Meme about Joe and Me

1. Who is your man? Joe, of course.
2. How long have you been together? Our first date was 15 years ago, and we’ll be celebrating our 14th anniversary on Wednesday.
3. How long did you date before you got married? 13 months
4. How old is your man? Joe just turned 41 on August 26th
5. Who eats more? I eat smaller amounts than he does, but I eat 3 times a day, and Joe usually only eats a couple times a day (when he’s working)… He eats 3 times a day when he’s off.
6. Who said “I love you” first? Joe did… Well, he said “I think I’m falling in love you with.” and I replied, “I know I’m falling in love with you.” *lol*
7. Who is taller? Joe, for sure. *lol* … He’s 5′11″, and I’m 5′0″
8. Who sings better? Nobody would pay to listen to either of us.
9. Who is smarter? While trying not to sound stuck on myself, I have a higher IQ, but Joe is more up on what’s going on around us because he watches the news (and listens to it on the radio) all the time, and I never do. 
10. Whose temper is worse? Mine *sigh*
11. Who does the laundry? I do all the washing, and the kids and I fold it… Joe has never done laundry.
12. Who takes out the garbage? Joe used to always do it, but now Jared does it the most.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, because in the Portland house (when the kids were babies), that’s the only side that the cradle fit on. *lol* (I had been on the other side until Jared was born)
14. Who pays the bills? I do… Joe refuses to do it. *lol*
15. Who is better with the computer? Me, for sure. Joe is computer illiterate. I had to show him where the power button was on the laptop just last night. *lol*
16. Who mows the lawn? Joe does. He enjoys working in the yard… It’s his thing.
17. Who cooks dinner? I do it around 75% of the time, and Joe does it the rest of the time. 
18. Who drives when you are together? Joe always drives
19. Who pays when you go out? Joe does. He always uses the debit card… When we’re eating out, I take the kids to the table while he orders/pays… When we’re at Wal*Mart, I’m loading the cart with the bags while he pays, ect 
20. Who is the most stubborn? Ummm… I think that would be a toss up! *lol*
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me, for sure… Joe RARELY admits when he is wrong.
22. Whose parents do you see most? Joe’s… My dad died before we met, and it takes around 5 hours to drive to where my Mom lives.
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first, after we hate been dating a couple weeks… Just a fast peck. *lol* 
24. Who asked who out? He asked me out.
25. Who proposed? He did… Unofficiallywe hadn’t even been dating a month yet when he said, “You’re going to marry me some day aren’t you?” (that was on 9/21/93) … He asked me for “real” and I got my ring on 4/22/94.
26. Who is most sensitive? Me
27. Who has the most friends? Me
28. Who has more siblings? Joe has one more… I have 2 brothers and 1 sister. Joe has 1 brother and 3 sisters… We’re both the youngest.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? For decision making, we always make them together… But I have more control over the kids, and he has more control over where we go, and what we do (usually because I dont’ want to deal with Mr. Grumpy when he doesn’t get his way.)
30. How did you meet? At work… I was working at Payless Drug store, and he was our new supervisor. It was in June of ‘92, but I don’t remember the exact date … But I remember the moment like it was yesterday. He smiled at me, and he had me from Hello.

Busy Weekend

We’ve sure been going a lot this weekend…

Friday, before going to the furniture store, we went into Oregon City and treated Joe’s parents to dinner at Pizza Hut. (They were going to the high-school football game after we ate, so we just saw them at the restaurant. We stayed there for a while chatting, and I took my laptop so we could show them the pictures from our camping trip to Detroit Lake. It was a nice evening… Then, on our way to Furniture Outlet, we stopped by Exodus Provisions, which is where we buy all our homeschool curriculum (it’s in Oregon City)… I had totally spaced off buying Alicia’s Math Reviews workbook, and needed to pick it up before she got too far behind in it. (Luckily, the first week is all easy K5 review that she flies through.)

Yesterday I thought we were going to stay home all day, so I didn’t do much in the morning… It was Joe’s first day back to his part time job at the gas station (he took the summer months off), so we were in lazy mode here at the house. The boys both asked me to get the pictures off their camera and onto Flickr, and I always take the time to rename every file name (with the date and who/where the picture was taken), and edit any red-eyes and rotate pictures that need it, etc. So, since Jared had around 125 pictures on his, and Josh had over 300 on his camera, it took me a while… But it made them both happy, because now they can use their pictures in their blog posts, now that they are back to weekly blogging (for school) now that summer is over.

Anyway, my plan was to get the boys’ pictures done, and then clean the house… Only I didn’t get the house cleaned… Joe’s sister, Debbie, called and invited us over for dinner. We left the house at a little after 2:00, and spent the afternoon and evening over there… That’s always fun. We all enjoy the Mewings… And Debbie made spaghetti, because she knows how much we all love it.

By the time we got home it was around 10 pm, and so I watched an episode of JourneyMan on itunes, and then went to bed.

Today, as soon as Joe gets home from work, we have to go to Wal*Mart. Our cupboards are getting bare, so it’s off to buy groceries we go. *lol*… So this morning I need to get some laundry done, and empty and re-load the dishwasher… Should vacuum too probably. *lol* … Now, if only the kids would wake up and get their showers in, so that I could actually start the laundry. Yes, that would be good! *lol*

I hope we get to stay home at least one day next weekend.

Death Row

Our couch is on it’s last leg.

We bought our current couch around 11 years ago, and it was an el-cheapo when we bought it… So cheap that it was not on the main part of the floor at the furniture showroom, but back in another room with other el-cheapo furniture.

The couch is now shot. It’s getting stained, it has a rip in the arm (thanks to Joe), and it’s sagging something fierce… I have quite a few blankets and afghansfolded up under the cushions, just so you don’t feel the hard boards underneath.

The couch is beyond embarrassing.

We were planning on getting something new with tax returns… But… Birthday season is upon us. The more I thought about having people over for birthday parties, the more embarrassed I became. So I told Joe that this year I wanted to have the kids’ parties at the pizza place in town, instead of at home.

Joe didn’t like that idea one bit.

So, tonight we went to Furniture Outlet to look for a new couch.

We knew we wanted a sectional, and we wanted a section or two of it to recline… But the price for the reclining one was EXPENSIVE! … So we went for the cheapest one they had. *lol* (Typical for us)

They didn’t have it in the color we wanted, so we had to order it, and it will be here in around a month… So our current couch is now on Death Row… Awaiting execution.

