Country Life

'Creek beds & apple orchards are all places where wonder begins. We need only to join our children, get right down on our hands & knees, in order to see the miracle of God's creation.

It's just too easy in the modern-day culture to lose our touch with nature...nature's rhythms get lost in the shuffle of livin'.

For me, I can't imagine marchin' to another beat- the drumbeat of the city- spending day after day inside, breathing second-hand air, awash in artificial white lights, bounded by concrete & glass & whatnot all. Outdoors is where a body can let thoughts wander to high heavens!'

~~excerted from 'October Song' by Beverly Lewis





I read this after going to DC last week & it just seemed to sum up perfectly how I felt while there & how glad I was to get out & away from the city. And even after spending the weekend down in NC with Clay's folks.....their little house in a cramped up neighborhood, the huge mall & fast-paced city.....I was so glad to get home & happy even, this morning, to go out in the cold to get some firewood for the fire! Oh, the little joys of country life!! ;-)

NC Weekend

Condensed version of our NC weekend....will elaborate later with some pictures.

Got to Granny's around lunchtime yesterday* Steph & kids were already there waiting on us* Dominos Pizza for lunch* the kids totally enjoyed their cousins SO much....they talked & talked & talked some more!* Brian & Amy came over* so cool having the WHOLE family there together!!*KFC for supper* Guys went to Gander Mountain while us girls visited at home*Everyone left around 9:30pm* We ALL met up again today at Concord Mills mall* lunch at McDs* more shopping* Left NC around 5:30ish....got home around 9:30* Michael & Alli in bed* 'Spring Valentine's party' at Maw's tomorrow (because of sickness we are just now getting around to having our Vday party.HA!)

Anniversary Dinner

Busy day today. I got on up this morning & headed out to get groceries about the same time I normally would if I were taking Chris to class. I really like going in the morning like that before it gets swamped with people. Did Walmart & Sams, ran by the library to pick up two books for Ashley ('All Creatures Great & Small' and 'The Witch of Blackbird Pond')& swung by Food Lion to pick up some little frozen pizzas for Jon & Michael (they were on sale there for .79)......did all this & was home by about 12:30 or so.

Clay, Mason & the boys finished cleaning out the building today. They were sweeping out & putting stuff back that they wanted to keep when I got home.

Maw stopped by for a quick visit around 3pm. She had come down to have lunch with her cousin, Rachel at Vitos & came by here to see us & Skippy & Faye for a bit. She wanted to bring us our anniversary card & also a couple of camo Ts that she had picked up for Jon & Michael.

After Maw left, Clay & I headed out to Red Lobster for our anniversary dinner. He asked me this morning if I'd like to go since he would be working tomorrow night & then we'd be going to NC for the weekend. We had a really good time...hadn't been there in who-knows how long! After supper we piddled around Sams & Walmart for a bit. Came home with two new pillows for our bed, a much-needed new toaster (a FOUR slotter too...WooHoo!) & a broom. Big night on the town! ;-) Just chillin' for a bit now before bedtime......Michael & Alli have both been tucked in, Ashley & Chris are upstairs reading & Clay & Jon are in there watching Harry Potter.

Fire Starter

Jon was helping Mason & Clay clean out some of the out-buildings this afternoon & he found this old lens....maybe from a telescope or something...it was really thick! So he decided he was going to see if he could start a fire. In no time, he had smoke coming off this old log. Then he decided to move to the side of the house & gathered some dry leaves & small twigs & sure enough I looked out the window & he had flames going! He said he was 'Survivor Man'!

Word of the Day

Innocuous- Harmless; not injurious; producing no ill effect.


This was Jon's word yesterday......he went around saying it ALL day long. It was just too funny. When I asked him where in the world he got such a big word from he said from watching 'Myth Busters'. ;-)


Gorgeous day today...especially after all the YUCKY weather last night. Clay & the kids are busy working outside in the yard today. The kids are cleaning up; picking up branches, etc. & hauling them to the brush pile. Jon was in hog-heaven....hooked him a big ole chain up to the back of the scooter & then to the big hunk that blew down out of the cedar tree a few weeks back & hauled that off to the brush pile. Clay said he could just tell that he was 'itching' to do that! He's such a boy!!

DC Field Trip

What an awesome spur-of-the-moment field trip we had yesterday. Clay just came home Friday evening & asked if we wanted to go to DC on Monday & of course all the kids were totally excited. Chris was on Spring Break this week & the weather was supposed to be just perfect...in the mid 60s....so off we went!

