The Pointer Family

Wyatt's 2nd birthday

2009-08-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our baby is 2! TWO!! WHen did this happen and how do we make it stop?!?! I remember thinking the day he was born, 2 yrs ago, that I would have a walking, talking 2 year old in 2 years. At the time I just couldn't wrap my mind around that while rocking our little 5 lb bundle of joy. Yet here we are, 2 years later. He's all over the place, jumps off anything, is into EVERYTHING (quite literally!), is quite fearless, can say over 200 words, is healthy as a horse and is just the joy of our lives.

So, yesterday we celebrated Wyatt's 2nd birthday at the splash park in our neighborhood. The weather was nothing less than PERFECT! Low 80's and under the covered pavilion felt wonderful with the breeze. (Autumn is surely on it's way!) He had lots of friends and family attend to see him blow out his #2 candle. The children ran in the water, climbed the playground equipment, ate hot dogs and chips, ran around squirting water guns at each other, drew with chalk on the sidwealks and then the highlight....got to decorate their OWN cupcakes! (Yes, I planned this to be less work for ME, lol!) Not only THAT but they got to design their own goody bags. Again, Less work for ME and more fun for THEM. We came home and he opened his presents. He was more into playing with the item inside the gift bag rather than tearing into it to see WHAT was in there. I'm not sure he knew it was his birthday even though we'd been preparing him all week on HOW to blow out a candle and to answer "TWO" when asked "How old are you?" Instead he was answering "Eight" when asked his age and looking at me like I was some sort of a fruitcake when it was time to blow out his candle. Oh well. We got great photos!! There were too many photos to email out so I thought I'd post them here.

Oh, and the last photos are from today. I walked into the kitchen to find My nosey, er, I mean, Wyatt covered in white SOMETHING. It took me about 2 minutes to figure out he'd dug out a bottle of sunscreen from our swim bag and had decided he needed the entire bottle all over his face and hands. THankfully it's the non toxic brand that has no harmful chemicals in it. (Thank God we do this with all cleaners and bath and body stuff in our house or else we would have been to the ER countless times with Mr Curious (nosey!) Wyatt. Then some cute pics of the boys watching Thomas the Train this afternoon. Enjoy!

20 ways I use Vinegar

2009-06-24T16:33:00.001-07:00

a girlfriend of mine asked me to write a blog for her health and wellness blog. So I figured I"d post it on my blog too, since I never update this thing, LOL!!

20 ways I use Vinegar

Did you know vinegar goes WAAAAY beyond salad dressing? I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I discovered all the uses for VINEGAR! Since May was National Vinegar Month (did you forget??), I thought I'd give you readers a closer look at this inexpensive, versatile "go to". Do you hate those irritating and smelly chemicals you currently use to clean your house? Do you wish you didn't have to use gloves to clean? A natural and environmentally safe solution is to use Vinegar. Vinegar is an all-natural solution to clean and deodorize throughout your home. Vinegar is great used on laundry, shoes, carpets, your elbows and feet, cars, floors, wood, linoleum and the list continues to grow.

So, what's so great about vinegar? Besides being effective, vinegar is cheap and widely available. I buy it in the 1.5 gallon jug at Costco for a little over $3. I prefer the Heinz brand as they guarantee they use no petroleum in the making of their vinegar. Some companies use petroleum to make their vinegar but you just have to read the ingredients on the label. When I finish off a 1.5 gallon jug I either recycle the bottle or I fill it up with water and add it to our Emergency water supply. Either way, it gets recycled instead of hauled off to a landfill.

In the spirit of "National Vinegar Month" (a few weeks ago) I put together a list of 10 ways I use vinegar. I actually use it for many other things and I'll give you some resources for more ways at the end of this post. But first, tell me, How do you use vinegar? Please, add your own ideas in the comments!

1. Cleaning and Mopping
I mostly use vinegar to clean. White vinegar is non-toxic and lasts for a very long time without losing strength. It does not pollute land, air or water or combust. It's much safer to have under your sink than bleach, ammonia or other toxic cleaning products. First use is mopping: instead of using harsh cleaners that your feet will later on absorb it's remnant chemicals (mopping as well as breathing), use a solution of 1C vinegar to 1 gallon water for mopping. The scent of vinegar may linger for about 20 minutes but it will actually deodorize odors in your home. I hate mopping personally so I keep a 50/50 made up bottle that I spray my countertops with. I spray my floor with it then I dampen 2 large dishcloths and stand on top of them and kind of scoot & skate around my kitchen ceramic tile on them and get a great leg workout at the same time. I know it sounds hilarious but having a bad back, this is what works for me. (Be careful not to slip!) Not only does it keep the floors shiny but it kills the dust mites! great for us since we have severe allergies. Use vinegar instead of harsh chemicals to clean the toilet bowl too. Let it set overnight if you can; it will help keep germs down. This is also an excellent way to clean your kids toys and keep harsh chemicals out of their little developing systems. Pour vinegar in place of Jet Dry in the dishwasher. It makes everything sparkle! And lastly, mix 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 olive oil to clean and moisturize wood.

2. Fresh Laundry
Vinegar is a veritable powerhouse when it comes to pretreating stains, softening water, and boosting regular laundry detergents. When cleaning fabrics, distilled white vinegar is preferred, but apple cider vinegar works just as well if that's what you have on hand. When your big washing day comes around, toss in a couple capfuls of vinegar. Your colors will come out bolder and your whites whiter. However, if you've recently had an encounter with a skunk, it will take more than a capful. Go green, avoid the petroleum in fabric softeners and use 1/2 - 1 C white vinegar as your fabric oftener. its cheaper than regular fabric softener AND works better! If you're obsessed with scent, take a few drops of your favorite essential oil, add them to an old rag and toss in the dryer with wet clothes.

3. Clean Carpets
"Spots in carpets often remove with a simple dilution of one part vinegar, one-sixteenth part lemon juice and eight parts distilled water."

4. Wash Produce
Vinegar can help remove bacteria and pesticide residues from fruits and veggies. Mix three parts water to one part white vinegar, and dispense in a spray bottle. Then rinse with water. I have read it kills 98% of bacteria on produce.