Actually, when they deliver the new couch, they will pick up the old one and haul it away. Yay! … I thought we would have to take it to the dump.

This sectional in galaxy blue.

Anyway, I *think* this is the one we got, or at least it’s very similar… But we got it in a blue. I think it’s a slate blue (they called it “galaxy”). I would have rather had it in navy blue, but this was the only blue available.

I liked this one because the seat part was “short”, and it fits my short legs… That’s very important to me. A lot of couches just don’t “fit” me well. My behind doesn’t go back far enough, and if I lean back onto the back of the couch, then it’s almost like I’m laying down. To fit comfortably, I have to pull my legs up on the couch, which is not so lady-like. *lol* But this couch passed my sit test… Not only that, it’s VERY soft and comfy. You just sink into the cusions. Awesome!

This is the lamp, in silver.

How am I going to wait a month for it to get here?

The back corner of the couch is rounded, and won’t fit right into the corner of the wall… Since our living room doesn’t have very good lighting, we bought a tall lamp to sit in the corner, behind the couch. It’s tall, and has 5 lights on it… I think it will look cool, and hopefully help light up the room.

I Don’t Drink Beer

I found a song/parady the other day on You Tube, that I just love. The original song is “I Will Be Here” by Steven Curtis Chapman, which Joe and I had sung at our wedding. (It’s a beautiful song, and my brother and his wife had it sung at their wedding too).

Anyway, this parady was written by comedian, Tim Hawkins, who is a believer too. (And his stuff is funny! *lol*) … This is one song I want the kids to memorize EVERY word to…

You see… I want to teach my kids not to drink alcohol, but for me, it’s not going to be an easy task. *sigh* … Why, do you ask?

Joe’s family.

There is beer at EVERY family function we go to. Joe’s BIL will even bring his own beer with him, into our house, because he knows we won’t have any here… One time I mentioned to a few people in his family that I wanted to teach the kids not to drink, and Joe’s dad actually got mad at me. He said that I won’t have any say in the matter. (Seriously. That’s exactly what he told me.) … And I know very well that they will be offering it to the kids when they get older.

It doesn’t help that Joe and I don’t have a united front on this. In Joe’s opinion, it’s not a big deal, as long as you don’t get drunk. (Though thankfully he’s changed some since we’ve been married, and no longer approves of under age drinking… I have had some influence! *lol*)

Anyway, I talk to the kids (the boys mainly, because they are older, but will talk to the girls more as they get older) about the evils of alcohol, and so far they are totally on my side… It is my hope/prayer that if I talk to them enough about sex/drugs/alcohol, that they won’t want to try it later… I know my mom trained us well, and I had NO desire to try any of it when I was a teen/young adult. None what-so-ever.

So, here is the new song, that I think is great!

Keeping it Real

A while back my friend, Christine, wrote a post about how she likes to “keep it real” on her blog… And you know what, I do to, though I wouldn’t have thought to put it into those terms (not smart enough to think of it *lol*).

Sometimes I write about things that I think maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned… I question myself, thinking maybe I should keep it to myself. I worry that other people will think we’re not good parents, or that I am an awful wife… Whatever… But then I tell myself that I have to be honest. I need to lay it all out on the table, in a manner of speaking.

I have had people Email me privately and thank me for being so honest on my blog, and it’s for those people that I do it…

I want to show people that while, yes, we are believers, but that no, we don’t have a perfect life. We have ups and downs, just like everyone else… BUT, we don’t blame God for the bad times. We accept them as a natural part of life, and a fallout from sin. We believers learn to lean on God during the bad times, and He carries us through.

So yes, while I cringe at the thought of admitting that the boys were hitting each other yesterday, I wrote about it anyway… So I can keep my blog real.

This is our life. We are far, FAR from perfect. There are many things I could/should be doing differently, when it comes to raising the kids… And I want to share the bad stuff, along with the good.

Of course, I also write this blog for the kids. One day, when they are grown (if the Lord hasn’t returned by then),  they will have all my posts, and they will remember our life together…

The good parts… And the bad.

Disclaimer: I’m not trying to guilt other people into blogging about everything. I don’t have any person in mind when I blog this… This is just about me, my blog, and how I feel about my blog. Promise!

A Time to Dance

As most of you probably know, Amanda loves music, and she loves to dance. She’s loved music since she was a baby, and has been “dancing” for us ever since she could walk… actually, even before she could walk. *lol* … I remember the “bouncing-on-her-behind” she used to do whenever the music picked up the tempo… She also loves an audience. When we have people over, and the music is playing, she will tell people to watch her and then she will dance all over the living room for them… It’s too cute.

Not one of the other three would EVER do that! *lol*

For the last couple of years I’ve been wanting to get Amanda into a ballet class… We would get these quarterly newsletter things with all these classes you could sign up for (with the Molalla school district), for things like dance, music lessons, etc. But it always had beginner’s ballet starting at age 5. So now that Amanda is five, we knew we would finally be able to sign her up, and I’ve been waiting (impatiently) for the fall schedule to come in the mail.

Today it FINALLY came.

You know what kills me? … It NOW says that there is a new pre-ballet class for ages 3.5 to 5! Gah! … If only they had started that one a couple years ago! No fair!

So anyway, tonight I filled out the registration form for Amanda for the pre-ballet class… It’s kind of expensive, but it’s something that both Joe and I have really wanted to do for Amanda for quite a while.

It’s a 10 week class (for the fall schedule, then you can sign up for the winter classes). It’s on Tuesday nights from 5:30 to 6:00 at the grade school in Molalla, and it’s $43.00… That’s a lot of money for only 5 total hours of lessons (yikes)… But the really cool thing is, they will be putting on a Christmas recital at the end… You don’t know how much I would LOVE to see that!

The only thing required (besides the money, of course *lol*) is that they have ballet shoes, so I went googling, and I found this site. And I got the following for my Pixie girl:

Economy Ballet Shoes :: $10.99

Leotard (I bought a pink one) :: $9.99

Dance tights (in white) :: $5.99

I can’t wait for her classes to start… That will be on September 23rd. I will make sure to get some pictures, and some video clips.

