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!

Hey Y'all!

It's been several days since I last posted. Matt and I have been enjoying...well, uh, how do I say this? We've been enjoying "Q-U-I-E-T" this week. Amy and Rachel and Katie left Tuesday for a visit to my parents. Oh, it's not that we haven't missed them...no siree, it's not that at all. No way. We've really missed them all. I promise. :O) But we've somehow managed to thoroughly enjoy ourselves in the "missing" process. It's been tough. Yes siree Bob, it's been hard. So, well, anyway...

I got a bit more canning done this week. I made chow chow and got it canned. Then I also canned some quart jars of new potatoes. Both the chow chow and the taters were a first for me. I've gotten quite a good start stocking my winter pantry (especially considering the drought this summer). Speaking of drought, we had 3 days of good rain this week. The pasture is really greening up and the grass is growing. The ponds have lots of water in them, and the cows are happy. And so are we.

I'm leaving you with some pics of the results of God's bounty (and a wee bit of my labors). Til next time....