5. Fight Hiccups and Cramps
Try mixing 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon of honey and a cup of hot water. Some have also said they were able to cure pesky hiccups instantly by swallowing a teaspoon of vinegar.

6. Deter Cats
We love cats here at my house but I don't want them doing their business in the kids' sandbox. Or in my flower bed. A simple solution is to pour vinegar around the edges of the area you want to protect every few months.

7. Sore Throat
Use 1 tablespoon vinegar to an 8 ounce glass of warm water for a sore throat. Gargle every hour and swallow after gargling, with two mouthfuls. I got this from a Vermont Folk Medicine book by D.C.Jarvis many years ago. If started at the first hint of a sore throat, it always works, usually within a night's sleep. I don't mind the taste, but some children might. Adding 2 tsp to a humidifier is another home remedey for this.

8. Burnt smells
Put vinegar on white bread (or in small bowls) around a house to get rid of smoke smell from a fire (or often time my cooking). I keep s small bowl of this up high in our laundry room where we keep our litter box for our 2 cats and there is no litter box smell, according to our guests. It absorbs bad odors!

9. Freshen vegetables:
Freshen up slightly wilted vegetables by soaking them in cold water and vinegar.

10. Beauty Tips
clean curling irons, use as aftershave,

11. Restore Shine to hair
Vinegar restores luster by removing build up from other hair products. It leaves hair smooth and silky and is said by many to remove tangles. Use 1-3x weekly. Can cause minimal dryness to hair, so try to condition first, then use a vinegar rinse. To make a vinegar rinse, add 1 cup vinegar to 2 cups warm water, add a a drop of essential oil, if you like, and work into hair.

12. Hairbrush Cleaning
Remove old hair from brush. Make a mix of half water and half vinegar, add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil, and soak your hairbrush overnight. Rinse and brush.

13. Scalp Help
To clean your scalp, improve its health, and fight dandruff, rinse with a solution of ½ cup vinegar mixed with 2 cups of warm water after shampooing. You can add a few drops of sage oil, you can also leave the rinse on for up to 30 minutes. A scalp rinse can be done daily, and should be done at least once a week.

14. Sludge, I mean, coffee anyone?
Clean lime deposits and calcium sludge from an automatic drip coffee maker. Once a month fill the reservoir with white vinegar and run through the brew cycle. Rinse thoroughly with two cycles of cold water. Also works on stained coffee/tea cups!

15. Disposal
Keep a garbage disposal clean and smelling fresh. Mix one cup of vinegar in enough water to fill an ice cube tray, freeze the mixture, grind the cubes through the disposal, and flush with cold water.

16. Lunch Box
Deodorize a stale lunch box by soaking a paper towel or cloth napkin in vinegar and leave it inside the closed lunch box overnight.

17. Sunburn
Apply straight vinegar to the burn

18. Ear Infections
Dip a cotton bud into pure vinegar and dab onto affected areas.

19. Acid Reflux
2 tablespoons in a full glass of water, sipped, usually first thing in the morning and 1 tablespoon before meals to control acid reflux/hiatal hernia.

20. Relieve a cold
Mix 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar with one-quarter cup honey. Take one tablespoon 6-8x daily.

So, tell me, how do you use vinegar?

Six Flags

2009-05-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

Six Flags was opened to homeschoolers (only) on Thusday for the whole day. I got a sitter for Wyatt and took Jacob, just the 2 of us. We had sooo much fun. He absolutely LOVED it! We rode so many rides and some 2-3x. We rode the Judge Roy Scream 3x in a row. (see video of us on it below) It was a GREAT family atmosphere. Kids of ALL ages, newborn to 18 and up to Grandma's struttin' around and rising roller coasters even! It was pretty crowded but not like when it is on a weekend open to the public. The longest we waited for a ride was probably 20 minutes. Unlike the 2 hour waits on the weekends. The price was $20 off for everyone who went. We were both ready to crawl to the car at the end of the day.

I was quite impressed with all the homeschooled families there. All, and I mean ALL, the kids there were very well behaved, respectful, well mannered, no vulgar language spewing from teenage mouths (or parents for that matter) and no teenagers making out in front of us in line. (Something that always annoyed me about standing in line for so long for rides in the past) Also, everyone there was dressed appropriately (without butts and boobs hanging out all over the place). In other words, a great family atmosphere. I felt really good about having Jacob in that environment.

We saw several friends from our homeschool co-ops that Jacob sees several times a week and we made lots of new friends too. There were a few from out of state even! Everyone was super friendly. By the end of our 7 hours there we had to take a few sitting breaks on the way back out to the car. Jacob's poor little feet hurt from walking all day. He's already asking when we can go back. =)

Video on the Judge Roy Scream for the 2nd time in a row....
click the triangle below to watch and laugh!

Photos on the Judge Roy Scream

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Riding our first ride, The Sombrero

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After The Sombrero

A video of us riding the BATWING

Riding the Teacups, he had alot of fun spinning our teacup around and around.
I was so dizzy getting off that thing!

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This was his FAVORITE ride....he went twice!

The ONLY dry part of me was my right shoulder and a sliver of my left calf.
Jacob got off with just soaking wet shorts and a little bit of his shirt.

Visiting The Blacksmith

Riding "THe CAVE" ride (that isn't called that anymore)

Headed into THE CAVE (It's now called Yosimite Sam's Gold River Ride) or something like that.

Hanging out by Aquaman ride.......you get soaked just watching from the sidelines!

Major traffic jam. The kids could go no where and the operator kept having to get out there and untangle them out of their jam. This was Jacob's 1st experience "driving".

The Parachutes, Jacob's 2nd favorite ride.

In the "TEXAS" section of the park

Waiting in line for the log ride

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Finally realizing just WHAT he is in for....

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FLASH souvenier

"O" is for ORANGE

2008-10-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Jacob is officially an orange belt in Tae Kwon Doe! He took his test today and is one belt closer to black!

