Saturday's Hiking Pictures

Saturday we went to the Occoee Whitewater Center to explore the hiking trails. For once, I remembered to not only take the camera, but to actually use it. So, here's our photo journey.


Getting caffeinated for the hike...The bridge that leads to the trails.


Annalise found a hollowed out tree.




The views were actually nicer because the leaves were still off the trees so we could see the hills in the distance.


The kids all ran ahead to surprise us with this weird pose when we came around the bend. They were perfectly still and looked like they were posing for a CD cover.


Then we came upon them in this pose - a fake campfire scene. They were all acting like they were roasting marshmellows over an imaginary fire.

A moments rest on a bench overlooking the river.

Heading back over the bridge.

Playing down at the river after the hike.

Kamana Page

Luke finally allowed me to post something of his on the blog. This is his page from the Kamana study we are doing. Geesh. This blog is starting to look like a Nature Study blog.

Art Time with Pastels

Priscilla had some rare free time today to draw with the kids. Even Kezzi got in on the action. The three younger kids had never used pastels before. The boys' attention span is short at the end of the school day but I figure a little time is better than none. Luke never gives me permission to post anything of his, but here is some work from the other kids.

This one is by Kezzi. She always amazes me when I watch her at work. She is very quick, confident and bold with her strokes.

Annalise did this picture of flowers and then had me help her find the section in a poetry book about flowers. She voluntarily copied this stanza of the poem. Pris copied the last two lines for her.

Pris did this rendition of Mary Poppins, inspired by the fact that it is the book she is currently reading aloud to Annalise.

It's interesting that the boys always hurry through art time and dash outside as soon as possible. We did wrangle Abel down long enough to get this picture out of him.

Kamana Studies

I'm still really enjoying our Kamana nature studies. I'm still really impressed over how helpful it is for someone like me who is does not notice detail naturally. Today we talked about frogs and chose one from our area to record information about using the Reader's Digest North American Field Guide. The way it walked me through the process caused me to notice a lot of details about frogs that I had never noticed before. Then it had us choose other species in our area that look similar and note the differences. It also suggested listening to a recording of frog calls. Fortunately, we had bought a frog card for our Birdsong Identiflyer last fall and we were able to listen to the calls of the species we had chosen. Here is my page from the day's work (you can click on it to enlarge): We've done nature studies for at least fifteen years now but this course has given them more depth and direction. I've always wanted to dig deeper but wasn't sure how. We only have a couple of sections to go in Kamana One. Kamana Two has already been ordered and I am really looking forward to using it over the next year. I'm hoping to be able to continue on through all four levels.

**A little addition: This afternoon Luke took our birdcall gadget outside, patiently sat still with it and kept pressing the sparrow call. He said 5 or 6 sparrows came close to him. How cool is that? I love nature study!

What I Came Home To

Right before we left on our trip to Missouri, my oven died. When I came home, Ford had already bought and installed a new stove as a surprise. The boys helped him and they even cleaned under and behind it before they put it in. In addition they cleaned the house (even mopped the floor) and had candles burning. Wasn't that sweet?

I had mentioned how nice a smooth top range would be because I could actually keep it clean but I was a little worried about being able to can on it this summer. The sales clerk reassured him it could handle the canner. We'll see, because I plan to give it quite a work out this year.

Searching For Sandhill Cranes

Last Wednesday after breakfast, our read aloud time and math, I announced that everyone needed to pack their nature journals and supplies and that we were leaving by 10:30. We loaded everyone up and headed out in search of sandhill cranes. I knew they came through every year but I had forgotten until I saw a couple of flocks heading toward the wildlife refuge in a nearby town.

We arrived at the refuge pictured above and to our disappointment we only saw Canada geese. As we took turns with the binoculars and munched on some snacks, we saw a few small groups of cranes fly over and continue out of sight. Just when we were about to give up and pack it up, a small group came in and we were able to watch them land. Then a couple of wildlife resource agents came up. After giving us a bunch of literature, they told us of a nearby town where there were lots more cranes. So we packed up and headed out.

