Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Okra

Snapped this picture of Michael yesterday morning while I was doing math with Jon. He had finished his school work, gone outside to check on his okra, came back in & I caught him cutting it up getting ready to freeze it. Aaaahhhh....those 'Unschooling' moments. ;-) I love it!! Did school this morning, then after lunch, the guys headed up on the mountain to get another load of fire wood. Ashley vacuumed upstairs while I scrapped for a while & then I ran the vacuum down here. Trying to tidy up around here a bit because Chris is coming home tomorrow afternoon. Can you believe it's Fall Break already?! Fixed baked ziti, salad & garlic bread for supper. Then I ran out to pay the electric bill, stop by the library to get Clay 'The Bourne Ultimatum' & also ran into Food Lion to pick up a few things. Now I'm trying to get Michael & Alli settled for the night so Ashley & I can watch 'Anne of Green Gables'.


Monday, September 29, 2008

Drumheller's Apple Festival

Was just a wee bit foggy yesterday morning on our way to church. It always looks so 'Halloweenish' when the clouds are right down on the mountain like that! Or the phrase 'Misty Mountains' comes to mind...like in LOTR.
I took this one on the way back home from church....you can see a little bit of blue sky trying to peek through. After looking at Jennifer's pictures the other night...it made me think of all the cool RR shots I could capture around here. Thanks for the inspiration. ;-)

Well, this weekend was the first weekend of Drumheller's Apple Festival out here in Nelson County & we had all planned on going...Maw, Sarah, Ella, Alley & I. We always go & bring a picnic lunch, take the kids on the hayride out to the pumpkin patch to search for pumpkins, get some apples & of course take tons of pictures! But since it had been raining since Thurs. we figured we didn't want to traipse around in the mud & that we'd just shoot for the Oct. weekend. But after church today, since it wasn't actually raining, the kids & I decided to just ride out there & check things out. Find out prices for the apples, hayride & what-not.
I was pleased to find out that the hayride still only costs $1. Was afraid that had gone up since gas prices sure have. Not sure how much the pumpkins cost, but at least the hayride is still the same. From what I saw, all apples were $12/half bushel & $22/bushel.
And a new addition this year....the bouncy thing. Which, according to a sign I saw, costs $5 for a wrist band that gives you unlimited play for the day. So hopefully some of this info/prices will help you guys plan for our outing in Oct.
These last two pics of Sanji & Bunny just crack me up! First of all...look at that expression on Sanji's face...looks like he's smiling at you!! And the way they both are just sprawled out......not very 'lady-like' to say the least. But hey.......thye're BOYS so what do you expect?! Like father, like son!







Sunday, September 28, 2008

I've been scrappin'

First of all...Sarah, if you are reading this...DON'T look at the last layout on here! And if you do, remember........you were warned! ;-)Just a couple of pics of Alli that Ashley took back in the spring/summer. I had this scrap of Urban Lily paper from forever ago & decided it worked just right with these photos. I used lots of clear glitter glue on this, but it just doesn't show up very well in the scan. The verse says, 'Let no man despise they youth, but be thou an example of the believers...' I Tim. 4:12
Ella took these adorable pics of Cori & Alli at the Family Reunion just a few weeks ago. Alli usually acts so serious & does NOT want to smile for the camera, so I'm thrilled to have these! I think it's just that she grumbles at ME with the camera & not someone else. These were some Fancy Pants papers along with a little Noteworthy journaling tag & the cute little felt bird embellie is from Kaye! And lots of glitter glue used on this one too, to bring out the subtle design in the paper.

Ok, Sarah....I told you NOT to look, didn't I? Hee! Hee! I couldn't help it...I had to document Jon's trapping experiences. Clay took these over in Uncle Skippy's building where they do all their skinning & what-not with the hides. The journaling tells about how our version of Homeschooling doesn't deal solely with book work...we do LOTS of hands-on learning. Jon worked so hard this past year at the trapping in order to save money so he could buy a rifle.



Saturday, September 27, 2008

What's Been Happening.....