Sharkarosa Homeschool Day

2008-10-15T11:41:00.001-07:00

Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch (www.sharkarosa.com) was only open to Homeschoolers yesterday so we decided it'd be really fun to check it out. I took the boys and Jay's mom too. It's close by which makes it very convenient.
They have lots of animals you can pet and you can take a train ride and go on a safari. They feed the animals off the side of the train and it lets you get real up close and personal with the animals. They had beautiful clydesdale zebras, lamas, horses, camels, lots of kangaroos and joeys, lemurs, deer, snakes, monkeys and lots of other animals. They have a deer that had been hit by a car and the bottom of its mouth ended up severely deformed. Someone found it on the side of the road and brought it to Sharkarosa. There is no way this deer would survive in the wild because it would not be able to eat. They feed it a very soft food that doesnt have to be chewed and the deer eats with his tongue ans swallows it. its mouth cannot open, but he's quite stalky so he's certainly not suffering! Its quite interesting to say the least. Some of the workers walked around with lemurs on their shoulders or little joeys carried in small pouch purses so they'd feel "safe and at home". All for the children to pet. We saw several friends out there and had a nice picnic lunch. Jacob is in a homeschool Zoology class every Friday and the teacher bring 3-5 animals to that but this was like a zoology class on steroids to him. he really had a fabulous time.
Enjoy our photos!

Leraning about snakes

Traffic jam in Egypt!

"Hey camel---smile big like ME!"

I didn't say "Simon says!!!"

This is the deer with the deformed mouth. He looks and acts really happy though! He was so sweet and let us pet him over and over and over....

Momma camel giving baby camel sweet kisses

A little joey all snuggled up in a pouch

jump around

2008-10-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

Jumping on the trampoline in the rain....Such fun!

Jumping with Daddy on the trampoline at dusk.

Happy 1st Birthday, Why-Why!

2008-08-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you are having fun!
Today, my sweet sugar-man is 1!
Did you hear me? I said,
"ONE!"

I can't believe it's been one whole year. This is such a milestone for us. I remember this day a year ago very well. Riding in the car on the way to the hospital and telling Jacob he would be meeting his little brother in just a couple of hours. I remember waking up from surgery and saying "What was his apgar? Where is he?" Being 4 weeks early I knew he'd be fine but there was a part of me wondering if he'd ended up in the NICU like Jacob did. But God answered our prayers for both a miraculous (literally) pregnancy and birth given my personal medical circumstances. After asking those questions and getting the answer of "3, 9 and he's in the nursery" I was able to relax and concentrate on getting my pain under control. (c-section while asleep, so waking up to a fresh incision with NO epidural to help with the pain is terrible). I then remember Jay showing me pictures of Wyatt on the camera. Then a bit later when they saw I was awake and had my pain under control they brought him to me. What a perfect little face and tiny body. Just 5lbs and 15oz, he was so little. Our little peanut. So tiny. I couldnt believe how little he was, I thought he'd be at least a pound and a half bigger. But I remember being able to scoop him up with just 1 arm. And he'd make these sweet wimpering noises and we started calling him "puppy" that day. I"d been praying the whole pregnancy that it would be a "love at first sight" type thing and it definitely was. I couldnt get enough of him. For some reason I don't really bond or feel connected to my kids until after they're in my arms. When they're rolling around in my belly, I just feel like a science project with this alien growing inside me...LOL! I do much better bonding and loving once they are here.

He's been the most incredible blessing to all 3 of us. It is truly impossible to capture the love and devotion that I feel for this little child. Having my own children gives me some frame of reference to draw from in relating to the infinite amount of love that God has for me and for each of His creations. Wyatt has taught us so many things this year. The haute cuisine of soggy Zwieback toast, the joys of rolling in pillows, that a Tupperware is a hat, that a spotted ANYTHING is fascinating, that a tin of Newman's Own Organic mints provides hours of amusement, even more patience (Jacob started us 1st on that!) and how to love even more than 1 child which I didn't know how I was going to do. Just when we think our hearts can't hold any more love in them, they do. Our love for him just keeps growing. Every day literally brings us to our knees in thanks to God for his life and perfect health. We are, by far, Wyatt's biggest fans. Having children has taught me so much more about THe Lord the last 5.5 years. It is truly impossible to capture the love and devotion that we feel for Jacob and Wyatt. It actually gives me something to draw from in relating to the infinite amount of love that God has for me and for each of His creations. And I also think that every parent looks at their little baby and wishes the world for them. That all of their possibilities are realized, their limitless potential reached. So, I imagine that God looks at us the same way.

I read this recently and I portrays exactly how we feel for our children and how I believe God feels for us.
"We all have a unique purpose in the world. There is so much to achieve. The sky is literally our limit. With the love and guidance of our Father above, I believe we can reach it. I am always hearing how parents are supposed to be selfless, but we long for recognition by our children and are gratified when we receive it. God, too, desires our recognition of Him. He wants us to reach out to Him, to for us to feel that we can turn to Him for everything that we need. My friend once told me that since becoming a parent, she realizes that she will never be able to stop worrying for the rest of her life. I never stop feeling concern for my children, even when we are not physically together. God, too, is completely connected to His children, 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Just as the mother cries with her precious little baby when they are sick or uncomfortable, God is the ultimate Parent who feels the pain of His children and cries with them, a million times more. When both Jacob and Wyatt first started to grasp at objects I would be tempted to put it in their hand. But I needed to let him get it on his own, even if it was frustrating for him. God must also let us find our own way, giving us the room to make our own decisions and figure things out for ourselves, even if it means that we get frustrated sometimes. I also imagine Him hovering over us and watching us every step of the way, with His arms extended and waiting to catch us if we fall."

Tomorrow we're having a big birthday party for him! (it's actually for us...LOL!) At only one year of age, our baby boy won't understand all the fuss and excitement and why there are so many people in our home tomorrow. I know he's too young to appreciate it so we'll do that for him.....But it's going to be so much fun! Swimming, food and lots of friends and family. And when he is old enough, he'll enjoy seeing his first birthday party too via photos and video.

Here's some photos from 1 yr ago today and his 1 yr photos. I was too lazy to scan and then post all the photos so I just uploaded them from the studio's website...LOL! (hence the copywrighted "Z" on them.) My, my how he has grown.......

