Just to briefly follow up on my last post.  Logan was able to achieve his goal and earned everything he wanted to.  He did a great job!!

So, after all the activities, it’s time to get back to our regular schedule.  It was nice to be able to take a break, but it’s also good to be back to it.  I love the ability we have to not be constrained to the school district schedule, and be able to make our breaks as long or short as we want.  I love being able to work at night or on Saturdays.  I love having the ability to say, hey, let’s go over to the airport and watch airplanes for a little bit, right in the middle of the day.  Or, to be able to do our school work outside on a beautiful day.  I love that we can have pajama day any day we want to.  Mostly, I love being able to teach my children and watch them light up when they figure something out or learn about something they really like.  I love having that time with my children and being able to really watch them blossom.

Alright, back on track-

This month, the kids are going to be learning more about Colonial America.  What was life like for the people in the seventeen and eighteenth centuries in America?  My question for the kids to figure out with this:  If it weren’t for EVERYTHING leading up to the Revolutionary War, would we still have declared our independence from Great Britain??  What I mean by that is this:  The Dark Ages, full of disease, and war, and lack of learning, and stymied religion, led the way for the Reformation and Renaissance to happen.  When people saw they could learn and read scripture themselves, they wanted more freedom.  When people started making new scientific discoveries, it led to more and more.  Then, we get the Age of Exploration, where people were sailing around the globe and discovering all kinds of new lands and people.  As we are learning more with science and exploration and religion, we question the crown and the church and want more freedom.  People come over to America for a number of reasons, religious freedom, economic opportunity,  escape from debt, escape from the horrible conditions that plagued England at the time, and exploration.  People started to forget about God, and that led to the Great Awakening.  The Great Awakening, like the Reformation and Renaissance, caused people to question things in their daily lives, as well as the authority of others.  People became keenly aware of scripture and the stories contained in the Bible.  They learned, for example about Moses, and how under his leadership, people had real freedom.  The people yearned for freedom and were able to awaken to the injustices they faced under British control.  Eventually, this gave way to the American Revolution.

So, if you take one of those things out.  If say, the Renaissance didn’t happen, or the Great Awakening didn’t happen.  Any of those things.  If you take out just one, do we still have the conditions in America for the American Revolution?  If you change any one of those events, do we get the United States of America?  I would submit to you the answer to that is no.   But, I’ll keep that opinion to myself as I teach the kids.  I really want them to be able to answer that question for themselves in the next few weeks.  Critical thinking is very important here.

Now, on to science.  The kids are going to be learning about the Moon, the Sun, and the planets in our Solar System.  They are going to be tracking the moon on their own moon calendars.  We have some fun nights of observation planned, and we also have an astronomy professor coming to speak to them.  We will also be making some more trips to the planetarium.  I’m also working on getting a speaker from the Las Vegas Astronomical Society to come speak to us.  We will also be joining them for their public star party at the end of the month.  Those are always awesome!

We will be continuing on with our phonics and language work.  I’ve found the older kids are lacking some things that we thought they had learned, so I’m taking them backwards a little bit, but they sure are learning a lot – and really grasping it.  Perhaps it’s better to hold off on some things until kids are a little older and can understand better.  Just a thought.  Anyway, it’s going really well and I’m very pleased.  My little daughter read her first word the other day and just lit up.  It was great!

One thing I’m really excited about is our plan to expose the kids to as many careers as possible.  We really want them to see as much as we can and help broaden their horizons.  Perhaps they will learn about something they never knew about before.  I’m working to get us some activities with the firemen, a police officer, a carpenter, astronomer, air traffic controller, and genealogist.  Still on the look out for more!

Anyway, things are going well and life is good!

Time to get to work!

When I Got My Arrow of Light

When we got to pack meeting, there were a lot of tables and chairs set up.  There was also a big table with food on it.  When everyone got there, we sat down and started to eat dinner.  We had Indian tacos; they were so delicious!  Everyone seemed to like them.  After dinner, all the scouts went by the stage and we started.  Ethan, Weston and I were all receiving our Arrow of Light.  As part of the Arrow of Light ceremony, we had to hold on to three different arrows, which symbolized different parts of the Cub Scout program.  After we were done with the arrows, we each received our Arrow of Light awards.  Ethan had a birthday and it was time for him to move on to Boy Scouts, so he went up on the stage and built a bridge to Boy Scouts, which represented everything he earned and learned to get to that position.   It was a really fun night!  I will remember it forever!

