Do your kids ever flip through these books? Grandkids maybe?)

And a couple other educational experiences here was going to the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The locals claim it's just as good as the Paris Louvre. Umm I'm a snob. It was incredible, but but but. If you want to see iconic art that you study in art history, Europe (including the original Louvre) is the place to go. Yes there was art by the most famous artist in history, but not their most famous work. 

Still, I was geeking out and being my children's tour guide. I don't often get to use my art history degree!

And we paid a local art studio for art lessons:

And of course, we have been doing math and english. I SAY of course, but because of Texas and the first couple of weeks in Dubai, we are WAY behind. But we homeschool! SO maybe we can just count that as our summer break and soldier on!

Maxwell GOT AN A- IN UNIVERSITY ENGLISH!!! Did you hear that Lindy ten years ago?!? Your dyslexic son just got an A- in English. So much relief and validation going on with that. 

It was funny, we met someone from the Abu Dhabi ward that knows Maxwell's professor and they were talking about Maxwell! Small world.

He also got an A in university math, but, well, duh. Proud but not surprised. It was easy for him. 

Hyrum is doing great. He finished his grammar book, and is done with his writing book, so he doesn't have much left to work on here in Dubai! I'll have to get him on some online courses. 

Daniels doing great. No photos or milestones to share at the moment.

William finished his All About Read level two (see how behind I am?  Also, I always put spelling on the back burner. I'm tying to change that.) 

He also got through reviewing his times tables. 

We often-probably half the time at least-do math by/in the pool. For the first few weeks we were at a hotel, and now we are in a suburb housing development that has a communal pool. 

Abraham is doing great. He is thriving with All About Reading level two:

And has really gotten into making animations. They are super cute.

Also, Dustin is trying to have all the kids write journals about their experience. It's sporadic and short, but I'm glad Dustin is having them do it. Here's Abraham's "drawing journal" about going to the waterpark, the Burj Khalifa, and the Museum of the Future. 

So yeah, we have been enjoying our experience. The people here have all been super, super nice. The church has been so inclusive as well. They just had a father-son campout this weekend, and my boys loved it, but this is the only photo they took:

Silly boys. Take pictures/videos!

Yes, I will write more on this blog, but I've been so BUSY! 

I finished my BYUI class but tomorrow I start my new class (history of psychology. umph)

AND I have a part time job! What? My dyslexia counseling with Ensign academy? No, I didn't mean that. No one signs up for my services, so it takes no time. No, no, I meant my YouTube channel. 

Oh my goodness it takes so long to make these movies, and I don't have time left over to market them, so I'm not sure WHAT OR WHY I'm doing any of this, but it IS a record of my family, and it IS a way for all our friends we left behind to keep in touch with us, BUT it's a part time job.

But anyway, if some random person actually reads this, here's some you tubes videos of our life lately:

or this:

or this: