Oh Deer!!!!

Had a wonderful time yesterday! Lillie spent a few days with her aunt Shanna and new uncle Paul on their deer farm. I had never been out to their farm before, so I was looking forward to seeing all the different animals they had, not to mention sneaking in a little school time (FIELD TRIP). I don't think I will ever get my mind around that my sister-in-law has taken to farm life as she has, but she really enjoys it. She's a natural. If you don't believe me, here's some pictures of her feeding the deer. She does all that and still looks good! I got alot of pictures, but some animals I didn't get a picture of. One was called a muntjac, which is the world's smallest deer. They are very skittish around people as I learned from Paul and they were literally bouncing off the walls of the barn they were in. Here's a stock photo that will give you an idea of what they look like. The other animal I didn't snap a picture of was the Egyptian geese. I thought they were very neat and unique. I really enjoyed watching the deer run in herds to the feed and watching the bucks actually fight over the food. They had one deer named Babe that was bottled fed, so she would come up to you and let you pet her and she'd eat right out of your hand. I dropped my camera unknowingly in Shanna and Paul's driveway, so I didn't get pictures of Babe and the kids. Here's a great picture. One of these things is not like the other... A hint: That really big deer is not a deer at all... That is Larry the Llama, who had no problem telling those bucks to get out of his way. I was told he even spits on them. Here are some donkeys posing with Larry. Here are some pictures of the deer... Here is Jack running from the deer... I'm not done yet, there were alot of animals... Goats, ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens... Here is a video of some cavies...



They had a new colt which the kids freaked out and would not pet, even though poor Paul wrestled it to get it over to the fence.


Paul made Jackson's millenium...

These are white foxes which look pettable, but are not...

We rode the four-wheelers out to see the pigs, which were my least favorite because they are flat nasty. They were very large pigs...couldn't help but picturing how much bacon would come off one of those things. Chloe liked riding the four wheeler, almost falling asleep a couple of times.

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Thanks to Paul and Shanna for showing us around.

Spring Has Sprung...

I apologize to all my readers that I have not posted more. We've had alot going on in our family and that along with taking a break to get my school ducks in a row have afforded little time for blogging. We'll be on a year round schedule , so I figured I'd start back May the 1st. That's when Jody is scheduled to go back to school, seemed like a logical jumping off point. Well, last week the weather was glorious. We all stayed outside most of the week. Saturday it was so nice, then Sunday, it snowed. This weather is freaking me out. I was so looking forward to the ceremonial burning of the knee high socks and the purchase of the first new flip-flops of the season. Glad I didn't burn my socks last week...
Here's a quick rundown with pictures of the going ons since last I posted. Better be prepared to sit a bit...
Jody , for our 6 year anniversary (May 30th)bought me a six string banjo. I have wanted one for a very long time because, though I love the sound of a banjo, my mind cannot learn another instrument. Going from the guitar to the mandolin back and forth makes my brain short circuit. Here's a picture of the little beauty which sounds exactly like a banjo, but can be played like a guitar.
On Monday of last week, we had my nephew Tanner spend a couple days with us. I love that kid. He makes me laugh. Jack really struggled with sharing however. They bickered back and forth like old ladies the whole time. But they had fun. And it was a good learning experience for Jack. Here's a pic of the crew I snapped...
Lets see, what else...Chloe is a full fledged crawler and is having to struggle with the concept of "no". Lillie actually likes to wash dishes...
Literally throwing herself into it...

Lillie likes to sew as well. I might just have a domestic diva on my hand.

I have decided that Jack's future will not be in medicine or pro wrestling (thankfully), but in corn eating, to which he has perfected a technique. They have hot dog eating competitions that ESPN actually covers. These people are serious...I wonder if there might be a future corn eating champion staring right at me at the dinner table...
Look at the poise, the stance, the technique...it's awe inspiring (not to mention a little messy)
Coming down the home stretch...
It's so good to be the champion...
Makes a Momma so proud...