Let’s start with November.

My oldest received his Arrow of Light, the highest award a Cub Scout can receive.  It was quite a journey getting to that point, but so incredibly worth it!  He worked so hard to do everything which was required and he was so very excited when he finally earned the award.  He was able to receive his Arrow of Light at the same time as two of the other Scouts in his Pack, so they had a ceremony for all three.  It was very special!!  And, of course, our whole little co-op came out to support him when he received the award.  

So, why mention a Cub Scout Award on a blog about homeschooling???

I truly believe Cub Scouting is an absolutely amazing way to teach kids.  The Cub Scout program could almost be a curriculum all by itself!  There is just so much to it and so many different areas of life and learning it touches.  So much more than just tying knots.  I have two boys in Cubs right now, and in January my oldest will move into Boy Scouts. (Dang!!  When did that happen??  Wasn’t he just a baby like 5 minutes ago??)  We incorporate their Scouting requirements into our schooling.  There are things in there that can even be done with the girls.  It’s just incredible!  And, I really believe the Cub and Boy Scouting programs build character and strength in these boys, something many boys and men in our society desperately lack.

In November, in our co-op, we continued our studies of science and history.  In science, we learned more about telescopes and about the Space Race.  Next, we are going to be taking an in-depth look at our Solar System.  For history, we’ve been talking about the colonizing of America and the original 13 colonies that would eventually make up the United States.  It is absolutely amazing to me to see how the old traditions and culture of Europe carried over to the settling of the colonies!  It makes perfect sense, but it is still incredible to me.  And, you know what??  The kids picked up on that stuff on their own!  Hooray!  They are paying attention and listening and things are getting through to them!!  It’s clicking!  It’s really, really clicking!  And, they are sure showing they are critical thinkers!  I LOVE it!!!!

OK, now on to December.

We decided to take it a bit easy this month, since Christmas is coming.  We’ve been going a little light on the academics, but fear not!  They are indeed learning plenty of other things.  A couple of weeks ago, we took the kids on a field trip to the Bellagio Conservatory.  We were treated to a guided tour by one of our grandmas, who works there.  It was amazing!  We were also able to talk to Mr. Green Thumb, who told us all about how they do the plants and decorations, which are changed five times every year.  Everyone loved it and we were all in total awe at the incredible creations and decorations which were on display.  It was a great treat for the kids and adults!

We also decided to do a Christmas Dinner and gift exchange for the kids.  Each child was given the name of another one to do a gift for.  We put a limit of $5 or handmade things.  Most of the kids decided to go for handmade, which was absolutely incredible!  My oldest knitted a hat and scarf.  My other big boy sewed and stuffed a pillow.  My girls also wanted to do pillows, and did so with some help.  Some of the other kids made bracelets and pillows too.  It was incredible to see them get so wrapped up in making gifts for others!  They all really stepped outside themselves and worked super hard for each other!  Everyone loved it!

We also went caroling that day, which everyone enjoyed!

It’s been a great few weeks and we’ve been able to see the kids grow a great deal!

It’s always an adventure and we are completely loving the journey we are on!  Looking forward to the new year and new adventures!!

    We want to start by thanking you for allowing us to participate in this contest.  We also want to thank you for sending the GRAIL satellites to study the moon so we can learn more about it.  This year our homeschool co-op, the Explorers, is studying astronomy.  We are very excited for the opportunity to explore with NASA and learn more about the moon, through the GRAIL mission.

     The names that we have chosen for the two GRAIL satellites are Tom and Jerry, just like the cartoon.  We chose these names for several reasons.  First, in the same way Tom and Jerry chase each other, the two GRAIL satellites will have to “chase” each other once they get into orbit around the moon.  Second, after the GRAIL satellites “catch” each other, they will have to work together to study the moon and accomplish their mission.  Tom and Jerry always end up working together to accomplish their goals.  Third, Tom and Jerry run into problems, as do NASA scientists.  It is important for both Tom and Jerry and the NASA scientists to help each other solve the problems, especially when communicating with satellites as far away as the moon.  Next, just like Tom and Jerry are always up to something, NASA scientists are constantly coming up with new inventions and ideas.  Last, in one episode Tom and Jerry went to the moon.  That was only pretend, but this would be a chance for them to really go there.

