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.

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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Vacation 2012 - Part Seven

This is the final entry, I think. On the last day of our vacation, on the way home, we went to Fort Pulaski National Monument.
Hope you enjoy this little bit of history. I know Theron did. Some things that I did not get in pictures were the firing of the cannons and the muskets, and the fish jumping in the moat.
Sorry, I was either too slow or had my hands over my ears at the time.

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Vacation 2012 - Part Six

I'm getting to relive my vacation with each post and each Smilebox. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.
This next one includes the Turtle Center that we visited the same day as our Sapelo Island Tour. I did not get many pictures. I guess I was tired.
It also includes part of the next day at Skidaway Island Park. We went there to explore and do some geocaching.

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Vacation 2012 - Part Five

On day three, we scheduled a tour (Little Lady stayed at a vet for boarding). At first, Josiah wasn't sure about riding a boat (a ferry to be exact), but just check out his face in this smilebox and see if you think he likes it.

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Vacation 2012 - Part Four

This is day two of our trip. You may think I'm going overboard, but this is a big deal for us. We had not had a real vacation since 2009 when we went to the Creation Museum.

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Vacation 2012 - Part Three

This is the third part of our first day of vacation on August 15th. We experienced two different beaches on Jekyll in the morning, after which we had to go back to our hotel room to clean up and rest. In the early evening, we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset and walk at St. Simon's Pier Village.

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Vacation 2012 - Part Two

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Vacation 2012 - Part One

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An Unexpected Adventure

The day started early, as we were headed to Marietta for an Air Show. Most of us slept in the car on the way. When we arrived at our destination, it was unusually uncrowded. We began to feel that we were in the Twilight Zone. My brave husband got out of the car and walked up to the Air Force building to investigate. "What do mean? I know nothing about an air show," the man rudely replied. But it was in the news, with much detail about what and who was going to be there; all these activities he was looking forward to sharing with his son and daughter.
Wow, that really tells you how reliable the news is, doesn't it? Well, I won't get into that right now, 'cause we really had a great day after all.
We came up with a plan B on the spot and decided to go to Kennesaw Mountain, especially since Theron and the kids have never been. I myself have been many times, but it had been awhile. Parking is an issue there, and the only place we could find when we first arrived was for the visitor's center, so we did that first. Then we went back to our car and decided we would walk up the mountain trail if a parking space opened up. We drove around one time and Voila! Here we go!

Thanksgiving 2010

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Our Trip to the Etowah Indian Mounds

the walk from the museum to the mounds

Our adventure began on Friday with a trip to Chattanooga. Theron's dad is in Erlanger Hospital. He wanted to take his mom for visiting hours. We arrived at 3:00, too early for the 4:00 slot, so we had a snack at the nearby McDonald's. Inside the restaraunt was too chilly and outside was very toasty. We chose the outdoors anyway. There was no playground, but the children enjoyed watching the little sparrows that came close and ate whatever they were offered. Josiah also spotted all the insects that many would overlook.



132 steps and a great view



At 3:30, Theron and his mom decided they would rather wait in the more comfortable hospital, so we drove them over. Since the kids were not allowed to visit CCU patients and this McDonald's did not have a play place (strange if you ask me), I took the kids on a tour and we saw the huge train yard and water treatment facility that are close to the hospital from the comfort of our van.

We made a wonderful discovery as we went over the bridge to get a better view of the train tracks and yard. Chattanooga Zoo! The kids were so excited. I was skeptical. We only have 45 minutes or less and I don't want to spend a bunch of money for such a quick trip to the zoo. Believe it or not, I paid $25 for admission, an ICEE (to keep me cool, it was a hot day) and a souvenir for each of the kids. And we saw everything in the park (quickly) and got back to the hospital for pickup with time to spare. It was an excellent way to pass the time

Friday night was spent at Theron's mom and dad's house in Ducktown. It was another long drive, but some things needed to be taken care of there. On our drive home, we stopped at the Etowah Indian Mounds. Since we are studying Ancient Egypt and the pyramids and one of our books mentioned the Indian mounds in North America, I thought we might try to go see some. When I looked up the site on the internet, I noticed that they were having a free day. Can't beat that!

view from the top of mound A

 You can see why the chief of the village would live here, so he could keep an eye on everything. Everytime a chief died, they burned him and his house on the top of the mound and buried it, making the mound higher. It is interesting to think about this being a busy village where people once lived and farmed. The mound you see in the distance was used for gatherings. It had posts around the perimeter, but no roof.