We were greatly rewarded with the next location. There were many large flocks of sandhill cranes and we even saw an endangered whooping crane among them. We made a bit of a menace of ourselves stopping in the middle of the highway and peering through our binoculars even though we tried to keep one child looking out for traffic headed our way.

It was too cold to draw in our nature journals outside, so we came home and spent the rest of the afternoon drawing, writing and then I read aloud from our new book, The Animal Dialogues.

This is one thing I love about homeschooling - the freedom to take advantage of learning opportunities at the spur of the moment. As much as I love books, I also love going and seeing and learning from real things.

Our Surprise Visit

Yesterday the girls and I got back from visiting our friends in Missouri. Their oldest daughter, Rachel, who is just a little older than Candace, was having a bridal shower. Her maid-of-honor was giving the bridal shower and called us with the great idea of having us come as a surprise. It was not easy. I'm terrible at keeping secrets. I had to avoid calling my friend for weeks in fear of messing everything up. This was especially hard because she had recently had her second back surgery and I was being a lousy friend by not calling to check up on her. Worse, I didn't even mention the upcoming shower in a reply to an email but instead just alluded to the fact that we couldn't come by mentioning Kezzi and Priscilla's new jobs and how excited we were to see them at the wedding.

We arrived Friday evening and stayed with the family of the maid-of-honor. It was difficult to arrive in town and not go directly to our friends' house. We knew we were giving up a precious evening in order to fulfill the surprise. It ended up all being good. We had a wonderful time at our hosts' home. We sat around the big kitchen table, played games her mom and I did a little crocheting. We even had fun all cramming in the bathroom getting ready for the shower. It was really nice having one-on-one time with another family when we usually just see them at group events. Their 17yo son even got up early and made homemade pancakes for us all!

Next we slunk around town trying to avoid running into our friends. We arrived at the home where the shower was being given just in time to get our vehicle hid in the garage. They arrived minutes after we did. We all ran to the couch and just sat there trying to look casual. One of their daughters came in and stood there in utter shock. We hushed her while we all gave her hugs and kept her captive in the room until the rest of them came in. It was worth it all to see the looks on their faces when they came in the room. There were tears and hugs and some of us were shaking with excitement.

It was a beautiful shower with lots of good food and great gifts. It was wonderful to see old friends and catch up with them.

We went home with our friends and had a nice, relaxing evening just hanging out. It was such a blessing to get to see Rachel and Collin together now that they were free to express their feelings for each other. Rachel had waited patiently for several years, trusting in the Lord and her parents' guidance. Collin had spent years visiting with her family and participating in activities together. They spent years practicing self-control and being extremetly careful in their behavoir towards each other. I have never seen any two people behave so honorably. He had also spent a long time in correspondence with Rachel's father about her before Rachel even knew about it. In fact she didn't know about it until after Collin had arrived at their house one evening to propose and then her parents presented her with a stack of printed emails that documented it all. That was the way Rachel had wanted things to go. Her parents knew how she felt about Collin so there was never any question about Rachel's wishes. She really didn't want to go through giving her heart too early or to the wrong person. They have truly honored God through this process and it will be exciting to see the blessings unfold in their marriage.

Driving home made me a little sad that we had moved away, even though I love it here in Tennessee. I always come home appreciating the group of kids there and feeling a little sad that we don't have a large group like that here. It's always so encouraging for my kids to get to spend some time there and know that they are not alone in the world. There they are not weird. It's perfectly normal in this group for young people to be pursuing a walk with the Lord and submitting to Him in all areas of life. There it is not anything extraordinary for a young man to approach a girl's father in order to pursue her for the purpose of marriage. It's not unusual for those kids to honor their parents and trust that their parents have their best interest at heart. And they find blessings abounding as a reward. I really want to thank them all for the wonderful light they are.

