Just a brief update!

All is well on the homefront here, and hope all is well wherever y'all are! Let's see...nothing new and exciting to report...we're just going on with our little routine around here (which is fine with me!)

Garden is putting out a few tomatoes, bunches of okra (pronounced okree), and just a few cantaloupe. The cantaloupe are on the small side, but very juicy and yummy!

School is moving right along. Between the three different grade levels, we're covering everything from multiplication tables to thesis statements...and everything in between. :O)The new pup, Diamond is just full of her little wild puppy-self. She drags off anything that isn't nailed down! I'll be glad when the puppy stage is over. She's just so cute though!Thought I'd also post a few pictures of my little helpers in the kitchen. Here's Katie making some fried cornbread (mostly unassisted) and Rachel in charge of the stove. How nice that they're old enough to be such a big help!

Busy, but fun week!

I'll start this post by saying....I decided not to post any pictures of my beautiful canned produce. (Do I hear a roar of applause out there?) :O) And, YES, I have been canning again! Want a rundown on our winter store? Wonderful! I'd be glad to share that information with you...since you asked, of course. So here we go:
Tomatoes - 54 jars
Salsa - 5 jars
Green Beans - 61 jars
Apple Jelly - 3 jars
Chow Chow - 4 jars
Cucumber Relish - 14 jars
New Potatoes - 6 quarts
Freezer Pickles - 7 containers...but these little babies aren't going to survive the winter. We're eating them so fast I only have 3 containers left!
I'll probably still have more tomatoes to can. (We use alot of tomatoes in the winter for soups and chili and casseroles.) But I think the bulk of the tomatoes have already been squirreled away.
Along with other news, Joel, (Matt's brother) and his wife, Ivy, have been in from California for a visit and we have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them! We don't get to see them often enough.
And....HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY to my sweet Mommy and Daddy!! Not only are they blessed with a long and happy marriage, but I consider myself VERY blessed to have them. :O) Anyhoo...that's just a (very) brief update of what we've been up to this week. Be posting again soon!! Tata for now!

More 'maters!

Are y'all tired of seeing pictures of my canned veggies? :O) My apologies, but I just have to post them! I so love canning! (Have I ever mentioned that before?) So just try to endure...summer is almost over and the harvest is almost past. I'll be done before you know it.

School is still going great! Katie is using Abeka for history and science, and all other subjects are by Christian Light Publications. It's our first year using Christian Light, and for her, it's working well. Rachel is using mostly all Abeka. Jacob's using a combination of curriculum. He's using Saxon for his Algebra 2, Jensen's Format Writing (which has been really good for him. He doesn't like writing paragraphs, much less research papers and reports, and this has really helped him alot already!) He's also using Exploring Creation with Chemistry from Apologia. The course is on a cd. It has videos and pronunciation helps. We'll be doing labs for that this year. Fun, fun! :O) Some of his other courses are Abeka also. All in all, we're off to a great start.

New Kid on the Block :O)

There's a new dog on the farm now...her name is Diamond (named for the "diamond-shape" on her back). Katie is just tickled pink with her, as you will see from the picture. :O) The only unfortunate thing is that she is a "she". (Hmmm, we'll have to do something about that.) She's just a few months old, and it looks like she may be a good-sized hound when she's full grown. Aw, but ain't she cute?

How's School Goin?

Glad you asked about school. :O) Actually, we're sailing right along...trying to get back into the swing of things. And, to be honest, it's going great! The kids are taking great pains to stir up all they learned last year. (You remember how it is...you tend to forget school stuff during the summer.) I am just having the BEST time with Jacob's Algebra 2!! I love it! I think it's the most neato thing to sit down and figure out an algebra 2 problem! Don't you? :O) Jacob doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for it, but that's ok...I'm sure he'll learn to LOVE math!! Yeah, well, so anyway...

I've been canning again today....some juicy, red, ripe tomatoes! I want to can every tomato I can get my hands on because we use alot of them during the winter. I hope to have enough tomatoes to make some salsa too.

While I'm posting, thought I'd post a picture of Jacob in his new suit....a belated birthday gift from Amy. :O) Pretty handsome, don't ya think? :O)

School Days!

Ah! The wonderful subtle sounds of pencils writing, papers shuffling, book pages turning, and the occasional cries of anguish are being heard in our home again! School started back today! I am always so ready to get back into the routine of things. Today went very smooth...we'll have to wait and see about tomorrow...but Day One was great! I think everybody's curriculum is well-suited to each student. That always helps. Thought I'd post pics of the kids going about their work. (By the way, the picture of Rachel looks like she is half-asleep. She wasn't. She was only half-awake. Just barely. She is definitely NOT our little morning person.) :O)

More taters!

We finally dug the last of our potatoes today. We didn't get quite as much as I had hoped, but boy, were there some whopper potatoes growing! They'll be good eating come wintertime!Our pasture has really greened up and thickened up in the past several weeks! It almost looks like springtime again! We've somehow managed to hold onto six of our cows....including our old faithful bull below. Hopefully we'll be able to find some hay so we can keep them through the winter. In case y'all didn't already know, we've got a true blue Confederate living here...five of them in fact. Here's a picture of Katie with her rebel flag. :O)

Back to Normal???

Vacation is officially over now. I guess it's time to settle back down to "normal" now....whatever that means! Amy was home for about 3 1/2 weeks and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was good to spend time with her. We did alot of things and went alot of places together.

The kids got to go to the beach and spend time with their grandparents...

We went to the Rocky Mount Living History Museum...

We went to the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg... We ate at the Old Mill Restaurant in Gatlinburg also. What a neat place! They converted an old mill that was used from the early 1800s to the early 1900s into a restaurant. Good food, too. :O)

Oh, and I am SO enjoying my Japanese doll that Amy gave me! Isn't she beautiful? (I think of Amy everytime I see her!) All in all, we just enjoyed having all of us together again under one roof. There's just nothing quite like family. :O)

So....normal is back now. Next week, Lord willing, we'll be starting our new school year on Wednesday. We have all of our school books, everything is in order, and we're ready to go. We're trying out some new curriculum with some of our subjects, and I feel pleased with our choices. So, we're just gonna take a deep breath and plunge right in!! I'll be posting soon! Ta ta for now!