     Thank you again for letting us be a part of this program.  We have really enjoyed it and it was very cool.  We hope that you will allow people to participate in naming missions in the future.  Thank you for your consideration.

When I was a child, I wanted so very much to become an astronaut when I grew up!  As far back as I can remember, I dreamed about the stars and heavens.  At night, I would stare longingly up at the sky (something that has never changed).  I’ve always been in absolute awe at the wonder and beauty of the heavens.  As I grew, I studied all I could about astronomy and NASA and the history of space travel.  For years, I took any story on astronomy or space travel out of the newspaper and put them up on my bedroom walls.  One of the greatest birthday presents I ever received was when my mom wrote to dozens of former astronauts and asked them if they would just send me a picture or write a letter, and she gave me everything that they sent.  I was part of the astronomy club in high school.  My senior project in high school was on the Space Race, and once I got to college, the first classes I took were the astronomy classes.

I tell you all this so you can understand how much I truly LOVE all things space.

So, when we gave the kids the choice of what science they wanted to focus on this year, and they picked astronomy, I was pretty excited.  I was hoping I could get the kids to be excited about it, too (maybe not as much as I am, but excited nonetheless.)  I think astronomy is a great science to begin with, because it touches so many of the other sciences.  It also inspires a lot of imagination and creativity.

In preparing for our lessons, I like to try to keep up to date on what is happening now in astronomy news.  So, one day, I was going through my NASA app and found a story that really caught my eye.  NASA is having a contest for kids to name two spacecraft.  You have to admit, it would be pretty awesome to name a NASA spacecraft.  

Here’s the deal on the contest.  In September, NASA launched to satellites into space; they are currently on their way to the moon.  Once they get into orbit around the moon, in January, they will spend a bit of time getting synced up together and will begin orbiting the moon together.  Then, beginning in March 2012, they will work together and start mapping the inside of the moon, by measuring the changes in gravity as they orbit.  The mission, called GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory), is amazing.  To think, we can know what is happening inside the moon, just from measuring shifts in gravity, just amazes me!  Currently, the two satellites are called GRAIL 1 and GRAIL 2.  However, NASA would like the kids to rename them.  So, our children will be working on coming up with a name for each craft, and the reasoning behind the name.  NASA is looking for something with substance and meaning.  I think it’s a great opportunity for the kids!  We even spent some time looking at the history of space travel, in particularly, going to the moon, in order to help them understand a little better, and maybe even come up with some ideas.  We will be submitting our names next week.

Alright, that was cool enough, right?  Yeah, I think so.  But wait!  There’s more!!  Be prepared to have your mind completely blown!!  

So, on each of these two satellites, there is a camera that will be taking pictures of the moon.  But, not just any pictures….pictures that kids will take!  This part of the mission is called MoonKAM, which is Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students.  Here’s the deal.  Teachers can register their classrooms to be a part of the MoonKAM program.  Then, the students in the class will be able to get online and tell the camera what to take pictures of on the moon.  They will be able to have the cameras zoom in and out and then decide what they want to take pictures of.  Now, hold on……WE’VE BEEN APPROVED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS!!!!!!!

That’s right, our little homeschool co-op is going to be part of a real live NASA mission!!  Right from our very living rooms, we’ll be able to get online and communicate with satellites that are ORBITING THE MOON!!!

Mind=Blown!

I don’t even know how to convey the excitement I have over this!  And when I told the kids, they were ecstatic!  We were all pretty sure that it would just be for kids in “regular school.”  But, I thought, it won’t hurt to try!  And BAM, just like that, we are going to be part of something truly historic and monumental!  I just can’t even tell you how amazing this is!!  I’ve always wanted to be part of NASA, and now we’ll all get that opportunity.  It’s just completely astonishing to me!!

I am truly grateful the kids will be able to experience all of this, especially during the year we are learning about astronomy!  All the pieces just fell into place and it’s just perfect.  This, I believe, is an experience they will always treasure.