A Wounded Feathered Friend

This week a little sparrow hit our picture window. We heard the smack and looked out to see him sprawled out on the heat pump. Abel rescued him and we brought him inside. He was placed inside a wire cage in hopes that he was just stunned and with a little time would recover. He did. Within the hour he was hopping around so we released him outdoors. He flew to a nearby tree and stayed there a long time. Eventually he was gone. We checked around the base of the tree to make sure he didn't keel over and die and he was not there. So we think we helped restore him to health. Otherwise, he probably would have been dinner for one of our cats.

Changes

It seems we are on the verge of more changes. It's exciting and a bit sad at the same time. Priscilla and Kezzi have just been hired for waitressing jobs at local restaurants (only now they call the position - server). That means they will be gone from home a lot more. I'm very excited for them and love to hear the stories of things that happen.

Three of my friends and I went to Kezzi's workplace and had her serve us tonight. She looked so cute in her uniform. I'm so proud of her because even after only one week, she has already been recognized as a Christian and has had several opportunities to share her beliefs. I'm most thankful that being around so much worldliness has not tempted her so far, but has only helped to strengthen her resolve to hold her standards. Amazingly, so far she has only encountered encouragement from others about holding to those standards, even from those who live far beneath them. She is getting lots of experience with those who live very different lives. I'm proud that she does not have a holier-than-thou attitude but instead can be friendly and loving even admist different lifestyles. We will be continuing to pray that she will do well. She knows if it becomes too much for her, there are other options.

Priscilla just started yesterday. (She looks cute in her uniform too.) Her boss was amazing. Even though she is 19, her boss gave her his card and told her if her dad wanted to know what kind of boss she had he was welcome to call him. I was amazed that he had that much respect for her father's position in her life, a rare thing these days. And he told her that no profanity was allowed at his restaurant. Quite a different story than at the restaurant Kezzi is working at. Maybe if Kezzi ends up wanting to leave, Pris will be able to put a good word in for her where she is. So as I said, Pris just started. She's planning on working as much as possible over the next six months in order to earn enough money for college next fall. So far she has received about 2/3 of what she needs in scholarships. The last 1/3 is still pretty hefty but we are hoping that between us we can come up with it. She may be able to transfer to a different branch of this restaurant and continue working part-time while she goes to school so she can continue to have some income.

Candace and Michael came to visit last weekend. Michael called a couple of weeks ago with plans to surprise Candace by bringing her here Friday night. She thought they were surprising us but we knew all along. Right before they arrived, we turned off all of the lights and hid in the library. Uncle Kenny and Aunt Lori came over to hide too. She ran all through the house looking for someone and then finally took a peek into the newly built library when we all scared her half to death by yelling surprise. Michael brought all of his sound equipment and they set it up on the deck Saturday. The girls had a blast singing and playing music all day. I was worried about bothering the neighbors but I was outnumbered.

Candace is vowing to come once a month because she is getting too homesick for everyone. She woke up Saturday morning and was in the hallway talking to Annalise and Candace had big tears in her eyes while she noted the changes in Annalise. This brought me to tears. It's strange to be happy and sad at the same time. I'm happy that Candace has the life she has wanted and I'm thrilled that she loves and misses us so much. I'm sad that the kids will not have the same daily life together. But I do know they will make sure to continue to be close and share many special times together. I knew these changes were inevitable.

Every night the girls come home and we sit around and hear stories from the day. A little change from the bedtime stories we used to have but at least we still have that time together.

The Most Precious of Gifts

"May we remember as parents that we are his children, and that he is about the business of changing our hearts, of repairing our ruins, of remaking us. And though he has not finished with us, he has placed in our care his children. May he in his grace keep our hearts aflame for these children. May he give us minds like steel traps that we would never be distracted, that we would not forsake our calling. May he, the great Steward, make us faithful stewards of children, the most precious gifts, of which is the kingdom of God."

RC Sproul, Jr.

Ok, Mom, I Finally Counted Them All!

Books that is, not children.

My mom has been bugging me about counting all of our books, especially since they are mostly arranged conveniently in one place now. I think it's at 2,800. I got real close to that and then started remembering a few more in other places around the house so I rounded it up to that. I know that sounds like a lot to most people but thankfully I know of others who have more than twice that many. Like the DHM at The Common Room, who greatly eases my guilt. Ok, so she is the only one I actually know of who has twice as many, but I'm sure there are more out there.