In other news, this morning we had some issues with the boys, and a fight. *sigh* … Now they argue now and then, but this morning (though it was brief), it was pretty bad and included some hitting on both parts. *sigh* (Weird thing is, 15 minutes later they were the best of friends again. I guess it’s nice that they get over things so fast). I never did learn (or ask) what the agrument was about, but I wasn’t about to let it slide, so I “unplugged” them for the day… No computer, no playstation, and no TV.

Now this fight happened before school… Actually, I think I was doing Amanda’s lessons with her. Anyway, when the rest of them started lessons the boys told me that they intended to double up on lessons today, since there wasn’t anything to do after school anyway. *lol* I then asked the girls if they wanted to double up too, and they both said yes… So, that’s what they all did. So, we get a 3 day weekend.

Homeschool Memoirs 2008-09 Meme #3

I hope last week’s theme helped you get a bigger view and maybe some ideas about different ways to homeschool or curriculum. There is so much to share and so I hope this helped, especially the new homeschoolers, narrow things down a bit. I am sure some of you are still getting into your homeschool routines. I know some people are very routine oriented while others may be more “day-by-day”, and it all depends on your family and what works best for your life-style. This week please post what your planned homeschool routine is. The theme banner should give you some ideas on how to do that. I had fun making that and adding in real info (except for the times! lol).

I have already posted this year’s schedule for my regular readers (so they can skip this post if they want to *lol*), but for those who are here for the meme, I will post it again.

Anyway, here is this year’s daily schedule:

6:30 am :: Mommy gets up and eats a quick breakfast, and puts laundry in the dryer
7:00 am :: Mommy does her workout
7:30 am :: Kids wake up, girls in the shower, boys make their beds
8:00 am :: Mommy in the shower, kids eat their breakfast
8:30 am :: Chore time
9:00 am :: Amanda’s lessons, while the others do “P.E.”
9:30 am :: Lesson time for Jared, Josh, and Alicia
12:00 pm :: Lunch time
12:30 pm :: Lunch clean-up
1:00 pm :: Anyone who isn’t done with school yet, finished up their lessons while Mommy does a special chore
4:30 pm :: Mommy makes dinner
5:00 pm :: Dinner time
5:30 pm :: Kitchen clean-up, Daddy in the shower, kids clean rooms
6:00 pm :: Jared in the shower, Mommy vacuums
6:30 pm :: Josh in the shower, girls in their jammies, Mommy works on lesson plans for the next day
7:00 pm : Final bedroom check (to see if all is clean)
7:15 pm :: Kids brush teeth and turn on their bedtime movie, Mommy starts a load of laundry
7:30 pm :: Mommy’s FREE TIME!
8:30 pm :: Kids in bed, as soon as their movie is over

And here is a list of the kids’ chores (Oh, and BTW, things like dusting, mopping, and cleaning bathrooms is done on the weekend):

Jared’s Chores:

1) Make his bed
2) Laundry room; feed cat, scoop litter box, straighten laundry room, sweep the floor, etc
3) Take out the garbage (when can is full)
4) Fold and put away his own laundry
5) Clean his room (and help Amanda just a little)
6) Wash dishes on Monday evening

Josh’s Chores:

1) Make his bed
2) Main bathroom; scrub toilet, clean counter, sweep/swifter the floor, etc
3) Take recycling outside to the bins (when inside bin is full)
4) Fold and put away his own laundry
5) Clean his room (and help Amanda just a little)
6) Wash dishes on Wednesday night

Alicia’s Chores:

1) Make her bed
2) Sweep the back, outside steps
3) Help Josh with the recycling
4) Fold and put away her own laundry
5) Clean her room
6) Wash dishes on Saturday night

Amanda’s Chores:

1) Make her bed
2) Fold and put away her own laundry
3) Take recycling to the bin in the laundry room
4) Clean her room

We don’t have a time limit on how long we do each lesson. They just work on the lesson until it is done, and then we go onto the next lesson… It’s up to them how long it’s going to take them… If they want to dink around and take all day doing their lessons, then they won’t get as much play time later. They choose… It works for us. *lol*

As for as subjects, most of them we do every day; Bible, math, reading, English, and spelling is done every day. We do handwriting every day except for Fridays. Heritage Studies (history) is done on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Science (for Josh and Alicia) is done on Tuesdays and Thursdays… This year Jared has more lessons in his Science workbook, so he will be doing Science every day, instead of twice a week.

Since I have the entire year planned out, I am pretty weird about keeping to the schedule (I have issues like that *lol*) … So, if we miss a day of school for whatever reason, we will double up the next day so that we won’t fall behind. The kids don’t mind because they don’t want to have to do any makeup work during vacations from school… It works for us.

Usually it doesn’t take too long for us to do school… Amanda (who is in K5) is doing it on around 30 minutes now, but that will probably increase once reading is introduced. Alicia (who is in 1st grade) is usually done in less than 2 hours, but that will probably increase a little next week when we start reading in her readers next week. Josh (who is in 3rd grade) usually takes around 2 1/2 to 3 hours to do his lessons, and Jared (who is in 5th grade) takes anywhere from 4-6 hours to do his work.

Our First Day of Homeschool

Sorry I didn’t post about our first day of homeschoolyesterday… I think the last few weeks, combined withthe first day of school, finally caught up with me. I felt completely drained, and had a headache that I couldn’t seem to shake. So I ended up just vegging on the couch for the evening, watching episodes of Kyle XY on iTunes. (I can’t seem to get enough of that show! I’m watching it through for the 4th time! )

Anyway, our first day of school went well.

We all got up on schedule, but while we ate and did our chores, we managed to get ahead of schedule… Which thrilled the kids to pieces. They seemed to be excited about starting school, and rushed through everything so that they could start… They were even excited about P.E. *lol* … While I work withAmanda on her lessons, the kids go outside and ride their bikes around the loop for a couple 2-3 times (today Alicia ran instead, because she doesn’t ride very fast yet, but she can run fast, and she wanted to keep up with the boys *lol*).

Once Amanda was done with her lessons, Jared put in the ABC DVD for Amanda, and the other three started school.

It went pretty good, but it can get a little stressful at times. It seems like they all have questions and need me at the same time… They are in such a hurry to get done (they like announcing to Daddy just how fast they got through school each day), that they are having a hard time taking turns, and when you have three people clamoring for your attention at the same time, it can get a little stressful! … I make them all sit down, and wait for me, and I will help the person who is the farthest behind first… They are learning to take turns, but it may take a few days for it to stick.