One year ago, TODAY:

Fast forward 1 year.....

race car, race car

2008-08-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

Jacob discovered a new trick for his laundry bin. THis is the bin he brings to the laundry room to pick up his clean clothes to return them to their proper spot in his room. It has wheels and 2 handles and it fun for him. He likes to race it around like he's driving. Well, today he decided his racing laundry bin needed a driver. And Wyatt was his 1st pick! At first he went slow and Wyatt loved it. Then he started to pick up speed and next thing I know the Indy 500 is in my kitchen then around to the hall and then down into the living room, only to have made a full circle and it was back to the kitchen, the hall and back to the living room. Wyatt is a TROOPER is all i can say!! And I think Jacob has some serious paypack coming when Why-Why turns 5 himself! Towards the end there he was NOT happy as you will be able to see in the photos. THey had a fun time though!
He looks like such a big boy having so much "big boy" fun with his big bro. I am in COMPLETE DENIAL that Tomorrow morning at 10:05am he will be a solid 1 year old! I'm going to go cry now.......

Mommy-n-Me

2008-08-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

2008-08-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

This is the "sign" he makes when he is "ALL DONE!". THat's about the only thing he knows how to sign though. Maybe other things have caught on but he hasn't actually done them yet.

Why is it that Wyatt takes the best photos in his highchair? These are so cute...

Laughing at Jacob who was making silly sounds at him.

Why Why

2008-08-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

Why-Why is what we call Wyatt most of the time. Here's some recent pics of out little sweetie. I can't believe he'll be 1 on Friday!! He took his "1st steps" yesterday. He was standing holding onto my legs and turned to go to Jay who was may 12 inches away and Wyatt took 3 steps to Daddy and didn't fall!! We were screaming....poor kid....we scared him I think. No photos of the moment though.

Y is for YELLOW

2008-08-24T20:16:00.001-07:00

We have a yellow belt in our home now! Jacob is in Tae Kwon Doe and on Friday he tested for and passed to get his yellow belt. He will now start sparring in his class. WATCH OUT, Olympics 2020!! haha! He starts soccer again for the fall on Wednesday as well. Here's some photos of his graduation form white to yellow.

"Back to School"....well, sort of

2008-08-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

So it's "back to school" for everyone but us it seems! (Well not really because there are hundreds of families in our area homeschooling) but today I feel ALONE on this matter. We started homeschooling back in May because Jacob wanted "to be in Kindergarten". So we started the day after preschool let out (his idea) and have been schooling all summer.

I am posting this on a day that all I am hearing about is back to school stuff and "how was it?" and the tears and cheers for all the kindergartner parents. Hearing about all this made me a little sad my little guy wasn't joining in on all of that. The first day of school is always fun. Its the days after the first day, I remember as a kid, that weren't so fun, lol! So today I am trying to stay focused on the fact that THIS is what Father has called us to do. Period. And that's all that really matters. I know He has our best interest at heart and there is a reason and purpose He is having us take this route instead of public/private school. SO who are we to argue with the God of all creation?!?! So I decided to post this to pep myself up a little bit about our decision to walk in obedience with this lifestyle.

I attended a Frisco HIS (Frisco Home is School) meeting on Monday night. This particular group is a faith based group that provides monthly support for parents via a meeting as well as TONS of "field trips" for the children. I was so encouraged! THere were hundreds of parents from my area there that homeschool and when they broke us up by zip code....WOW! There were about 50 families within 2 miles of my home! I left there so excited. Of those 50 families, over half of them had kids Jacob's age.

To tell you a little bit about what we are teaching, it goes like this:
I am pulling from several different curriculums instead of doing 1 with all the subjects. "Eclectic" style of homeschooling I guess you could say. There's 5 different styles of hs'ing and this is the style that fits us best I think. I will learn more as the year progresses. We don't do everything in one day but over the course of the week we cover about 8 subjects. It sounds like alot but trust me, we don't overdo it. 10 minutes per thing is the max his attention span will allow for. Which really isn't much different than what public schools do. 10-15 min of actual INSTRUCTION time.

We want him to develop a love for learning in Kindergarten. Kinder is supposed to be FUN! Our relationship has gone to a totally different level which is wonderful for both of us. He tells me all the time "I don't want to go to a big school. Mommy. I like being here with you and I like you being my teacher". SO sweet! It makes my heart melt when he says it. Plus, he's a momma's boy to the very core. He cried one day when he wasn't doing schoolwork and I told him that if he didn't do his work here at home then he'd have to go to a school because every 5 year old is in school SOMEWHERE whether it be at home or at a school. And I mean CRIED! "No, Mommy, NO!!! If you take me there I won't do any schoolwork there either...I will be really mad if you take me there!" LOL! I was laughing so hard inside, it was hilarious to me but so traumatic to him. He is highly disturbed by 2 things about public school. It's 8 hours a day and he canot learn about God there. Otherwise he knows his friends like it and they get to run around and play at lunch time but he still has ZERO interest in going. He just loves being here and learning at home. The main issue he has is that he knows he won't learn about Jesus there and that he can't ask his teachers to pray with him and those 2 thing mean alot to him. ALOT. Who knew a 5 yr old would be so concerned about this?! It's what he loved most about Mother's Day Out.

We have found he learns best with movement (imagine THAT!) and so I've been incorporating movement into everything we do almost. He always has room to move. Its like he needs this movement for the reception process. Simple things like cutting, gluing, "drawing" letters on his back.Other kinetic things we have discovered are making 3x5 cards (I go through these like crazy) and write things on them and placing them on the floor. When I ask a question, he hops on the answer. Or linear things like tossing a ball back and forth while we count by 10's. I even got blank stickers (g-sale stickers) and instead of him writing the answers sometimes, I write the answers on the stickers and he can choose and then put the stickers in the answer spot. The movement is moving the stickers. Its fun because he LOVES stickers. We time things (he loves that 'beat the clock' type challenge) and make songs out of bible verses, etc. Even quiet movement while he's listening to me read has to be done in order for him to process information. silly putty, legos, removing dried corn from a cob with tweezers, sweeping the floor, drawing a picture that relates to our lesson or walking in circles around the couch. I know he wouldn't be getting that kinetic movement he thrives on at a school. So. this is just some of what we've been doing (too much to type) and we are both really loving schooling here at home.

