notes from home this week

 Our Christmas week is pretty peaceful, the only celebrating happens at the grandparents' houses.  Here at home, it's peaceful, un-busy, simple.

We had a bit of wet weather here in So. Ca,
-needed rain, but we are not used to so much.  Usually around here, it rains at night, and we wake up to a sparkly new day.  Once in a while, it will rain during the day.  This is the moment we open the front door and say out loud, "what is THIS? ..this is not what I ordered!" and then we wonder where we put the one umbrella we own the last time we used it, oh two years ago.  And then we give up the thought and go outside without it. 

We are not used to a lot of rain, and not built for it.  Our chicken coop did not pass inspection.  Major leaks and the dirt porch portion was a big soppy, soupy mess.

I called the kids to muck it out.

I love having minions.

Luckily, Sky remembered to have Demi put on a breathing filter- he is allergic to outdoor mold, I would have been up with him at 1 a.m. doing asthma treatments.  He has to wear it to do yardwork, too. 

The next day, rain resumed and we were back to the soupy mess.  Sky remedied this by putting down plywood on the floor.  Instant happy, dry hens.  Oh, and he purchased a tarp for the roof.  Part of our coop has a concrete floor and nice little nesting boxes, but the hens prefer to perch in the more open front porch portion...we even tried to move them to roost in the drier portion, we took down the perch...and they went back to their usual spots and sat there, huddled and wet.  I wonder about them sometimes...

Our beautiful Ca weather is back, I hope.  Welcome back, sunshine..we missed you!
  The hens have resumed scratching around, enjoying sunflower seed and the garden.

Our week during Christmas is pretty low-key, but now we are into our week-long Bible conference, we have 10 people staying with us...it's pretty crazy 'round here!

hope you are having a wonderful, very full week, bloggy friends :)

Enjoyment

thanksgiving in Spokane, Wa-crab-apple tree

This moment in time: enjoying a house-full of guests.  I love hearing a house-full of young adults bantering/having fun/enjoying themselves.  Waiting for our Russian guests to arrive.  Relaxing after spending time with Sky's family and with my family for Christmas.  Enjoying the sun that has re-appeared after the unusual week-long rain here in So. Ca

Enjoying my company-clean house..except the part where we have mattresses strewn all over the living room...going to do some baking. 

Our week-long Bible conference starts tomorrow, we will be busy,busy,busy..but in a good way :)

hope you have a blessed week, bloggy friends

Thanksgiving firsts

 

This Thanksgiving holiday included many firsts for our family.  We packed up and drove to Spokane, Washington, to spend time with Sky's brother and his family.  This was our first time driving in snow, and our first time taking Emma-the-wonder-labradoodle with us on a trip.  It was also her very first experience with snow.

She loves, loves, loves snow.  She revels in it.  She dances in it.

life is an adventure

and we have much to be thankful for.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

7 Quick Takes Friday, October 29

 ~1~

I continue to do a lot of this with Meg.  She has a job walking this horse.  He has an injured leg, we walk him like a dog.  It's a beautiful area, beautiful trails.  But, I am a really busy homeschool mom. I enjoy the walks, the views...seeing Meg so happy.  And yet, I'm kind of screaming inside the whole time I am doing this.  Did I mention that I am busy?

~2~

We opened the garden up to the hens.  It's like Disneyland for chickens.

This is Elsie, the caption should read: 

"hmm, where should I start first? Tomatoes on the left or lettuce on the right?"

~3~

My favorite breakfast of choice is old fashioned oatmeal, with brown sugar
and fresh blueberries. Love, love, love it!

I saw this at the supermarket- Dark Chocolate oatmeal.  I know better than to even
go there...it would be soo over for me.  I'll stick to what I am eating now.

~4~

I had our first meeting with Meg's new teacher with the homeschool charter school program
we put her into this year.  I homeschool all the kids through a charter school program, I do the homeschooling and planning, the teacher looks over our work about once a month and
records what we are doing.  It went really, really well, I think I am going to like her.

~5~

Meg is taking Russian this year.  I'm starting to question the wisdom of tackling a language that no one here can help her with.  Demi just asked to learn Chinese, I think I am going to say no.

~6~

Meg had another Irish dance competition (feis).  She has been so busy with school work, that she hadn't practiced much, she was considering not competing.  She went, and won an honorable mention, a 3rd place ribbon and two 4th place ribbons- not too shabby :)

~7~

Josie went away to Jr. High Church camp last weekend, this weekend it is Meg's turn.

Fun, fun, fun- great spiritual teaching...but, cold. I'm glad I'm staying home :)

*7 quick takes fridays is hosted over at Conversion Diary, you can hop over & link up!