Actually, with this being a blog designed to chronicle our schooling, I hadn’t planned on discussing politics too much, which is definitely out of character for me.  However, a couple days ago, I read an article that just set me off and was very pertinent.   After thinking about it for a couple days, I’ve decided I’d like to discuss it here.

First, read the article.  Don’t worry, it’s short.  :)

Alright, now a bit of a rant.

Really?!?!  The conclusion to be drawn from this is that homeschoolers don’t like Mitt Romney?!  Yeah, I’m not seeing that.  What I DO see, however, is that there is a small group of people out there, who happen to homeschool and who happen to not like Mitt Romney.  And, never did it say the reason they disliked him was because of his views on homeschooling.  (By the way, Mitt Romney supports homeschooling.  Just because he and his wife didn’t homeschool their children doesn’t mean they are opposed to it.  Give me a break.)  The article citied the reasons that some of these families didn’t like Romney was because of his religious views.  (OK, full disclosure here- I’m a Mormon.)  Never in the article did they present anything that talked about Romney’s views on homeschooling.  They did talk about a couple of the other candidates’ histories with homeschooling, but nothing on Romney.  In fact, the only two reasons they cited for these families not supporting Romney were because they view him as too moderate and because of his faith.  In the article it says:

That would be a bitter pill for many homeschoolers, who balk at Romney’s relatively moderate track record and Mormon faith. Many said they would have trouble supporting Romney if he was the party’s nominee next year.

“Why would I want to vote for somebody who might be the antithesis of everything I believe as a Christian, just because he’s not as bad as the other guy?” Heki said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

I think this article could have been applied to a number of groups.  Why single out homeschoolers????  It would have been much more accurate to say that there are Christian groups who don’t support Romney.  They are singling out Romney because of his Mormon faith and they make a completely inaccurate conclusion.

OK, OK, I’m sure you must think I’m defending Romney just because we share the same faith.  But, that is simply not the case.  I’m so sick of the mainstream media picking an choosing what facts they want to use.  They paint Romney as anti-homeschool, which is blatantly untrue.  They paint these homeschooling families as anti-Mormon, which may or may not be the case.  I have a hard time believing that all (or even most) homeschooling families in Iowa are Christians who dislike Mormons.  They paint Mormons as non-Christians, which is also very untrue!  The center of our religion is Jesus Christ.  Lastly, they group all homeschoolers together.  Wrong.  Homeschoolers are made up of people of different religions and political beliefs.

Epic Fail, Reuters.

Now, let me just state a few things for the record, because I feel I need to clear up some other misconceptions while I’m at it.  I consider myself a member of the TEA Party.  I am a registered Republican.  I am a Mormon.  I am very conservative.  I am not a bigot.  I am not a racist.  I am not an anti-Semite.  I don’t want to take Social Security away from grandma.  I don’t want the weak among us to not have medical care.  I do believe government is too big and has gotten completely out of control.  I do believe we need to follow the Constitution.  I do believe we need to reform and change some things so that our country can survive financially.  I do support Israel.  I am looking at two of the GOP candidates very seriously.  Herman Cain and Mitt Romney.  I think the toughest issue facing our nation right now is the economy.  I believe these two have what it takes to turn this economy around.  I truly couldn’t careless about either’s race or religon.   I do not support Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon, and to people who think I do, all I can say is Harry Reid is a Mormon too.  I don’t care what religion, race or gender a candidate is; all I care about is where they stand on the issues.  I believe voting or not voting for someone based on their religion, race or gender is simply ignorant!

Bottom line for me is this:  I LOVE my country.  I believe God has blessed this land.  I believe in American Exceptionalism!  This country has lost its way and it’s time to get back on the path to greatness!  I will teach these things to my children.  One of the reasons I wanted them at home for school is so I could teach them what an amazing country we live in and how truly blessed we are to be here.

Oh, what a fun time we had when we did our Peasant’s War!  Of course our version turned out much better than the real one did, but the peasants (played by the kiddos) still lost.

Here are some fun highlights:

The kids were soaked, and so were we.  But we all had a great time, and even tied our history lessons in there!

Later in the evening, some of us watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Seemed like a fitting way to end the day.  :)

Now, that’s the way to have school!!

