Tater Planting Day!

Today, we were finally able to get potatoes in the ground! I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to dry up enough that we could get it done. :) Matt and Katie took a cow to the stock pen this morning, and as soon as they got back, I donned my handy dandy tater-planting hat and we headed out....If I'm going to be outside for any real length of time, I've got to have my hat on. The gnats this year are as big as turkey buzzards (well, almost) and pesky as can be! They swarm around your head in droves! Anyway...here's Matt discing up the ground....Matt bought new hoes for the girls, and they were oh, so excited! hahaha! Rachel especially was overjoyed....
When we first started putting the potatoes in the ground, the dogs were coming along right behind us and picking them up! We put a stop to that right away! :) Here's Katie girl hard at work...Spud stayed right with her once he figured out you don't eat the potatoes yet!Where was Jacob during this exciting project? He was cutting the grass. Lucky him. :) Tater planting day is always a big deal around here. I'm always glad to get them in the ground. After all, who doesn't like tatties, eh Gary? :)

Happy Birthday Katie!

Yesterday was Katie's birthday. My "baby" has turned 11 years old. It's so hard to believe that my very shy, very curly-headed toddler has grown into a friendly, not-so-curly-headed, sweet young girl. I try to convince her she's still Mama's baby and she tries to convince me she's not a baby anymore. :)

Though yesterday was her "special day" to be sure, we actually celebrated today. As with all family birthdays, the honoree gets to choose the birthday meal. Katie's choice? Nope, it wasn't pizza...or hamburgers...or anything like that. She wanted pork roast, fried potatoes, and collard greens! :) No junk food for this gal. And for her birthday "cake", she didn't want cake at all. She wanted Strawberry Koolaid Pie. (That made it easy for me...it's a super easy recipe!) Instead of vanilla ice cream, she got Klondike bars!
All of her birthday gifts fit inside this cute little bag this year. What'd she get? She got money (her request...she is a saver!), a Walmart gift card (from her sister), two big sketch pads (she is quite a little artist and LOVES to draw!), candy (sweets for the sweet), beef jerky (loves it), and a new watch (really wanted one). She also got the day off of school, and Jacob even helped her with her chores. How's that for a treat? :) I'll close with a few pictures of the birthday girl!

Calves and Bottles

Matt bought some new calves the other day. They're quite young...one of them young enough to still be bottle fed. That's Katie's job and she loves it. Can you tell? :) In other news, we are on the countdown with school!! Just 23 more school days left! We'll be doing a few achievement tests, finishing up books, and making a few more preparations for Jacob's college courses coming up in the fall. If we don't take any days off here and there, our last day should be May 6.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I have been abundantly blessed with lots of nice gifts!! My sweet son knows how much I love smileys. I needed a new coffee cup, and he thoughtfully combined my love of smileys with my need of a coffee cup and this is what I got!!! I love it! Isn't it happy?

And my sweet Mom and Dad got a HOT PINK iPod Shuffle for me, which I am loving, by the way! I usually walk a mile or two 4-6 times a week, and this handy little gadget has been keeping me company! :O)

My Mom also sent me some goodies from Gooseberry Patch that I have been admiring from afar! :O) I loved this little "Give Thanks" sign....

And this sweet little lamp for my kitchen...

I have been getting surprise packages in the mail all week! And I feel spoiled rotten! :O)

Getting Older and Springtime

I bet when you read the title you thought I was going to have some sentimental comments about getting older. Not me! I'm not getting older! :) But my oldest daughter is...tomorrow is her birthday! Since she lives out of state, and we couldn't be there to give her birthday hugs and whippings, we sent her a hug through a Hoops & YoYo card. She'll be officially hugged when she gets it in the mail. :) It's funny how my children can get older...and I just stay the same! (hahahaha! yeah right!) Anyway...bestest birthday wishes Amy!! We love ya! :)Springtime is officially here and boy, are things really greening up! Jacob cut the grass about a week ago and it's already thick again! There are signs of new life everywhere.

Here's our new pear tree budding out...

The cabbage and onions are really taking off with all the rain we've been getting...

And flowers are adorning the yard again...

