~Photography~

Thanks again, to whoever so kindly and generously sent me a new camera in the mail!!I still have a lot to learn about it, but I am so thrilled to be back to taking pictures, and this week, I got to take some portraits for a sweet teenager!!

Rachel is a daughter to David and Jill Smith. We met them 6 years ago when they moved from southern IN to north FL to also work in prison chaplaincy. 

Rachel was a young 9 year old girl with a big grin and lots of spunk!!

This is the beautiful young lady she is today!!

We had so much fun doing this shoot! We started at a somewhat deserted "dump" on one of the most scary streets in town, where a dog barked at us and we stayed prepared to run back to the van! Then we went to the Pioneer Settlement for the rest of the pictures. ;) Much more relaxed!!

The porch on the one old house had old bottles sitting on it, so we got one "just-for-fun" pic!! :)

Rachel, may God bless your future! You are a sweet young lady with lots of potential!! :) I've enjoyed watching you grow up!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Wednesday, Sept. 26 was my 35th birthday! I am really enjoying my 30's, but it's kind of scary that 40 doesn't seem that old anymore! I used to think 40 year olds were getting to the end of their life! Heehee! Now, that's just "middle age"!! :)

My birthday was pretty much like any other day...we did school and I did wash! In fact, the kids didn't even remember that it was my birthday till late afternoon when they found out we were going out for supper!

Dan called on his way home from work and asked what I was making for supper. I told him I was heating up leftovers from the night before. He said, "well, don't! I'm taking you out to eat."

So, to El Jalisco's we went. And it was SO good!! 

We have been limiting our eating out, so this was a huge treat!! :)

Don't that make you hungry? :)

Thanks for the treat, love!! 

We walked over to the little park next door to try to get a few pictures. They didn't turn out real great. I am still learning the settings on my new camera. :) But here we are! 

And one of all of us! :)

 I looked back in my photo files and found a picture of our family a year ago this same week. (and found it a little disturbing that I was wearing the exact same outfit!) 

This was taken at Nate and Allison Landis' wedding.

It's fun to see how much our children grew!! :)

So it was a good day....I felt a little spoiled since I didn't have to cook supper and I also enjoyed some phone calls from siblings and one far away friend in Colorado!! I also was blessed with many notes on facebook! :) So here's to another year!!

Praying for good health and wisdom to keep teaching my children and more love to give to my husband!! :) 

I am blessed!!

International Homeschool Spirit Week

As I posted previously, this week was International Homeschool Spirit Week. We thought it sounded like fun and something to break the monotany of a normal week!

Monday was "School Away from Home" and it was the PERFECT day to do school at the park!! I think we will be doing that more often this Fall. It was so quiet and peaceful!!

We took coffee, a snack of apples and then also went for a walk through the woods. I think this was my favorite day that week!! :)

Tuesday was "Comfy, Cozy Day". 

We had left the windows open the night before, because we knew it was going to be a cool night....it fit into the "comfy cozy" for the next morning! It got down to 46, according to our thermometer, and the house was chilly in the morning, so we lit candles, made coffee and stayed in our PJs!! 

Tamara reading our "read aloud" book, Almost Home.

Spelling time

Reading "Building a City on a Hill" for History.

Wednesday was "Wacky Sock Day"

No explanation needed! :)

Danny didn't have any "wacky" socks and didn't want to wear any of mine, so he wore one long and one short! :)

Thursday was "Mismatch Day"

This is also the day we had to pin our pictures on Homeschool Mosaics Pinterest board to be entered in a competition for a $50 gift card. I thank each of you that "repinnned" our picture! Currently we are in the lead by 15!! :O We would be so thrilled if we win!!

If you are a Pinterest fan and want to repin it for us, too, here is the link:

http://pinterest.com/pin/187603140698939321/

The contest ends tomorrow at Noon! :) Thanks a bunch!!

Friday was "Twin Day"

We made triplets! :)

We all enjoyed the week very much and I think we'll be throwing in some fun stuff like that throughout the year, just to mix things up a bit! :)

But, Cheers to a "normal" week, coming right up! :)

Peanut Boil

Last night the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement had their annual Peanut Boil. 

It was pouring down rain about an hour before it was time to start and we weren't sure we'd be going. But the rain cleared out just in time. 

It started at 5:30, but we got there closer to 6:30. 

The kettle of peanuts was just about emptied till we got there, but the was a table full of bags of hot peanuts, free for the taking. We each enjoyed a bag!! :)

"Easy Company" was playing oldies country songs. We sat and listened and visited with friends.

