January

Just prior to our (ill-fated) November trip to Utah, the kids and I made the decision to go back to homeschooling.  I told them that they could choose to remain in public school, or come back home, either at the end of the grading period, at Thanksgiving, or at Christmas.  Elise said she was ready to come home.  Connor, however, wanted to stay indefinitely.  I told them that was fine, and made plans to pull Elise out in two weeks' time.  A week before her last day, Connor changed his mind and asked to come home, too.  His reasoning was kind of surprising to me.  He said, "I think I was learning a lot more with homeschool, and I'm afraid I'll start acting bad like some of the kids at school in order to make them like me."  We had all enjoyed the time at Lincoln Elementary.  The kids had wonderful teachers and good classmates, and it was overall a positive experience for them, which is exactly what I was hoping for.  I feel like the stakes aren't as high anymore.  I know that they'll do great in whatever educational setting they choose, and we can freely decide year-to-year without worrying.  For now, we're really liking the freedom and fun of homeschool!
  
So, in January Elise started back with her Girl Scout troop as a Brownie.  They earned their snack badges, in part by learning how to make California rolls!
  

  

Evan started a soccer class on Friday afternoons.  These are the same coaches that did Connor's basketball class - there were lots of games and silliness, but a ton of skill-building as well.  Evan jumped right in and loved it!
  

Waiting for Evan

Connor and Elise started attending a co-op on Friday mornings, put together by other homeschooling friends of ours.  Connor studies Latin, Grammar, Composition, Greek Myths, and Astronomy, and Elise's class does Science, Literature, Art, History, and Music.  I babysit my friend's kids while she teaches the younger class.  Evan and Corinne love the regular playdate.
   

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we went with our friend Tomomi and her family down to Torrance, where there is a giant Mitsuwa supermarket, and a Daiso (a Japanese dollar store.)  She shepherded us around, putting stuff in our cart.  I was proud of Elise for independently finding most of the ingredients for more California rolls.  We had several meals from Mitsuwa that next month, including rolls, fried tofu wraps, Japanese curry, stir fry, and lots of ramen and snacky things.
  

  

I don't think I mentioned either Ryan's or my Christmas gifts.  Ryan got me a great wireless pedometer/sleep monitor called a Jawbone UP.  It allows my phone to nag me to exercise more, and lets me prove just how little sleep I get!  Actually, it has been an amazing motivation for me to take better care of myself.  I can finally say that I have a regular exercise program, for the first time in years.  Ryan got a Jellyfish Art kit.  It comes with a specialized jellyfish tank (regular fish tanks will suck them up and kill them,) and all the chemicals, food and instructions needed to get it up and going.  Then you receive the jellyfish via overnight FedEx.  It took him half a month to get to that point, though.  He cleaned out, painted, and built a shelf/cabinet in our unused fireplace to hold the tank, which looks pretty awesome.  We're happy to say the jellies are still alive after over two months!
  

Connor did a Cub Scout project on Dad's new pets.

The kids continue to love their occasional kid yoga time.  I got two more yoga mats at the Japanese dollar store, so they don't have to fight as much.
  

Evan's Joy School did a Fire Station field trip.  The firefighters were super nice, even though you could tell a few of them hadn't spent much time around kids.  The main message was not to be afraid of firefighters in their gear, even if they look scary.
    

Evan got to check the strength of this respirator.

Wiley celebrated his ninth birthday on January 27th.  The kids thought he deserved a party, so we took him to the dog park for a couple hours, then surprised him with a chili dog from Weinerschnitzel.  We lit a candle and sang to him and everything.  As far as I could tell, he didn't even get sick from eating it.
  

Other stuff that happened in January:
  

Evan continued to make awesome art on his easel.

We found a morel growing near our Apricot tree.  We didn't pick it.

The kids enjoyed the fancy mini-trampoline we got for Christmas.

  

Christmas

During the week of Christmas, we left for a four-day trip to Pismo Beach.  Ryan found a rental house about twenty minutes from the ocean for a super good deal.  We spent Monday at the beach itself.  Pismo Beach is really strange, because they allow both dogs and vehicles on the sand.  Plus, the slope of the beach itself is uniquely shallow, so you can walk a long ways out before the water gets very deep.
  

Sand Yoga

The water snuck up on them while I was taking pictures.

  

I worried Wiley's heart might explode.  He had fun.

Connor and Elise collected a huge variety of shells.

Barnacles on Sand Dollars

 
Tuesday morning, we drove south to the La Purisima mission.  Connor is supposed to study the missions as part of fourth grade in California, so we decided to tour this one.  It was pretty awesome - a part of history I never knew much about.
  

Tallow Vats

Ryan and I have started trying to identify mushrooms, just for fun.

We couldn't identify this one, either.

After La Purisima, we stopped by the monarch butterfly grove.  Corinne wasn't even born the last time we came, I think.
  

Pinned to the Box

  
We went home on Wednesday, Christmas Eve.  On the way, we stopped in Solvang and bought goodies.  Some nice people offered to take our picture in this sleigh thing.

  

Christmas was great.  This year we followed the four-gift rule: "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read."  I don't even know where I heard that silly rhyme, but it was wonderful.  I think the kids all appreciated their gifts much more, and we didn't hear any "Is that all?" type comments.  The limit didn't apply to gifts from relatives, or stocking stuffers.  We spent the day relaxing and watching Christmas videos.
    

Stockings

Painting Easel

Elise got Heelys and a sleeping bag.

Gifts from Nana and Al

Connor's Super Smash gift became a distraction.

Wooden Bowling Set

Frozen Comic Book

Jigsaw Puzzle

The day after Christmas, Ryan went on his monthly Critical Mass ride.  He really appreciated the Beardmo hat Kelli gave him a year or two ago.
   

    
On Saturday, we used our annual passes for a second trip to Six Flags.  It was okay, except that this time it was really cold and windy.  I know, we sound so whiny, but we didn't even think to bring good jackets.
   

Hanging Out at the Kid Rides