Escaping to the Beach

This afternoon we drove to Pacifica to escape the oppressive heat wave that has invaded the west. James had to work and Justin stayed home, but the rest of us had a blast. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather at the beach.

Pacifica has the best waves.

A starfish washed onto the shore. Steven spent a lot of time finding huge sand crabs for Kirsten's collection.

David and Steven played catch for a while.

Kirsten built sandcastles.

We ate and broke out the skim board.

Kirsten is always looking for treasure.

Dave-o didn't want to go anywhere near the waves at first. After making a fun game of tag with the waves, he warmed up to the water.

It didn't take long before he let go of our hands and enjoyed the water on his own (with my close supervision, of course).

 

It was depressing to come back home to 102 degree heat. Without AC, we are roasting in the house. Thank goodness for our pool. It has been a lifesaver.

Pink is Sweet

In four months, a little GIRL will join our family! We are so excited! Dave-o was right all along. And David can keep a perfect record on dreams predicting the sex of the baby.

The ultrasound appointment was amazing. Seeing Lonetta move around was very personal. The ultrasound technician kept calling our baby a "critter", which struck me as strange. She took live frames of Lonetta's organs hard at work. We were even able to see the blood flow through the umbilical cord. It's crazy how much technology has changed.

On my way home from the appointment, I stopped in at Safeway to purchase pink food to announce the gender of our baby to the kids. I bought strawberry ice cream, Hello Kitty popsicles, pink Oreo cookies, strawberries, raspberries. They all loved the news and enjoyed the treats to celebrate their new sister. Dave-o was expecting me to come home with his baby sister and was disappointed that he still had to wait about 4 months to meet her.

Kirsten's first comment after seeing the pink groceries was, "Can we go out right now and buy baby clothes?" She's so excited!

What We've Been up To

It's just the start of summer and I am already running out of activities to keep the kids entertained. By kids, I mostly mean Dave-o and Kirsten.

 

I am not over exaggerating when I say that Dave-o and I have played Candyland close to a hundred times this last week. I was getting so sick of the game that we took a desperate trip to Toys R Us in search of new games for Dave-o's age level. We came home with Hungry Hungry Hippos (a childhood favorite of mine). This game has become an instant success. Does anyone have any other games for pre-school age that they recommend?

I've also spent a LOT of time at various parks in our area. Kirsten is always a good sport and enjoys tagging along.

 

Speaking of Kirsten, she has started an exercise routine. In the morning, we walk/roller blade to Branham High School where she runs around the track. There is a cement pathway that runs along the outside of the track that Dave-o rides his bike around as well. A girl's field hockey league practices on the football field during our time there. The coach has approached Kirsten and I, inviting her to join. She is thinking about it. Kirsten is NOT the athletic type. Her time and energy gets put into artsy-crafty projects. However, I think she might enjoy field hockey. She's spent enough time watching her brothers play hockey to at least know what the sport is all about. We shall see...We won't be going to the track today as it is raining.

 

Steven has been battling a stuffy nose and cruddy cough for the last three weeks. We suspected that a lot of it has to do with allergies, but I took him to the doctors last week to double check. I wanted him well for his upcoming four day backpacking hike (which is tomorrow). After listening to Steven's lungs, our doctor diagnosed him with walking pneumonia. She was as surprised as we were. So, he is on antibiotics and allergy medicine. Last weekend, Steven enjoyed a rafting trip with his scout troop down the American River. The group survived class 3 and 4 rapids.

 

While Steven was river rafting, James was taking the math portion of the CHSPE test. He will find out in July if he passed. The results will set the stage for this next school year. His plan is to attend either DeAnza or West Valley College and work on completing general ed. classes. James' work at Cold Stone is keeping him busy this summer. It's hard work, but the atmosphere is relaxed and fun. His coworkers, who are all college students, treat him as a peer. They have a fun tradition of going to the movies after closing on Fridays or Saturdays, which they have included James in. One guy is in the Double E program at San Jose State. James has a good time talking with him about it as that is what James is interested in as well. I am grateful for the respect that these young men show James. He has really never had that from his own older brother and I can see him thriving on this experience.

 