7 Quick Takes Friday, the after camping edition

~1~
We went camping a week ago ,or so. I hate camping. We've hit on a happy compromise, we go to a timeshare first for a few days, then go tent camping for 2 days. Marriage is all about making
your spouse happy.

~2~
We stayed in Solvang for a few days. It's this cute Dutch town in California. Very pretty, lots of shops, lots of snacks.

~3~
we are all about the aebleskivers, dessert of Vikings! maybe. but good.

~4~
we visited an ostrich farm. They had emus, too. More about this later, I promise.

~5~
Solvang is a tourist town, it's small and everything closes early. We caved, and drove into
Santa Barbara to find the Barnes & Noble for an evening.
Or two. Click over here* for a visual example of what I mean.

~6~
We got home, to a doodle-dog who missed us very much. I washed our coats, our pillowcases and our towels, which all smelled like smoke. Then my washer broke.

~7~
It was very, very windy the first day at Lake Cachuma. We set up camp, the kids played, we took a walk to the lake, had a very windy dinner....and then drove into Santa Barbara to hang out at Barnes & Nobles where it was warmer and no wind, and internet-people! We came back late and had smores and crawled into our cold, cold sleeping bags.
Sky had mercy on me and let us go home the next morning.
I heart my husband!

um, it was very windy, trying to set this up...and we lent it out, and behold, the instructions were missing! I did not fear tho, because Sky is mr. civil engineer-man, and can figure anything out, given enough time. He did!

*7 Quick Takes Friday is Hosted over at Conversion Diary!

L.E.N.S photo challenge, A love of reading

A Love of Reading

Welcome to the 1st edition of the LEarning Never Stops photo challenge. This week's photo topic is "A Love of Reading". Please enter your name and/or name of your blog- and then a direct link to your photo submission, not a link to your first page. Entries will stop at 10pm pacific time Sunday. Winners will be chosen Tuesday.

*click over to see the complete rules -Intro L.E.N.S. photo challenge

Sharing what edits you made, if any, is welcomed!

For this photo, I cropped it in iphoto. Then, in photoshop elements, I used auto-contrast, and then changed the color curves slightly, lightening the highlights a bit, adjusting the mid-tones a smidge, and darkening the shadows slightly.

join up!

Next weeks challenge topic will be "colors". Use your imagination to show learning involving colors, art projects with color, a photo learning related that has great color..something that shouts "color" to you.

Welcome home you! What does your tail-tell?

My dog's tail-wag tells me she is happy to see me.

I walk into a room, and I know I've made her day, just because I am present.

The wag of her tail- tells me, "I see you! I'm happy to see you!"

Even if she is too tired to stand and greet me, the thumping sound of her tail against the ground marks the moment her eyes catch sight of me...and I know, I am welcomed.

I know, without a doubt,

I am a special person. I am special to her.
The day got brighter, because I appeared.

She's not too busy to acknowledge my presence with at least this herald.

She physically says hello.

"How are you?" her eyes ask...

"I can tell you are fine", her nose probes and confirms.

In our busy day-to-day busyness

do our children feel as welcomed by us?

"I am happy you are here!"

I distinctly remember, as a teen, a few homes that enthusiastically welcomed their children and friends daily. Parents in these homes were happy, not put-out, to see us. Parents in these homes always had a welcome and smile to greet us with, wanted to know about our day, did not treat us like we were in the way...and most often greeted us with a yummy snack or a cold drink.

I remember those homes still, and I loved visiting.

I want my kids to know, without a doubt, how special they are to me

and I know, I want them to want to be home. I want their friends to want to be in our home.

Wag more moms, Bark less.

Welcome Home, you
I know you by name
How do you do?
I shine because of you today
So come and sit down
Tell me how you are
I know son, it's good just to see your face

-Welcome Home (You) song by Brian Littrell

Welcome Home (You) on Youtube *here

"Every wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her own hands."
-Proverbs 14:1

"Behold, children are a blessing from the Lord,..."
-Psalm 127:3a

"Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever."
-Daniel 12:3

Let's wag and shine moms.

the curious case of the missing cupcake

In a household of 6 people + extra kids running amok, the good snacks do not last long.

My eldest daughter has taken to stashing snacks in out-of-the-way places.
Not all of the goodies, mind you, but maybe one out of a box.
I stumble onto forgotten treasures when I am rummaging through the pantry.

The other day, dad brought home a box of hostess cupcakes. Meg's eyes gleamed, this is one of her favorite treats.

In secret, she stashed a lone cupcake inside the oatmeal canister, thinking,
no one eats oatmeal, really....

A day or two later, she poured herself a glass of ice-cold milk, grabbed a book and a comfy seat, and went to retrieve her hidden treat.

She found this:

!!
comeuppance is best served cold, like milk.