[email protected]

Hi! I am diana jenner, 34 year old super mom to Hannah, 6.5, and Hayden, 4.5.
We live in Western South Dakota and have been unschooling since Hannah was
born :) My husband, Mitch, died two years ago from a brain tumor & I'm
fortunate to be at home, raising and teaching our babies. The last year of
his life, Mitch was in charge of the *schooling* while at home undergoing
chemotherapy, it was the coolest year of my children's lives ~ even if he had
to *do* worksheets to feel like he was doing something ~ the Truth of the
matter is, they learned more just by being around him and his doctors
appointments than the could ever learn from a workbook page!! We still have
all the workbooks laying around, but now they're used as a memorial to Mitch
;) definitely not my style.
I'd like to think we live in the coolest place on earth for unschooling and
inspiring all of us ~ the Black Hills. This place is considered by many to
be the spiritual center of the universe... I certainly feel calmer and more
centered since moving here 7 months ago! We are already planning our
expeditions for summer ~ lots of camping and hiking. Hayden's excited to see
his very first snake! We've been doing lots of reading about the area and
what to expect while we're out ~ I've learned more in the past 7 months than
I did living in this state (and attending public school) for 18 years!! (I
spent almost 8 years in CA and have been back to SD for 9 years)
We do lots of TV, too :) since this was brought up! It's on all day, watched
minimally. I'd personally rather discuss things with my kids than shelter
them and create *forbidden fruit* where it doesn't need to be. For example,
I was told the first Lord of the Rings was incredibly violent and we missed
our chance to see it on the big screen ~ I watched the video and kicked
myself!! It is now one of our family's favorite DVDs and we went to Two
Towers on opening day! I think it has a lot to do with my kids' relationship
to daddy and the honesty required by us to deal with the children ~ they have
an incredible grasp on reality vs fantasy. We saw the *Making of StarWars* ~
Hayden was beside himself with excitement when he saw that George Lucas was
just a regular guy with an incredible imagination. He's gone on to request
stories on Steven Speilberg and JRR Toliken.
Right now, we are planning our family trip to Southern California in two
weeks. We will be driving out ~ both a challenge and an adventure! My
mother-in-law is really looking forward to our arrival, we're really looking
forward to Disneyland, hee hee. It will be a bit of a whirlwind trip,
planning to drive the 20+ hours straight thru, but the anticipation of what
we'll see on our way, is making the plan much smoother.
My thoughts may be a bit scattered, I do tend to ramble and suffer the
consequences of my thoughts getting away from me! I'm glad to be part of a
group, after reading just one day's posts, I'm feeling right at home :)
diana,
The wackiest widow westriver...
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule
of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”
--Frederick Douglass


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Angela

Welcome Diana,
I love (LOVE!) your quote!!!



Angela in Maine-unschooling@...
http://userpages.prexar.com/rickshaw/

"What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say."
Emerson


"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule

of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."
--Frederick Douglass



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/27/03 7:20:30 PM Eastern Standard Time,
hahamommy@... writes:

> I'd like to think we live in the coolest place on earth for unschooling and
> inspiring all of us ~ the Black Hills.

First,
Welcome and I am so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine raising my boys
without my DH.
And I agree about the Black Hills.
We live in North Carolina but my DH is from SD. We have been to the Black
Hills and the Bad Lands several times and plan to go again with the boys in a
year or two.

Your children are lucky to have a strong, cool Mom like you in their lives.
I look forward to hearing about your adventure.
Pam G.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Pamela Sorooshian

Diana --

I know your trip will be whirlwind, but if you feel like visiting our
park day, we're right there - I live about 10 minutes from Disneyland.
We have lots of young kids, your kids' ages, and it might be a nice
break for you. Let me know if you're interested and I'll give you times
and directions.

-pam


On Thursday, February 27, 2003, at 04:18 PM, hahamommy@... wrote:

> Hi! I am diana jenner, 34 year old super mom to Hannah, 6.5, and
> Hayden, 4.5.
> We live in Western South Dakota and have been unschooling since
> Hannah was
> born :) My husband, Mitch, died two years ago from a brain tumor & I'm
> fortunate to be at home, raising and teaching our babies. The last
> year of
> his life, Mitch was in charge of the *schooling* while at home
> undergoing
> chemotherapy, it was the coolest year of my children's lives ~ even if
> he had
> to *do* worksheets to feel like he was doing something ~ the Truth of
> the
> matter is, they learned more just by being around him and his doctors
> appointments than the could ever learn from a workbook page!! We
> still have
> all the workbooks laying around, but now they're used as a memorial to
> Mitch
> ;) definitely not my style.
> I'd like to think we live in the coolest place on earth for
> unschooling and
> inspiring all of us ~ the Black Hills. This place is considered by
> many to
> be the spiritual center of the universe... I certainly feel calmer and
> more
> centered since moving here 7 months ago! We are already planning our
> expeditions for summer ~ lots of camping and hiking. Hayden's excited
> to see
> his very first snake! We've been doing lots of reading about the area
> and
> what to expect while we're out ~ I've learned more in the past 7
> months than
> I did living in this state (and attending public school) for 18
> years!! (I
> spent almost 8 years in CA and have been back to SD for 9 years)
> We do lots of TV, too :) since this was brought up! It's on all day,
> watched
> minimally. I'd personally rather discuss things with my kids than
> shelter
> them and create *forbidden fruit* where it doesn't need to be. For
> example,
> I was told the first Lord of the Rings was incredibly violent and we
> missed
> our chance to see it on the big screen ~ I watched the video and kicked
> myself!! It is now one of our family's favorite DVDs and we went to
> Two
> Towers on opening day! I think it has a lot to do with my kids'
> relationship
> to daddy and the honesty required by us to deal with the children ~
> they have
> an incredible grasp on reality vs fantasy. We saw the *Making of
> StarWars* ~
> Hayden was beside himself with excitement when he saw that George
> Lucas was
> just a regular guy with an incredible imagination. He's gone on to
> request
> stories on Steven Speilberg and JRR Toliken.
> Right now, we are planning our family trip to Southern California in
> two
> weeks. We will be driving out ~ both a challenge and an adventure! My
> mother-in-law is really looking forward to our arrival, we're really
> looking
> forward to Disneyland, hee hee. It will be a bit of a whirlwind trip,
> planning to drive the 20+ hours straight thru, but the anticipation of
> what
> we'll see on our way, is making the plan much smoother.
> My thoughts may be a bit scattered, I do tend to ramble and suffer the
> consequences of my thoughts getting away from me! I'm glad to be part
> of a
> group, after reading just one day's posts, I'm feeling right at home :)
> diana,
> The wackiest widow westriver...
> “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the
> ridicule
> of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”
> --Frederick Douglass
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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>

Mary Bianco

Welcome Diana. Sorry for you loss. Sounds as if your husband left all of you
with wonderful memories and great kids that will always have him with you.
You sound like an awesome mom, seeing so much fun and opportunity in every
day. Your area sounds great and that's one place my husband and I speak
about going some day. Right now though we can't even get to Orlando!!!!
We'll all be looking forward to your upcoming adventures.

Mary B





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