Justin is busy working at Safeway. He has received a job offer from a person in our ward working at his fencing company. I hope Justin accepts this job. Currently, he is using Safeway as an excuse to get out of doing things that he knows he should be doing. Like going to church. With regards to his attitude? It has been unstable. Everyday is different. We never know which Justin is going to grace us. A couple of weekends ago, David had to "kick him out" of the house. Justin paced around outside the house on his phone for hours. Then he demanded that he had rights and needed to get his stuff for work. I put together a duffel bag of everything he would need and put it on the porch. David and I both made it clear to him, that the only way he was getting back into the house was by apologizing. But instead, he just argued what "rights" he had. Then, believe it or not, Justin called the police on us. The officers spoke with David and I for a bit and then privately with Justin. In the end, they sided with us and went as far as taking Justin to South Valley Medical to talk to someone. They felt he was emotionally unstable. After that, things went back to normal (for the most part). Then, last Monday night, Justin left home again. In the morning we found him on our doorstep. He wanted to come back home, but I wouldn't let him. I told him that he can't just leave for the night and expect to come back home in the day to eat and sleep. Especially since he hadn't even bothered to apologize. I told him that he could come back home after his shift ended that day at midnight. Then, later in the afternoon, Justin begged again to be let in pleading with me that he had learned his lesson. He said that last night was the most miserable night he has ever had. It was cold and a  drunk bum tried to steal his duffel bag. That freaked him out, which brought him to camp out on our doorstep. It was hard not to laugh at this tale. (Am I a bad mom?) It serves him right for thinking he can just wander the streets in the middle of the night and be okay. I have been hoping and praying for something like this to happen. I've arranged for him to see a therapist, who gets back into town this week. I feel really good about this man that Justin will be seeing. He comes to us highly recommended by my friend, Rachel, who used to work with him. He is a bishop in a Morgan Hill ward and has a lot of experience with the issues that Justin is going through.

 

My pregnancy is going well. I can feel the baby move around now. The movements seem to grow more frequent and stronger each day. While recently walking down the diaper aisle that sweetly smelled of baby powder,  I had an overwhelming excitement for this baby to join our family. That baby hungry feeling has taken over my body. Thursday is the day that we find out the sex. Dave-o is positive that we are going to have a girl. He tells everyone that he is going to have a baby sister. He's so cute! I have a feeling that this week is going to go by very slowly.

Peer Pressure

A discussion I had with Dave-o after church on Sunday:

 

Me: Did you meet the new boy, Cash, at church today?

Dave-o: Yes!

Me: was he nice?

Dave-o: No. He was loud. (Dave-o does NOT like loud noises.)

Pause

Dave-o: But ALL of my friends were loud.

Me: Were you being loud?

Dave-o shrugging his shoulders: Yes. My friends told me to do it with them.

 

Peer pressure already? Four is too young!

Seventy Times Seven

"What has the Spirit told you to do about Justin?"

This was the question that my friend, Michele, recently asked me.

As I've prayed for inspiration, I continually get the impression that it's me I need to do something about. I feel the hand of the Lord trying to humble and mold my imperfect self. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am having a hard time loving my "porcupine" son. His quills are so painful! His hateful words pierce me deeply. So deeply that I am having a hard time pulling the quills out. The longer they stay, the more bitter and angry I become. Through prayer, I realize that my failure is due to attempting the surgery on my own. I am just a nurse. What I need is a surgeon's experienced hands. I need the Savior's help.

Once again, this past General Conference has provided me with the necessary course to follow. In a talk by Elder Craig A. Cardon entitled, "The Savior Wants to Forgive", I was reminded of how merciful and forgiving the Savior is when we ask for forgiveness. So, why am I having such a hard time forgiving Justin of his continuous contempt towards me?

Here are a few quotes from his talk that are helping me through this difficult self journey: 

"Peter once inquired how many times he should forgive his brother and then asked, 'Till seven times?' Surely that would be more than enough. But the Savior’s response opened wide the door to His merciful heart: 'I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.'"

It is HARD to forgive someone when they hurt you over and over and over; without ever showing remorse. This scripture account reminds me that it's not my place to count the number of times I have been wronged. My job is to forgive each time.

"The Lord looks upon the light we have received, the desires of our hearts, and our actions, and when we repent and seek His forgiveness, He forgives. As we consider our own lives and the lives of our loved ones and acquaintances, we should be equally willing to forgive ourselves and others."

As of late, I seem to see only the bad in Justin. The quills in me seem to be injecting poison. The poison is called "negativity", which comes from Satan. As Justin's mother, I need to see him as the Lord sees him. I should be looking for the light in him and the righteous desires of his heart.

"Preach My Gospel speaks of the difficulty in overcoming addictive behavior and encourages priesthood leaders and members to “not be shocked or discouraged” if investigators or new members continue to struggle with such problems. Rather, we are counseled to “show confidence in the individual and not be judgmental … [treating] it as a temporary and understandable setback.” Could we do less with our own children or family members who struggle with similar problems, having temporarily strayed from the path of righteousness? Surely they merit our steadiness, patience, and love—and yes, our forgiveness."

This last quote sums it all up. Be patient and non judgmental and forgiving. I know that as I forgive and work on seeing Justin not as he is at present but as he may become, I will be blessed with the armor needed to fend off the quills from my porcupine child. And hopefully, the number of quills being thrown at me will be fewer. Perhaps he will one day have the same desire to let the Savior help him remove his own quills.

Father's Day

11:30 am church is wonderful! Especially on special holidays like Father's Day. We are able to take our time making a scrumptious breakfast of french toast topped with caramelized bananas and bacon. Then we leisurely took our showers and dressed in our Sunday best. Extra time allowed David to open his presents: a couple of dress shirts with coordinating ties, a phone screen protector, swimming trunks, socks, and a book. 