Donkeys and Jam Sessions

Had alot going on this week, so I didn't get to do the Easter Unit I had hoped to. Here it is Good Friday, and I only got as far as the Last Supper. There is no catching up unless I do it Saturday. I'll be reading The Tale of The Three Trees to the kids. It's a story about 3 trees and their hopes of greatness. The first tree gets cut down to make the manger Jesus is born into, the 2nd is made into the boat that carried Jesus and his disciples during the storm, and the 3rd was made into the cross Jesus died on. Very moving story. There are several different versions of the story, all good. I love Easter, as far as the biblical significance of it. In alot of ways, Easter seems more special to me than Christmas. It was important that Jesus was born into the world, but the fact that he rose again from death means a bit more as it has secured my place in heaven some day and given me victory over death as well. When we talked about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, I had the kids make a cute donkey craft. It was very messy, which was fine by me. It would have been alot prettier if the kids were older, but they had fun. I printed out a donkey coloring page and the kids glued a swatch of decorative paper on the back to mimic a rug thrown over the donkey's back. Then, we painted the picture with watered down Elmers glue. Next, we busted open some tea bags and scattered them over the paper. Then shook off the excess. The idea was that the donkey would look like it had fur. However, because the kids painted outside the lines and missed big spots inside, the donkey looked more like somebody, well, dumped tea all over a picture of a donkey. So, maybe not a complete loss...




Jody snapped a pic of our family jam session the other night. I belive we were all trying to play Near the Cross...at least that was what I was trying to play. Lillie is on guitar, Jack is on the mandolin, and Chloe was singing.

Rebecca Cook!

Click here to see the 3D pic of Earnie and my sister Leila's newest addition. Congrats!

Homeschool A Go-Go

I've said before that one of the many things I love about homeschooling is the freedom. By freedom I don't mean the liberty to do or not do schoolwork. I am a firm believer that if you choose to homeschool, you need to be very dilligent, very professional and school with integrity. The freedom I'm talking about is the kind that on a beautiful day, when the school work is done (or at least where you can pickup on it later) I can head outside or to town with my kids. I don't have to wait until 2:50 in the afternoon in a school pick-up line to spend time with my children. I can invest every waking moment I have in them if I so choose. Tuesday, I went to my dad's house to meet up with my sister and her kids. We had a great time. The older three did schoolwork, while the younger 4 hung out and played. Then we all went outside for a nature walk. The kids found a monsterous mountain of dirt and they had a blast getting as dirty as possible. Here is a slide show of some pictures from our day. A few on the end of the slide show are from a trip Jody and I took with the kids to our neighborhood playground Thursday.

Our First Nature Study

Well, all our snow is melted. This weather sure is kooky! I guess it was Thursday that it was so nice outside. Sunny, not real cold, a little breezy...just a real beautiful day. Those days around here are scattered, so we take advantage when we can. Friday it turned really cold and by Saturday morning their was snow everywhere. I have resolved myself to another sandal-less Easter Sunday this year...
Anywho, Thursday was very nice, as I mentioned, so we strapped Chloe into her stroller and took a walk around our yard, dinner spoons in hand, to see what we could dig up. I noticed alot of our irises and tulips have started peeking up from the dirt, so we dug up one of each and I let Lillie Anna tell me how their bulbs differed. I explained about roots and the importance they have on plants. Well, imagine to my delight when I rounded the corner of the house and the tiny patch of daffodils that we had last year have spread like wildfire and were in full bloom. Oh joy of joys! We picked one so we could study it further. I took my Handbook of Nature Study and we looked at all the parts of the daffodil and then cut open the seed case to look at all the tiny seeds inside. Lillie Anna really soaked up the knowledge and soon the tables were turned and she was quizzing me about the parts of the flower. Jackson was mowing the front porch with his toy plastic lawnmower, oblivious to any learning that might be going on. But Chloe got into the whole thing. Here is a video I shot of her "studying" our flower subjects along with some pictures I took. All in all, though brief (because of my children's knat sized attention spans)our first official nature study was a success. I only hope they all can be this way! I think nature study is so crucial. The majority of our science this year will come from these times spent in God's creation, admiring his handiwork and praising Him for all his goodness.

Happy Birthday, Olivia !

Congrats to Jason and Cassie on surviving their first year of parenting and doing a fine job!