Bells are Ringing

This school year, Hannah, Josiah and I joined a bell choir. We've been practicing since September. On December 11th, we were part of Carol with the Bells at First Baptist Church in Lilburn. There were several different groups playing. Ours is called the Joyous Ringers and we rang Oh Come all Ye Faithful and Joy to the World.

 

 

The choir is directed by Phil Meyers.

 

 

 

Hannah and Josiah did very well and we enjoyed listening to the other choirs that performed, also.

 

 

 

OCC 2012 Packing Party

We have such a fun time doing this every year. We've been saving up stuff  for a year. Now the time has come to FILL THOSE BOXES!



This year we got premade boxes. Josiah noticed a neat picture on the bottom. Thanks to Mrs. Thomason, who coordinated everything.



Josiah had to try on and test things to make sure they were apropriate for the 8 year old boy he was packing his box for. Hannah is writing a note to go inside the box she is making for a girl.



We packed about 70 boxes this year and then loaded them in the van to be taken to the processing center.

Happy Thanksgiving

Usually on Thanksgiving day, we drive out to Dallas, Georgia to feast with my side of the family tree. But sometimes circumstances keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Like someone getting sick with a bad head cold.
To protect the innocent, I will not name names.
I was resigned to a fate of hum-drum left overs to go with fresh baked rolls, sweet potato casserole, and cranberry sauce (my offering for the family feast which was not to be), until . . .

 

this man went out and brought home a turkey and dressing,

and cooked it to make a real thanksgiving meal.

Oh, and let's not forget . . .

pumpkin pie and whipped cream!

 

So, we feasted here.

 

 

 

I took a walk with the "feverless" child.

Some of us worked a puzzle.

 

 

A recent thrift store find. (Only one piece missing)
 

I found this cool Jesse Tree devotional at www.aholyexperience.com

I printed it out and got the pieces cut out and put on nice paper

to laminate. Then I will punch a hole in the top to put a

string through to hang them up.

 

 

 



I recently had taken pictures of flowers that were blooming in the yard.

 

From our home to yours, I hope you had a pleasant Thanksgiving Day!

Fun on a Budget

Recently a neighbor had another tree cut down.
For us, that means FREE wood chips.
We use it to mulch around flower beds, etc.
And it also serves an unintended purpose.



As the kids were digging out chips for me to add to my flower beds, they got the idea of
making a den of sorts in the huge pile.



Beaver Den 
Materials -$0
Hours to build -1 hr to 100 hours (endless play)
Instructions - none needed

Josiah's Apple Pie

"What cha takin' ma pitcher fer?"

 

"Well, you are the person who made this pie, are you not?"



 

"I did the stuff on the top o' the pie. See the D for Dad, the J for Josiah . . ."

"Yes, I see that. So you can't take the credit for cutting the apples and . . . "

 

"No. Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, no! But we'll still call it Josiah's pie."

Toothless Tuesday

"Look Ma, my toosh ish about ready to sall out."

 

 

"Yep, bubble gum did the trick."

Mousy Monday

 

Hey Petunia! I have an idea.

 

 

What is it?

 

Let's go out in the yacht?

I'll be right there.

 

Here we go!

 

. . .

(later)

 

 

 

That was a nice ride.

 

 

 

 

Oh no! Our home has been invaded by mice. 

 

 

 

Yep! And they're eating our food, too.

 

 

 

Don't worry, Dear. I'll take care of them.

Now, they're gone.

All is well.

Home Sweet Home.

No Baby Birds but, . . .

After some time, we noticed that Lancelot and Mist were not sitting on the eggs, so we took them out and candled them. We found them to be infertile as we suspected.
The plan is to give them some time without a nest box and then we'll try again later.
For now, what's the next exciting thing?
Josiah has been wanting a small pet that he can handle and train. After much talk of guinea pigs and other possible rodents, we decided on a mouse. They are small, don't make much noise, and from my experience are pleasant pets to have.
By the time we did our research and started gathering supplies, everyone in the family wanted a mouse. We learned that they are very social and enjoy being with other mice. So what started out as a pet for Josiah has become a family project. We planned to get all female mice, because they produce less odor, so we bought them from a store that sells ONLY FEMALE mice.
We got home with them and opened the box to transfer them to their cages. We have two ten gallon tanks with screen covers with plans to keep two mouse in each.

"Aren't they cute?"

I got mine out first and noticed something almost immediately as "he" crawled up my arm. Yes, I said "he". Not sure how this happened. I certainly did not notice in the store and was not even looking since it was an ALL FEMALE MICE store.

 

Needless to say, I had to keep mine seperate until we could do an exchange. There is also the possibility that any one of our females could be pregnant. We'll have to wait and see.

Theron had picked out a mouse similar in color to mine and named it PIRATE PETE, even though we are pretty sure it is a female. What other name could you give a mouse with a black spot over one eye?

"Hi ya, mateys!"

Hannah picked out a mouse that looks like the one I had when I was younger. Mine was called "May", probably because I got it in the month of May. Hannah calls hers JEMIMA.

"I'm a natural!"

Josiah got the sweetest mouse yet. It's fur is so silky and its name is SQUEEK.

 

We've had the mice one week and I exchanged my male for a female. Her name is PETUNIA and she shares a cage with PIRATE PETE. She was very shy at first, but the other mice drew her out and before we knew it Josiah had her on his hand.

 

Here's a close up of her thinking about coming out to play.