5th grade Math and College Economics

Katie (age 10) has started doing algebraic equations in math. Well, actually she started learning them last year but is getting more in-depth with them this year. So anyway...after learning a new process yesterday and practicing a few problems, she said (and I quote), "Hey, Mom! These are fun!" Ah! Those words are music to a homeschool mama's heart. :O)

If I've personally talked to you in the past few days, chances are you already know this. But just in case you don't *wink* I'll just go ahead and blog it....Jacob made an A (with an exclamation point) on his Economics article!!! Ooh-ee doggie! That does a homeschool mama's heart good, too!

Don't mean to brag and run, but I gotta go! There's work to be done! Bye for now!

Happy Monday!

No special reason for this post, I just wanted to put up a few new pics. Yes, I've been driving my kiddos nutsy again with the camera. In fact, I was walking around outside with them and I had my camera case over my shoulder...keeping it handy for those "just in case" photos. :O) So anyway, I got a bright idea for a picture and I reach for my camera. It's gone. Oh, the case is still there hanging over my shoulder, but the camera has disappeared. Come to think of it, one of the kids had disappeared too. Hmm. So when everybody starts chuckling and snorting at me, I knew something was up. Somehow Rachel had managed to get the camera out of my case (while it was still on my shoulder!) and run off with it. Finally after I demand to know where my camera (and my other kid is), Rachel pops out from behind a hay bale with the camera in her hand. Oh, they all thought that was just so funny. THAT, my friends, is just how bad they hate my picture-taking. Ah, but they'll never stop me. ;O) Anyway...
Matt plowed up the garden behind the house today. It's not really good soil, but we always grow our cabbage, a few tomato plants, some peppers, and greens.
Jacob let the chickens out for the day today. They've all but stopped laying for the winter. We get an occasional complimentary egg, but for the most part, they're on vacation. :O)
And then below are just a few pics I took of the kids. I got the last laugh after all. :O) They can run but they can't hide...at least not for long.

For Your Listening Pleasure....

Another little Irish Fiddle tune entitled The Cliffs of Moher. I love this song. Hope y'all enjoy listening! :O) Please let me know if there are any problems viewing, ok? Thanks!

Election Day and a Little Bit of Braggin'!

Matt and I went to vote this morning...in fact, we were second and third in line. :O) They signed me in as Voter #2 for our precinct. Of course, I didn't win any prize for that or anything. But I am glad for the privilege to vote. Yes, I did vote for McCain, but it was really a vote against Obama. I did my part. That's all I can do. The rest is in the hands of the Lord. (Romans 13:1...the powers that be are ordained of God.)

Are y'all going to watch the election results? Not me. I wanna to be able to sleep tonight and I'm afraid if I see the results, I'll be up all night. :O) Of course, Jacob's gonna be on the edge of his seat watching...he can tell me what happened in the morning. :O)

Oh by the way, a mother has a right to brag a little now and then, so it's time for an announcement....Jacob did a SUPER job on his very first college test...not just any old test either...this was an Economics test, at that! Tell someone you're taking an Economics course in college and watch for their reaction. They'll gasp and say, "Oh no! I failed that class!" or "All my friends made D's and F's in that class!" :O) At least, that's what we kept hearing from people. Even one of the college staff said, "I don't want to discourage you but this is a very difficult course and you may want to consider taking something else." Yikes! We weren't sure what to expect after all that hullabaloo! :O) But Economics really interests Jacob so he went for it. So then, that's all the more reason for me to say "Yay and hooray, Jacob!!"

And while I'm in "brag mode", let me just slip one in there for Amy too. She's really enjoying her job as certified personal trainer. But a few weeks ago, she applied for, and got a short term position that she was really interested in. She's working as head coach for the girls' junior varsity volleyball team at a really nice prep school!! She's really excited about that, and I'm excited for her. So "Yay and hooray for you too, Amy!!"

I won't tell you about Katie's math test that she made an 'A' on yesterday....and I'll not bore you with details about Rachel's violin playing...at least...not today. :O) We'll save some bragging for another day.

Y'all come back now...ya hear? :O)

Just some random pictures...