Basically just school & the usual everyday chores this week. I'm really loving Michael's new math book....Life of Fred. It's a literature based math book & really cool. Not only is he learning math, but lot's of english, grammar stuff along with it. For example: footnotes, onomatopoetic words such as Swish, buzzzzz,Whoosh, clank. Plurals of such words as mouse/mice, louse/lice.....but the plural of house isn't HICE...it's houses. Hyperbole-Exaggeration...like when mothers say, 'I've told you a million times to clean up your room!' Went to town ALONE yesterday! I picked up Chris & we met Ella & the gang at Chickfila for lunch. Sarah even stopped by & ate with us too. Chris' psych class was cancelled & so he wasn't in a rush to get back. After lunch we went by LifeWay so he could pick up a cd he wanted & then I dropped him back off at his dorm. After that, I met Sarah at Sam's & then just headed on back to get my groceries at Walmart. It was so rainy & yucky...I was really glad the kids had decided to stay home. Fixed grilled ham & cheese sandwiches for supper along with some chicken noodle soup. It really hit the spot on a yucky evening. We were just enjoying a lazy Friday evening....enjoying the thought of NOT having to get up early the next morning....contemplating whether to watch a movie or not.......when our power went out!! UGH! at 9:30pm. Clay had already gone up to bed with Michael & Alli since he had to get up about 4am. So, Ashley, Jon & I sat around the dining room table with two oil lamps & read for a while & finally went on upstairs a little after 10pm. So much for my 'movie night'. ;-P Woke up at 5:25am to lights, AC & the TV blaring hunting shows downstairs. UGH AGAIN!!! Since Clay had already left for work, 'I' had to go around turning everything off & then I didn't think I'd be able to get back to sleep again. But I refused to get up at 5:30 in the morning. Finally I was able to fall back asleep til about 7:30. At least I was able to have my morning coffee! ;-)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Mad Libs

I must say that I get so many good ideas from my blogging buddy, Dana & this one is no exception. She had mentioned about her kids doing the Mad Libs as practice for the parts of speech & I thought, 'What a wonderful idea!' So I went searching & found some online. I did one this morning with Michael & Alli & it was a big hit. Thought I'd share it with y'all here.



*the high-lighted words were supplied by the kiddos.



A Day at the Zoo



Today I went to the zoo. I saw a square frame jumping up & down in its tree. He rode quickly through the large tunnel that led to its long table. I got some peanuts & passed them through the cage to a gigantic gray Big Foot towering above my head. Fedding that animal made me hungry. I went to get a pudgy scoop of ice cream. It filled my stomach. Afterwards I had to trip gracefully to catch our bus. When I got home I skydived my mom for a cold day at the zoo.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A little this & that...........

First of all, just wanted to share the 'Pockets of Time' booklet that Michael & Alli did to go along with our Olympic unit. It was for the Magic TreeHouse book, 'The Hour of the Olympics'. We finally finished all that off last week. This is one of the units I DLed from CurrClick. Lots of fun!!This is the 2nd week of our 'Life Deck' challenges at ASF. Last week our theme was 'Today'......this week the theme is 'Tomorrow'. As soon as Jules posted this, it hit me what I wanted to do.
The verse is from Matt. 6:34- Take no thought for TOMORROW for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself.


Ashley & Alli went for a walk down around the pond this afternoon & of course the goats had to go along to keep them company. I love that bottom pic of Toby leaping across the bales of hay! That was perfect timing....how Ashley caught him in mid-leap!





Saturday, September 20, 2008

Oh my...what a morning!

Clay headed out to work this morning & his car wasn't wanting to start....he thinks the battery is dying. No big deal...he's just gonna roll down the hill & jump it into gear. So, I kiss him good-bye & come back to the 'puter to finish my morning chat with Maw & next thing I know, he's coming in the back door telling me to grab the camera! I could tell it wasn't anything terrible because he was grinning & hollering for the kids to come see! I grab my camera & run out the back door....in my PJs, no less & this is what I see..........................Now, I'm just laughing thinking what's the big deal.....he got the car sideways in the drive. But look closer....................
The stump they had used the other night to sight in their guns had rolled just enough to be right in the edge of the drive & lo & behold his little Bug of a car rolled right over that sucker & got hung up!!! The whole back end of it totally OFF the ground! Too, bad we couldn't send this in to AFV!! Well, he & Jon are trying to figure out how they're going to lift this just enough to get the stump out from under it when we hear a truck coming. Clay is dying of embarrassment.....especially when we realize that it's Mason & Philip coming to work on the barn! LOL If only you could've seen the look on Mason's face when he realized what had happened. I've never seen him laugh so hard before!!!

The good thing was that they had all the equipment right over here handy since they were working on the barn. So Philip just hopped on the back hoe & lifted the car just enough for Clay to roll the stump out from under it.


And again....the car wouldn't start, so he backed it up & Mason & Jon had to give him a push down the hill to get him going! What a way to start a Saturday morning! One of the benefits of living out in the country though....having relatives/neighbors right nearby with heavy equipment on hand to help out in emergency situations!!