We went to the Washington Monument first, walked around the Capital, did a run-thru of the Botanical Gardens (mainly because everyone needed to potty! Ha!), then we went to the Natrual History Museum, Air & Space Museum & also did a quick run-thru of the American Indian Museum. Everyone was tired by that point & not exactly interested in really looking at anything by then. Our favorites by far were the Natural History & Air & Space museums. Ashley took all these digi pics......she manned the digital camera & I took my Nikon. This one here of the capital with the lamp in the foreground is one of my favorite shots from the day. She is really getting good with her perspective & the cool angles of her shots! Very Artsy!!
Chris, Clay, Jon & Michael walking toward the Monument.

This is the only digi pic I took all day....the girls standing in front of this giraffe in the Natural History museum.

The Hope Diamond

The Capital Building

Ashley took this one herself....they're sitting on the Capital steps.

Another self-portrait taken out in front of the Capital building.

We didn't make it to the White House...just saw it from a distance. Nor did we get to any of the Memorials....the Lincoln, Jefferson, Iwogima, etc. We definitely want to plan another trip back before too long & we will hit the Memorials first along with the Arlington Cemetary...want the kids to see the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.....I remember that from when I was a kid. So cool! And we also want to spend a day at the zoo.

Book Reviews

OK....I've been asked to do a book review of some of the books I've been reading. Below, I've pictured the three that I'm reading right now. They are all part of a series of books......so here we go.'The Quilter's Homecoming' by Jennifer Chiaverini is book #10 in her Elm Creek Quilt series. A Roaring Twenties adventure unfolds in this book that 'neatly stitches together social drama & the art of quilting'. Other books in this series are:

1. The Quilter's Apprentice

2.Round Robin

3. The Cross Country Quilters

4. The Runaway Quilt

5. The Quilter's Legacy

6. The Master Quilter

7. The Sugar Camp Quilt

8. The Christmas Quilt

9. The Circle of Quilter's

10. The Quilter's HOmecoming

11. The New Year's Quilt

I LOVE these books....lots of adventure, history & of course plenty of quilting.

As I've said many times before...I LOVE ANYTHING written by Beverly Lewis. Her books are ALL wonderful, full of adventure & even a little mystery. Strongly rooted in the Plain life of the Amish in Lancaster County, PA. 'October Song' was written because of the pleas of so many of her devoted readers......kind of like a follow-up on some of the characters from other series like 'The Shunning' & 'The Redemption of Sarah Cain'.....so you'd want to read those first.

'The Sacrifice' is book #3 in the series Abram's Daughters. (From the inside cover) The Abram's Daughters saga encompasses the lives of three generations of Ebersols, an Amish family of Lancaster County, PA. Opening with 'The Covenant' at the end of WWII & continuing into the fifties with 'The Betrayal', the stories of Leah & Sadie Ebersol show their very different choices with consequences that have left them many miles apart, both physically & emotionally. The books in this series include:
1. The Covenant
2. The Betrayal
3. The Sacrifice
4. The Prodigal
5. The Revelation

Need More Coffee...................

Sitting here sipping my coffee trying to get going this morning. Kind of have a 'hang over' after getting up at 5am yesterday morning. Had to have Chris at Heritage HS by 7:30am to take his SATs. Glad that'd done....now just to get an application in to Liberty. Below are some more layouts from our cyber crop that's going on at ASF...This layout was done for Sara's 'Bleach' challenge. I used a bleach pen to outline my title letters & then cut them out & placed them on the LO. Just look at those faces.....can you tell they were excited about getting a Wii for Christmas?!
Just a shot of each kid with one of their gifts on Christmas morning. (Can you tell I'm trying to get all my Christmas pics scrapped?) This layout was done for Julie's sketch challenge. It was a really great sketch & I can see definitely see myself using it again!!

This is the LO I forgot to post yesterday......This was Wanda's color challenge. We had to use Taupe/tan, rust, olive green & gold.



BTW, I haven't forgotten about the book reviews, Dana. Just been crazy busy with this cyber crop this weekend! I have a stack of three books sitting right here beside me & I will do some book reviews this afternoon/evening! ;-)

Cyber Crop Fun

We are having so much fun with our weekend cyber crop over at

A Scrappin' Friendsy

...come check it out & be sure to stay & chat a while with us in the 'Coffee House'. Below are some of the LOs/card that I have done for some of the challenges.This fun little card was done for Ken's challenge: make a 'shaped' card....any shape except a square/rectangle.

This LO of Jon with his first buck & the 'Proud Papa' was done for Dawn's Embossing Challenge. I embossed the title letters, lightly sanded them to help the embossing stand out & then cut them out & adhered them to my LO. Believe it or not...this was my first time embossing & I was really tickled with how it turned out. I can see me using this technique again in the future!

