Merry CHRISTmas to my friends and family!

An elder at church a couple weeks ago said these words and they've stuck with me.  I thought I'd post them here for everyone.  Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!

The Son of God
became the Son of man
so sons of men
could become sons of God.

Have a blessed CHRISTmas!

DD10 is entering another art contest

Thanks to Kristina on the Home School Share yahoo list, dd10 is entering another national art contest.  Kristina heard about the contest and let me know after hearing about dd10 winning the other contest.  

The new contest is in celebration of salmon and is sponsored by SOS, Save Our Wild Salmon.

Four winners will be chosen, one from each age category.  The first place winners will have their artwork framed and displayed in Washington DC and be featured in the 2009 Celebrate Wild Salmon calendar.  They will be invited to the exhibit in DC (which will run Feb. 15 through the summer).  Second place winners will receive a $100 gift certificate to Patagonia.

I always thought salmon were interesting, and have wanted to do a unit on them.  I guess I better put one together now and do it!

Anyway, dd10 choose to make her drawing from another book cover.  This time the book was Salmon Stream by Carol Reed-Jones and illustrated by Michael S. Maydak.   (Click on the book title to see the cover of the book at Amazon.)

Here is dd10's drawing, showing them as they should always be:  wild, free, and doing what God instilled in them.

Shhh...it's a secret

DD10 is getting special present this year.....a letter.  A letter doesn't sound so special does it?  Well, that depends on who it's from!  This letter, well really it's an email, is from Terri Farley!!  Terri Farley is the author of the Phantom Stallion series that dd10 *loves* to read!  She must have found my blog entry about dd10 winning the headstall for her drawing of the Phantom and emailed us!!!!  Here is what it said:

Hello,

What a lovely portrait of the Phantom!

Congratulations to the artist and her family -- we all owe a portion of our skills to those who support us!

What a lovely gift on a chilly Nevada night!

Best to you all,

Terri Farley

 

Phantom Stallion.com

Terri Farley.com

I've printed it off and am going to put a bow on it and dd10will open it Christmas morning.   Of all the gifts under the tree, I can't think of one that dd10 will like better than this!  Thanks, Ms. Farley for taking the time to write!

Need a last minute gift idea???

Do you like to bake cookies?  How about a coupon booklet  that gives the bearer a dozen cookies each month? 

 Do you (or the kids) draw?  How about a coupon booklet that gives the bearer a drawing each month?

My dear friend Ami, from HomeSchoolShare.com, has such a knack for putting together cool lapbook and notebook components has come up with a couple of great gift ideas to get those hard to buy for folks on your list.   All you need to do is print them off and collate them and wrap 'em up.  What a fun idea!!!

You will Adobe Reader to access the PDF files, but you can download it for free on the Adobe site.

Click here to download the Cookie of the Month coupon booklet.

Click here to download the Artwork of the Month coupon booklet.

Enjoy!   And if you like or have thought about doing unit studies, be sure to check out Home School Share!  There are over 200 literature-based unit studies, many of them with lapbooks or notebooking pages, and the best part is that they are all free!  There are also many FIAR (Five in a Row) resources and lapbook templates available (also free!). 

Recently, Ami started a new section on the website....Animal Studies.  In this section, Ami has created lapbooks for a particular animal.  They can be used alone to learn about a new animal, or be added to any existing science program you are using.  Again, they are free.

If you've been thinking about doing unit studies or lapbooking, what are you waiting for?  Give HSS a try!  You have nothing to lose and you just might find a whole new way of doing school that's fun for everyone!  

And if you've never heard of Five a Row, you gotta try it!  It's inexpensive and you get a whole lot of curriculum, fun, and priceless moments with your kids!

She won! She won! A national art contest!

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Yesterday's mail brought word that DD10 was one of three winners in the age 5 to 12 range for Weaver Leather's Young Rider drawing contest!  Three winners from each age category would win a Purple Diamond Browband Headstall accented with Swarovski crystals.

She loves to read Young Rider (or anything horsey!).  This past summer, she saw and advertisement in the magazine that announced a drawing contest sponsored by Weaver Leather.  She decided she would draw a picture of the Phantom Stallion, a horse in the series of the same name by Terri Farley.

Here is what she drew:



And here is what she won:


The retail value of this leather headstall is $178!