I just love having them all upstairs now. I love that there is room to have them all organized and easy to find. My brother-in-law came over the night it was done and found amusement in calling out a title and seeing how fast I could locate it. He found out that I know my books.

Having them close has inspired me to revisit so many of these old friends with my younger children. I'm reminded that even if I couldn't buy another book, they could still have a great education just using what we already have. I think of the time some day into the future when my grandchildren will enjoy these same books and I don't regret a single purchase.

And it was really fun last week bringing over a brand new to homeschooling mom and watching her jaw hit the floor when she walked into the library/schoolroom. I love inspiring other moms to build a home library! It's fun being the one who will ease their guilt when they discover they are hopelessly addicted.

Our Weird Dog

Our German shepherd, Felix, has the habit of sleeping with his leg extended straight up. When I started snapping pictures he woke up and his leg leaned over a bit. It sure seems weird to see such a big dog sleep like this.

She Almost Made It...

but not quite. We got the call today about the art scholarship and Priscilla did not win. They did say they were very impressed with her work and they really wished they could give two this year. Apparently she will still qualify for some money from the art department, but not the Emerging Artisit Scholarship. So, we will still be pushing ahead and hoping to get her up there this fall.

The Remodeling Project That Took Over

We've spent the last couple of weeks converting our screen room into a library/schoolroom. I liked having a screen room but the animals had taken it over, even coming through the screen and ripping the doors apart to get in. It was impossible to keep clean.

I had books all over the house, spread over five different rooms. Now everything is in one central location and it's opened up room all over the rest of the house. Here are pictures of both ends of the room. It is finished except for a couple of piles of things to get rid of.

This project has sparked off a whirlwind of reorganizing and repainting in other rooms. It has helped so much to declutter our main living areas that we are having a hard time getting used to what seems like bareness to us. The girls are in the middle of repainting their rooms. Kezzi had some glitter added to the dark blue paint in their room and it looks really cool in the lamplight. She says it's fairy dust. The room downstairs that used to host the majority of the library has been converted into a cool hang-out room for the kids. They have wild paint plans for that room which are supposed to be acted upon as soon as the girls finish their rooms.

Ski Pictures

**You can click on any of these pictures to see an enlarged view

Hope, Kezzi and PriscillaLuke Annalise coming down the hill with DadtoCherubs, who so generously took her down after being tired from many hours on the slopes.

Abel

Kezzi and her wild skiing

Priscilla and one of her favorite little friends, Cherub5

Priscilla

Kezzi and Hope

Me, being pulled up the beginners slope

Ford coming up the beginners slope

Everyone is Hooked!

We went skiing yesterday for the first time. After a little while in the learning area, most everyone was riding the chair lifts and skiing down the slope time after time again.



We went with our good friends from Becks Bounty, who were outrageously generous with their ski time and helped us so much. MomtoCherubs worked tirelessly with Annalise even though she was very reisistant the entire time. DadtoCherubs saved the day by taking Annalise down the bigger slope and holding her next to him the whole way down. I think it finally dawned on her how much fun it could be and maybe that was why MomtoCherubs was working so hard with her. Hopefully, next time she will be a better student.



Kezzi is the champion because she was skiing down the expert slope (updated to say that it wasn't an expert slope, just a very scary intermediate one -- sorry, my misunderstanding) after only four hours! She thinks she has found the sport/love of her life. She was so cute with her long, blond braids flying down the slope. They may grow up, but they really don't change all that much.



Besides Annalise, I win the biggest loser award. :) I don't think skiing is a great sport to pick up after 40! I've never been athletic or daring with extreme sports as it is. I finally did gain confidence on the baby hill and after the girls talked me into it, I tried the slope that was the next level up in difficulty. At the top of the first turn, I wiped out, scraping my bare back on the snow until I skidded to a stop. How my bare back could contact the snow after I put on so many layers is crazy. Anyway, after struggling to stand back up, I strugged to get my skis off. Then I struggled to get them back on, realizing the only way down was DOWN. I set off again and became overwhelmed with the speed and lack of control. Nothing I did slowed me down at all. After succumbing to the terror, I decided just to sit down and wipe out rather than hurl myself faster and faster down the slope. That was it. I was done. When I finally got myself picked up, I was in tears from being so frightened.



