Dec. 13, 2009 - Christmas Tree and Faces Aglow
Chicken (my daughter, not the hen in the last entry) took these just now and wanted to share:
Dec. 13, 2009 - Deck the Halls with Bits of Refuse
Here's a wreath I made with baling wire, bread ties, leftover Christmas tree, and ends of ribbon. It's a bit scraggly, but better than paying $20 at the grocery store.
And here's lookin' at you!
Dec. 12, 2009 - Let it Snow!
We are toasty warm tonight, thanks to a "new" woodstove. Hubby purchased it locally through a Craigslist ad and spent the last couple of weeks working through the installment and inspection process.
I took a few (emphasis on few) photos of the installation. I wish I'd gotten more "before and after" pics, because he really made it look like new. Oh, I should add that he also removed the light fixture that hung over this area (you can see a bit of it in the second picture) and installed a new one further away from the stove.
Here's the dura-rock stuff that went under the hearth:
And here's the heat shield going up:
Here's a really dark shot of the heat shields installed (along with the installation mess). He did all the ceiling/roof chimney work himself:
Neatened up a bit:
A "Before" shot of the back of the stove:
I thought using the portable hydraulic jack (that orange and white thing) to move the (very heavy!) stove into place was a brilliant idea on his part.
Rust removal...
The finished product!
Isn't he handsome?
Dec. 14, 2009 - Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip: "Jamestown Unearthed"
Last week "Jamestown Unearthed", a Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip, made affordable for homeschoolers by Homeschool Buyer's Co-op, premiered. This EFT was a bit different from others we've seen. Instead of being acted out by actor/interpreters, we saw a genuine archaeological dig at Jamestowne. We heard from archaeologists on the process of digging up history.
Tuesday we read the background historical information in the teacher's notes and did all of the activities together, orally. Wednesday we watched the broadcast and did the on-line activities. The computer based activities had us compare primary source documents with artifacts that were found at the dig. The kids also did the on-line vote.
Thursday was the live broadcast, with an actor/interpreter portraying one of the soldiers. There was also the head of archaeology at Jamestowne and the curator at Jamestowne. After the first broadcast, my kids thought of questions to e-mail to the archaeologist.
You might think we didn't do much with this EFT. Actually, we did more than usual! A few years ago we went to the living history center at Jamestown where the kids got to see the fort,
go on the ships and work at the Powhatten village.
Last September we went to historic Jamestowne, where the actual fort was located.
All that is left now is the church tower,
from which the lead archaeologist based his theory of the fort being in the near vicinity under the ground instead of washed into the river as previously thought. We got to see the area where the digs are, but due to rain the day before, it was covered in tarps. We plan to return another day to see the archaeological dig.
The kids have been to other archaeological digs too! They've talked to archaeologists at Mount Vernon, Montpelier, and Colonial Williamsburg. This is the Ravenscroft site at Colonial Williamsburg last July,
where they even got to do hands on activities.
Even I got a thrill to actually touch artifacts sifted from the soil. How often do we get to touch history?
And how can I forget the CW archaeology dig in 2004 and 2008
which resulted in the opening of the Coffeehouse!
Dec. 10, 2009 - Dance Practice
I got a couple of notes offline about this month's header. These shots were taken by another parent of the dance center, and I don't know how I laid the CD away for 6 months without looking at it. I wish I had skills in photography like this. But at least I get to share the other fabulous shots he got of the family.
Dec. 10, 2009 - Friendship
I have not written anything in a long time. I wasn't sure what to say, if anything. Life was busy, but who's isn't these day? So I wrote nothing. But recently I have felt to pick up my blog again, unsure of where to start. And then it hit me.....
I started this blog because I felt God was changing things up in my life. One of those things being friendships. I have had a hard time, more than once this year, over the loss of, what I felt, was a good friendship. I tend to take things personally even though I try not to. It just breaks my heart that a friend would willingly end a friendship without trying to work things out. Because I think too much I wanted to know what the true meaning of friendship was. I decided a good place to start was Websters, which says:
Those definitions lead me to believe I have lost two friendships, which was not really what I wanted to hear. So I decided a better place to turn was to the bible. The very first verse that came to mind was:
Which leads me back to my struggle......Have I lost these friends for good? I do trust God and I know He will help me walk through this, but it doesn't make the path any easier. It does, however, have me turning to Him for guidance and direction.........Maybe I should have been blogging all along.
December 10, 2009 - Do You Ever?
Do you ever walk in the door at 6pm, saying to yourself you're going to make dinner for the kids quickly and get to bed early, because, oh, you are so tired, yet it's past eleven and you aren't in bed yet?
We were out and about today. A dentist visit. Then Natalie's art class. Rachey and Abigail and I went to buy cold weather gear while Natalie was at art. That's easier than taking Natalie too - only because when the older girls are together they get more of the gimmies and I feel like I get more of the, "No, don't ask me again"s.
I've had a cold since last Friday. A really bad one. Not a flu, but bad for a cold. A sinus cold and now a lingering cold with achiness.
And, it's been cold. 7.9 degrees Fahrenheit last night. That's cold for here. The coldest I remember - at least here where I am living. I think it was colder my Senior Year of highschool - which was too long ago (and doesn't seem that long). I'm really glad that it's only a blink in the eternal life that God has planned. He is awesome. I'm so glad too we'll get a new body - or a spiritual body - however it all works out. Whatever Heaven will exactly be like. It's hard to wrap the brain around. But, I'm so thankful for God's gift in salvation and forgiveness of my sins.
