To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool???

I'm not sure where time goes anymore...I swear it sneaks away when I'm not looking. It's been a whirlwind of change over the past 8 months. We moved back to Utah in February, well the kids and I did. Jason joined us the beginning of April. Scarlett joined our family on April 14. Finally the end of May we moved to Tremonton and have been enjoying life and all it has to offer.
This week has been a trying one for me. Hailey started 1st grade (sigh)...I know it's not like she's graduating high school, but it still breaks my heart that they years slip away so quickly. She however continues to amaze me with her enthusiasm for learning be it learning to change poopy diapers, read new words, or solving a math problem.
I'm sure many of you know this about Hailey, but she's SMART, she's always excelled beyond her grade level and I am determined to keep her challenged. Luckily we were blessed in Denver with Mrs.Bury, the best kindergarten teacher ever, in my opinion. She constantly challenged her and as we passed off our kindergarten checklists she sent home 1st grade. She truly cared for each student and we were lucky to have her.
Since moving back to Utah I have developed a strong distaste for public education. Generally I'm all about getting a break in the day and sending the kiddo's off to school to learn something, but Utah public schools are letting me down big time. Her teacher in Ogden didn't take me seriously until she was there about 3 weeks and then the homework began getting harder, but originally it was too easy for her and she hated school. Now here in Tremonton I am absolutely stunned at what I have seen. It appears we are working on things that should have been done in preschool or kindergarten, letter & color of the day. I thought no way, and asked Hailey if they read at school, her reply was no. WHAT?!? this couldn't be true... Come to back to school night I ask her teacher if they have read any books, she turns red and says "I haven't had time yet"....UMMMM NO! The world stopped and I wondered what alternate universe I'd stepped into. Unfortunately this was reality, who would have thought? I went home and got to researching, got overwhelmed, and then researched some more.
I have never, ever, ever for one minute in my life thought I would want to homeschool my children. I LOVED my education. I have fond memories of my elementary years and was blessed with excellent teachers and a wonderful education, for Hailey this is not the case. You may think I'm being over dramatic, and well maybe I am, but come on letter & color of the day, are we three again? I am starting to wonder if no child left behind means that we teach to the least educated student, in which case we are all screwed! Anywho, in all my research I found a free online program, through the state that I feel really confident about, but (I'm sure you saw a but coming in all this) I don't know that Hailey will be on board since she loves school.  Jason will support any decision I make, but would prefer the public education with us supplementing at home. I have entertained the idea of supplementing, but then comes trying to teach a 6 year old after they've been at school all day...Not. Going. To. Happen. So I don't know what I will do. I'm still researching and hoping I can convince Jason and Hailey that this will be amazing. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.

Onto updates on the other kids...Scarlett is 4.5 months already! I can't believe it! She rolls front to back and back to front AAAHHH she'll be moving in no time. She is a drool machine, she loves kisses, toys, blankets, or anything she can get in her mouth. She babbles ALL day long and eats like there is no tomorrow. The girl has a hearty appetite and LOVE the real food...aka rice cereal and green beans, blech! But she likes them and that's all that matters.

Ike is about to start preschool next week and if you hadn't guessed already I'm rethinking that too. However they have this life skills class that teaches a sport a month. This is important because for those of you who know Ike he trips just walking from one end of the house to the other. I would love if he could be more coordinated and I'm not sure I can teach that, so this life skills class would be a blessing. Other than that Ike is still the same old Cars loving kid you all know and love.

As for Jason and I, we feel so amazingly blessed I can't put it into words. On our 6th wedding anniversary we were sealed to each other and our children for time and all eternity in the Logan, Utah Temple. It's an experience I can't put into words. I'm not a cryer, but when my kids came in I was bawling. The Spirit was so strong it was unreal. I truly can't get enough of the Temple and this will be the first week out of the last 3 that I haven't made it. If I could I would go every day, no joke. I wish that more of my family were able to experience it with me...one day, I have to keep telling my self that so I don't freak out on all of them about what blessings they are missing out on. Take that as a hint that you should all go to church or at least research it and make an informed decision to not go.

Overall we are wonderful! The kids are cute and amazing, they bring such an amazing light to our home. I'm a firm believer that infants can still see beyond the veil and that Scarlett brings an amazing Spiritual presence to our home.