Prior to this, dd10 has only won local contests.  The Weaver Leather contest was the first she entered beyond the local level.  

We're doin' the happy dance here!


ETA---just got off the phone with them!  We found out that the pictures will be featured in an upcoming issue of Young Rider!!!  Woo hooo!!!!


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Noel Calendar for Advent

Two years ago, we started doing Advent to help focus our thoughts more on CHRIST instead of the busyness of Christmas.

We purchased DesiringGod.com's Noel Calendar. It's rather plain looking as you can see below, but we absolutely love it!


It was designed by Noel Piper.
 

It come with a laminated sheet that tells you what to read each day.  It is the Christmas story broken down into 25 sections.  Each day you repeat the text from the days before adding today's part of the story, until the whole story is told Christmas morning. Each day the children put a different person/animal from the story up until the last day when Baby Jesus is finally placed in the manger.

My girls love it and love shouting out whatever word of the story that I leave out as I tell it.

I recommend it to everyone!  Unfortunately, it is no longer available!  But the good news is is that it will be back next year, revised and improved!  So set aside some money and get one next year from www.DesiringGod.org.


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DD10's latest drawing: Dashing Through the Snow

Blog Awards: Artistic......Breezy Tulip!

I don't get into the blog awards and tag games (I know, I'm a party pooper!), but I just have to mention Breezy Tulip's blog, A Bowl of Moss and Pebbles.  What a beautiful young lady and an amazing talent!   I could (and have!) spent hours looking through her entries, hoping each one will be a peek at her illustrations.  I just know one day, we'll see her illustrations in a book......I, for one, can't wait for that day!

She's up for the Best Artistic Blog Content and I urge you to visit her site......I think you'll fall in love with her drawings too.  Don't forget to vote for her!  

Click here to visit Breezy Tulip's blog.

Then come back and click here to vote her as the Best Artistic Blog!

Still baking--Sweet Potato Pie and Casserole

Tonight, as are many of you, I'm preparing for Thanksgiving.  I've set the bread out to rise overnight.   I just took out a sweet potato pie and I've started preparing the sweet potato casserole that I'll bake tomorrow.   Tomorrow I'll make the scalloped corn and bake the bread and the casserole.


The Sweet Potato Pie recipe came from Esther Glenn of the Five in a Row boards almost 2 years ago.  I've been wanting to make it ever since and just never did.  It's very easy to make and I certainly don't think I'll be waiting long to make another!  Here's the recipe:

Esther Glenn's Sweet Potato Pie

2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. milk
2 T. butter
1 1/2 c. mashed sweet potato (about half of a 40 oz. can)
1 unbaked pie shell

Beat the eggs slightly and add sugar, salt, cinnamon, and milk.  Add butter to mashed potatoes and blend with milk and egg mixture.  Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake for 10 minutes in a 450* oven.  Then reduce heat to 350* and bake 30-40 minutes or until the filling is firm.

This make a thick pie.  I double the recipe and make three pies that are a little thinner.

Note from Celia:  I used one deep dish pie pan and the recipe was just a smidgen more than I need to fill it.


Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Can ya smell 'em?


I like to make these when we have church/homeschool dinners/activities.  Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

In a large bowl, combine:
  5 c. flour
2¼ c. sugar
 1 bag chocolate chips
 3 t. cinnamon
  ¾ t. salt
  3 t. baking soda

In a medium bowl, combine and whisk until smooth:
    6 eggs
    1 can (30 oz) pumpkin mix
    1½ c. melted butter
    ¾ c. milk
    2 t. vanilla

Fold this mix into the flour mixture, using a rubber spatula, until just blended.  Spoon into muffin pan.  (I like to use cupcake liners sprayed with Pam.)  Bake 15 minutes at 400º.  Makes about 4 dozen full-size muffins when filled 2/3 to 3/4 full.

You know you're a homeschooler when.....

I'm sure you've seen such lists.  Well, I've decided I can add three of my own.....

You know you're a homeschooler when..... (caution:  If you have a sensitive tummy, don't read any further!)


....Your kids find the 'gift' the cat so loving left in the middle of your walkway and they ooh and ahh over the the guts hanging out, promptly wanting to dissect it and see what else they can find.   After finding small sticks, they sit down next to said gift and poke around looking for the heart.