Tomorrow, will be an at home day. We've done a good job at doing school all week despite being sick.
Blessings.
Dec. 10, 2009 - The Blank Slate, Teens, and Memories
“I don’t feel so well.” This was where I started my day. We’ve been blessed in that the kids are not sick very often, so a bad cough or stomach upset can throw our day off completely. As it turns out, the youngest only had a sniffle, and was feeling well enough by the day’s end to help with cleaning her room.
The oldest had nothing on her planner for today—absolutely nothing. She completed her last science test for this semester on yesterday, making her second “A,” which leaves her with a solid “B” for the course (I’m believing God that she’ll be able to drop the first test score). So the normal Wednesday class time is no more until late January. When I saw that her planner was blank, everything in me wanted to tell her what she should do given the extra time she now had. But I’m learning, ever so slowly, a few lessons in raising a teenager and allowing her to make choices—even if they are different choices than I would make. So I waited. When she saw her empty slate, she began to list possibilities, and then followed with, “And I still didn’t get to watch the end of that science video( her class is recorded for those who are absent or who need more review). I think that’s why I got that last test question wrong.” Mind you, this is the science class that she asked to drop not too long ago, and the class that she’s now finished until January, and she wants to complete the review of a portion she missed? Wow! I was so impressed—with her for her commitment to excellence, and with me for keeping my mouth shut.
Months ago, I posted an entry authored by someone else that talked about the trouble with teens (see here). I’m convinced that the author is on to something when he addresses the issue of parents learning to trust. Interestingly enough, there is a meme circulating entitled “Talking about Teens.” In visiting the blogs of a few friends, I read through one of the latest weekly assignments. I found it intriguing, for lack of a better word, that the creator went out of his/her way to point out that the comments should be positive. I couldn’t help but think about our school year on last year, but I won’t reflect on it long, as things are too good now to spend time with the past.
On last year, not only did we have a tough year academically, we had a tough time in any area you name. If you’ve been a regular reader of this blog for more than, say, 6-8 months, you would know of our 4-month unemployment testimony (see here), which began in December of last year. Personally, that’s about as close to the time period as I can get, so I was taken back when my husband brought it up on the exact date, almost sharing it as if it were an anniversary. It shouldn’t have surprised me; men place so much importance on their jobs. It defines them, it gives them a place and a sense of prestige. Put simply, if you ask most women who they are, they will tell you about their families—married, x number of kids, etc. If you ask most men who they are, they’ll tell you where they work and what they do for a living. As an aside, my husband even talks about how he accompanied his dad to a banquet at the father’s church, full of senior men. These gentleman, well past the age of getting up to go to work each morning, still identified themselves in their introductions by where they retired from, how many years they were there, etc.
Well, anyway, as my husband talked about a year ago “to the day,” he thanked me for being so supportive of him and so resourceful during this year, which blessed me tremendously. I was glad that my husband thought of me as a help during this time, because I didn’t always feel so helpful. As we finally reach a point where ‘our souls look back and wonder how we got over,’ as the more seasoned saints say, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the kids, and how this whole experience has impacted them. A while ago I wrote an article for Heart of the Matter magazine talking about a child’s response to a household crisis. In a nutshell, children learn to respond by watching how you as parents respond. And so, as the kids and I read through the 44th Psalm today, I remembered our response. I even remembered sharing with the kids why we would spend time with this particular book. David wrote many of the psalms while in dire circumstances. He never failed, regardless of his state of being, to give God praise. Though I wouldn’t ask to walk through it again, I was even more thankful that God allowed the children to see us respond to what He allowed. I pray that the Holy Spirit will bring these times to their remembrance as they need them. Here are the words that resonated with me this afternoon, and I pray that they bless you as well:
We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago…
You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.
Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes.
I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory;
but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.
In God we make our boast all day long, we will praise your name forever. Selah (Psalm 44: 1, 4-8)
Dec. 9, 2009 - Brimful
We got snow this week, which was a nice surprise so early in the season. I like living in a place where the snow melts not too terribly long after it lands. With warmer temperatures today, the snow melted into rivulets and rushing streams between the three ponds, and when my daughters ventured out to feed the poultry this morning, they were surprised and delighted to find the third pond full to the brim for the first time!
Hubby's runoff system is working excellently, as you can see.
Here is the third pond:
Compare to a picture of the pond before the snowstorm:
That's a lot of runoff!
It carved rivulets into the soft ground around the pond:
Here is the water rushing toward the third pond (that's our neighbor's horse shed in the distance):
Here's the water rushing around the third pond's dam.
And we flow "gently down the stream" through the low-lying area between Pond 3 and Pond 2...
...at the end of which the water rushes into Pond 2...
...which, as you can see, is also brimful.
The water rushes out of Pond 2 here...
...where it joins with the runoff that streams from the neighbor's property to ours.
It flows behind the dam...
...and through the pipes under the driveway...
...into Pond 1.
Pond 1's runoff system is also working beautifully. The overflow runs in channels around either side of the dam.
Here it comes!
It joins with the overflow from the pipe hubby installed in the dam here...
...and flows into the neighbor's woods as it always has from time immemorial. Well, as it did before hubby built the ponds, anyway.
Works like a charm!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - Wordless Wendnesday: Grandeur
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