Pretty side of life

Amazing how, if one would only look up instead of down, pretty life can be.  Such is the contrast when looking out the front of our house.  Should we look down, we see this:

All the effort we put into our front yard this summer, taking out the dead oak tree, trying to level the front yard, sod, grass seed, work in flower beds, etc., has been greatly disturbed!  We've been promised that everything will be completed by tomorrow.

Now, if I were to look up, even just a bit, I am gazing into glorious fall colors, like this:

And here's a better view of the same tree:

Let me be looking up today, from where my grace and salvation comes from.

Long overdue!

Been awhile since I blogged.  Can cover a few things in just one post!  Lucky me!!!  We finally took a fairly decent photo of ourselves for the adoption agency we're using.  I just don't like photos of myself, so it's always a challenge finding one.  We took one of the four of us as well.  Without much further adue, here they are:

The other photo I've been meaning to take, well since Monday anyway is our Thanksgiving or Blessing tree.  We're trying to daily write out something we are thankful for, on a leaf, and hang it.  Hoping to keep this up through Thanksgiving.  Should be a full tree by then.  Yes, it wraps into the kitchen, touches the floor, and goes onto the ceiling.

There you have it, our most recent photo's!

It's been a long time!

Thankful I don't have any blog readers out there, waiting in baited breath, for my blog posts. You all would be long since dead. Needless to say, I've had a lot of thoughts on writing and picture taking, but they just didn't happen.

We are all safe here, in our corner of the world. We've been plugging away at school, trying to stay ahead of daily chores, and keep our heads up.

Hope all is well with you!

September, a month of lists!

Blogging has been hit or miss!  I've taken a few pictures, that would make for good pictures.  Suppose I'll do a photo blog in the next day or so.  In the mean time, here's what is new:

• Would you believe ANOTHER phone call to the All American Appliance Inc. yesterday.  Fridge got up to 50 degrees and stayed there.  Feel like I am on the first name bases with everyone that works there.  They are a great company, one I plan on using again, should the need arise.  They are quick to respond, friendly, and knowledgeable.  Definitely recommend them for appliance needs.
• Based off my last conversation about the fridge, the only part that could be culprit would be the compressor.  With the cost of that part, the fact that this particular fridge has had MANY issues, GE doesn't seem to care, we decided to buy a new fridge.
• Thankful for the internet.  Browsed a few places, from the comforts of home, and found a few models that would work for our requirements.  Read the reviews and narrowed our choice down to one.  Searched on that model number to find that Lowes has the cheapest price on the fridge.  The closest Lowes to us, had a couple in stock and a display model (we wanted to see actual model in person).  Because they had it in stock, we were able to schedule delivery today.  Cool because delivery and haul away are free ~ another savings compared to other stores.  Even got a call this morning asking if they could move our delivery time up to an earlier window. 
• On the painful side of life,  I've been having back pains since Sunday.  Yesterday, it was to the point I wanted to go to the doctor's.  I was able to get an appointment and a prescrip for it.  Seems to be working well as I feel loads better today.  

 So ends this list!  Back to school and things on my "to do" list!  Hope you are enjoying the weather in your area.  It's raining here, 3rd morning of it, but its kind of nice.

Have a great day,

A Long Month

This month has felt so very long and tiring.  Forgotten to update so many things about our lives, that I am willing to share on the internet anyway.  So here goes the run down of life:

1. Our official Home Study is in hand.  It was post marked 9/2/10 of this month.
2. We celebrated another birthday for Kevin, one that ends in a "5".
3. The boys tested for their Senior White Belts in Tae Kwon Doe on 9/11/01 and passed
4. We've now had 3 service calls on our kitchen fridge since 9/11/10 and are hoping that it will work properly now.  Fortunately we've only lost a half gallon of milk.
5. Scouts have started back up for the boys.
6. Quest has begun for Thing One.  It is the Sunday School for 5th and 6th graders at our church and they have events a few times a month as well.  He is so excited about this.
7. Breakaway has started for me ~ this is our churches ladies Bible Study time.  There are actually about 9 different studies going on between Tuesday morning and Wednesday night.  We head out to the Tuesday morning one, which means I need to be well organized and have plenty of seat work for the boys to do.  Our church has child care through 6th grade as Tuesday's Bible Studies are attended by a lot of homeschooling families.  I've also joined the drama team.  That adds lines to memorize and rehearsal times to my schedule.  First one went well.
8. Base Camp has begun for Kevin ~ this is the men's bible study at our church.  One study that the men can go to, either Tuesday morning or Wednesday night.  Kevin is leading a table this semester.  Basically keeping in touch with the guys during the week, encouraging a time to meet outside of Base Camp, and encourage Biblical growth.  They have chances to earn points and at the end of the semester, the table with the most points wins gift cards to local restaurants.
9. Two separate rounds of colds for me!  woo hoo, lucky me.  Okay, maybe not.  At least it's over and life can move on.

That is our month in a nut shell!

Life on the Oregon Trail

There is nothing quite like listing out what others have done to make you realize that your own life is fairly easy in comparison. Today, in Pioneer Unit Study, we took another look at "Life on the Oregon Trail". Here's what the boys found out:

· day began at 4:00 AM

· men first yoked the oxen or harnessed the horses; women and girls made breakfast (hot coffee, biscuits, bacon, and boiled beans)

· cleaned up camp

· hit the trail by 7:00 AM

· walk until noon

· “captain” would give the signal for lunch or “nooning”

· ate a cold lunch and rested for one hour

· 1:00 PM began to move again

· stopped for day at 5:00 PM

· Men took care of animals and made repairs to the wagon

· Women made supper, mended clothing, and gave lessons to children

· Children gathered firewood or buffalo chips

· After chores, they’d gather around the campfire, tell stories, read the Bible, or play fiddle or guitar

Average miles per day = 15

Speed of oxen = 2 miles per hour

Average hours walked per day = 9

Yes, my boys are happy to not have to walk for nine ours a day. I think Thing Two could handle it though, with all the energy he generally has.

Tae Kwon Do

The boys tested for their Senior White belts on September 11th.  The were excited because both boy past.  The downfall of this particular belt is that their teacher has to order the belts from a place that takes longer to get the belts.  So, on September 22rd the boys received their senior white belts.

 No idea what I did to the html code, but managed to get both of

the above photos stuck together.  The top photo is of Thing Two belt

being put on.  So obviously, the second photo is of Thing One getting

his belt.

After the class that the boys received their belts.

Pioneer's Unit Study

We're now in week three of Amanda Bennett's Unit Study for Pioneers. It has been such an amazing study of part of American History. Thing One and Thing Two are enjoying it immensely. I was really impressed with the boys today and how they are tying everything together from the previous weeks ~ they're making connections in ways that I just don't have to lead them too. Totally awesome. Then, as I was reading from a couple web site links, the boys starting drawing on their whiteboards various pioneer scene ~ pony express, wagons, mountains, explorers, etc. I was also excited to read that that this study leads into the Civil War time in the US History (my mental calendar of historical dates is not so good). Totally stoked because that is the next unit study we're doing. It's just the way things worked out without trying. SwEeT!!!!!!

Thanks Amanda, for a well written Unit Study!