Thanks to MomtoCherubs encouragement, I did go back to the beginners area so I wouldn't end on that note. DadtoCherubs offered to take me down with him and help me, but I had had enough. Maybe next time I'll brave that since he is an expert skiier who has been skiing since he was two years old.



I did have a great time though. I was worth it all to see the looks on all of the childrens' faces. They were having the time of their lives.



Cherub5 (from Becks Bounty), who is only 8yo, was hilarious as she skiied down the slope with wild abandonment and whooping. Cherub6 was an amazing tropper too as he worked so patiently until he attained the all-important stopping capability. He was so cute and had a constant smile on his face. I still keep laughing over a comment by Cherub6 (5yo) at the Mexican restaurant where he tried "whakamole", aka guacamole, for the first time.



As the title of this post suggests, everyone is hooked. On the way home the kids were full of plans to do it again. Luke is even making plans to move closer to the ski resort when he is grown.

Why Huckabee?

I must admit I have been surprised at some of the homeschoolers reactions against Mike Huckabee. The articles written by those who oppose him have left me very disappointed with the lack of sound reasoning. My disappointment has only been keener because some of these writings have been by people I have respected. One article,by a very renowned homeschooler, suggests we not vote for Huckabee out of fear of what others will think about us if he makes unpopular decisions:

"Think of it. If Huckabee is elected, and then (like George W. Bush) takes actions that are deservedly unpopular (e.g., Bush's refusing to close our borders to illegal invasion), people might start saying, "It's the homeschoolers' fault!" They might say this even if we, personally, don't agree with Huckabee's post-election actions."

This has got to be some of the most ridiculous reasoning I have ever heard.

Over and over I read others saying he imposed more restrictions on homeschoolers in Arkansas, restrictions that HSLDA opposed. Doesn't that make anyone ask the question why HSDLA would endorse him now? When HSLDA and the men who have worked tirelessly to defend homeschooling support someone, doesn't that merit something? Doesn't that raise the idea in anyone's head that maybe there is a good explanation? I emailed HSLDA and asked why they were supporting Huckabee and what was all this controversy in the homeschooling camp. They replied to me and sent a link to this explanation of Mike Huckabee's record on Arkansas homeschooling laws on the their site. It made sense to me. I also watched a video on YouTube of some homeschooling pioneers giving their reasons they support Mike Huckabee. Maybe I'm naive, but I have a hard time believing these people are liars.

Now, I am not suggesting just trusting someone else's judgment or blindly taking someone at their word. But come on people. Are we just going to mistrust everyone? If I go that route, I will not have any incentive to vote at all.

I admit it does get frustrating at times. How can I really know what the truth is? How can I know if people are trying to fool me for personal gain or their own agenda? I really don't want to spend countless hours researching everyone's politics. I watch interviews and debates and read a little. That's the most I'm willing to put into it at this point in my life. So, could I be wrong? Could I end up getting burned by Huckabee? Yes, it's possible.

What I do know is Mike Huckabee claims to be a believer. He claims a lot of things that I believe in. As far as homeschooling goes, he says he thinks homeschoolers are doing a great job and should be left alone. I have watched many interviews and debates and I like what I hear. I don't know much about economics or foreign policy and to be honest, I don't really care to. I'd rather leave that to others. I'd rather have a president who is wanting to do his best before God and has solid Christian beliefs and a relationship with God. As for all of the other policy decisions, God can help him with all of that. And so can a good cabinet. God can protect us even in our ignorance, bad decisions, or lack of understanding and experience if we are seeking Him and acknowledging Him in all our ways. And that's what I've seen Mike Huckabee do ~ acknowledge Him. And I don't mean the cold, casual name dropping that so many ungodly politicians do. That's not what I've seen. I've seen him take bold stands for the truth. And I admire that.