Thursday, September 18, 2008

BD Shopping

Well, sometime between breakfast, starting school & getting my shower...we decided to head out & let Ashley do some shopping with her BD money. I really didn't want to try & do it all on Friday, our grocery day! That's just cramming too much into one day & it's too stressful. So, books aside, I threw some chicken & stuffing in the crock pot & put it on low, ran to get dressed & off we went. Was so proud of Ashley's savvy shopping skills! Evidentally she's been paying attention all these years. We went to the mall first & made our rounds....she was checking things out & tucking prices away in her mind....didn't buy ONE thing. Then we headed over to Old Navy, Rue 21, ACM, etc. She sorted through what she had tried on at Old Navy & settled on one black skirt for $4.99. Then went to Rue 21 & found the cutest hat for FIFTY CENTS!! WOW! After checking things out at all these stores, she was ready to head BACK to the mall & actually make a few purchases. She got a pair of high top sneakers that she has been wanting from Payless for $22 & then went back to Wet Seal to get a couple of shirts that she had seen that she liked. They were on sale....marked down 50%......for $4.99. Not bad at all, right? Well, the girl rang them up for her & it was just a little over $5. So, we're guessing that it was half off the marked down price! She was SO thrilled!! She came away with only spending a little over $30. You have learned well, my girl & I am so proud of you!! And after all that, she still has money to shop for jeans & hoodies (which were two main items she wanted, but didn't really find yesterday.) While we were out galivanting & doing girly things, the boys went up on the mountain & cut down some trees for firewood. They made two hauls & there is still more up there for them to haul down today. They're actually up there now squirrel hunting with Mason. Need to got get these girls started on their book work & the boys can hit it when they get back!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Life Deck

Over at ASF, Jules is posting a 'Life Deck' challenge each week.....52 challenges...so we'll have a whole deck/a whole year's worth of snippets from our lives when we're done. These are little ATCs (Artist Trading Cards)...2.5 x 3.5" in size. This is week 1 & the topic is TODAY. Where are you today? Today can mean LITERALLY TODAY (9/17) or a right now kind of thing (this year as opposed to 10 years ago). What you did today...the weather today....what you ate today...ANYTHING you want. My take included a dictionary definition of 'today' along with the date & on the back is listed gas, milk & bread prices from 'TODAY'. Fun to look back on down the road.


Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Today

Well, Michael & Alli were outside not long after breakfast this morning. Never mind the damp ground & PJs. So, of course being the good scrapping mom that I am, I had to grab the camera & take a few more pics...especially since Michael had pretty much finished his teepee now.
A little close-up of his detail work. The branches are tied together with honeysuckle vines. Very clever! Room enough inside for BOTH Michael and Alli!Sanji is just like Bunny....has to be right in the middle of things. Sleeping here on Alli's cursive book. I couldn't hardly do math with Jon because of Sanji laying right smack in the middle of the book & forget trying to turn the page. It was too funny! We kept scooting him over & he'd just turn back over until he was laying on the book again.




Monday, September 15, 2008

Survivor Man School

The boys started gathering sticks & all for forts last night & so this morning they were all gung-ho about getting their school work done so they could get outside & get to work on their forts. Jon went so far as to even draw up his own blueprints for his! (which he gave me so I could scrapbook them ;-) He had drawings & measurements, etc. Pretty cool!He went through alot of trouble to find these 6 forked branches which he cut so they would be just the right length.
Michael in the beginnings of his fort. Teepee style!
Michael says he has dinner... A locust which he pinched the head off of...this was learned from watching Survivor Man....if you pinch the head & pull, it's pulls the stomach right on out too. Now it's ready to cook & eat. Yum! (not)Trying it out....just the right size!
Making progress...
Finally....all finished! And the view inside Michael is still working on his. He says it will be ready tomorrow. So stay tuned. ;-)








Sunday, September 14, 2008

Fortune Family Reunion 2008

Yesterday was our annual family reunion held at Uncle Skippy's home. We had a great time...lots of food, fun & fellowship!Classic Uncle Johnny....pipe in hand!
'Are we having fun yet?'
Jon & Michael with Jesse & Daniel in between them.
David Purvis & the band.
Sarah, Wendy, Carolyn, Johnny & Vada
Delaney Fortune, Phoebe & Suzanne Nash, Kathy
Michael
Ah, it's good to be Queen! ;-)
Michelle & Amy......Rinnie's in the background with the camera.
Suzanne & Aunt Linda......look at her shaking that finger......they said she was Bossy! ;-) Suzanne, Linda, Kathy & Vada
Anna, Alli & Cori
Sarah & Wendy
Linda & Michelle
Mike being his normal goofy self!
Jon & Cornell...deep in discussion.....with Dillon in the middle.Jesse...what a cutie!