Another problem is them remembering to SIT DOWN while they do their work. Jared is always standing at his desk, and Alicia is always slouched in her seat, with her legs every which way. So I have to keep telling them to sit on their butts with their feet under the table, and that it will improve their handwriting.

They also keep talking to each other about their lessons… Like, “What page are you on Josh, I’m on page 7 already!” … Or “I only have 3 subjects left, how many do you have left?” … So I am constantly having to tell them to be quiet and mind their own business. *lol*

Anyway, Amanda was done by 8:30 (it only took her around a half hour), Alicia was done by 10:15, Josh was done by 11:00, and then after taking a lunch break at noon, Jared was done by 2:00… Jared had a lot harder work yesterday than today (He should be done before lunch today), so that is why it took him longer than the other kids.

Today is going even smoother, and the girls are both already done. Josh has handwriting and science left to do (but only has to read in his text book for science), and Jared is working on science, which is his last subject… But poor Jared has to do 3 long pages in his science workbook, so it may take him a while… We’ll just wait and do lunch when he is done (it’s 11 am now, and we usually stop at noon for lunch.)

Here is some video I took of the kids yesterday while they did school. Enjoy! (Ignore the bad lighting. We really need a lamp or two for the classroom.)

done

P.S. I added a few pictures of the first day of school to m Flickr!

Playing Catch-up

• The Oregon Zoo

Knowing that half of Portland would be at the zoo to see the new baby elephant (because yesterday was the first day they were letting the public see it), we decided that we’d better get there really early, if we wanted to get a parking spot… They were actually recommending that people take Max (the light rail system in Portland), but since we don’t live in Portland, it would have just been a pain… So we were up at the crack of dawn (having bathed the kids the night before), and left the house by 7 am.

It was close to 8 o’clock when we got there, and so we were able to get a decent parking space, and then we went to wait in line to get into the zoo. We only waited 5 or 10 minutes, but the line sure got long quickly… Now the hours to see the baby was 10 to 3, but we knew the line would get long, fast. So, as soon as we got our tickets, we made a bee line to the elephant exhibit.

Only part of the very long line to see the baby.

We got lucky, when we got there, there were only 10 people in line in front of us. They were going to let us in 30 people at a time, for 5 minutes each, so we would be in the first group of (public) people who got to see the baby! … We did have to stand there for 2 hours, but it really wasn’t that bad. We were right next to the outdoor elephant exhibit, so we got to watch the other two females, Shine and Chendra. Also, volunteers from the zoo were around, and kept telling us stories about the elephants, and that was interesting.

The line to see the baby grew FAST. By 10 o’clock, it was really, really long, and I was SO GLAD that we were almost in front.

The baby elephant (can’t wait for them to name him!) was sooo cute. At first we couldn’t see him very well from where the kids and I were standing. They had a tree branch stuck in the fence thing, and he was behind that, so that was depressing. But, as we were walking out, I got a better view and snapped a couple better pictures… Not wonderful pictures, but better. *lol* … Check out the special video I made about the new baby:

done

Alicia, Jared, Josh, and Amanda

After we left the baby, we went to go on the “Dino Walk” … For this summer only, through tomorrow, they had a bunch of large mechanical dinosaurs at the zoo in a special exhibit… Since we hadn’t been to the zoo all summer, we hadn’t gotten a chance to see it, and since it’s gone after tomorrow, it would be our only chance to see it at all.

The kids LOVED it… As you know, my kids are dino-crazy. You should have seen them!… Especially Jared. Joe and I wondered it he would EVER stop talking. He was so excited that he talked non-stop, and very quickly. *lol* … At first Amanda was scared of the big dinosaurs, but after the 3rd or 4th one, she seemed to overcome her fears and enjoy herself.

Oh… You should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw the life size t-rex… That thing was HUGE! And mean looking! *lol* … They also had a dinosaur that “spit” at you… As in it would occasionally spray water out of it’s mouth. There was a sign that warned you about it before you got to it, so we watched for the spray, and then went by it. But while we were looking at it from the other side, a couple women came walking down the path, not really paying attention, and it got them! *rofl* It was pretty funny.

The rest of the time it wasn’t as fun as it usually is… Because of the baby elephant, the crowds were CRAZY. So we felt rushed, and didn’t enjoy it as much… We need to go back when it’s not quite so busy there… We did spend a good part of the day there though. We got to the parking lot at 7:45, and we were leaving by 3:45, so we spent a good 8 hours there.

done

• Blog Award

I received this award from my good pals Annika, Nikki, Angela, and Carla! Thanks girls, it really means a lot! I’ll pass this along later, when I have some more time (and I’m not trying to play catch up).

• Homeschool Memoirs Meme #2

This week’s theme is about sharing your 2008-09 homeschool agendas and plans. You’ve been preparing your plans for sometime and you’re ready to go. Or you’re still in the planning-stage and need some inspiration or tips on what to use. Because many use different curriculum and methods there is always something new to be gleaned from other homeschoolers. It’s always fun and interesting to see what other’s are using and the WWWWH as Robin Sampson suggests. So this week I hope you will share what you’re doing this year for your homeschool agenda. Share the different curriculum you’re using. You can also include what age/grade you’re using it for, how long you’ve been using it, and why you like it.

Please share a Bible verse that has encouraged you or inspired you during this planning-process, and how.

When we first started talking about homeschooling I went to a homeschool class at the HomeschoolResource store at the local Christian Supply. The lady talking to us about how to get started homeschooling, and showed us a bunch of different kinds of curriculum, and gave us the pros and cons for each one. I remember that three different kinds were on my list of possible curriculum to choose… Alpha Omega, Bob Jones, and ABeka… I ruled out ABekaright away, because they told us that it could only be ordered through their website. I liked the idea of just being able to go to the Christian Supply (which was only around a mile from our house) and buying what I needed, without having to deal with shipping costs, etc. I eventually chose Alpha Omega, because I liked how you could just buy a box, and have everything you needed… It just looked easy. *lol*

We did Alpha Omega for 2 years, for Jared’s K5 and 1st grade. He did well on it, but I got to thinking that I wanted to use more text books and stuff… If something ever happened to me, and the kids had to attend a public school, I wanted to make the transition a little easier. So, I switched to Bob Jones, and I loved it… It has such a better reading/spelling/English program.