Could he be a slick trickster? I guess it's possible. But until I see credible evidence of that, I'll just trust God with it and take a Christian man at his word until he proves otherwise.

She's One of the Finalists!

We got the call last night letting us know that Priscilla has made it into the finals for the Emerging Artist Scholarship. Soon she will be going to the school for Scholarship Weekend and going through the final process. We are really hoping that she gets this because, not only will it be an honor, it will be a substantial part of her tuition. I am guessing we will know something by the end of this month.

Cranking Up the Daily Journal Again

This may only interest a few of my readers, such as those of you wanting to see what an academic day in the life of our homeschool looks like. I've decided to give my Shadybrook's Daily Journal blog another try. It's a new year and time to be diligent with things that you know you will probably get slack on later. This time I'm only going to record the activities that involve the three younger kids: Luke (13), Abel (11), and Annalise (7). It's these three that I am directly involved most of each day. Kezzi (17) only has some work in a couple of subjects (English and Math) in order to complete her senior year. And Hope (15) is working mostly on her own this semester so I won't be recording her work either.



Sometimes it will be "just the facts, ma'am" and other times, if the mood strikes, I may include some commentary.

Christmas Eve Day

In order to cut down on the candy mess at our parent's house, my sister and I decided to have our kids open their stockings at home this year. We surprised our kids with them this morning. I had so much fun shopping for this, adding some gift cards from a jewelry shop, lotions and special chocolates for the girls and itunes gift cards, electric toothbrushes and cool hats and gloves for the boys. I found a cute Hello Kitty electric toothbrush and some $1 stuffed monkeys for Annalise.

I also started a new tradition of giving each child a matching ornament to create their own collection of Christmas ornaments for their own Christmas trees when they have their own homes. I thought of the fun it would be for their children to see the same ornaments as they visit their aunts and uncles. These were inexpensive but I loved them ~ but then I love anything that makes me think of the snow of my childhood.

After stockings Ford and Pris went off to work, Kezzi and Hope went to help Grandpa roll meatballs, and the boys & Annalise are lugging bedding and presents over to Grandma and Grandpa's. I put the turkeys in the ovens - 32 lbs. between the two of them. I am cooking them like my grandmother used to with little sausages attached all over them with toothpicks. All I have left is the rolls and the vegetables and then we will be ready!

**Ok, Granny, here's the picture! This is the one cooking in the roaster oven so it's not pretty and brown yet. My sausages aren't working as well as my grandmother's because I used turkey sausage instead of pork. Next time I'll go with the pork because it's greasier and the juices drip down over the turkey while it's cooking.

More Evidence of Christmas

Here is Priscilla, the Queen of Christmas this year. She has led the charge in Christmas decorating, even coming home with a wreath that she bought for the front door along with assorted ornaments and ribbons for the Christmas tree. Here she is armed with Christmas lights in her make-shift pouch before she goes outside to decorate the deck railings.

And here's our pretty tree with a few presents under it. We even have our mantle decorated.
Priscilla also made these ornaments to commemorate the mission trip to Kenya. She made one of these for each of the ladies who went with her, along with giving them a framed copy of her drawing of the Kenyan children.

She's inspired other clay-working around here by other children, but I'll have to see if I can get permission to post photos when those projects are finished. And there's another special project by another resident artist awaiting its unveiling on Christmas morning...so stay tuned for more.

Weird Things Boys Do When They Don't Have TV or Video Games

I spotted this strange creature passing by my windows. This is cousin Paul.

Then I was summoned to the door to see Luke looking like a walking bush. This is taking camouflage to a new height.

Happy 1st Birthday, Cousin Joe!

Our Favorite Lentil Soup Recipe

When I was a young mom I went to the library and checked out different ethnic cookbooks. This recipe was from a Greek cookbook from which I gathered several good recipes. This was the first way we learned to eat and like lentils. Many friends and family, who after declaring they did not like lentils, tried and liked this soup.