Our homeschool setup:

-Our calendar, weather and days of the week which he changes and adds to daily

--my cabinet with lots of supplies and schoolwork

--His 2 map placemats which he LOOOOOVES. We have marker dots for people we know who live in that state or country. His furthest friend is Samuel Tibshraeny in Capetown, South Africa. Who he still asks when he's coming home to TX.
SOON, I HOPE!!! We miss them so much.

--His number chart. counting by 2's, 5's and 10's by colors on it.

--His "fruit of the spirit" basket. every time he displays a fruit The Holy Spirit has manifested in his daily life he gets to put a piece of fruit in the basket. If he fills up the whole basket, we will go to a puppet show at the Galleria. he has YET to do this... but he's gotten close! It also tells Daddy every evening just what kind of a day he has had.

--Our Family rules which have been hanging up for years but we go over them alot more than we used to now.

--Our "obey the 1st time" chart.....surprise at 50 and 100 sticker mark

--His water intake.....1 row is 1 day and if he fills up a row he gets 2 extra books at night. ANyone that knows me knows how "clean" and "whole" I like to keep our diets and this chart helps Jacob do just that.

-some cute fridge displays from Mother's Day Out last yr that we just LOVE!

This is what we are doing.
Bible, Obedience and Manners--we read from a book of manners for Boys and then there's me constantly reminding him throughout the day to " do memory verses, "God's amazing animals" which is a devotion and learning about a certain animal every day and how it relates to us today. Each day is a different animal. and we also sing fun songs for worship and make lists of things and people to pray for and then we pray for that.
Lang Arts--Sing Spell, Read and Write, Handwriting without tears, and Teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons. He's blowing through this pretty fast. He is just amazing me.
Math --he goes to Mathnasium 2x a week for 1 on 1 fun with a math tutor and we have a big Kinder math workbook from Mardel. We stay a little ahead of what he's doing at "Math Camp" (Mathnasium) so I am his primary teacher in this area and its easier for him there. He LOVES math and he sits (a 5 year old fidgety BOY) for 1 solid hour there! an hour!! ANYWAY, I certainly don't expect 1 solid hour of math from him at home. Not from a 5 yr old boy. He really enjoys it and if they can get him to sit for a solid hour and do math....then he'll go there till he's 18---LOL! I love that it's 1 on 1 the entire hour and he is blowing them away there too. He just loves math.
Science--a fun little book of concoctions for kids
Art--craft, play doh, coloring, magazine ideas, etc
Social Studies/History --Story of the World--we just listen to the cd's in the car from time to time.
Computer--We have some Kinder and 1st grade learning games he likes to do on the computer as well as just fun games in general. He loves the computer.
Health and Safety--learning about hygiene and basic body function with hygiene. As well as going over everything he's learned the past 2 years at preschool. Things like when to call 911, stranger danger, etc. I am constantly giving him hypothetical situations to give me answers to. For example, "What would you do if you came into my bathroom and I was lying on the floor and couldn't talk" and he'll say "Call 911" OR "What would you do if someone came up to you in the backyard or front yard saying "Your mommy said for you to come with me" or "Can you help me find my dog?" and he'll say "RUN inside". Or what to do if someone were to throw him in the trunk of their car even. We'll talk about appropriate touch and inappropriate touch. We talk about this stuff over and over and over. I think I have covered every horrible hypothetical situation with him...LOL. Thankfully it doesnt scare him. I want it written IN STONE in his head! LOL! Usually he will follow up the correct answer with "But Jesus will help me and give me a sword too to destroy them!" LOL! THat's the warrior BOY in him for sure!

THe way things are going He will probably be in 1st grade by the first of the year. But I am not rushing it by any means! But he's blowing through both math and Lang Arts quickly. That's what I love about Homeschool. You can go at the child's pace and not at a class's pace. Most things are pretty easy for him fortunately. If we get stuck, he gets frustrated pretty quick but we just have to take a break for a bit and then come back to it in little spurts till he gets it.

Some parents think you have to be a genius rocket scientist or have a degree in education to homeschool. Nothing could be further from the truth! Parents often tell me, "I'd love to homeschool my kids, but I don't think I'm qualified." Other parents are intrigued by homeschooling, but couldn't possibly imagine themselves as both parent and teacher. Is it possible for average parents to take on the enormous job of educating their children?" The answer is "yes." Because learning at home is very different from learning in a classroom. I look at it like this. We've made it through the sleepless nights of infancy and toddlerhood, taught Jacob to speak, feed himself, dress himself, and behave properly. We're finally dealing with a reasonable little human being and the real fun of being a parent is about to begin. I know we are qualified! So, the assumption that trained professionals are the only ones qualified to teach our children is a relatively new concept, historically speaking. Around 1850, compulsory education was introduced in Massachusetts, and by the turn of the century, parents (often reluctantly) turned over the responsibility for their kids' education to the state. A study later showed that the Massachusetts literacy rate was 98 percent before compulsory education; after compulsory education, the literacy rate never exceeded 91 percent. Children who learn at home have the freedom to choose when, where, and how they learn. The only credentials parents need for this type of teaching are a strong desire to help their children achieve academic excellence and a belief that their kids can and will succeed. So all in all, it is not about a parent becoming a teacher, in the traditional sense, but a parent becoming a guide and a partner in the learning experience. Successful home learning involves observing your child, following his lead, and respecting his choices. This can be done within the framework of core subjects like reading, math, and history -- it's just done creatively.

Two of the things I like best about homeschooling are all the positive social contacts the kids have and that they get to spend so much time learning in the community. But one of our strongest motivations for homeschooling is to avoid the imposition of artificial external constraints on what our child "should" be learning at any given time. It truly is better late than forcing it early. If there is something he's just not ready to learn right now, I don't force it. We pick it up weeks later. And if he's still not ready...we keep waiting till he is. Better late than early and crush his love of learning. There is ample literature out there supporting a wide range of individual differences when it comes to what a child should be able to do at a certain calendar age. Having grade based expectations is only an issue if you are trying to manage a class of 30 different children as if they were all the same.