When it was over, David and Jill Smith and their girls came over for a little coffee, football and visiting! :)

I love our small town events. and Fall is full of them! :)

A Favor!!

Friends, I have a HUGE favor to ask of you!!

This week is International Homeschool Spirit Week. Today is Mismatch Day.

Part of the competition today is to send a picture of our family, in mismatched clothes, to the folks at Homeschool Mosaics. They posted our picture on their Pinterest board.

Whoever gets the most "repins" before noon on Monday wins a $50 gift card to the store or restaurant of their choice!!

Would you help our family out (if your are a Pinterest-er)??

Go to: http://pinterest.com/pin/187603140698939321/

And repin our family picture! 

Pass this on to your friends, too, if you would! :) Our family thanks you!! :)

A Fall Day

Yesterday we took our school work to the park. It was a beautiful cool morning for north FL!!

Spelling at the Park

We spent an hour studying then took a break and walked the Heritage Trail.

I asked the kids if they would let me take one more picture like this....I have many from the time they were real little. I want to find them all and compile them somehow into a sweet memory!! 

They were willing! :)

Our kids <3

Leaves on the railing of the bridge.

After the park, we went to my friends Angie's house. She asked to use my Victorio Strainer in exchange for some applesauce! I was all over that!! I haven't made applesauce since we moved south and miss it!! There is nothing so yummy as fresh applesauce with a little cinnamon sugar! :)

Ripe, poignant apples!

Working together gets the job done.

After making the applesauce, Angie dug up two rows of peanuts in her garden.

Fresh dug peanuts

We pulled them off the plants and this is what we got! Mmmm...someone will enjoy some yummy boiled peanuts one day! :)

On the way home, we drove up the road from our house. I wanted to get some pics of the beautiful cotton fields.

Field of white!

We were just in time, because they were in the middle of harvesting!! We sat and watched them for a few minutes. I'd love to ride along in a cotton picker sometime and watch the whole process!!

It was a lovely Fall day! Thank you Jesus for this beautiful time of year!!

Outside My Window...

it looks calm and sunny. The grass needs mowing again! :P

I am thinking...

that my house needs another "31 Days to Clean" like I did last October!

I am thankful for...

answered prayers to some needs for Dan getting sleep apnea testing done.

From the learning rooms...

Tamara is reading some pages in science, Danny is writing a notebook page on the Mayflower Compact

From the kitchen...

Canning boiled peanuts...have dishes that need to be washed!

I am wearing...

denim skirt and red T.

I am creating...

nothing right now. Need to do more sewing!

I am going...

to join the "Case of the Runs" runners again tonight after being gone 2 weeks.

I am reading...

some of my favorite blogs

On my mind...

filling out job applications and wondering what the results will be?

Around the house...

Have my first "fall" candle burning, smelling boiled peanuts and hearing "Held" by Natalie Grant

One of my favorite things...

Fall is COMING!! Cooler temps in the morning make me happy!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Running tonight, small group tomorrow night and hopefully a relaxing Sat. and Sunday for our family!

Mexico Beach

Yesterday the kids and I took Karen, Megan and Carson S. to Mexico Beach. Well, we first went to Windmark Beach, but there was so much seaweed, the yellow flies were bad and there were NO waves! ;)

So, we packed up and drove a few miles to Mexico Beach. We ate our lunch from Subway at the picnic area first. We got 4 foot longs for the price of 3 since they messed up on our order!! :) They also gave us 3 free cookies!!

Then we drove down to the beach. There were no waves here either (I guess it was just a calm day) but we found lots of interesting sea life! The lack of seaweed was also a big plus! :)

Tamara spent her day building sand castles and dipping her toes in the water.

  (That's what women issues do to you! :( )

~Staying hydrated~

Danny

Danny and Carson

Megan soaking in some rays!

My friend, Karen~ It was a relaxing day for us and I think we both needed that!

This was not the normal....most of the time they were looking for sea creatures!

Just a few things we found....one of 3 or 4 jellyfish we found. It was so small!

hermit crabs

This crab had barnacles and sea weed growing on him! :) Wonder how old he was?

There were lots of dragonflies. One landed on Tamara's hat.

Danny & Megan....they are only 20 days apart in age and shared a love for finding creatures in the water!

We saw stingrays, needlefish, sharksuckers and some other little white fish that liked to nibble at your toes if you were still too long. :P

The kids sat at the edge of the water and rode the surf.

We found a body sticking out of the sand! :)

The release of Mr. Crab...

It was a fun day. But man, that sun tires you out!! :)