Oh, man, what a couple of weeks it’s been!  Do you ever notice that when you homeschool and you have a bad day, or week, it’s really difficult to discuss that with others?  You know, when you have a child in public school and they act out or have a hard time, everyone is understanding, offers advice or empathy, etc.  However, when you homeschool and the same thing happens, you get entirely different responses.  Like, it’s alright for kids in public schools to have moments of poor behavior, but since we homeschool, clearly our children must be perfect.  Apparently since we choose to homeschool, we shouldn’t ever complain.  It’s a little annoying.

So, obviously, we had a bit of bump in the road.  And, because neither my children or I can really be perfect, we had some behavior issues last week.  The kids just couldn’t seem to focus on their lessons or work.  There weren’t any huge problems, just a bunch of small things, but it seemed like they were happening all the time.  And frequency definitely magnifies the problem.  So, we struggled last week and didn’t get as much done as we should have.

Then comes Friday.  Fridays we spend all day with the other family we have our co-op with.  Generally, we work on history and science in the morning, then have random activities in the afternoon.  We could do some PE activities, work on big projects, do art, or a ton of other things.  This last Friday, however, those plans went awry.  I had created a game for the kids to play as a history review.  I thought they would love it, but they just kept whining and complaining.  It took us all morning just to get our history done.  Then, after lunch, we had to do science still.  Out the window with our plans to take the kids swimming that afternoon.  And, during their recess time, some of the kids got themselves into more trouble.  Then, Friday night we were headed out the door, to drive out of town to do our first astronomy lab.  Then, I looked up.  Clouds.  A lot of clouds.  Why not?  Astronomy lab moved to another night.  Needless to say, by the end of last Friday, I felt absolutely drained!

I don’t say all this to complain, just to explain.

As I’m lamenting the situation, I began to search for answers.  Why were the kids having such a hard time??  What could I do to change things up to help all of us to do better?  The answers just wouldn’t come.

Then, it hit me.  Hard.  Right in the face.  As I am sitting in church on Sunday, I realized we never had our beginning of the school year blessings!  Hello, McFly!?!  Of course that was the problem.  Can’t operate successfully without the Lord’s help.  That evening, we all got some blessings and I instantly felt peace.  What a wonderful thing to have the ability to, through the Priesthood, receive blessings from our Heavenly Father!

There are always going to be hiccups along the road, but I felt like we were hitting landmines last week.  Now, this week, of course went much better.

For history, we have been learning about the Reformation and Counter Reformation in Europe.  It’s really important because it was a huge tipping point not only for some freedom in Europe, but it was necessary for the founding of our great nation.  Anyhow, one of the things we learned about was the Peasants’ War, when over the period of a year, peasants across Europe spontaneously started rising up against their lords and demanding more freedoms.  Unfortunately, it didn’t end very well for those peasants involved.  Over 140,000 lost their lives.  However, their message carried on and some pretty big reforms would soon follow.

Now, you all know, a couple of my big things are hands on learning and getting the kids excited about whatever they are learning about.  I’ve got to say, learning about all of this can be pretty dry.  So, why not spice it up???  Today, for co-op, the kids will be able to reenact the Peasants’ War of 1524-1525!  Oh yeah, this has fun written all over it!  I’m SO excited!  Now, clearly we cannot allow the kids to have real weapons.  But, pool noodles and those spongy balls filled with water make a great replacement!  We are going to go to a little park in the middle of our neighborhood.  I must say, I’m looking forward to the looks we’ll get from neighbors who think we are just crazy and by the way, why aren’t our children in school where they belong??  (You know the looks I’m talking about.)  Oh, I think it’s going to be awesome.  Promise to have pictures up asap.

I think at the end of today, I won’t feel so terribly drained, like I did last week.  Lesson learned:  Never forget to include the Lord in all you do!  Truly He has the best lesson plans of all and we would be wise to follow them.  The biggest lesson learned this last week certainly didn’t come from me to the children.  The biggest lesson was taught to me.  I’m grateful for that.