We have several reasons why we chose to homeschool. The #1 reason is that The Lord told us to do it. Jacob was in preschool for 3 years and loved it but when God starting putting this on our hearts a year and a half ago, we knew He had something amazing in store for Jacob. All we had to do was trust He'd guide us in our endeavors. We have many other reasons to homeschool too. I am going to sound like a walking and talking brochure for homescooling here but after 1.5 years of research we've come up with several reasons why we wanted to do it aside from the Lord's calling. Here's some of them.

Spend more time together as a family.
Spend more time together being rested and fresh rather than tired and cranky from school.
Avoid having to struggle to get him to do the tedious busywork that is so often sent home as homework. yes, FISD has Kindergartners doing homework. Like they dont already have enough limited time with their family now that they're in school. So they go and ,ake it less.
Allows Jacob time to learn subjects not usually taught in school as well as more in-depth study than what is allowed in school.
Allows him to learn at his own pace, not too slow or too fast. He can also develop the ability to pace himself - which is prevented in a classroom where the schedule is designed to keep every child busy all the time.
It provides long, uninterrupted blocks of time for writing, reading, playing, thinking, or working so that the he is able to engage in sophisticated, complex activities and thought processes.
It encourages concentration and focus - which are discouraged in crowded classrooms with too many distractions. and he is the king of distraction.
He can spend a lot of time out-of-doors. This is more healthy than spending most weekdays indoors in a crowded, and often overheated, classroom. Spending more time outdoors results in feeling more in touch with the changing of the seasons and with the small and often overlooked miracles of nature.
Learning can be more efficient since methods can be used that suit a Jacob's particular learning style. Which for him is through movement. He has to be moving all the time. So we incorporate movement in everything we do. Literally.
Peer pressure will be reduced. There will be less pressure to grow up as quickly in terms of clothing styles, music, language, interest in the opposite sex. Social interactions will be by choice and based on common interests.
More time will be spent with people (friends and family) who really love and care about our children. We can bond more with eachother since we will spend more time together playing, working and helping each other.
We, the parents, will decide what is important for the children to learn, rather than a government bureaucracy.
You don’t have to go to a school to play. School is not about playing. It’s about learning. I"ve had a few people outside of my generation ask about socialization. “Well, I think the kids really need to interact with eachother.” is what I've been told. School isn’t about that. and if it actually was about that, we'd have those most social child on the planet. He's got his friends from church, the neighborhood, soccer, karate, math camp, his old preschool AND homeschool co-ops. Socialization is just a non-issue for us. But I go on to tell them of the many opportunities and "things" that are out there and that we take advantage of. These "things" usually bog down the “traditional” schoolers because of the fact that the kids come home from school, and they have soccer practice, piano lessons, and they still have to somehow manage to finish their homework, and have a nutritious dinner (hopefully) and then hardly ANY family time. I love homeschooling mainly because in the end, we are closer as a family because of it.
Children learn best how to get along from their parents and from people of all ages, not from fellow 6 year olds.
I have neighbors and friends both that have seen their children come home from school depressed, angry or feeling stupid. In earlier years, these same children used to be curious, energetic, and happy.
the socialization I think Jacob would get at school is not the kind we would choose for him myself. I don't mean that there are not any good children at public school. Of course that's not true. However, if my child is home then we can better control the outside influences on him at such a young and vulnerable age, particularly as a very young person-before their values can withstand peer pressure.

He's actually ahead of the game in math (but we hate to "compare" him to other kids his age because kids are ready to learn things at different ages.) So I should say rather that he is ahead of the "public school's standards". Because of that, I havent been stressing about math this summer while I have been looking for his Math-U-See Curriculum at a discounted rate. He'll actually skip the Kindergarten portion in Math-U-See! He's that far ahead. He skipped the "Kindergarten Math" they have at "Math Camp" (Mathnasium) too. They started him on it and when I told them he was ready for more but they didn't listen to me. 3 weeks later they come back and say "You were right...we've taken him to the next grade level for math". We are so proud of him! He's just one of those kids that was ready to take on Math and explode with it.

SO there you have it. Our new adventure has been a wonderful journey the last 3 months and I am very excited to see where God takes this in our family's lives. For now, homeschooling kindergarten is the goal. We don't know what God has called us to do for 1st grade yet. But whatever He says is what we'll do. In the mean time, we'll keep on truckin along with Kindergarten. Here's some pics of my setup I have going for him. I will post pics of him doing his schoolwork soon. =)

The latest

2008-06-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

Wyatt, for the last 2 months or so tells us "no" when he's done eating. Or whenhe's starting to eat, or in the middle of a meal..........

Never a dull moment...

2008-05-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am putting Wyatt to bed tonight and we are rocking like we always do before bed. (who by the way is in the process of getting his first tooth at 9mo old) I notice the rocking chair keeps hitting something. I look down to my left and the storage bin that is normally under Wyatt's crib is sticking out form under the crib and bumping into the rocker. I figured Jacob had been under there at some point today because he loves to hide under there even though he's not really supposed to be in W's room for anything at any time unless I ask him to help me. So I try to push it back under the crib with my foot and it won't budge. It then dawns on me that JACOB IS PROBABLY UNDER THERE!! It's 11pm at this point and I have no idea when he could have snuck in there. Sometimes between 9pm and 11pm. I put Wyatt in his crib to go to sleep and look under the bed and there is Jacob...sacked OUT! WHAT THE HECK!?!? So I had to take pics. Jay then went in there to pull him out and when he grabbed him Jacob got quite startled and jumped and smacked his head on the crib. LOL!!! I should not be laughing but I am! So anyway, another memorable moment in the Pointer home....Jacob can be so sneaky! I'll leave you to your thoughts on what his consequence for this will be tomorrow....he's normally not allowed in Wyatt's room at all. I love these fun memorable times!
They're only little once....we want to enjoy every moment we can with them.

