I thought for sure I would get completely caught up before Christmas... HA! Home school this year has really thrown my holiday schedule (not to mention my everyday schedule) into a whirl!! It's Christmas eve, baking has not been done, Christmas cards have not gone out, presents have not been wrapped... In fact I have not even sent out all of our holiday packages. Being this out of sorts makes me CRAZY so my one piece of mind is that I will be able to send out the link to our blog and know that SOMETHING was done on time!

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a blessed 2010!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Sedona with 60 degree weather hiking, biking, Grand Canyon Polar Express and lots of time with family. However, my holiday started with a broken heart :( My sweet ornery Akira had gotten very sick and we had to make the decision to say good-bye. She would have been 13 on Dec 18th and will be greatly missed.

We had two end of summer adventures this year! We took the boys on their first cave trip to Hubbard's Cave and our final hike was up to Hanging Lake. I took Keagan on the Hanging Lake hike last year as a special trip with just the two of us but this year he suggested we go as a family, so that we did!

Summer quickly rolled into fall and so begins the home school experience! If you had asked me about home school about 13+ years ago I would have told you all those families were NUTS and I would NEVER teach my kids at home... Let me post this settle reminder: NEVER SAY NEVER! It has been the learning experience of a lifetime. I chose to home school not because I wanted to but because I felt it was the best circumstance for Keagan in particular, for the time being. Will I home school next year? Ask me today and I will tell you that you could not pay me all the money in the world to home school again, tomorrow may be a different answer. The trials and triumphs have been amazing and I wouldn't trade them for the world. I have learned more about the boy's personalities in the past 5 months than I have in the past year. I have learned to stretch myself when I think there is nothing left. I taught Skyler to read!! I love to hang out with Keagan and learn history, he loves history! Math, well, that is a different story. I love that I can use everyday living to supplement our curriculum. I even used sorting laundry for one of Skyler's math lessons! FANTASTIC!! Here is a link to some of our home school adventures: http://picasaweb.google.com/mayesfamily4/CreativeHomeSchool?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2Wh_2s1MKndg&feat=directlink

Our July has been so full but not busy and crazy! Grandparents, Lake City, Glenwood Adventure Park, hiking, gardening, biking, camping, summer storms, cherry picking, swim lessons, cleaning out closets, laundry; can't forget the laundry!!! ... and as of today it is only the 15th!! The boys have 2 VBS programs coming up and we are getting their school room ready for home school in the fall. I have to admit I was VERY intimidated by the thought to begin with but the more I think about it and the more we clean out closets and rooms to ready ourselves the more excited I get thinking about growing and learning with the boys! We are planning some field trips, painting the room, organizing the curriculum and just spending time hanging out and talking about what it might be like! We are excited!! I am adding our July photo album to the right, fairly unedited, just because I don't have time, but feel free to wander through our pictures and the month of July with us so far!

Our prayers are always with our family and friends and we hope you are having a wonderful summer! There are still several weeks left and we would love to have visitors! The mountains are even more beautiful and green this year because of all the rain we have experienced! Give us a call and come visit! ~ God's grace and peace to you!!

It's just past the middle of June and already our month has been so full! We have been enjoying the cool and sometimes rainy weather waiting for it to get warm! We are blessed to live in a valley that offers so many summer experiences for the boys and sometimes I am afraid we won't get to them all! It has been quite stormy so far this month so we have not been out hiking yet but have enjoyed a tye-dye session in the park, the hot springs pool, a train ride, and fun with friends around the house. You can click on the slide show on the right to see all the photos from our month so far!

The house is off the market so we are staying here in the valley at least for another year. I will be homeschooling the boys this fall using a program funded by the state called COVA (Colorado Virtual Academy) who provides all the curriculum, supplies and a computer ~ for FREE!! I am excited for this new venture and a chance to really learn more about the boys and how they learn and grow! It will give me the opportunity to stay connected with the boys as they grow more independent each day.

Aaron continues with the Town of Carbondale and it's daily challenges. He has also picked up a bit of notability with all of his crazy bike creations!

I hope all is well with each of you as your summer progresses! It's not too late for a visit to the mountains in Colorado!! ~ Grace and peace, Jenn

Spring is here! We have had so much fun getting out in the beautiful weather! The wind this year has been a bit crazy so that adds a bit of a damper, but the temps have been great!! I started a garden 2 weeks ago today and already I have a plot of sprouts!! Pumpkins, tomatoes, onions, carrots, spinach, broccoli and sugar peas! I cannot wait to see everything filling up my garden box! Our sunflower garden is well on it's way with little plants all around the perimeter of the box. I will add pictures of the gardens soon.

Last weekend was Dandelion Days in Carbondale, it makes me laugh that our town actually takes a whole day to celebrate a weed! ;) I have added a link to the pictures on the right. We had a great time with the parade. The theme was animals so the boys dressed up as a zebra and a 'stripy tiger.' I tried to get Aaron to dress as a horse since he was the 'motor' (horse power) behind the bike pushing the boys, but he didn't go for that... Yes, I did say bike 'pushing', you will have to check out the pictures to see his latest bicycle craziness!

Our house is still on the market until June 1st. We have had several showings but no real interest, so as of right now it looks like we will be in the Roaring Fork Valley a bit longer.

The boys have 2 weeks left of school then it is up to Mom to entertain them for 2 1/2 months... Any one who wants to come up for a visit is VERY welcome and encouraged to come!!! :)

I pray this finds you all well and headed to summer with joy! ~ Grace and peace, Jenn

Well, not much is happening here aside from our trip to Colorado Springs last weekend. I have reconnected with several friends from college (through Facebook, dangerous thing!!) and we all got together at Whit's End with our kids and families. We had a great time catching up and watching the kids run. We also had the opportunity to have breakfast with my cousin William who is in the army and has been in Iraq for 2 tours now. The boys were so excited to meet a REAL soldier!! The weather is still cold and snowy off and on here so I am VERY ready for summer to arrive! I hope you are all doing well! Grace and peace ~ Jenn

Nothing really new to report these days... We are trudging through winter and waiting for summer. We have had a few nice days where everything is starting to melt and look a bit like spring. We decided to get out of the house today and head to Redstone. Each year they create an ice tower of sorts on the south end of town. This year's tower is really cool! I took a picture of the boys up next to the tower and it looks like they are standing in an ice cave. Hope you are all doing well! ~ Jenn

This is what happens when little boys get cabin fever...

We had a wonderful Christmas week with lots of family! I wanted to post these pictures of the cousins and will add more later!