And this one wasn't done for any specific challenge....I've just been trying to get all my Christmas pics scrapped. Loved this one of Chris & Daniel rough-housing on Maw's couch Christmas evening!

Shoot, I just remembered that I didn't upload the LO I did for Wanda's color challenge. Will have to post that later on along with whatever else I'm able to get accomplished today.

You Make My Day!

Jules & Penny both honored me with this award, so I definitely want to pass along the love!

Here are the blogs that inspire me:

Dana

Kaye

Korin
Sherri

Kristi

1) Write a post with links to at least 5 blogs you find of interest and that inspire you.
2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3) Display the logo 'You make my day'
4) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

Little Drummer Boy?

Another Christmas layout done.....Clay was goofing around, playing with Daniel's new drums that he got for Christmas.Got groceries today because Chris only has one class tomorrow.... a math test...so he can't skip. No way I could do all the grocery shopping in that amount of time, so I did it today. Will do Sam's tomorrow while he's in class. Headed up to read now......trying to finish up TWO books. Both are by Beverly Lewis......'October Song' & 'the Sacrifice'.

Old Layouts

Ashley was looking through some of my old scrapbooks & she ran across this LO with Grandpa Bunner. These pics were taken outside Papaw's frame shop in NC.

Look at the kiddos here....oh my! This was Alli's 3rd BD. In the top left picture it's Ashley, Dillon, Cori & Alli. Love to look back at my old LOs.....they inspire me so.....to get back to the basics. Love this Rebecca Sower 'lift'. The folded corners, pen work, crumpled paper, etc.

And check out Baby Anna here. Very simple LO.....love the deco squares across the bottom....done totally with different punches...flower, egg, spiral, heart, circle, etc.

Last but not least...a LO I did this afternoon with just a few random pics from Christmas evening at Maw's house.

You Might Be a Redneck If..............

You bring 'Road Kill' home with you from your trip to Indiana! These boys with trapping on the brain....I tell ya. These critters were covered in snow....so pretty well-preserved & they had garbage bags to put them in, so.............Jon couldn't wait to take them over to Skippy's building & show him his 'Prize'.
Jon doing his thing......skinning out a coon. This boy's a natural!

Some pics from this past weekend at the funeral. Back row L-R: Clay's dad, brother Brian, Steph's son Hunter, sister Stephanie, her daughter Caitlin, her hubby Mike & Clay. Front Row L-R: Clay's mom, Steph's daughter Christie, her twin Brittany & Jon.

These are the Bunner Great Grandkids....the ones that I know are on the back row starting third from the left, almost totally hidden is Steph's daughter Christie, Hunter, Brittany, Jon & Caitlin.

The Bunner Kids....Grandpa Bunner's nine kids. L-R: Jon, Jeff, Melanie, Stanley, Jade, Kenny, Mitchell, Leslie (my father-in-law) & Steve

And last, but not least is this shot from Christmas. That shows you just how often I use my FILM camera anymore. These were STILL on that one roll of film that I got developed today. This was taken Christmas evening at Maw's house. L-R: Anna, Ashley, Alli, Michael, Chris, Daniel & Jon.

Picture of the Day

Clay just sent this to me.........Jon & two of his cousins, Caitlin & Hunter in the pool this evening. Snowing outside & swimming inside. How fun is that?!My day today:

Made chocolate chip muffins for breakfast * Talked to Clay....funeral at 3pm this afternoon * Did laundry * Changed sheets on kids' beds * worked on Design Team stuff for our cyber crop next weekend * baked cupcakes for the kids * home-made pizzas for supper * watched 'i Carly' with the girls * started crocheting another pair of fingerless gloves.

Where's the coffee?

Boy, I sure could use a cup right about now!! It's 8:14pm & I'm fading fast here. Been up since 5:45am this morning. I am neither a morning person nor a night owl...so this is getting to me. I like to go to bed between 11pm-midnight & get up around 7am. Anyway..............Clay & Jon got off about 6:30am this morning. And I got a text this afternoon at 4:13pm saying they were there...they made it in 8.5 hours. Glad they are there safe & sound...it's just quiet here without them & I miss them!!!

Been working some this afternoon on some 'stuff' for next weekend's cyber crop at ASF. Finally got past my 'block' & was cruising along when the kids decided they were hungry & that it was time for supper. Now the 'Butt Magnet' has a hold on me here at the computer. I don't know if I'll be able to finish things up tonight or not. Night time is NOT my prime scrapping time. I prefer the afternoon MUCH better. At least I have my ideas jotted down & will be able to get it all done by tomorrow at least.