We did try a new curriculum last year. I decided to give Alpha Omega’s SOS a try, because it is so much cheaper, and with 4 kids, money is always a factor… But it was a total bomb… Maybe it was because it is so different than what the kids were used to, but it really didn’t go well at all. In fact, it was so bad that I was on the verge of tossing in the homeschool towel… We ended up stopping using it in November, and just bought some cheap Spectrum workbooks to get us by for the rest of the school year… You see, up until then all three of the older kids (Amanda hadn’t started yet) were a year ahead of schedule… So, since we couldn’t afford to go buy all the Bob Jones stuff we needed then, we bought the Spectrum workbooks and just coasted out the year. So now this year we’re starting the grades over again, but we’re back with Bob Jones… So now the kids are in the grades they should be for their age… No harm done. (I hope)

I will be teaching 4 different grades this year… Jared is in 5th grade, Josh is in 3rd, Alicia is in 1st, and Amanda is in K5… I am doing repeats on 3 different grades, and this is the 3rd time that I will be teaching Bob Jones K5 (rememeber that Jared did Alpha Omega for K5)… I am a bit nervous about doing 4 different grades, but with God’s help, I can do it.

When we first started homeschooling in 2003, this is the verse I chose to put on our old homeschool page on my old website:

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. ~Isaiah 54:13

• Homeschool Starts Tomorrow!

I’m all ready for classes to start tomorrow! I have the first week’s lesson plans out, and I’ve made copies of the worksheets the kids need to do. I have the new schedule posted on the fridge… All we have to do is hold our breath and jump on in!

Family Vacation at Detroit Lake

Jared, Alicia, Josh, and Amanda

Monday, August 25th, 2008

Detroit Lake, Day 1

Conversation of the Day:

Josh: “Did you know that the dumbest cat can run up to 30 miles per hour?!”
Daddy: “What are you talking about? The dumbest cat? … I think you mean domestic cat.”
Josh: “Oh, ya.”

*rofl* … Wonder what Cuddles would think if she knew Josh called her kind “dumb”.

Here I sit, alone in the trailer. … Since I brought my laptop with me this time* I thought I would just type my thoughts into a works document each day, that way it won’t take me forever to write out a long blog post when I get home. I can just add the pictures and be done… Sounds like a good idea to me.

*I can have some alone time in the trailer this time. Since Joe’s family isn’t here, Joe won’t flip out if I’m not out “mingling” the entire time.

When I woke up this morning (still at the house), it was raining, and by the looks of it, it had been raining for a while. *sigh* … I was so discouraged, because I really wanted it to be nice for our camping trip… But, thankfully, by 8 or 9 am it had stopped, and bits and pieces of blue sky started to appear… And we hoped there would be even more blue sky down here at Detroit Lake.

We spend the morning getting ready to go. I had packed the kids bags the night before, but I still needed to pack for Joe and myself, and I needed to gather pillows, blankets, food, etc… By the time we had all showered and everything was in the trailer, it was probably 11:00-11:15 before we left the house.

The first thing we did was to head down to the Safeway shopping center. We needed to buy some milk and bread from Safeway, and we hadn’t been able to eat yet. So Joe got me an enchilada from San Blas, and then he got McDonald’s for everyone else. The kids and I ate in the car while Joe ran into Safeway, and then he ate while we headed down the road.

Josh and Jared

We got to the campground at around 1:30… Detroit Lake is a huge campground, with 8 difference loops. We’re in loop H, which is the last one. The registration booth is near loop D, I think. So Joe grabbed his bike and rode down to register our site (we had reserved it, and paid for it, online in April), and the kids and I headed down to the lake.

The lake access near our loop is gorgeous! There are some big logs to sit on, and a little bit of an inlet. While we were down there, a duck family even swan out of the inlet and were swimming close to where we were standing. It was pretty cool, and the kids were so excited about those ducks.

We hung out there for just a little while, while the kids played along the shore. Then Josh and I had to use the restroom, so we went there and headed back to the trailer… By the time we got there, Joe was back and unhooking the trailer.

After we set up the campsite, the kids put on their water shoes and we headed back down to the lake at around 3:15… Joe and I thought it was too cold to swim, but we figured the kids could wade in the water… But the kids couldn’t resist, and said the water was warm (I felt the water myself, and it really wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be). So Joe went back to the trailer and got their life jackets and towels, and we let them play… Giggles were had by all.

The weather down there was weird. When the sun would shine, it would be hot out. The sun reflecting off the water made my eyes hurt (and gave me a bit of a headache), but then the wind would pick up and blow the clouds in front of the sun, and it would get chilly. Back and forth it went… After around an hour down there, the kids were getting cold and were ready to come back to the campsite.

Jared and Joe

Once they had all changed into dry clothes, Joe put the girls in the bike trailer and they all rode their bikes down to the playground at around 4:50… The only playground in this campground is in loop A at the opposite side of the campground from where we are, and it would be a *really* long walk from here. *lol*

So here I sit, mellowing out in the trailer… Now this is the life! ~5:29 pm

The rain, it’s back. It started raining off and on (mostly off) at around 6 pm… By then Joe and the kids had come back from the playground. Joe and I stumbled through setting up the awning (our first time by ourselves), and then strung a rope under the awning to hang the kids’ beach towels on (so they wouldn’t get more wet in the rain). Then Joe built a fire and we roasted hot dogs for dinner (sorry, no pictures of that. I didn’t want the camera to get wet in the rain)… By 7:45 the rain was coming down pretty good, so the kids got in their jammies and now they are starting a movie on the old laptop… It’s nice to have a trailer. (I remember camping at the beach in the rain, and getting stuck in the tent while the wind and rain went crazy. *lol*)

Anyway, I think I’ll do some digi-scrapping while Joe and the kids watch their movie (they are watching “Gone Fishing”). ~8:07 pm

done

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Detroit Lake :: Day 2

Amanda

The rain stopped some time during the night. I woke up a few different times, and didn’t hear it raining… It was cloudy when we first woke up, but by 9:30-10:00 the clouds were gone and it was promising to be a golden day… I’m glad, because we wouldn’t want to spend the entire day in the trailer on Joe’s birthday.

We slept in until almost 8 o’clock, and we took our time dressing, and I took a shower (while Joe and the kids hung out by the fire). When I was done with my shower I made French toast for breakfast (a favorite in our house), and we ate outside on the picnic table.

After I did the dishes, we took a walk down to the store by the ranger station, where Joe let the kids pick out a small stuffed animal (though Jared didn’t see anything he wanted, so he didn’t get anything), then we went back to the trailer and the kids got into their swimming suits.