This is Jacob's last week of Preschool as a Caterpillar. On Friday they children will graduate and morph into BUTTERFLIES flying off to Kindergarten! They've been working on their wings they will wear at graduation (from preschool!) for a couple months now. It's a big deal to the children. THey get to decorate their own wings and they are BIIIIIIIG! Our little soon to be butterfly is getting so big. I can't believe he's a school age child now. I swear I just had him yesterday! We will soon be starting the new adventures of HOMESCHOOL! We are SOOOO excited! This is a decision we felt God lead us into and I can't wait. He is jsut thrilled that he is now in kindergarten. (or will be by the end of the week since he wants to get started right away! He keeps asking when he'll be in Kindergarten and I told him whenever he wants to be. We can start this week or we can start in September. He wants to start yesterday! he can't wait. So this week we will start with the parts of his curriculum we have already purchased. His studies will be Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Art and lastly Bible, Manners and Obedience. Science and art will only be a few times a week. Homeschooling Kindergarten is not an all day event. It's about 1-1.5 hours at the very most of actual teaching time. After all, Kindergarten should be FUN! He's excited about all the field trips he'll get to take and all the new friends he'll make. We are all 3 looking forward to see what God has in store for us in this new chapter of our lives. We only expect great things!

Below are pics of Jacob at preschool. Fortunately we plan on keeping in touch with several of his friends from his class. Here's a few pics of them. They're so cute.

2008-05-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

2008-05-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hail, Jesus, you're MY King!

2008-05-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

Jacob's class had their end of the year musical. It was all about Creation and it was so great! At the end of the show they did their little 'pump me up" song that they sing to get them up and excited about their risen savior. It's called "Hail, Jesus, you're my king!". The kids love this song and so they had 1 last hoo-rah for it. its pretty cute.....
watch and be amused...

2008-05-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

2008-05-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

latest pics!

2008-05-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

I know I am horrible at updating this thing but here's the latest pics this spring......

2008-03-07T02:18:00.000-08:00

2008-02-27T19:06:00.001-08:00

2008-02-26T19:01:00.001-08:00

2007-12-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

2007-12-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

updated

2007-12-31T12:31:00.002-08:00

2007-12-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

2007-10-03T09:06:00.001-07:00

2007-09-19T13:33:00.001-07:00

Wyatt is 2.5 weeks old already!

2007-09-15T18:13:00.001-07:00

Here are some new pics! You can see from the 1st pic just how similar Jacob and Wyatt look alike as a newborn. Its crazy! They're just little cookie cutters of each other. Only Wyatt is way smaller than Jacob was. BUT his feet and hands are the same size that Jacob's were at this age too so maybe his feet will be even bigger than Jacobs, if that is possible.

My mom has been ere all week and has been an enormous help! She feeds the baby alot (I pump milk for that alot), has been doing our laundry, cleaning the house, getting up with the baby 1-2x at night and countless other things. What will I do when she leaves tomorrow?!?!?!!!!
I'm sure my house will turn into a total whirlwind and become a complete mess.

Jacob is getting better about being around the baby. He wakes up every day wanting to know "where is my brother?" and he's held him 3x now. He started giving him goodnight hugs. He acts better when I spend some 1 on 1 time with him every day though for a little while.

Wyatt is doing well but has his days and nights mixed up. If anyone has experienced this, I welcome any advice on how to turn him around! Nothing has worked that we've tried this past week.
I can't believe he's 2.5 weeks old already. We have been so busy here at home with him.

Jacob started pre-school this week and loves it. He's been going to the same church for Mother's Day Out for the last 2 years, this is his 3rd there. Our neighbor and friends from church also go there so we carpool and Jacob and he (David) are in the same class again this year. They love it. He goes 4 days a week from 9-2pm so its a great break for me and gives me time to nap when the baby naps.

Jacob was in a wedding last weekend. He was Daniel nash and Emily Langford's ring bearer. He did a hilarious job, is the only way to put it. He came out just before Emily and ran straight for me. I was in the last row feeding the baby so I was the 1st person he saw. It took me about 30 VERY LOOONG seconds to convince him that heneeded to take Uncle Daniel the rings (they were actually on the pillow) and that they couldnt get married without them. So after all that he finally walks about halfway down the aisle and then realizes everyone is staring at him so he turns around and books it BACK to where Emily was. HILARIOUS! So then Jay finally ended up walking with him down the aisle because Jacob refused to do so at that point b/c he was embarassed for some reason. Jay walked with him all the way down to the front. Everyone laughed and thought it was cute but Jay wasn't too happy to be in all the pics that only Jacob was supposed to be in. It all turned out fine...they still got married. LOL!

latest pics...

We're home!

2007-09-04T10:13:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends! We made it home on Sunday. Everyone is great. Jacob came home yesterday and was glad to be home. He missed us and his cat, Abby.

As you can see from the pics I have swelled up tremendously from the redistrobution of fluids after delivery. I actually weigh 6 lbs MORE than before i delivered Wednesday morning! This happened with Jacob too and is normal) The fluid should start to decrease in about 2-4 weeks. In the mean time, we're all adjusting to the new way of life around The Pointer home with 2 kids. At least the kids dont outnumber the adults yet!

Wyatt is such alittle cookie cutter of Jacob, only much smaller. Their newborn pics are abot 99% identical. Another thing i was praying for! I thought Jacob was such a "pretty boy" and was praying Wyatt would look like him. Its hard to tell apart their pictures as newborns.

I am just in awe at how different this time around was. I am so in love with him already and am really enjoying him. He's been really good so far. Nursing is actually going good this time too. I am both nursing and pumping so Jay can feed him. Jay is obsessed with that. Its funny. Jacob is already bored with him and really doesn't want much to do with him. He won't hold him, only has once wen I forced it for a picture. The only thing he really likes to do is put his paci in his mouth. And he covers his own ears if he cries and says 'OH NOOOOOO---what's wrong with him---I'll get the paci"!

My c-sec is healing nicely. This csec was SOOOOOOOOOO much easier. (I can't stress the o's in that!) Ive only taken 2 pain pills since we came home Sunday too so its just been a 110% different pregnancy and delivery experience thus far! I'm so glad, happy and THANKFUL for that. I'm glad I finally gave into God telling us it was time for #2 and trusting Him to NOT let me go through what I went through 1st time around. I can honestly say I think there will be a 3rd.

