My beautiful grandchildren

Ren Faire - So Cal

Last weekend, we spent a hot, dusty, glorious day at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. We walked around and tried to see as many of the craft booths as possible. We learned how to spin wool, and watched a blacksmith at work. We saw some very cool acts. There was a man who performed amazing feats with whips, a juggler and a belly dancer who danced while balancing a sword on her head. There were musicians and salesmen, rides and food everywhere, especially the traditional turkey leg. I would recommend the spinach crepe. An of course, everyone spoke in “ye olde English”. We were occasionally stopped by people wanting to photograph us in our faire regalia, especially my three little princesses. One of the highlights of the day for the princesses was when Queen Elizabeth officially made them “ladies of the court”


(yes, I actually let myself be photographed...I loved my green wench's costume).There was a booth with wands that made enormous bubbles. The princesses spent quite a long while enjoying playing with them. The highlight of my day (not) was when Princess Pickle got her head stuck.
The following day, we celebrated my brother Carlos’ son Christian’s eight birthday at Mountasia in Valencia.
This weekend, the Ortega girls are going to stay home and veg out. Well, not mom. I’ve got a paper and an exam to study for before the Spring semester is all wrapped up. But it has been a busy couple of months. We need the break!

The Westbergs

Well, we are all broken-hearted because we are going to have to say good-bye to our dear friends the Westbergs and their wonderful kids. Skylar, Haley and Pickle cried for hours to think it might be a very long time before we see them again. They are off to the greener pastures of Colorado. We wish them all the best in their new home.

Homeschooler's rant

The Ortega girls have just been overwhelmed with life lately! Especially me...between work, school, homeschooling and family and social obligations we have no breathing room! This week Skylar is doing state testing. I am not in favor of having her test, it's one of the reasons I homeschool. I want to be in control of my children's education. However, with the recent anti-homeschooling court ruling, I felt it best to comply...What can I say, apparently the government knows better than I do what is best for my children. I respect the right of others to stick their kids in the public school system, I just want equal consideration. Furthermore, with the state cutting down on the arts and physical activities, I don't feel that my children would get the education I want them to have. I feel that there is too much emphasis on the three R's. While learning to read, write, and count is certainly important, so is art, music and creativity. I feel that lately the public school seems to stamp out creativity and individuality in all but the most strong minded of children. I want to encourage creativity and self expression in my children. I want to instill morals and leadership skills in them. Although I get quite a bit of criticism regarding my choices, my children are well mannered and sociable. They make friends quickly and have many. Since they have never been bullied, teased or put down, they do not lack self confidence. Studies have found no evidence that homeschooled children lack social skills. As a matter of fact, studies by both the Cato Institute and the Fraiser Institute find “*the typical home-schooled child is more mature, friendly, happy, thoughtful, competent, and better socialized than students in public or private schools. “ Lawrence Rudner's 1998 study on US homeschoolers states "**the achievement test scores of this group of home school students are exceptionally high". I may be a bit prejudiced, but I consider my children extremely bright. And while they are not averse to playing video games, they do prefer to run around outside or work on crafts rather than sit in front of the television set all day. We don’t even have cable. They enjoy classical music, opera and the ballet. Although they will get tired after a couple of hours, they enjoy art museums. All three of my girls love history, (they call it story time) Like all children, they are curious about how the world around them works, and science is their favorite class. They are imaginative, and will spend hours putting together their own storybooks and plays. When you homeschool, everything is a learning opportunity, whether it be a visit to the theatre or the doctor’s office. At a recent visit to the chiropractor’s office, Skylar asked the doctor about a model of a skeleton he had in a corner. The appointment turned into an anatomy lesson. On an afternoon walk through the neighborhood, we’ll have a contest to see who can read the most signs. Even while we are doing formal schoolwork, the girls consider many of the exercises “games”. Perhaps some families do need the state to step in and tell them how to manage their families. For others, public or private school is the best choice. Not everyone is cut out to homeschool. However, for my own family, and thousand of families like mine, homeschooling is the best choice.


*http://www.cnsnews.com/culture/archive/200110/cul20011023a.html
**http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v7n8/

Sky City

I haven't posted in several days because things have been so busy and hectic. It seems like we are always on the go! I few days ago we went to our friend Everret Jayden's Birthday Party. It was one of the coolest party's we have ever been to. Even the grown-ups had a great time! The party was held at Sky City in Canyon Country, which has two enormous rooms full of bouncers, huge slides and even table hockey! After the party, we headed over to Ani and Alvin's house to celebrate Ani's 25th birthday. I know it's corny, but it is hard to believe that my baby is all grown up, a married woman, and the world's greatest mom to boot. :)

Yesterday was quite a day! We finally took our much anticipated whale watching trip. We chose to go from Long Beach. We were very excited as we boarded the Toronado for our excursion. The weather was great, just a little chilly and a slight breeze. The water was beautiful, with ripples from the wind forming a sort of abstract basket weave design on the surface. In some areas, were the water was smoother; we were able to see schools of fish and jellyfish just under the surface. As we left the harbor, we saw a steamboat and the Queen Mary. Close to the breakwater, we saw a family of sea lions lounging and catching some rays on a buoy.. Unfortunately, this was pretty much the highlight of the trip. We stood or sat in the bow, in the hopes of getting even the slightest glimpse of a whale, but were disappointed. Towards the end of our two and a half hour cruise, we were finally rewarded when we saw some porpoises splashing and playing in the water. We shared out trip with some great kids from Jordan High School and Lowell Elementary School. After the boat trip, we decided to inspect the lighthouse, and then we were off to Mickey D’s for lunch. We were later told that April is awfully late in the season for whale watching, and have been advised to make another attempt next February. I really feel that we should have received at least a partial refund, as I was assured when I made the reservations over the phone that we would see whales, and that it was not too late. However, the day was not a total loss. We found out that the Ortega girls do not get sea sick, and we got to visit Lil’ Sis Roni and her beautiful family. Afterwards, we dropped in on Ani to wish her a Happy Birthday. After swim lessons and baths, we were all completely exhausted. The girls admitted that the enjoyed the boat trip, in spite of the lack of whales and dolphins. All in all, we had a great time.

Mommy’s Little Impressionists

One of the advantages of homesschooling is that you can put as much time and efforts into the arts as you feel is necessary or appropriate. Unlike the public school system, we are not subject to budget cuts, although we are limited by household income.  Recently, we studied the impressionists, Particularly Monet. We combined this with a study of color and lights, in particular, tints, and how they are created. The following photo shows the Ortega girls interpretation of Monet’s “Water Lilies”. The background is made of tints of blue, green and purple and the lilies are made of construction paper. Skylar decided to go for a 3-D effect.