....Your kids see one very squished opossum lying in the road and want to dissect it.

....Your father-in-law removes the heads from his latest hunt and gives them to your kids, wherein they play with the said heads (of pheasants) as if they were puppets.  Said heads are now in my refrigerator, awaiting "show and tell" in science co-op this week.

....Your oldest daughter simply cannot wait to dissect the fetal pig she will be doing when she finishes her Veterinarian Science (which hopefully will be next April or May).


And now, you've caught a glimpse of a very 'normal' week at our house! 


Got anything at your house my girls can come dissect?

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Changing Weather

Yesterday, it looked like this out:


And we got a thunderstorm.

Today it's snowing!  Our first snow!  It's only spitting, but the girls are acting like they're going to be able to make snowmen and go sled riding today! 

What is it about fall that makes me bake?

I probably bake more in October, November, and December more than any other time of the year.  I suppose part of it is because of the holidays.  Maybe more of it has to do with the crisp cool air outside.  I hate baking when it's sweltering outside.

Anyway, a friend (Hi Cindy!) gave me a starter of her sourdough, so I've been carefully feeding it and having fun experimenting.  The first thing we made was just a loaf of sourdough bread......yummy!    Then we made pizza stromboli, which was a huge hit with the girls!  Then it was apple cinnamon stromboli.  I made 5 of them and gave some  away.....one to the neighbor boys since one was done right when they got off the school bus.   Another to my husband's parents and another to my daughter's art instructor.

Here's a picture of one of them:



I'd share the recipe, but it uses a sourdough starter for the bread, and the filling I just kinda made up as I went!

Right now, I've got one part of the sourdough in the breadmaker baking a loaf of bread (it smells soooo good!), and another part on a pizza pan to make a regular pizza, and then I'm making  a small pizza stromboli for the girls since they asked for it.

Sorry it's been so long

It's been kinda busy around here.  Doing what, I'm not too sure.  Mostly playing with pictures I guess.  I've been taking pictures for our co-op's year book.  I also took some more pictures of my dh's cousin as well as senior pictures for one of our co-op kids.  It takes a lot of time to review the pictures, try to "correct" the pictures, adding fancy borders and text, etc.   But it's a lot of fun and I really enjoy it.  Maybe someday when we're all done schooling, I'll look into get a job where I can still play with my camera.

What is this critter?

One of the ladies on the HSS Yahoo group, asked us to identify this rodent.  She lives in Northern Colorado.   From the end of its tail to its nose the creature is an easy 12 inches in length.  The tail itself is about 6-8 inches and is furry but not bushy.   The body is  white underneath  and it has long black whiskers.   It has been suggested that it's a roof rat of some sort.....what do you think?

It's been living in the hood of her van and they've been trying to capture for about 2 weeks now.  Nothing has worked.  Any ideas on how to capture it?








ETA:

Hey, I think it's a PACK RAT!!!  No kidding!  It's really known as a bushy-tailed woodrat, but it where we got the term "pack rat" from. 

Check these pictures out:


Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Wiki

National Parks


11/5 ETA:

Or maybe it's an Eastern Woodrat
Look here


Or perhaps it's a White-throated Woodrat?
Click here to see one


Lisa adds this information:

I think they might have hitched a ride from KANSAS (where our home was made)  I really really  hope not; but it is kind of making sense.  We have our share of field mice; but the scurrying in the walls and roof is more than usual! Something was getting either in the walls or between the outside of the house and vinyl siding!  Talk about creeps! 

 

I never thought of making sure of nests in the ceiling before they put the home on the foundation!  The ceiling is not blown the fiberglass ; but rather fluffy loose blown in insulation...making more of a chance they would nest.

You know what they say about making that final car payment?

You know....that as soon as you make that last payment the car starts falling part.  Well,it's true.  We paid off my minivan two months ago. 

Then I had to get brakes.  Well, that's OK, that's just normal.

Well, transmissions aren't.