Totally off the wall here......besides the fact that I think Michael & Alli NEED to go to bed EARLY tonight!!! He's pestering the fool outta her & she is SCREAMING at him. Arrgghhh!!!!!!!!!............Where was this train of thought going? Hold on while I grab my coffee...................ok, back on track, sort of.......We were talking about books we've been reading today for school. And Ashley was talking about trying to read three books at one time. When I asked what she was reading I was pleased to hear that she had already started on the book that I got to go along with our Ocean unit....'Jacob Have I Loved'. When I asked how much she had read, she said she had read 8 chapters already! I was SO tickled!! She's also reading the LOTR trilogy & Nancy Drew. She's finished reading all the Nancy Drew books that we had here & had to move on to the library for the rest of the series.

Philipians 4:19-

'But my God shall supply all your needs....'

I don't know what else to say.....I stand in awe of how God takes care of us! I've had three family members give us money in the past two days for Clay & Jon's trip to Indiana. I know God will bless YOU for how you've blessed US! Like one of my scrappin' buddies said...........'Ain't God good?!' AMEN!!!!

We are trying to wrap things up right now, so everyone can get on to bed at a decent time. Michael & Alli have already been tucked in. Clay & Jon are stacking the last of the fire wood on the front porch. I got Jon's shoes exchanged today (for a larger size......size 11! Gotta have room for those big ole Bunner toes!) Got groceries for us & snacks for them to take with them. Now.....at 10:11 pm......Clay comes in here & wants to know if I can't shuffle some scrapbook pages around......REAL QUICK......so he could take one or two scrapbooks with him to show all these relatives who have never seen any of our kids......except for Chris when he was 2. Guess I'd better get up from here & get busy. ;-P

Life Lessons

I read this quote on Dana's blog & loved it.....told her I was going to 'steal' it.

'Many are schooled but few are educated.' ~Thomas Moore

That being said, we didn't do school using Text Books today.........it was all about those 'Life Lessons.' You know, stuff that comes along that wasn't planned. After some prayers & discussion this morning, it was decided that Jon would go with Clay to Indiana for Grandpa Bunner's funeral. Chris will miss classes on Friday because Clay will be driving the van, but he's staying here since he has plenty of school work to keep him busy PLUS studying for his SATs next weekend. Jon was the next choice & honestly, it will help ME out too. Taking one of those 3 youngest out of the mix will make my weekend at home with the kids MUCH more manageable. Jon, Michael & Alli have the ability to drive a person batty if they spend TOO much time together. ;-P Glad for Clay having some compnay on the trip too. So, all that said........I had to run do a little shopping today. Thankfully Clay was good to go as far as clothes were concerned, but I needed to get Jon a new pair of shoes & a couple of new shirts. In my flurry to get out the door.....after this last-minute decision was made.....I just rinsed & stacked all the breakfast dishes & went on. Didn't even say anything to Ashley about doing the dishes...just figured I'd tackle the kitchen when I got home. Well, what a nice surprise to come home & find all the dishes done & the table wiped down, etc. Life Lesson #1 accomplished! What a good feeling to know that I can leave out of here & Ashley can just step in & keep things going for me!! Life Lesson #2 was accomplished when Clay & the boys came home from cutting/hauling fire wood all afternoon. They unloaded a whole pick-up load of wood & stacked it on the front porch & in the wood pile by the garden. They were tired & hungry by supper time, but I told Clay (& the boys) what a good feeling to know that my kids weren't lazing around the house all day doing nothing....they were out WORKING, doing their part to help the family & on top of it all they were enjoying one another's company & learning that you can make your work be FUN! They are tired & sore tonight, but it's a good tired!!! I'm so proud of all my kids! Jon & Clay left after supper to go finish skinning out the coons that they didn't finish last night. Hope they won't be too late. I KNOW they are both really tired & they need to rest up before their long trip. Well, I'm headed up to bed soon....will have to get up early & take Chris tomorrow so I can go get some groceries.

