with blog posts lately.  Seems there are too many other things to fill my waking hours.  We went to my Dad's ranch this weekend for an early Thanksgiving.  Always an enjoyable time.  We were even able to hunt arrowheads, a favorite pasttime on Sunday afternoons when I was growing up.  I didn't find any arrowheads, only pieces of pottery and petrified wood.  I was able to share the experience with my kiddos, pointing out to them the signs of long ago Indians in the area, specifically the gray "burnt rocks" indicating there had been a camp/cooking fire.

We expect to move Mom into the back house this week.  She's begun bringing boxes over, but we need to get the final certificate of occupancy, hopefully Wednesday. 

School - I'm looking forward to next semester, hoping things will be more settled by then.  We've learned a bit about the Hittites, Cretes, etc this week, coinciding with our study of Israel preparing to enter the promised land.  We're also studying communication.  I'm pretty sure I didn't do a very good job teaching about telecommunications, lasers and satellites.  Science is my weakest subject and it shows! 

C had a good math week.  We use MUS with her, but she rarely enjoys math.  This week, though, she got the concepts quickly, aced most of her work, and even said math might be her favorite subject! 

I'm keeping this short so I can get some prep time in for school tomorrow.  Hoping your Thanksgiving week is filled with reminders of God's faithfulness. 

My sweet Preschooler and I went on our very own nature walk today to seek out color on a somewhat drabby day. This November has been a very mild one, indeed, but also has lacked sunshine. So we determined ourselves to find our very own "sunshine" by finding colors in the brown of late autumn.

At first, it seemed everywhere we looked there was brown, which we still found beauty in.

Here, we found STARS! She said they look like fireworks too.

Then we started noticing all the pretty green around still, even after the frosts.

And the pretty green lichen and white fungi were plentiful.

We couldn't decide if we wanted to call these berries "red" or "purple", so we called them "red purple".

And finally, there was this neat looking orange fungi. We thought they looked like orange fingers!

But the most colorful thing I found in nature today, was my sweet Gabby Rose.

   Chapter 7:As the night grows darker

I arrived at this place at seven thirty, I got here half an hour earlyer because it started to get dark at six O'clock and so I ran one fourth of the way because this place gives me the creeps.

   "This place is creeper than I thought." There were about five tents and two RV's that looked like the owners were captured by those evil wolves

   You could tell where the wolves ran and people were, there were tons of foot and paw prints.

   I was so scared I completly forgot about my plan until my stomach growled.

   So I sat down under a tree, I thought if I get off schedule and it's twelve O'clock and I forget than I can just climb up the pine tree.

   I ate my sandwich really fast but I was to scared of getting out my water bottle for fear that I would wake up the wolves to early.

   Once I was done looking around and trying to memorize what this camp ground slash horror place looked like.Then I found a good place for my bag, I stuck it in a high place in an oak tree. 

   Then had to take my bag back down because I forgot to get out Uncle Bip's camoflouge jacket out.

   I put the jacket on but forgot to zip it and climbed up in a pine tree and waited a half an hour.

   Then I heard a niose.

  To be continued...

The most overwhelming thing said by girls thinking about having an abortion is that when they went to find out about possibly having an abortion, they were not given the facts as to exactly what abortion is.  Most of the time, when a woman goes into a Planned Parenthood or an abortion clinic she is not only encouraged to terminate her pregnancy but she is bombarded with the reasons she "should" terminate the pregnancy and the ease of having an abortion as though it is just a minor procedure like getting your hair colored.  My question to the people working in these clinics is this: 

"If there is nothing wrong with abortion, why wouldn't you explain all of the facts including the emotional side effects so that each woman can make an informed decision?  Are you afraid they might decide NOT to have one? " 

If the goal is to get as many women to have abortions as possible than we are no longer trying to help women, rather we are trying to push an agenda.  If you know someone who is pro choice because they really do have a heart for women, I encourage you to share this video with her.

Without any tears or emotional pleas, this video made by Priests for Life, gives a good description of what the doctors do when performing a first trimester abortion.  It is not graphic at all but gives a gentle, yet matter-of-fact description using a fetal model and in fact is something you could share with your kids when you are explaining abortion to them.   With all the news lately of health care reform, the abortion topic comes up often within the homeschooling community.  I hope this will be a help to you.

The other fact the abortion clinics don't tell you about is the extremely high rate of deep depression in women who have had abortions.  They don't tell you about the women who can't live with themselves and are haunted by nightmares, who turn to alcohol and drugs to mask the pain they go through everyday for years and years afterward.  There are thousands and thousands of women like this who regret their decision to abort.  If you really want to help women, give them all the facts.