The computer on my van's transmission went out.  I went Friday afternoon to have it checked, only to be basically told "It's bad, take it back to the dealer, we don't do that kinda work."  So, I had to drive across town to the dealer, only to be told "We can't work on it until Tuesday or Wednesday."  Sigh....I told them I needed my van for a field trip an hour away on Wednesday....I had 6 passengers lined up to go with me.  He said bring it Tuesday at 8 a.m. and don't drive it if you don't have to.  (He doesn't realize I live a half hour from anything, including the dealership.)   So, I went on home and go anywhere, not even to church on Sunday.

Tuesday morning, we load up school and go to the dealership and do our schoolwork at a table while they run diagnostics.  The guy comes out to discuss the problems and says "Good news is that it's covered by the extended warranty you purchased with the car.  How many miles is on it?"  I said just over 97,000, at which he frowns and says "Let me check something."  He comes back and tells me the warranty was only valid up to 80,000.  He then give me an estimate of $525 to START!  The computer had to be ordered, so they wouldn't have it until the next day (the day of the field trip an hour away).  Once the computer was replaced, they would know if anything else was wrong.  

AND he had no loaner for me, so I had to rent a car....at my expense, albeit at a discount since my car was in the shop and Enterprise and the dealer had an "agreement."   So, I had 2008 Chrysler Town and Country Touring that I drove around for two days.  It had so many buttons, I never did learn them all!  I put the windows down right off the bat, and then couldn't figure out how to get them back up!  :rolling eyes:  I figured it out by mistake.

OK, back to my van.....after the field trip, I stopped at the dealer's to see if my van was done and they said it wasn't.  The replacement computer didn't fix the problem or perhaps it was bad and they had to order another to see which was the case.  I asked to get my photography equipment out, since I would need it for co-op the next day (yesterday) and I left.   (I'm taking photos for our year book this month.)

Yesterday, I got to the church and started to set up the backdrop, and here I failed to grab one of the pipes for my frame.  It must have rolled all the way under the seat in my van and I missed it.   So, how do you take pictures when you're missing a 3 ft. section of pipe?   You go ask the maintenance guy he has any miracles......in the form of 1.25 inch piece of PVC that can be cut to the exact size I need.  And he did!

So, I'm finally up and running at co-op and later I called the dealer and he says the second computer did the trick and I could pick her up later.  

So, $661 later (includes the rental car and the oil change) I have my van back.  Now figure out just where the money will come from when I pay the credit card bill in three weeks.

But hey, things could be worse, right?!  ;-)    I didn't have to buy a new car!  And at least I have a car, not to mention a home, food in the cupboards and the freezer, my family, my health and oh so much more.  

I am thankful my many blessings, truly I am!   \o/

The swelling is worse!

So, dd soon to be 10, enters 4 drawings in the local art show.  One does not win anything at all.  That leaves 3.  Well, she brought home FOUR (4!) ribbons on those three pictures!  My talented young lady with the oh so swollen head (especially today!) won a BEST OF DIVISION!  

When she entered this particular art show for the first time two years ago, she got a "Judges Appreciation" ribbon, which means she didn't place, but they appreciated her work.  At that time, there were two divisions:  Professional and Non-Professional.   Or maybe there were three and they did have a Student division that included any student up to 12th grade. Can't remember.  In any case, she was up against way older and more experienced artists.   We were told that because of her they were changing the show the following year and creating a children's division/subdividing the student division.

Last year they did make the changes.  She entered 4 pictures and took home FIVE (5!) ribbons!   She won an Honorable Mention Best of Division, which is above a first place and of course just below the Best of Division award that is the highest you can earn.  Only those pictures getting a first place are put in the running for a Best of Division or Honorable Best.

Then this year she took the Best of Division--the highest you can earn--for her picture Sea Mist!  The ribbon is slightly longer than the picture! 


She did get some cool prizes, along with her Best of Division ribbon:  a t-shirt, some passes to a nearby putt-putt golf place, a gift certificate for an art class (with her current teacher!! Whoo hoo!), a painter's palette, a metal pencil case, and some art supplies like watercolors and markers.


The rest of the results.......

DD10 took a second place for the Blue Ice Dragon and third for Ebony.  She did not place for the Blue Heron--which was my personal favorite.

DD7 took first place with her painting of Grandma's Sunflower.

Mom took third for Camouflage (the tiger).

Me?  I got to be escorted to the awards presentation by three beautiful artists!


PS, see my other blog entry if you missed the pictures.

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And her head continues to swell.....