Enjoy the pics! I know, I send alot. I am a picture taking Lunatic, as you already know. A

Wyatt is 3 days old

2007-09-01T20:48:00.001-07:00

Took lots of great pics today of our little bug. He's gaining his weight back and we go home tomorrow.

Holy Milk, Batman!

2007-09-01T00:31:00.001-07:00

All this pumping and nursing got my milk in this afternoon---holy cow! He's down to 11% weight loss so pedi wanted us to start supplementing some for that and he wasnt having any wet or dirty diapers yesterday. But now that my milk is in I dont think we'll have to do that. He was starting to get jaundicey so he needs formula to get the biliruben out via stools. He's def doing that now! He latches on great to me and paces himself reaaly well the lactation consultant tells me. thats more than 1/2 the battle there. His suck is a little immature but so is he--4 wks early. She's an amazing woman (lact. consult.) and helped me a ton. shes been doing this for 100 years the nurses here say and is a legend around here. love her! Im still a little tender but its healing. Ive been calling him my "puppy" or "squeaky wheel" with all his cute sounds he makes. theyre so sweet--I just love them ans keep trying to get them on video.

We had about 8-9 visitors today. Daniel and Emily came for a long time, brought me dinner and stayed with J and I till almost midnight. It was super fun actually. Theyre so glad all 4 of us will be making it to the wedding Friday. Daniel and Emily have a big brother thomas present for him...that theyre proud of the good, Godly example he's setting for his little bro and how great it will be to teach him about Thomas.

Dr Boyd said I can go home tomorrow (Saturday) but I told her "no thanks"----Im going to milk the hospital help as long as my insurance will let me---through Sunday, She said that was perfectly understandable. So the plan is to be discharged by 10:30am on Sunday morn. Shes having her baby on the 18th. A little boy too. I got a cute pic of her and wyatt on the blog below. SHe's the blonde in navy scrubs. We had the same due date for our boys (Sept 25). But this is her 4th. She's an old pro.

We're sending our little lamb to slaughter in the morning, She is going to circumcise him. She told him 3x today "you and I have your 1st date in the morning..." She uses a newer technique that requires almost no care for after and not as painful. they'll give him tylenol both before and afterwards too so thats comforting,

I took a shower for the 1st time and wow it felt great. I stayed in there for 30 min I bet.
but I got my iv and bandages taken off/out yesterday (day 2). Ive swollen up alot since I arrived here Wed morning, redistribution of fluids she said now that the placenta is gone. takes 2-4 weeks to go back down. I have no idea what I weigh now but I came in here Wed gaining a total of 34lbs with this pregnancy. I'm guessing maybe 10lbs lighter or so now? It doesnt matter at this point really. I mean I just had a baby!!! RIGHT?! It'll come off eventually, especially now that nursing is going well.

Having a great time wtih our new little man. he's just so sweet and snuggly, I LOVE IT! He loves to be cuddled too. It's a shame he won't be getting much of that around this family.....

Sweet Sugar Boy

2007-08-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Wyatt is 1 day old

2007-08-30T11:35:00.001-07:00

Little guy is doing great! Eating well and sleeping like a champ, although he probably
does still have a little anesthesia in his system still from the surgery yesterday (mine). He's so incredibly sweet and makes the littlest cutest noises. We're all enjoying him so much already! Looks like he may look a little more like April's side of the family. Only time will tell on that though.
Here's the new pics from today:

We welcome our 2nd bundle of joy...

2007-08-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

One son was so much fun,

We thought we'd have another one!

Jay, April and Jacob Daniel announce with great joy

Jonathan Wyatt Pointer

"Wyatt"

5 lbs 15oz and 18.75 inches long

August 29, 2007 10:05 am

"Jonathan" means "Gift from God".
"Wyatt" means "Brave, Strong; Leader,Guide"

Baby Wyatt has lots of light brown hair and blue eyes.
He arrived 4 weeks early via c-section and is doing wonderfully! He made it out escaping the NICU nursery, something we'd been praying for being a month early. Mommy is recovering well and Jacob is thrilled to be a big brother now that "My baby is out!". Wyatt is eating really well and April's pain has been really minimal this afternoon and evening. She's doing alot better than I expected for a c-section. Hardly been taking her pain meds at all. Wyatt is super quiet, we've heard a small wimper but no crying yet. He's just been sleeping and eating, as you would expect. April and Wyatt are expected to go home by Sunday.

The hospital allowed her to have 1 of her friends, Suzanne Staebler, that works here as a NICU R.N., to be in the Operating Room wtih her, since they wouldn't allow me (Jay) in. General Anesthesia c-sections are treated like any other surgery performed at the hospital so no loved ones allowed in. But she and I didn't completely miss our son's birth. Suzanne was able to take pictures of him in there so we are really grateful for those photos! Thank you, Suzanne for being such a wonderful moral support for her today in there! What a blessing to have had that option and a willing Doctor (Suzette Boyd). The funny thing is that her OB is pregnant too and she and April have the exact same due date! (September 25). Good thing we got to go early so we didn't miss out on her delivering our little man. She's been a great Doctor and support to us this pregnancy.

As far as visitation, since April underwent General Anesthesia (put completely under) for the surgery we are asking for just immediate family today (Wednesday) to give her a chance to rest and recover from that. But starting Thursday till she goes home Sunday, we gladly welcome your calls and visits. (Presbyterian Hosp. of Plano) Thanks for understanding!

We are so blessed by each 1 of you and all that you bring to our family. A BIG, BIG "THank you" to all of you who partnered in prayer with us through this pregnancy, touching the throne of God for the miracles that took place the last 36 weeks. It'd take hours to write it all out but be asssured, Father heard our cry and answered! We love you and there is no way to express our heartfelt thanks for carrying us through this pregnancy the way you did. God was faithful to show up and answer our prayers for the physical changes we petitioned him for!

Much love to all,

Jay, April and Jacob

Keep checking our family blog (this page) for more photos and details. www.pointerfamily.blogspot.com

We'll be updating it daily as we get new photos.