We were back down to the lake at 12:30, and ended up staying there until 5 o’clock… We heard that another storm may be coming through, so we wanted to make sure that the kids got as much swimming time in as they could…

Jared

…They had so much fun!… We took some bread down and the kids got to feed some ducks. That was fun. Those ducks are so cute. :) We also used the kids water squirter things and got into a water wars, them against Mommy and Daddy. *lol* … We got wet, but it was hot enough that it felt good, and the kids thought it was great fun to squirt Mommy and Daddy with water.

After a while Joe took off into the town of Detroit and bought a couple of those water/mattress things… Now those were a big hit! They played, and played, and played with those… Then they would take turns laying on them, and they looked so relaxed, floating around the lake (close to shore, of course). It was really nice.

The sun eventually went behind the trees, and it started to cool down, so we went back to camp… After Joe and the boys went to buy some more firewood, I made spaghetti for dinner while Joe built a fire. Then, after we ate, we just hung out around the fire, chatting and making s’mores.

Now Joe and the boys are off in the shower (I just got back with the girls a little while ago), and the girls are on our bed watching a Pooh Bear movie on the old laptop.

It was a nice day. ~9:28 pm

done

done

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Detroit Lake :: Day 3

One thing I noticed last night was the I got a sun burn on my arms… I had put sunscreen on the kids, but neither Joe or I had any on… Well, Joe was already quite tan from the summer, but (to be honest), I don’t spend a lot of time outside the house (for fear someone will see me), so though my arms were a bit tan, they weren’t tanned enough to block the sun shining off the lake.

My arms were toast. And they hurt.

I kept waking up last night, because my arms hurt so bad… But not only did the skin burn, it seemed to hurt down to the bone; my entire arms ached. *sigh* … At around 4 am I got up and got some Advil, and then put the headphones on and watched an episode of Kyle XY, to try and keep my mind off my arms, until the Advil kicked in. Uhg… They still hurt too. I’ve taken some more Advil, and think I need to have another dose soon.

We didn’t wake up until 8:30, which is sleeping in for us for camping… But the kids wore themselves out the day before, with all the swimming, so they needed the sleep… Anyway, we woke up to rain. :( … Which, though depressing, didn’t really surprise us, as we had heard that there was another storm blowing through.

Alicia, Josh, Jared, Amanda, and Joe

Since it was wet out, we didn’t hurry ourselves (which was nice). I made pancakes for breakfast, and then after I did the dishes, Joe and the kids went bike riding while I took a shower in the trailer. Finally, at around 1 o’clock, we headed out for a walk (since the sky was clearing up a little). We walked down to the boat ramp, and out onto the dock, where the kids fed the ducks for a while (We let them take 2 slices of bread each). Josh only used up one of his slices of bread, in hopes that we would see the baby ducks again, that we had seen yesterday (which we never did)… As we left the dock, we happened to notice a big ole goose down by the shore, so Josh decided that he would feed the goose his last piece of bread… So we walked over there… The goose started walking toward us, so I told the kids to keep their distance, while Josh started tossing out small pieces of bread. The goose gobbled them up fast, and then looked at us and actually hissed! … I didn’t know that a goose could hiss *lol*… Jared called out, “You’re making the goose mad! Give it bigger pieces!”, so Josh threw the entire piece of bread at it, and it hit the goose. *rofl* The goose jumped a little when the bread hit him, and then he started gobbling up the bread, and we decided that we would high-tail it out of there, since we had no more bread! … Laughing all the way. *lol* It was pretty funny.

Alicia

By then some blue sky was showing in patches, so the kids started begging to go swimming again (they had seen other people swimming). We were a bit reluctant, because it was only around 70-ish(maybe 75) out, but this would be the last time they would get to swim this year, so we gave in… Anyway, while we were back at the trailer and the kids were getting into their swim suits, Jared was trying to talk Joe into going into the water, and Joe said that he wasn’t stupid enough to go swimming today. Jared pretended to pout and said, “So, are you calling us stupid?” … To which I replied, “If the water shoe fits.” … Jared didn’t get it, but Joe and I thought it was funny. *lol*

We only stayed down by the lake for around an hour, and the only thing the kids did was to take turns on the water mattress things. I think they realized pretty quickly that Mommy and Daddy weren’t kidding when they said it was too chilly to swim. *lol*… So, when after an hour the sun went behind the clouds, we packed everything back up and went back to the trailer.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...

One funny thing happened though… While the kids were out in the water (though Jared was on my lap), I looked down the lake and coming toward us were 5 geese. So Joe and I started making jokes about how the 1 goose went to get his buddies and were out looking for Josh to get more bread. We were even making the Jaws noise and saying, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water”. *lol* Well, Josh took one look of those geese, got himself and Amanda to shore and waited for them to swim by before going back in. Alicia, on the other hand, stayed on the raft thing and pretended like she was going to go after the geese, which freaked her brothers out even more. *lol* It was pretty funny, considering that the geese weren’t paying any of them any attention at all.

We got back to the trailer at around 3:30, and after hanging up towels and getting the kids dressed back in their clothes, Joe and the girls went to the store (we needed more ground beef for dinner) and the boys and I just hung out in the trailer. Very relaxing.

Joe and the girls got home at 4:30, and the girls went into our room to watch a movie with the boys, so Joe and I started watching the movie Wild Hogs on my laptop, but by 5:30 we were getting hungry (since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast).

Joe, making tacos for dinner!

Turned out to be my night off. … Joe made dinner. His idea, and no complaints. (Quite a difference from the last camping trip) He made tacos for all but me and Josh. For us he nuked a couple potatoes and we had Mexican stuffed potatoes… Yum! It was a nice dinner, and THEN he washed the dishes afterwards! His idea as well!

Awesome.

You should have seen the amount of dinner that Alicia put away… MAN, can that girl EAT! Seriously, she has been a big eater ever since she was born, and it doesn’t look like she’s going to slow down anytime soon… We had the following conversation:

Mommy: “When you get to be a teenager, you’re going to have to start exercising.”
Alicia: “Why?”
Mommy: “Either that or slow down on your eating.”
Alicia: “I’d rather exercise.”

*rofl* … She sure loves to eat!