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.”  -Plutarch

Ok, first of all – WOW!  That is SO true!  We can fill our kids’ minds with all kinds of information, but if they don’t care or don’t know how to use it, all the knowledge in the world won’t ever matter.  The key isn’t getting the kids to regurgitate facts and figures, but getting them to think.  I mean really think.  Critical thinking is a lost art.  Too often our children, and a good majority of the adult population, for that matter, are spoon fed information and don’t ever bother to think about it or question it.  We should question everything.  We should ponder and study and search for knowledge and wisdom.  We shouldn’t take what others, especially those in the media, say as facts, but do our own research and critically analyze the information we are given.  In a letter to his nephew, Thomas Jefferson said, “Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.”  How right he was.  Question with boldness!  Never be afraid to ask questions and figure things out for yourself.  This is what I am trying to teach my children.  I want to ignite the flame in their minds.  I want them to seek out knowledge on their own.  I want them to yearn for information and soak it all up.  I want them to question what they learn and really think critically about it all.  That is the key to true wisdom.

We started on Monday with the other family we do our history and science co-op with.  For history this year, we are going to be studying United States history, up to 1830.  We began on Monday by discussing the Magna Carta.  While that is European history, it laid the groundwork and planted the seeds of freedom in the world.  This is a very important document for the founding of the United States and we even have some laws in the US today that began with the Magna Carta.  Throughout the week, we talked about life in Medieval times.  The kids need to understand why it was even necessary for a document like the Magna Carta to even be written.  I think the general consensus is that the kids would not want to have lived then.  Although, they did enjoy the Medieval dinner we had on Friday.  Also, for a review of the week’s lessons, we played Medieval Jeopardy.  The kids enjoyed it a great deal!  And then, just for fun, because we had been learning about King John and life in the middle ages, we had the kids watch Robin Hood.  Of course not meant to be historically accurate, but the kids enjoyed it.  I must say, though, some of the songs about King John were pretty right on!

For science, we are working on astronomy this year.  When given the choice between astronomy and chemistry, the kids voted to do astronomy.  Democracy in action, right?!  So, anyway, we started by talking about how astronomy has been used throughout time.  We talked about how ancient people needed to follow the sun, moon, and stars in order to be able to know the seasons and be able to properly plant and harvest their food.  A very important thing, we can all agree!  We also talked about constellations and the different myths and stories behind them in different cultures.  We gave the kids the assignment to come up with their own constellation and story about how it got into the sky.  I was completely blown away by their creativity and what everyone came up with!  Then we moved on to talk about how astronomy works today.  To finish off the week, we took the older kids to the planetarium and show about the Maya and how they viewed the skies, which fit in perfectly with what we were learning.  The second part of the show was about what can be seen in the summer sky.  After the show, we were privileged to be able to go out to the telescope the astronomers had set up and we were able to view Saturn and a binary star system.  It was simply magnificent!  The kids can’t wait to go back!

We also started working on phonics, beginning with the short vowels.  My kindergartener is really enjoying it.  I’m taking all the kids through this phonics program, though, because I don’t feel they have a solid foundation.  So, we are rebuilding it where we need to.  The problem is the older ones are a bit board.  They are great, though, because they aren’t complaining, but just following the directions I give and doing the work I ask them to do.  I know how hard that can be when you feel like you already know something, and so I give them a lot of credit for that!

With math, our little kindergartener is loving her work, of course.  Isn’t that almost always the case with kindergarten??  They just can’t get enough of learning.  The key is keeping that fire and passion for learning alive.  My first grader is really enjoying her math, too, even though it’s a review for her.  Luckily, she still has that passion for learning.  The two oldest ones are also reviewing a bit right now, but they are also enjoying their math work, too.  I think everyone’s favorite part of math is working with the fun Math-U-See blocks.

I’ve also got my oldest ones working on geography and map skills.  I think it is important to understand different types of maps and features of the earth.  This is the planet we live on, and we need to understand how to navigate it!  My fifth grader has been working out of these geography books for the last two years, as part of the Nevada Virtual Academy curriculum.  I loved the books so much that I ordered them for us to use this year.  They are really, really good.  But, best of all, my third grader is ASKING to do geography!  And, even better than that…he’s not only asking to do the work, buy he’s READING it almost on his own!  That is AMAZING because he has always fought me with reading and wouldn’t even want to try.  He’s struggled so much, and now he wants to do it on his own, with this geography book!!  It literally brings tears to my eyes!  Getting that geography book was the best $10.95 I’ve ever spent!

So, here’s to week #2!  We’ve got some fun things in store for the kids this week and I can’t wait for it all!