2c. lentils

8c. water

1/2 c. each of chopped onion, celery and carrots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. olive oil

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

3 T. tomato paste

2 bay leaves

1/2 t. oregano

3 T. red wine vinegar

Rinse the lentils and soak overnight in 2 c. of water. Saute onion, garlic, carrot and celery in olive oil. Add to the lentils along with 6 c. water, salt, pepper, oregano, tomato paste and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until lentils are soft. (I cook mine all day in the crock pot.) Remove bay leaves and add red wine vinegar before serving. We usually double this now and serve it with homemade bread.

*note to Candace ~ This is something easy to make and inexpensive too! :)

Playing with Dolls

On a rare day, when none of Annalise's cousins could play and all of her siblings were gone, I talked her into getting her neglected dolls out and giving them a good airing. She has quite a few between her own and ones that her sisters have loaned to her. It was quite a feat to get them all dressed and groomed. Since she doesn't frequently play with them and they were so cute lined up on the couch, we decided to get a picture. As I well knew, they were soon stacked back in her room and she continues to spend the majority of her free time outside with her cousins John and Elijah, who don't appreciate playing with dolls.

Art, Art and more Art

I love it when my kitchen table looks like this~with art projects under way!
We are having a great art year. I don't know what has clicked around here that has made me more diligent about having art time but it has. I think it started with the Draw Squad book. We started using that for daily drawing time and it's amazing when something becomes a regular part of our routine that I no longer hear complaints. It's like they just accept it and don't think about balking any more. I think another big help is that I am participating too, not just as the teacher, but as a student.

After successfully incorporating daily drawing, we are adding a weekly art project. This book has loads of fun ideas and I like the easy step-by-step instructions. My goal is to use this time to introduce different media and methods.

People always ask where our kids get their talent from since neither Ford nor I are active artists. This afternoon while we were working on the project pictured on the table Abel proudly stated, "That's where we get our art talent - it's Mom!" Ha Ha. I know it's in me but it's never been developed and I still fear the blank page. My artsy side comes out whenever I'm near art supplies. I love buying them. That's what I've done all of these years. I've bought the supplies and the kids have used them. That's why they do well. Practice and fearlessness. I'm trying to overcome my fears and at my older age learn to draw and paint. I'll probably be one of those old ladies that take art classes at the local art center or go to those week long classes at some folk art center.

Bah, Humbug Reformed

Can you believe I'm forty years old and not only have I never read A Christmas Carol to my children, I've never even read it myself? Pathetic, I know. Well, we're reading it now as our first-thing-in-the-morning read aloud. It's one of the many Christmasy things we are doing this year. Funny how appropriate it is for us right now.

After years of struggling off and on with the to celebrate or not to celebrate Christmas, we're finally giving in. I don't know if it's just getting older and getting tired of making a big deal out of things or what. I know my parents are thrilled. How many years did we bring our Scrooge spirit into the holiday talking about the "origins of Christmas"? Bless their souls. May I be as gracious to my kids when they act like idiots.

I don't know what's gotten in to me but I've even ordered A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and other oldie Christmas movies from Netflix. I also printed off the Christmas poems off of the Ambleside site. I'm playing Christmas music and baking cookies. And having a great time.

Nature Study - Opposum

Last week the kids had the opportunity to see an opposum up close. Hope was coming home from her cousins' house and heard a rustling noise. After getting a flashlight, she found the creature in the rafters of the carport. Of course, it was an opportunity for some impromtu nature study. Here's the pages from Annalise, Abel and Hope's nature journals (Luke refused permission to publish his.).

Christmas Gift Giving

After following the trail from Dewey's Treehouse to this post, I have been really appreciating our way of doing Christmas gifts. Actually, I have been appreciating it every time I hear of someone else's craziness over their Christmas shopping list.

Every year we draw names with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Lori, Uncle Kenny and all the cousins. We each draw one name and that is all we have to buy for. This year we even set a price limit at $50. I love it. We have one person to think about, that's it. And now it's really great for our family because almost all of our kids are old enough to earn money themselves. This year I only have to think about my person and Annalise's.

