A Brand New Blog Out There

Have you heard the news? There's a brand new blog out in the blogosphere (is that a word?).
And since I'm not writing much these days on my blog, you might want to switch over here
www.whooswriting.blogspot.com

This young writer is a student of mine. She enjoys writing and has published two children's books.
She also is an avid reader and her top picks involve animals and mystery. It has been and continues to be a privilege to be her teacher and her mom.

Cuddling a joey at North Georgia Zoo

I wish her well on her own blog. She is an inspiration to me. Maybe I will start blogging again.

Happy New Year!

 

I guess that greeting is a bit late. Please forgive me. I've had gallbladder surgery and the whole family was sick for what seemed like forever. On a positive note, BB graduated her puppy class! She is now taking an Intermediate Class.

After a full recovery for us all, Hannah and I were able to take a special Mother/Daughter Retreat.
I am so thankful that we could have that time. It was a wonderful weekend get-away.

We rented a cottage at Hard Labor Creek Park in Rutledge, an hour and 15 minute drive from home.

We had a puzzle race and listened to music. We talked and ate.

On Saturday, we had a lesson and trail ride at Paradise Ranch in Locust Grove. You can check out their facebook page by following this link.
     https://www.facebook.com/deeshorsemanship?hc_location=timeline
We had to really bundle up because of the cold, but God graciously opened up the clouds and let the sun shine through which helped tremendously. This was mine and Hannah's favorite part of the weekend other than just spending time together.
Gudrun was a great teacher and we learned things about horses that we did not know.

I noticed the thick, beautiful coats on some of the horses. She said they grow that coat because they are allowed to stay outside more. This helps them to stay warmer in winter than a blanket.

She had us do exercises with the horses in the ring first, before doing the trail ride. We made our horses walk backwards, then we had them go between poles. She made sure we were both comfortable before heading out. Once on the trail, we rode up and down hills, under hanging branches, and over plastic bottles (a little obstacle course), but most of it was a leisurely walk - through woods and pastureland with a short traipse through shallow water. We saw other horses in pastures and QUADRUNNERS! My horse got a bit nervous. They were coming down the same trail we were on. My old 32 year old horse quickly caught up with the others, then he was fine.

It was nice to come back to our cottage afterwards and put our feet up by the fire as we completed our sessions. What sessions? Well, this weekend was mostly about preparing Hannah for adolescence.

We used materials from Family Life that Theron had wisely purchased when Hannah was still quite small. He's always looking at the big picture. You can check them out at www.passporttopurity.com   I noticed that our version is old (at least ten years) and uses cassette tapes (remember those?). They have updated it since then.

Little Lady came with us and enjoyed the peace and quiet while we listened to the tapes and Hannah took notes. It's a great time to build a connection with your son or daughter and share some important things with them, whether or not you already have a good relationship with your preteen. I would highly recommend it.

We ended the weekend with a Sunday lunch at Blue Willow Inn. You can follow the link to their website.      www.bluewillowinn.com

It is no longer an inn, as the owners decided that the restaurant business was more lucrative. The meal is an all you can eat buffet and your main dish is served on Blue Willow china (just like my Granny used). Maybe that's what drew me to take Hannah there for her special dinner.

We dressed up for the occasion and I presented Hannah with her passport (for completing the sessions and making a commitment to purity), which we both signed (the parent signs as a witness)  . . . 

and a gift (a ring).

The meal was very good. We enjoyed chicken and dumpling soup and iced tea. Then Hannah selected rolls, mashed potatoes with roast beef and gravy, and green beans while I had fried chicken, squash, green beans, mashed potatoes, and fried green tomatoes!
After eating, we walked around and looked at the sites (like the frozen fountain) and visited the gift shop.

So, if you have a preteen, do it! Plan a wonderful weekend get-away. Family Life can help. Don't put it off. Start planning today. You'll be glad you did.

An Animal Surprise

On our ride home from vacation last Friday, it was cloudy and rainy. It would have been a dismal day if we had not had some surprises along the way. Our favorite was a little petting zoo just off the interstate that we had never noticed before. Shortly after going through Macon, we were in need of a stretch break and saw a sign. The rain had stopped, so we pulled up by the gas station, paid a $1.00 entry fee, got food for the animals and took some time to enjoy more of God's creation.

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Time for a Vacation

We had a wonderful relaxing vacation revisiting our favorite island (so far, anyway), Jekyll. For almost a full week, we enjoyed the sunrises and sunsets on the beach.

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February Not Forgotten

I've got a bit of catching up to do, since I haven't posted since January.

Why have I not posted in six months?

Well, I have two very good reasons.

1. I was having technical difficulty with downloading pictures.

(I could not bear to post without pics. It would just be so boring.)

2. We took in a foster boy, who kept us very, very busy.

(That alone would have been reason enough, I know.)

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.

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

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.