Homeschooling

Today I was going over our homeschool records. We have 37 school days left in the 2008-2009 school year! Yahoo! I feel like it's been quite a productive year. Jacob has been able to take some college courses, and loved it! Rachel has really shown a vast improvement in her math during the second semester and doesn't seem to have that "dread" when it comes time to open the math book. :) In fact, she actually asked me last night if she could do summer school!?!?!? After I picked my lower jaw off the floor, I asked her why. She replied, "Well, I just want to keep going." Hmmm. Katie is ahead of "schedule" with her work, and, in fact, I will have to find more work for her to do in order to finish our required 180 days. It is sights like the picture below that make my homeschooling mama's heart go pitty-pat. :) I love to see my kids reading on their own and enjoying it. Though we use textbooks in our schooling, I'm not a firm believer in sticking to a book 100% of the time. I'm also a firm believer in this: not every technique/textbook/system works for every student. Each child is an individual…they have different personalities, different ways of thinking up solutions to a problem, different ways of learning. So what works best for one, may not necessarily work best for another. That's where the beauty of homeschool comes in. You can adjust the "technique" to the child. Flexibility. For example, while textbooks seem to be Rachel's choice, hands-on learning works well for Katie. That doesn't mean I get rid of textbooks when teaching Katie. We use textbooks for math and grammar. But when it comes to science and history, I'm not quite so rigid, especially in the elementary grades. I do have history and science textbooks, but we use them more as guidebooks. In science right now, Katie is doing a series of reports on different animals. She's doing the research, then writing detailed reports, instead of just reading about them in the textbook. (She's also learning grammar at the same time by doing this.) :)

It's the time of year when I generally try to get started in planning school for the next year. It may seem a little early for that, but I like to think it through and plan. It just occurred to me during this process that next year, I will only have two left to teach. Jacob will be in college full time! He is already registered at our community college and will be taking his first two year there, Lord willing. He is planning to major in business. He's got a good headstart after taking Economics I and Intro. Accounting. In fact, the counselor at the college told us he already had two of his hardest courses behind him! That's a plus! :) We also found out that he won't have to take any developmental courses, so we were glad for that. He's really looking forward to being a full-time student. He'll be doing orientation at the college in mid-April, and will start in the fall…entering a whole new phase in his life.

Just thought I'd give a little update on our homeschooling. It's a rainy east Tennessee day here...the Lord is watering all those cabbage plants and onions we planted last week! :) I'll be back with another post soon! Hope y'all have a good day!

Warmer Days!

Though we still have several more days before spring is officially here, you could've fooled me! The past few days have been wonderfully "springy!" :) We took advantage of the warmer weather, along with the drier ground, to plant our cabbage and onions. Now, we water. We wait.
The weeping willow trees are looking quite lacy with their budding leaves...
And just look at these beautiful Easter flowers...
Katie took advantage of the weather to go rafting on the pond. She'd spend hours at a time out there if I had hours to sit there and watch her! :)
She even coaxed Spud to get in the raft with her. But when he saw she was pushing away from shore, he jumped! :)
Ah, but winter is not over. The next few days are going to bring cooler temps at night. We'll be back in the 30s at night and by Thursday, up in the 40s for a high. But these spring-like days are going to be enjoyed to the fullest!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Yesterday, our third child entered that long-awaited territory...she turned thirTEEN! She has called herself a pre-teen for about 9 years now...so needless to say, she's looked forward to being a TEENager. :O) She's had a wonderful birthday this year, getting two things she has really, REALLY wanted! She got a new bow for her violin...which has made a big difference in her playing. And she got a flatiron for her hair. (sounds painful, doesn't it?) :O) She has VERY curly hair...almost unmanageable hair. And just like everybody else with naturally curly hair, she wanted straight hair. (Same as people who have straight hair pay to have curls, I guess.) Anyway, she was very surprised when she opened the box from her Grandmom and Granddad, as you can tell from the picture below...So now, not only is she a TEENager...she's a TEENager with STRAIGHT hair!
She didn't want a birthday cake this year...she wanted Papa Johns Pizza and broccolli salad and Koolaid pie. (super easy pie...I'll be posting the recipe on my other blog in a day or so.) Combine all of this with some money from her Papaw and Mamaw, and an oh-I've-just-got-to-have-it-book and cards from friends, and this is one happy little girl...oops, I mean TEENager. :O) Rachel is a joy, and is forever keeping us in stitches. She's always coming up with something funny to say or do. Spring is definitely in the process of springing here. We've had a foretaste of it the past few days! Our high was 70 degrees today! We are hoping to be able to plant our cool weather garden tomorrow, but I don't know if it'll be dry enough yet. But you won't hear me complaining...the past two years we have been way too dry! I'm thankful for the wet ground! :O) The ponds are very full now, and I think I can even see a bit of green grass coming up in the pasture. The cows are spending a lot less time around the hay ring now, and the chickens are starting to put out a good supply of large brown eggs again. Those are good signs that spring is on it's way!!
Hope you're all enjoying wonderful weather wherever you may be too! But above that, I hope you're all well and happy! I'll be posting again soon!