After the trailer was cleaned up and the kids were in their jammies we all piled on our bed and watched two episodes of Kyle XY. I had wanted Joe to see it, to see what he thought… He liked it too. :) … Another show we all love… Gotta love that! ~10:00 pm

done

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Detroit Lake :: Day 4

After getting to bed so early last night (at around 10:30-ish), I woke up at 5 am and couldn’t sleep anymore. I tried for a while, but when I knew I was up for good, I snatched up the laptop and spent the wee morning hours getting yesterday’s pictures and videos off the camera and renamed all the files, and rotated the ones that needed it… You wouldn’t believe how many pictures I’ve taken so far this week! *rofl* … Joe says, “Just how many pictures can you take of the kids swimming?” … Tons apparently.

Joe woke up at 7:30, and since the kids were still gone to the world, he asked if I wanted to watch another episode of Kyle XY, so that’s what we did. … By the time it was over, the kids were awake too.

At around 8:30 I opened the blinds and looked out to see what promised to be a glorious day, and I told Joe that it was too bad that we had to go home today… Well, that was enough for him. He asked me if I wanted to stay one more night, and I said I was OK with it, if he wanted to… He rode his bike down to the check-in booth, but found out that our spot already had a reservation for tonight… At first we figured we would just go on home as planned, but the more we thought about it, the more we wanted to stay… Then we thought about the fact that the spot we had been in (H-2) didn’t have a sewer hookup, and that we would have to sneak into a site with a sewer hookup so that we could dump the waste water before we left… So, Joe went to see if there was a site available for tonight that had a sewer hookup, and he came back grinning… We started cleaning up the campsite, so that we could move over to the next loop over for the night (site G-30).

The kids and I just walked over to the new site, while Joe brought the trailer… Well, Amanda and I walked while I pushed Joe’s bike (which is WAY too tall for my short legs, so I didn’t want to ride it), and the other three kids rode their bikes over… Anyway, Joe backed the trailer in on his first try, which is normal for him, and we didn’t think anything of it until some guy came over and told Joe he was boring… I guess they like to sit in their campsite and watch people try to back their trailers into their sites, especially if it takes them a few times of trying. *lol* … Well, Joe is a truck driver after all. He backs longer trailers than ours every day.

But that reminds me of when we got our ‘71 Prowler back in October of ‘96… Joe’s Dad is the one who pulled it home for us, because Joe still had to get a tow package and electric breaks put on the Explorer we had at the time. Anyway, the first time we took it out we went to McIverState Park, and his parents were camping with us. They got there first and when they saw us, they came running over, and Joe’s mom had her video camera, wanting to tape Joe backing in a trailer for the first time (he wasn’t a truck driver yet)… Joe got it in the first time then too.*lol* … You should have seen the looks of shock on their faces. They said, “You can tell you’re a truck driver’s son.” *lol*

Josh

Anyway, the kids were beyond thrilled that we are staying another night, because that meant more swimming. … As soon as we moved over here and had some sandwiches for brunch, we headed back to the lake and got there at noon, and spent 3 hours down there… Josh found a hunk of driftwood floating around, and spent a lot of time playing on that. Jared mainly floated around on the raft, looking completely relaxed. The girls were here, there, and everywhere. *lol* … Joe even got into his swim shorts today, and got in with the kids (they loved that). I started teasing him, and challenged him to swim up to the end of some logs and back, and he actually did it (though he needed a few breaks). I was quite impressed! … There was a time in my youth when I probably would have been able to do it, but not anymore! *lol* I probably would have had a heart attack!

done

After we got back to the trailer, and the kids got dressed, Joe and the kids hopped on their bikes and rode down to the playground. I decided to hang out in the trailer so I could get some down time, and work on some of today’s pictures (I’ve taken so many, I wouldn’t want to be overwhelmed by having to rename them all at one! *rofl*).

Joshy

Joe and the kids got back at around 5 o’clock, and they were hungry… Since we hadn’t planned on staying an extra night, we didn’t have any meals planned… So we had to improvise, and I made pancakes again (we just didn’t have any sausage to go with it)… After dinner Josh did dishes for me, and then we hung out by the fire and chatted.

At 8:30 I brought the girls into the trailer for a bath, and at 9 o’clock Joe and the boys went down to take a shower in the public showers. After everyone was cleaned up, we all climbed on our bed to watch another episode of Kyle XY…

Joe had a time of it though… It appears that he hurt his shoulder while he was swimming. :( He was in quite a bit of pain, so I don’t know how much he was able to concentrate. I had him take 4 Advil and 2 Tylenol, and I’m hoping he feels better when he wakes up. ~11:00 pm

done

Friday, August 29, 2008

Detroit Lake :: Day 5

Detroit Lake

We woke up to another beautiful, sun-shineyday… It was hard leaving the lake, but we knew we had to go. For one, we were out of food and clean clothes, and for two, with it being a holiday weekend, the campground was sure to be all booked up.

As soon as we were all dressed, we headed down for the lake one last time… We had some left-over pancakes, and we decided to let the kids feed the ducks one last time, so we headed to the dock… At first there was only one duck, but soon others joined them, and we had some happy ducks on our hands… After we had been there for a while, one goose came over, and started honking. Loudly… But since he kept his distance, we ignored it, though Joe teased Josh that he was calling his friends over to come get Josh…

After a while all but Josh had finished their pancakes… Josh was holding out, hoping that the baby ducks would show up, so that he could feed them. We finally saw them in the distance, swimming toward us. I told Josh that maybe if we got off the dock, and went closer to the baby ducks, maybe they would get some… We were afraid that all the adult ducks would get the food and not let the babies have any… So we went to shore and walked down a little, only to have the babies head away from the shore, to the dock where we had been… So Josh went back on the dock, hoping to feed the babies…

Here come the geese...

Suddenly, coming in from both sides, around 20 geese came flying FAST… That one goose really had been calling to the other geese, probably letting them know that there was food to have… Seeing all those geese coming at Josh, I sort of panicked and called to him to get off the dock, and he came running. Pretty soon we were all quickly heading back to the campground, while the geese (who were on land by now), were following us, hoping to get some breakfast… Thankfully, they didn’t follow us into the campground. *lol*

Once we got back to the campground, we started packing up… We didn’t even eat. Joe said he would just buy us brunch when we got back to Molalla, so we packed up and were on the road by 11:00.

It was a really great trip! A great time was had by all… I think Detroit Lake is one of our favorite (non beach) campgrounds.

