Man, I can't believe I haven't updated since 2009. LOL Things have been busy around here--of course.

Emma is growing like a weed. Yesterday she weighed in at 13.8 pounds when we took her to be spayed. We are supposed to keep her quiet for 7-10 days. I looked at the tech and said, "she's part border collie!" and the tech just laughed. RIGHT! I stayed up with Emma last night and it was a rough one. She is feeling much better today though and I see that our "stay quiet" is already turning into a challenge. Scout was on puppy duty most of the day and especially while I caught a nap.

Scout has taken up snowboarding--and loves it. He attended the Youth Retreat last weekend and had a blast. Some of our homeschool friends from church go skiing/snowboarding locally every other Tuesday. He loves that time with friends too.

Easter is fast approaching, and I've taken on the job of a "Family Easter Experience" at church. Yep, I am certifiable! We are creating an Easter Walk of Jesus' life and adding in the "egg hunt" through our own version of Resurrection Eggs. I need to come up with a name for the dozen eggs; each family will get an empty carton when they arrive and fill the eggs in as they do the different activities. Then each kid will get a goodie bag filled with candy and -- goodies.

So between the upcoming events and the schooling, scouting, 4-H & dance we are doing, life is pretty busy--but I wouldn't change a thing!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We toned down quite a bit this year, but we did splurge for Scout. He has wanted a puppy for a long time now. So for Christmas AND birthday (his is December 28) we rescued an adorable Aussie Shepherd/Border Collie mix. At least that's what we think she is. She is smart, playful and loves to cuddle up in/on a lap. She is an awesome dog. We are so blessed.

Emma - 12 weeks old

Halloween

It was chilly, but beautiful. The prize-winning pumpkins (if there were prizes LOL).

From PinkOne:

And Scout (who gets major points for execution, but the idea was not original; he saw it in the local paper):

The trick-or-treaters--PinkOne as a Spider Princess (notice the pink candy bucket!), Scout as a Secret Service Agent, and our neighbor The Rabbi. They had a blast! I love our neighborhood on Halloween.

The Event That Stole October

The Family Fall Festival.

Yes, I guess I was pretty naive when I agreed to head up this event at our church. It was supposed to just take a few days to plan and then a few days to execute. RIGHT! God definitely had other plans for this event. It was exhausting, but so much fun to watch it all unfold. He just kept dropping all this cool stuff in my lap--ice cream, wood for a fire, petting farm volunteers, workers, bakers, chili makers, candy, beautiful weather (after over a week of nasty, cold, wet, damp, yuck!), boxes--everything we needed exactly when we needed it.

I must confess that I don't always see God at work around me. I mean yes, I see Him and I KNOW that He's always here, but real tangible God-work? Over and over proof? Unfortunately, not always. Maybe I'm just too busy and too unsure if it's really Him. But there was no denying that God was working in this event. It was so big and so amazing it could only be God. Things came together in a way that only He could have arranged. And it was so obvious to all around that God was at work in it all. I was so blessed to be in the middle of this. What a ride!


We had a petting farm--thanks 4-H Pirates!--a fire truck and police car with awesome firemen and policemen, a wagon ride...

...Games, Crafts, a Fun House, a Black Light Maze, a Box Maze, an Inflatable Obstacle Course (the kids LOVED this and stood in line a long time to play), a puppet show, bonfire (with the Senior High band to sing)...

We served 500 hot dogs, 700 scoops of ice cream, gallons of chili--oh yeah Chili Cook-Off was a blast! (Except for our pastors; apparently they were a little "indisposed" for a bit with the 17 different chilis they had to taste to choose a winner. :-( )

The crowd was way more than we expected--but everyone had a great time and we planted a lot of seeds that night. Friends and neighbors were invited and saw what a great church family we have. Hopefully, they'll want to hang out with us again soon.

And yes, I'm already thinking about NEXT year...

Masquerade Ball

Scout heard about a homeschool high school dance in the paper last year. He thought it sounded cool, but wasn't old enough to attend. I filed it away for later, but I really thought he'd forget about it. Dancing isn't his thing. I was proven wrong, when Scout started asking about the dance at the end of September. I tracked down the info, emailed the coordinator of the event and got the info. There was to be a Masquerade Ball at the end of October. He was very excited! (Yep, he really was! LOL)

Masquerade meant coming up with a costume--he did very well, I think.

He gathered some friends and I agreed to drive them all over to the dance. (It's about 50 minutes away.) We all met at one house so Moms could take pictures (of course LOL). They were a handsome/beautiful bunch.

They all had a blast and are planning to attend the next one--December's SnowBall. It seems to get increasingly difficult to find friends in the homeschool community as the kids get older. So I'm very thankful that the dance worked out so well and Scout--and all--had such a good time together.

Keeping myself CRAZY busy.

DH and I are coordinating the Family Fall Festival at our church. We've arranged for a hayride, petting farm (our 4-H club is donating their services), games, crafts, chili cook-off, dinner...the list seems endless at this point. It's gong to be a blast though!

Yesterday we got all the little pumpkins and gourds we need from a local farmer. It was a beautiful day--and I didn't take a single picture. (What's up with that?!?)

I'm sure I'll have pictures after-the-fact. (May take a few days to post them though; I'll probably sleep the day or so after the event. LOL)

Start of School

October 1 -- first day of school. (And I forgot to take the picture by the mailbox! Need to do that tomorrow!)
Scout is officially a freshman in high school (gasp!) and PinkOne is a seventh grader (yep, skipping 6th grade). We have a full schedule this year with more to come later I'm sure.

SCOUT
Math - Teaching Textbooks - Algebra I
LA - Apples Daily Spelling Drills ; writing & more writing. Currently working on an essay competition thru our library on local history.
History - Middle Ages 1180 - Columbus with Story of the World & Sonlight readers
Science - Apologia Physical Science & Science Club (twice a month group labs)
Bible - still reading through from the beginning (started last year) should wrap up early spring
Art - class once a month with group; sketching on own; possible study of classics with project for each
Physical Fitness - Boy Scout Personal Fitness badge

PINKONE
Math - Teaching Textbooks - Pre-Algebra
LA - Wordly Wise 6000; Writing Fabulous Sentences & Paragraphs; lapbook/unit studies
History - Middle Ages 1180 - Columbus with Story of the World & Sonlight readers
Science - Apologia General Science & Science Club (twice a month group labs)
Bible - still reading through from the beginning (started last year) should wrap up early spring
Art - class once a month with group; possible study of classics with project for each
Lots of dance!