Good Day/Sad Day

Good Day.........the girls & I had a great time shopping today. Went to Target & Ashley got a new top, Alli bought yet another Barbie & I got two little stuffed bunnies to tuck away for Easter treats & some VDay candy that was 75% off. Next stop was Steve & Barries....exchanged Chris' backpack for him & picked Jon up another pair of jeans for $8.98. By this time we were starving, so I got Alli Chickfila & then we went over to to Subway for me & Ashley. Ran into Game Stop...right next to Subway...& returned a game for Jon. To the mall real quick to check out the clearance racks at Aeropostale.....not too many deals, but Ashley did get a cute pair of PJ pants for $5.99. Back to Sams to print some pictures & our last stop was AC Moore where Alli bought a velvet poster to color & Ashley & I got some new stamp pads, a couple of Easter stamps & a few patterened papers. After we picked up Chris, we ran by the library. I had some books due back today, plus a few that were on hold for us. Ashley's book 'Jacob Have I Loved' & the 4th Harry Potter book for Chris. My other ones for our unit are 'on their way' coming from other libraries in our area. Will get those in a few days. Stopped at the PO to mail some letters/cards....was feeling all proud that I had gotten ALL these little running-around-errands done today & remembered that I forgot to get milk! DUH!!! Guess we will just have to eat waffles in the morning & I'll pick some up when I go out. I can't remember EVERYTHING!!

Sad Day..........when I got home Clay told me that his mom had called & his Grandpa Bunner passed away early this morning. The funeral is going to be Saturday in Rockport, Indiana. It's not going to work out for all of us to go, so right now, Clay is planning on leaving Friday morning early & coming home Sunday, weather permitting. Just pray for traveling mercies for him as he goes!!

Oceanography

Well, we started a new unit this morning....we're studying Oceanography. Another really cool unit from the Homeschool Estore. I love how these units are set up to accomodate all the grade levels. This one has outlines for Primary, Elementary,Intermediate & Advanced. Today was basically an intro stating that we will be studying the ocean lands....that is the land under water. Things like mountains, volcanoes, canyons,etc. Today we mapped the seven continents, all the oceans & Ashley added some of the currents. The scripture of the day is: Genesis 1:9-10,'And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land", and the gathered waters He called "seas". And God saw that it was good.'

Going to the library tomorrow to get some books from their suggested reading list. 'Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie!' for Michael & Alli; 'Jacob Have I Loved' for Ashley & 'Captains Courageous' for Jon.

Ran by the two craft stores (Michael's & AC Moore) when I went to get Chris this afternoon. Wanted to check out the President's Day sales. Nothing caught my eye at Michael's; but I did get a new 'Made Just For You' stamp at AC Moore for $2 off, plus a new card book for half off. Now to whittle me out some creative time to make some cards! No time for 'play' this afternoon/evening.....I ALMOST finished reading my book (The Betrayal) before supper...only ONE more stinkin' chapter to go now. Then I fixed chicken & stuffing (it was in the crock pot all afternoon)some lima beans, corn & ronis for supper. After that, Ashley did the dishes while I helped get Alli started on her bath, then I folded & put away 4 baskets of laundry! Now, I think I'm headed on upstairs.....gotta finish that last chapter & then start on 'October's Song'. Will be up & at 'em EARLY tomorrow....the girls have been asking to go shopping one day & tomorrow is it. So we will drop Chris at class at 9am & then shop & do lunch til 2pm.

Sportsman's Show

Just thought I'd share a few pictures that Clay took at the Sportsman's show this afternoon. He said Michael was a little bored, but he & Jon had a blast. I guess Jon's just a little older & more INTO it all now. BTW....he made a point to let me know this evening that he wants a bow for his 13th birthday.
Pics of Clay, Jon & Michael with Lee & Tiffany from the TV show 'Gettin' Close'. Clay said they are just the neatest, most down-to-earth couple. They were more than willing just to talk & visit with everyone. Signing autographs & taking pictures. He was REALLY impressed!

Some of the cool Taxidermy displays!!

And while they were enjoying their Sportsman's adventure, we enjoyed a nice quiet afternoon at home. Chris & I watched the first Harry Potter movie...I had never seen it before & really wanted to watch it after reading the book. The girls didn't care anything about it & played video games together upstairs while we watched our movie. After that, I managed to get this week's challenge done at ASF......use a song title/lyrics on a layout. That is just right up my alley.....LOVE using music on my LOs! This LO is titled 'He Hung the Moon'. I took this photo one afternoon on our way home from town.....the moon was SO BIG & full in the afternoon sky...really cool-looking. I was just kind of sad that it didn't show up better in the actual photo. BUT, as I looked at it at Sams.....I decided to print it out anyway.....because this song just popped into my head. Hadn't heard it in ages, but the picture just triggered a memory. A song written by Kirk Talley-

'He Hung the Moon'

In the beginning of time, He was the Creator. Into existence He spoke the heavenly blue. And with one mighty swoop of His hand, he threw out the stars, He knew where they'd land. So, if you think you're just drifting along, then I have good news.

And if He hung the moon, I know he will help you. And if He holds the sparrow in flight, He'll hold you too. Consider the lilies of the field, How much more he loves you. In the beginning of time, You were on his mind, When He Hung the Moon!