A bottle of root beer from his Father's Day Stache was the last thing to enjoy before heading off to church.

For dinner, David requested tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread, and bruschetta. Dessert was root beer cupcakes. Sounds strange, huh? It was actually really good. Not my favorite, but definitely a keeper.

After putting Dave-o to bed, we played a few games of Boggle and watched Next Food Network Star. 

I have been blessed with wonderful fathers in my life. My own father, of course, and my father-in-law who raised a wonderful son who is the father of my children. David's love and cool-headed thinking has been a great strength in raising teen-age boys. Happy Father's Day!

Homeschooling Growing Faster than Enrollment in Public School

Finally! A positive news article on homeschooling. Dr. Susan Berry wrote the below article in a Breitbart column that confirms everything we homeschoolers have been saying all along. Take a look:

A recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has increased by 75%. Though homeschooled children represent only 4% of all school-age children nationwide, the number of children whose parents choose to educate them at home rather than a traditional academic setting is growing seven times faster than the number of children enrolling in grades K-12 every year.

As homeschooling has become increasingly popular, common myths that have long been associated with the practice of homeschooling have been debunked.

Any concerns about the quality of education children receive by their parents can be put to rest by the consistently high placement of homeschooled students on standardized assessment exams. Data demonstrates that those who are independently educated generally score between the 65th and 89th percentile on these measures, while those in traditional academic settings average at around the 50th percentile. In addition, achievement gaps between sexes, income levels, or ethnicity—all of which have plagued public schools around the country—do not exist in homeschooling environments.
According to the report:

Recent studies laud homeschoolers’ academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students. Yet surprisingly, the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students.

The high achievement level of homeschoolers is readily recognized by recruiters from some of the best colleges in the nation. Home-educated children matriculate in colleges and attain a four-year degree at much higher rates than their counterparts from both public and private schools. Schools such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Stanford, and Duke Universities all actively recruit homeschoolers.

Similarly, the common myth that homeschoolers “miss out” on so-called “socialization opportunities,” often thought to be a vital aspect of traditional academic settings, has proven to be without merit. According to the National Home Education Research Institute survey, homeschoolers tend to be more socially engaged than their peers and demonstrate “healthy social, psychological, and emotional development, and success into adulthood.”
From the report:

Based on recent data, researchers such as Dr. Brian Ray (NHERI.org) “expect to observe a notable surge in the number of children being homeschooled in the next 5 to 10 years. The rise would be in terms of both absolute numbers and percentage of the K to 12 student population. This increase would be in part because…[1] a large number of those individuals who were being home educated in the 1990’s may begin to homeschool their own school-age children and [2] the continued successes of home-educated students.”

Bubbles

 Bubbles are fun to blow no matter the age. 

Look Mom!

 Mom! Look what has bloomed in my backyard! Kirsten wore a hollyhock flower in her hair on Sunday. Thanks for the seeds.

Oh...and look at what I find on the flower everyday that I water it. 

Class of 2013

Graduation day finally came. Pomp and circumstance made its appearance, but thankfully it wasn't over the top. The ceremony was only an hour long which we were all thankful for as felt our bodies melt in the hot sun. 

Kirsten and Steven

Justin lining up for his diploma. 

Being a Zinn put Justin at the caboose, which resulted in him getting the most cheers. 

Presenting the Class of 2013

Dave-o and Justin.

Back at the house, we had a dinner, dessert, and family pictures.

Justin with Grandma and Grandpa Zinn

James, Steven, David, Justin, Dave-o, G & G Zinn, Kirsten, and me.

Congratulations Justin!

You made it by the hair of your chinny chin chin. 

But at least you made it.

"You have brains in your head,

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Dr. Seuss

Entertaining the Kiddos

Oak Meadow Park proved to be the perfect place to entertain seven kids ranging from 4-18. My friend Michele and I brought a picnic lunch and turned the kiddos loose. The playground is amazing. It even has a real air force jet to climb on, which Dave-o LOVED! The older boys played frisbee, football, and explored a nearby creek. Dave-o made a new friend named Aiden. As a result, Michele and I made a new friend in Aiden's mom, Lily. Before leaving, we exchanged emails hoping to get the kids together again. Coincidentally, she is researching the possibility of homeschooling. Michele and I were able to answer a lot of her questions, which also led to the topic of our religion. It was a wonderful missionary experience. I hope to be able to foster this friendship. She seems like a wonderful person and Dave-o and Aiden got along perfectly.

Afterwards, Josh and Matthew came back to our house to swim.

Kirsten loves entertaining Dave-o. And he loves to be entertained.

The boys, of course, played very physical games. Ones that result in nose bleeds, scrapes, and scratches. Surprisingly, everyone always walks away happy. BOYS!

(Josh)

It feels so good to be done with school!