We can make it!

there's a cool breeze on top

Sorry there are no pictures of the zoo. I did not take my camera. These were taken with Theron's new phone. Grandma did not go to the top. She sat on a bench at the bottom of the steps and kept company and made conversation with a mom and baby who were . . . get this. . . from Lilburn, Ga. I don't know them, but they had a good chat with Grandma. Grandma even got to hold the baby for a minute. What a blessing!

Parrot Mountain and Forbidden Caverns Trip

Friday and Saturday, we took a trip up to Tennesse. We started with a visit to Theron's parents, Ray and Helen Rose in Ducktown and then we drove on to Pigeon Forge. We got to our hotel about 10:00, got a good rest and headed out in the morning to Parrot Mountain. We spent the morning there and had lunch in their gift shop and deli. Then we drove to Forbidden Caverns. We had been listening to Jonathon Parks Volume 2, Bone of Contention, where they have adventures in a cave, so it tied right in. Hope you enjoy the slideshow. It's pretty long because we took alot of pictures.

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A Quick Trip

This is really short as I was trying a different camera and most of my pictures came out fuzzy.

We had a nice two day trip to visit family over the Christmas holidays, though.

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Mom's Birthday Dinner

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We were late, but we had a great time. This was friday evening.

Two more SHORT videos

I forgot to add these from our day at the Newport Aquarium.

We started school on Labor Day. In spite of the fact that we've had to make two doctor trips this week (Theron has pneumonia and a kidney stone among other things, and I have bronchitis), the kids are well and our school week has been pretty good. We've actually stayed on track. I guess this first week is light.

Erin at www.fullheart.blogspot.com - this is for you. My house has definitely not been clean this week. My mountain is not usually the laundry, but the kitchen. When I don't feel well, the dishes pile up and just in general, my kitchen counters "collect" things. It seems that everything wants to make it's home in the kitchen, whether it's a plastic dinosaur or a FCFE homeschool binder (WHAT! Oops). Actually those things are easy to put away. It's all those little things like receipts and medicines and "recyclable?' items that take more thinking. Hannah has been helping me by washing dishes that we don't put in the dishwasher. This has become a new chore for her this year, because she can do it without supervision now.

I should be picking up speed now that I'm taking the antibiotic and STEROIDS for the bronchitis. Theron is doing much better, too. He had been laid out on the couch in pain the first part of the week, but now is up and around more, although still at home, which is nice.

Knoxville Zoo

This was the last day of our vacation trip, with the exception of driving home on Friday. This week we have been resting up, going to doctor's appointments, reviewing our ABC Bible verses, and finishing our Summer Vacation notebooks. Next week we will start My Father's World - Kindergarten for Josiah and Exploring Countries and Cultures for Hannah.

What you've been waiting for

The planetarium show really allowed you to get an idea of the vastness of the universe. Amazing that God created things so huge and things so small. Some other things that I did not get pictures of, were the 4D show, The Last Adam video, Dragons video, and a storybook time that Josiah went to with Dad while Hannah and I were in our fossil class. We also browsed the bookstore. We had a great two days. It was a blessing.

Have you ever been to The Newport Aquarium?

We had a great time on our first day of vacation, getting up close to the penguins, petting the sharks(yikes!), and taking a walk across the bridge to Ohio.

Alligator Encounter - 2000

In Lake City, Florida there is a place where an old man

raises alligators.

In the year 2000, I was there.

I posed with this statue.

I posed with the real life alligator that Tarzan wrestled with in the shows I watched as a kid. The "alligator man" showed us the hole in his snout, which was used some way to keep his trap shut during the filming. He moved quite slowly as he was very old.

I still can't believe I got that close to a real live alligator. The "alligator man" would not even get close to this one though. He had some baby ones inside a building that he was showing us and they were only about 6 inches long. He asked if I wanted to hold one, so I thought it would be one of these little babies. He left the room and came back with this "cutie".

I said, "Are you sure?"

He said this one was very tame. He takes it to schools and does talks, etc. He put him on my arm and instructed me to rub him on the back of the neck. Actually I don't know if it was a he or she. I smiled and through my teeth said, "Theron, take the picture quick. No one will believe this unless I have a picture."

Now that was a close encounter!