No, we're not talking about a medical condition here (\o/ God).  But the girl's head is going to get so big from winning all these art ribbons! 

We just got the news almost 10yo dd won THREE ribbons!  Now whether, this is for 3 different pictures or if one took Best of Show or Honorable Mention Best of Show, we don't know yet.

7yo dd also won a ribbon for her sunflower.  AND my mom took a ribbon as well!  Woo hoo!   We'll find out this weekend which pictures got which ribbons.

Last year they gave out some cool prizes in addition to the ribbons.....gift certificates, hand-made teddy bears, art supplies, etc.  I wonder what was donated this year?

Peter and the Wolf!

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Earlier this week, we went to Peter and the Wolf, a local ballet.  The girls and I really enjoyed it.  It was funny, and we all laughed.  The dancers did an awesome job.

At the beginning, they showed us how the dancers practiced.  They even chose some of the kids to come up on stage to also practice!  Here are the dancers showing the kids some of their moves:






Here are some shots I took of the play. 










I didn't use a flash, so I probably should have lighted and cropped most of the pictures, but I'm taking the lazy way out and just putting them here as they came out.  Hope you enjoyed!


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A Lap-n-Note (tm) for Nico's Octopus!

The girls and I really enjoyed this HSS unit!  We learned a lot about octopuses!

Didn't Ami did an awesome job putting all the lapbook/notebook components together?!  Thank you so much, Ami, for making our sharing time even better!

I was not able to include the last couple pages of our Lap-n-Note (tm) or the pages with all the minit books/flaps/etc opened up, but hopefully this will give  you an idea of what our folder looked like when done.

If you want to see all the pictures, visit my page at Photobucket.

Let your no mean no.......

I tried.  Honestly!

I went to the Horse Committee meeting tonight for our local 4H.  I went for moral support for my SIL.  A lot of issues came up at this past summer's fair and I've gone to the last two meetings for support.

Well, somehow, even though I declined the nomination, I became secretary.  I was quite shocked at the results, as I truly thought my no meant no.  Sigh.....it's only one meeting every other month and only for a year, right? 

Update on Mom!

It was brought to my attention (thank you, Aunt Nita!) that I need to update on Mom! 

Mom's lung disease is NOT active afterall!  She's had numerous tests and x-rays and they show that her lungs have "no significant change."  \o/  

Her oxygen in-take has not been so great.  Using the oxygen whenever she walks has made an amazing difference!!!  She's not running marathons, but she--with oxygen--can at least move around the house without wheezing!

Also, she had two sleep studies done and she does have sleep apnea.  Only moderate though.  She stops breathing about 50 times per night.  She now has a CPAP to wear when she sleeps.  This will force room air into her lungs when her lung muscles relax and close-off the air passage.

So, we're singing praises here!   \o/ \o/

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

All year I've been looking up.  The clouds have just fascinated me this year.  I'm not sure why.  I feel like I've never really looked at clouds before this.  Maybe I never have.  All I know is that I've stood in awe so many times.  Each time I'm aware of our loving Father, looking down on us perhaps with the sigh of a Father with wayward children, yet still loving us and giving us a beautiful reminder that He is still there for us, still waiting for us to do hear Him, to see Him.  He is everywhere, and yet we quite often miss seeing Him.















Our Creator God is an awesome artist, isn't he?  I took all these pictures within a 24 hour period.

So, have you looked up lately?

I feel as if I've just been carded!

I just got off the phone with my aunt.  She took the disk of wedding photos that I recently gave her to WalMart.  They printed the pictures she requested.  However, they would not give her the pictures--because they looked like they were taken by a professional!  

I just find that so hilarious!  Me?!  I just like to play with my camera!

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Is it exercise or fun? It was hard to tell the difference!

The girls had so much fun exercising Sunshine!




They thought the best thing though was using Sunshine like a slide and sliding off her back and into the water!

A job!

Woo hoo!  My first paying job in years!

A few weeks ago, we took pictures for a cousin's wedding.  (See other blog entry for pictures.)  This past weekend, I took pictures for her sister.  It was a lot of fun!

Here are some of the ones I took.

With my daughter's horse, Sunshine


                  Twirling


Is the pixie real or is it PhotoShop?


        Splashing in the pond

                     Bored