Another fall photo...taken in the holler behind the house :O).....
One of our persimmon trees...can you see all the persimmons on it? A really good picture of Jacob.....
Cute picture of Rachel and Katie.....
And a spur-of-the-moment picture of Katie and me taken before church Sunday morning (don't we look alot alike? Oh yes, yes, I know.....IF I was alot younger and alot cuter!) Anyway.
Aren't y'all so glad I got my camera working again??!!??!! I've been trying for several days now to upload a video of Rachel playing the violin but can't seem to manage it. I have a feeling our SUPER SLOW DIALUP is causing the problem! Ugh! Hopefully I can get that up and going soon though.
Bye for now! Be back soon!

Making Butter :O)

I was just in the kitchen making my weekly batch of fresh butter and thought it might be interesting to post the butter-making process on the blog. (What? You mean you're not interested??? Hmmm, better scroll down and read something else then.) :O)

So it all starts with fresh milk....yep, as Rachel puts it, "right outta the cow." :O) Let the milk set long enough for the cream to settle at the top...normally I just leave it in the fridge overnight. Then next morning, I skim the cream off the milk. Usually in the half gallon jug like you see in the picture below, there is about a 3-5 inch layer of cream...sometimes more, seldom less.

The above picture is what cream I got off of less than two gallons of milk. I let it set out on the kitchen counter for about 12 hours....it all depends on the the temperature. The warmer it is, the quicker it's ready. More often than not, I will skim the cream off the milk in the early morning, then it's typically ready by that evening after suppertime. You'll know it's ready when it's just a bit soured. You learn to judge when it's "ripe". :O)

When it's ready, make sure it's in a jar big enough that it's about half full. Put the lid on good and tight, find a comfortable chair, then shake, shake, shake. And then...shake some more. :O) It takes about 15 minutes (sometimes a little more). This is where the size of the jar comes in handy...you want enough shaking room so that the cream really sloshes hard against the jar. That's what makes the butter. At one point in the shaking process, it'll get a heavy feel to it while you're shaking. You're getting close then. :O) You'll know it's done when you see the butter floating on top.....here's a picture to show you what I mean.....

Scoop the butter out of the jar and plop it into a bowl. What's left in the jar is buttermilk and makes awful good biscuits and cornbread. :O) Put the buttermilk in the fridge and use it rather quickly because it doesn't seem to keep as long as store bought cultured buttermilk.

Here's a picture of the butter I just scooped out of the jar...

The next step is to turn on a steady trickle of cold water. Put the bowl under the water, scoop up the butter with your hands, and sorta knead the butter in your hands while holding it under the stream of water. What you're doing here is squishing all the milk out. Do this until the water runs clear. If you leave even a trace of milk in the butter, you'll have quite a nasty smelling and tasting butter in a few days. Been there, done that....once. Ew! So once the water is clear, you're finished and all that's left now is to squeeze the water out of the butter. At this point, you can salt it if you like...sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. The butter is good and soft at this point, so you can easily stir in salt with a spoon. Put your butter into a little bowl, dip a finger in and get a little taste. Nothing beats the taste of fresh, homemade, creamy butter. :O)
Oh, there is one final thing.....grab a hot, fluffy, right-out-of-the-oven homemade biscuit ....slather on some homemade preserves...smother it in a big ol' glob of your freshly made butter...keep a napkin handy...and oh my! Yum. Yum. :O)

By the way, I'm on the lookout for a butter churn. :O) Sometimes the shaking gets to be a little much if I have alot of butter to make. Anybody know where I can get one?

A Fall Tour

Can't make it to Tennessee to see the leaves this year? No problem! Sit back and relax...I'll take you on a tour. :O) (You can save on gas this way.)
Quite a few of the trees, mostly walnut (which you'll see in the foreground of the picture below) have already lost their leaves. The picture below was taken from on top of the hill behind the house. You'll notice the house as the tiny speck in the middle, near the bottom of the picture.

You can see how dry things still are here. :O(

Below is a view of the really old house on our property. From what we hear, it was originally used for sharecroppers. It's in pretty bad shape now. You can stand on the inside and look at the outside without using the window. :O) Get the picture?
Here's another tiny view picture of our house, in the bottom right corner.
We're setting out hay for the cows now, but they're just sorta picking at it because there is still some grass in the pasture. But it won't be there for very much longer...we've had some heavy frost that is sure to kill what grass is left.
And last but not least is a picture I think is pretty. It was taken at the bottom of the holler in front of the house. We have a trail that goes to the top and this is the beginning of that trail.
And so, that's the end of the tour. Wish you could all see the leaves in person...a picture rarely does the scenery full justice, but it's better than nothing. :O) I'll be back again soon! Y'all be good.