Amanda and Alicia

We’re Home

We’re home…

We stayed an extra day at the campground…

A fun time was had by all…

Lots of sunshine, and a little rain…

Took 625 pictures and a bunch of video clips…

Working on getting pictures and videos uploaded so I can post a long post…

There are currently 171 blog posts to read via my google reader, which I will get to after I post about our trip (which could take FOREVER, as pokey as my computer is being)…

Also have oodles of laundry to do…

Going to the zoo tomorrow, in hopes of seeing the new baby…

Rain, Rain Go Away

Today we head off for our JUST US camping trip… And this morning I woke up to rain. *sigh* … And hour and 15 minutes later, and it’s STILL raining.

*pout*

We reserved (and paid for) this camping trip in April… Who’d have known it would be such a wet August. … Last week we got rain too, and Joe heard on the news that where we are going got 1.42 inches of rain in one day. *sigh*

But… Maybe this time it won’t.

The kids are pretty bummed about the weather. They want to play in the lake so badly… I am hoping that it will dry up so that they can spend at least one day swimming.

All I know is that I better bring along some DVDs and the external harddrive with all our iTunes movies in it, just in case we’re stuck in the trailer because of the rain.

See ya on Thursday!

ABC’s of Me :: Take 5

Andrea tagged me to play along in the ABC’s of Me game:

• Attached or Single?:  Attached, of course. Joe and I will be celebrating our 14th anniversary on September 10th.
• Best Friend?:  My SIL, Crystal
• Cake or Pie?:  Pumpkin pie, with cool whip! (Can’t wait for Thanksgiving! *lol*)
• Day of Choice?:  I think I’ll go with Sundays, like Andrea did… For the same reason. It’s a nice, quiet, relaxing day.
• Essential Item?:  My camera and my blog.  They help me save our memories.
• Flavor of Ice Cream?:  I like orange sherbet mixed with vanilla
• Gummy Bears or Worms?:  The bears… You couldn’t talk me into putting ANY type of worm in my mouth! *rofl*
• Hometown?:  Molalla, Oregon
• Indulgences?:  Buying movies and TV shows from iTunes
• January or July?:  July. I’m a summer girl!
• Kids?:  I have been blessed with four wonderful children, two of each!
• Last Movie I saw in a Theater?:  Narnia: Prince Caspian
• Middle Name?:  Anna
• Number of Siblings?:  Three
• Oranges or Apples?:  Either, love them both the same
• Phobia or Fear?:  Fear
• Quote?:   ”Two wrongs don’t make a right” (I say that ALL the time *lol*)
• Reason to Smile?:  I get hugs from my kids every day!
• Season?:  Summer
• Tag Four More: Gina, Carol, Amy, and Annika
• Unknown Fact About Me?:  I don’t like coffee of any kind
• Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals?:  I think the maker of this meme would not like my answer, seeing as my favorite foods are beef enchiladas, hamburgers, and chicken curry. *lol*
• Worst Habit?:  I don’t have much willpower
• Xrays or Ultrasounds?:   Ultrasounds, because you get to see your baby!!!!
• Your favourite food?:  Chicken Curry
• Zodiac?:  Aquarius, but I don’t believe in that stuff

A New Baby at the Zoo!

August 23, 2008
OREGON ZOO’S ROSE-TU GIVES BIRTH
First-time mother elephant initially shows aggression towards male calf; baby appears fine

Senior Elephant Keeper Bob Lee helps stabilize a male elephant calf that was born at the Oregon Zoo at 3:56 p.m. on Aug. 23. Keepers and veterinarians are keeping a close watch on the calf and are reintroducing him to his mother this evening (Aug. 23). Photo by Michael Durham © Oregon Zoo.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Rose-Tu, a 14-year-old Asian elephant and first-time mother, gave birth to a 286-pound, male calf at the Oregon Zoo at 3:56 p.m. on Aug 23. The first-time mother seemed confused during the birth and showed aggression to the calf. Veterinarians and keeper staff quickly intervened, but reintroduction efforts are now underway.

“The baby is calling to his mom and she’s calling back,” said Mike Keele, the zoo’s deputy director and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ species survival plan coordinator for Asian elephants. “Our veterinarians have examined the calf to see if he sustained any injuries, however from the behavioral signs we’ve seen thus far, we’re very hopeful.”

Keele believes that because Rose-Tu had never seen a birth before, she became confused when the baby was born.

“After several failed but energetic attempts, the calf finally stood up and took his first few steps,” said Keele. “He has a good suckle response and took water from a keeper’s finger within the first hour after birth,” he added.

Rose-Tu is doing well after more than 31 hours of labor, thanks to a daily exercise regimen that has kept her in top shape.

Keele said that Rose-Tu began showing signs of oncoming labor at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 22. Her progesterone levels had dropped to near zero three days before, a sign that labor had begun.

Rose-Tu, born Aug. 31, 1994, was the most recent elephant born at the zoo. Rose-Tu is a popular elephant within the herd and with her keepers. She is always looking to tease her herd mates and shares a strong friendship with Chendra, who is nearly the same age. Rose-Tu is the second smallest elephant in the herd, weighing about 7,600 pounds. She conceived in late 2006.

The Oregon Zoo has a renowned breeding program for endangered Asian elephants. More than 25 elephants have been born at the zoo, beginning with Packy in 1962.

Rose-Tu's new baby. Photo by Michael Durham © Oregon Zoo.

As the infant grows older, father Tusko - a 13,500-pound, 36-year-old Asian elephant - will be introduced and allowed to interact with him, as well. Tusko arrived at the zoo in June 2005 on a breeding loan. He has successfully sired three calves in the past — two while living in Canada and one in California.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants recommended that Rose-Tu be bred with Tusko. The AZA, of which the Oregon Zoo is an accredited member, strives to maintain a sustainable population of the endangered elephants in North America. Currently, birth rates are lower than necessary to do so. With few bulls and low birth rates — combined with an aging female population — the North American elephant population is at of risk becoming extinct.

In the late 1990s, scientists warned zoos that unless a reproductive management program was undertaken, North America was in danger of not sustaining a viable elephant population. Statistics indicate that if females do not become pregnant by the age of 25, their ability to reproduce is severely diminished.

An endangered species, Asian elephants are represented by an estimated 38,000 to 51,000 individuals living in fragmented populations in the wild. Agriculture, deforestation and conflict with humans pose a constant threat to wild Asian elephants.