I've been trying to focus in on teaching my children how to see the beauty in all seasons. Towards the end of Autumn when the leaves are mostly off the trees, and things have found themselves to be a dry brown color we focus in on details, because there is where we find remarkable beauty. Taking macro pictures helps us to see this beauty even more closely than our human eye can.

We find if we look close enough we can still find splashes of color.

What small details of God's creation are bringing beauty into your life?

I have a child.

Well, actually three children, but "I have a child" adds a bit more drama to the introduction...I think.

This particular child has the ability to squeal with the decibel strength of a weanling pig! Earth shatterring notes that could deafen those already deaf! "Huh?"  Don't worry about it, let's just move on.

Said child is much like me in many ways. She's brunette, brown-eyed, and SHORT.

Unlike me, but rather more like her dad, she is ridiculously smart and craves attention.

The attention craving part is probably due more to her being a middle-child and forgive me but I've gotten way off-track here! Sorry.

Anyway, said kiddo has wanted a horse to ride since we made our big crazy move out to the country nearly four years ago.

We bought Bella aka Buggar Girl (Yes, that's the name on her papers) three years ago with hopes of her becomming our riding horse. Well, Bella is lame and a real stinker to boot. You would have to rope me and hog tie me before I would allow any of our kids to sit in the saddle of that accident waiting to happen.

So Bella of course is now no longer an option where riding is concerned for the Snider family. She's just a big fat quarter horse and three quarter grass bag walking the pasture. I don't mean to sound a little cynical there but the economy stinks right now and extra mouths to feed that aren't pullin their weight, tend to draw my ire.

Back to the short brunette that can squeal like a piglet.

She's begged us and I mean quite literally begged Tim and I for a horse that she can ride.

 She's cried herself to sleep many nights, repeating over and over, "I want a horse, I want a horse, I want a horse...."

She's promised everything within her capacity to promise that she will help take care of it.

 She's even worked at saving her money which is laughable because she's had to start over many times after blowing it on gum at Stuffmart.

So, we being the kindhearted and understanding parents that we are (SUCKERS), started looking for a bomb-proof pony for all the kids to be able to ride.

We've prayed about it and told the middle-child to do the same. 

Tim spotted a Welsh pony for sale on Craig's List. Nothing was said to the children but Tim called about it and then went to look at it. We discussed. The price was right. We discussed some more, but more importantly prayed the Lord's will in it all.

Nothing was still said to the kids and last Sunday on our way to evening church, we stopped and looked at the pony. The kids caught on and begged and pleaded but wonderfully Tim and I had already made up our minds and bought it. She's a beauty and we've already fallen in love with her, as much as you can love a horse anyway. We're praying that she'll be a blessing, that she will be that pet that the kids look back on with fond memories when they're older and tell their kids about someday.

Her name is Trixie and my little Lillie (middle child) heads out to her pen first thing every morning to pet her and tell her how much she's loved.

And somehow, in all of this horsey drama that has unfolded over the past months, a childhood love for horses has been awakened in myself.

Silly as it may sound, I'm looking forward to riding our fair little horse myself .

In all things give thanks!

Blessings, Julie

He's known as the meanest gunslinger in the west...

He took our family by surprise that day he rolled into town.

My husband tried to save his girls...

But it was no use.  That outlaw was too fast for us.

It will never be safe in Dry Gulch until this fast handed desperado has been apprehended...

Have you ever asked, "Why me?  I don't deserve this."  God is molding you into the person He wants you to be.  It is painful. His ways are not our ways.  When you proclaim Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you do not all of a sudden become perfect.  Yes, when you ask God to forgive you, He will. That is guaranteed.  And no we don't deserve that. 

But many people view Christians as "holier than thou" as though we are supposed to be perfect.  We are not.  We struggle with all the same things the rest of the world struggles with.  And it is painful.  When we ask God to take away our imperfections, it often hurts to let go of those things.  The difference is, that we have God to lean on while He does the work.  We can call on Him to help us through the hard times and He will be there because He loves each and every one of us. 

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28 

Yes, He loves YOU too.  Wherever you are right now, you too can receive His forgiveness and become born again.  Jesus said in John 3:3  ..."I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. "  It is really quite simple, but it is a matter of the heart.  Accept Jesus Christ, as your Lord and savior.  And believe it.  He came to this earth and gave his life in a bloody, painful death so that you could do this.  He loves you.  Confess your sins to God and know that He will forgive you. 

If you don't know what to do next, I humbly suggest you pick up a Bible.  Don't know where to start?  I didn't either.  Try Romans or John.  They are both good books (among many) for a new Christian or an unbeliever to start.

The following video was played for us in church today.  Our study was on Ephesians 4:17-24  It was an awesome video and I wanted to share it with you today.  Humorous and so true.  May you be blessed. 

 FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY

 "In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."