We all spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and have Christmas day together. The day is more about being together than the gifts, though the gifts are fun. Usually we do a white elephant gift on Christmas Eve. My sister, mom and I cook a nice, big Christmas Eve dinner and then we eat leftovers and lots of Christmas goodies on Christmas Day while we are playing games and hanging out in our pajamas. This year we are adding a performance time on Christmas Eve where each person is supposed to recite something, sing something, dance or whatever.

It's the greatest day~and a stress free season!

Homeschool Blog Awards

The nominations are up at the Homeschool Blog Awards. Shadybrook Acres has been nominated for the Best Super-Homeschooler award. I don't know about being "super" (I can always call to mind many weaknesses) but I certainly do love homeschooling. That must be what it really means. :)

There are lots of great blogs to visit so stop on over there to visit some of the nominations and then vote.

Priscilla is Accepted to the College of Her Choice!

The latest reason to celebrate around here is that Priscilla has just received the news that she has been accepted into the college of her choice! The next hurdle is scholarships, grants, financial aid sorts of things...and then maybe we will have our first child in college this coming fall. Today she is submitting her bid for the Emerging Artist scholarship, which would greatly help towards the costs.

She went to visit the college a couple of weeks ago and stayed overnight in the dorms. The next day she wanted me to come up and go to the meetings and selected classes with her. I was glad she wanted me to come, but I always hate being away from home during the day. I guess it's that idea of trying to balance mothering the older and younger kids at the same time. This time I put priority on Priscilla's needs and, boy, was I in for a treat.

I arrived in time for a meeting with the Financial Aid representative, toured with someone from admissions and had lunch with the lady who was in charge of admissions (and the food was actually good!). After lunch we went to some of the classes. I was so impressed and excited. It made me want to go!

First we went to a drawing class. They had a live model come in for a portrait drawing and Pris joined right in. Luckily, I had brought my nature journal with me so she used a page out of that. I thought I would need something to do so I brought a few things with me in my book bag. (It ended up that I was fascinated to just watch everything going on around me and didn't need anything to do. ) I enjoyed watching the art professor interact with the students as she went around the room giving tips and encouragement.

Next we went to a class called something like 'Outreach to Contemporary Culture'. The professor immediately introduced himself to us and apologized for not having a regular class that day. Instead, there would be a guest professor lecturing on a series of children's books. Had I heard of Phillip Pullman and his trilogy of books, the first being The Golden Compass? Had I! I just happened to have that in my book bag too because I was planning on reading that while Priscilla was in these "boring" (ha ha) classes. I was so excited and settled in to hear what they had to say about this author. It was a great class. The professor gave a brief biography on the author and then put up quotes from various interviews on the overhead projector. She then lead discussion on analyzing his worldview and had them compare and contrast it with Christianity. It was so interesting. I had to practically put a clamp on my mouth in order to not participate, since after all, I was just a visitor and a mother! The professor recommended all of the students read the book and see the film in order to engage in discussion with others. This is exactly what I had planned to do. I wanted to read the controversial books for myself and not do what I did with the Harry Potter series, which was depend on the opinions of others.

After this second class, we spent a considerable amount of time talking with three professors. Two of the professors, who were married, had homeschooled their daughter all the way through and now she attended that college where they both taught. It was great fun to talk with them about books and education! One of them quickly acknowledged that Priscilla was the kind of student they wanted on campus and another said encouragingly, "If the Lord wants you here, you'll be here!"

I was so impressed with the school and the instructors. Before this visit, I was not real excited for any of the kids to attend college but I came away with a new appreciation and an encouragement to help prepare my other children who might want to go.

Pris is pretty excited even though this school doesn't fit every single thing she wanted. She had quite an extensive wish list - truly Christian, close to home so she could live here, close to the dance studio, close enough to still be able to come to our church, and with a major in art. It is truly Christian, not too far from home (she would have to live on campus but she could come home on weekends and therefore come to church), and they do offer an art major. She would have to give up dance though. Not too bad considering her list.