We found a horse that my daughter liked so well and thought would be perfect for 4-H and drill team.  So last Thursday night, my husband, all of our children and I left to travel to Georgia for the weekend.  My husband and I took turns driving while the children slept through the night and it worked out pretty good.  We didn't have to put up with the children squabbling in the vehicle, except for on the way back home during the day, they did squabble a little, but it wasn't all that bad.  It was a long 12 hour drive (one way).  When we got there, we all went on a trail ride.  I grew up riding horses and it's been a long time since I've ridden horses.  It was nice to ride again!  My boys enjoyed it too.  Here are some pictures.

A picture of all of us.  The horses didn't seem very happy to have pictures taken.  :P

My husband asking me if I thought the horse had enough muscle (second horse up front).  He wasn't so sure about this horse, so he kept thinking on the trail...  Later,  we asked our daughter who had been studying horse judging this year and let her be the judge and give us the reasons.  So we ended up bringing the horse home with us.  :)

My almost 2 year old enjoying his ride with daddy.

My daughter and her new horse.

Picture of the horse barn with stalls.  Isn't it awesome?  I sure would love to have a stable like this.

Well that's all for now.  I have more I would like to share, but I'll save that for another entry.  : )

 My daughter had a great opportunity to participate in a 4-H horse judging contest that was held a couple weeks ago in Columbia.  She and her other teammates had spent alot of hours to prepare for this event and the team placed 3rd in the state overall!  They did an excellent job.  It was a rewarding experience.  My daughter placed 9th giving her reasons out of 83, which is pretty good for her first year!  She enjoyed being part of the team and will do it again next year.  :) 

Hey guys!  I know it's been awhile since I've posted.  I hope this finds everyone doing okay and enjoying the beautiful weather.  It's starting to feel like spring here.  It's 45 degrees right now but a couple days ago it was in the 70's!  It was so nice.

Last Sunday, we all went to the HorseFest and attended the Cowboy Church.  The church was conducted by the Southwest Missouri Christian Cowboys and the feature HorseFest clinician and veteran trainer John Lyons was the speaker.  Also, a cowboy poet Geff Dawson recited Christian cowboy poetry and singer/musician Shannon Smith offered songs of praise.  It was a wonderful service.

After the service, we went to a trade show where they had horses on display, educational presentations and lots of exhibitor booths.  I think the most fun part was watching the cowboy mounted shooting.  It's a neat sport!  Mounted shooting is like barrel racing with balloons in between the barrels.  The rider shoots black powder blank cartridges from .45 caliber pistols, at balloons, and is scored on accuracy and time.

Here's a picture...

Before heading home, 2 of my boys played roping.

My cute little roper...

It was a beautiful day and we all had a fun time.

I made some cookies today with no flour!  Surprisingly, it turned out very yummy.  Click here for the No Flour Cookies recipe.  It only has 5 ingredients!  : -)

Thanks Eleanor!

Here's a picture of how our cookies turned out.  Mmmm.

It's Weblink Wednesday again over at socalval.  For this week, the link I've chosen is a neat art site and they have some really neat drawing lessons at Draw Space.  My kids are not good at drawing but I try to encourage them to draw what they can.  Hope you find this link useful and that it would be helpful for your young artists.  : -)

Have a blessed day!

Well today went pretty good.  This morning before we started school, I made my daughter and oldest son practice their piano.  They have been terrible about practicing lately and just decided that this is what they are going to do which is to practice FIRST thing in the morning!  We'll see how it will go this week, but they did a good job practicing this morning and I was pleased.

Yesterday, we started studying about Ancient Greece and it's quite interesting.  With this unit, we'll be learning more about anatomy...our bodies and our health.  For our Bible lesson they are memorizing Psalm 139 and read Matthew 15:14 that talks about blind man leading the blind.  "If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall in the pit."  Jesus was actually warning His followers not to follow people (the Pharisees) who were teaching them the wrong thing.  They were spiritually "blind."  The people did not know the truth either and no good could come of the "blind" Pharisees leading them.  Both parties would be lost.  We need to keep our focus on the Lord, and not follow those who will not lead us the right way.

For Literature (Language Arts) we discussed a couple fables about "The Lion and the Mouse" and "The Fox and the Stork."  My kids have heard the fables before but it was nice to talk about the moral of the stories which is "helping others may come in handy when you need help yourself" and "treat others the way you would want to be treated yourself."  The verses we read/discussed were Deuteronomy 23:21-23 and I Peter 3:9.

For Spelling we went over the rules for silent "e" words.

For Social Studies, we talked about how the ancient Greeks lived differently than we do today.  Their houses were made of sun-dried mud bricks with thatched or tiled roofs, and were built to keep cool.  These one or two-level homes had wooden doors and windows, and rooms built around an open courtyard.  Well, I could go on and on about what we studied today but it would take me forever to put into words and would make it too long for you to read...

For science they learned about the Integumentary system which is skin, hair, nails, etc.  They did an experiment with their fingers making fingerprints.  So they played with their fingers getting covered with ink from the stamp pad.  They were to look for patterns, similarities, and the number of ridges.  Yea fun I know.

For Fine Arts, we talked about how the Minoans and the Myceneaens were experts at the potter's wheel, creating exquisite and colorful vases, cups, and jars; but this art was lost during the Dark Ages in the history of Greece.  Early wood and bronze sculpture was stiff and unrealistic.  With the coming of the Golden Age, art once again truly came to life.  Talked about how frescoes (wall paintings on wet plaster) and friezes (broad bands of sculpture above the columns on a building) were adorned with scenes from the myths.

They both did their math lessons as well.  They are using Saxon math and so far they are doing well with it.

This morning, my 4 year old son handed me this book and I thought wow...great timing since today is when Abraham Lincoln was born.  I thought it was interesting when he pulled the book out when he didn't know today was Abe's birthday.  Happily, I read the book to him and my almost 2 year old son listened as well.  It's a fun book to read.  Just thought I'd share.

In response to making your home a haven at Biblical Womanhood.  I will gladly share how I keep on top of the laundry.  It isn't always easy.  Just about every morning, my dear husband helps by folding a load or two of clothes while I'm fixing him a hearty breakfast before he leaves for work.  Bless his heart.  During our school year he helps me with the laundry, otherwise I'd never be on top of it.  During the busy summer, I'm on my own because my husband mostly work on the farm till dark.  My kids will help some when I tell them to.  It would be nice to see the kids do it without being told...grr.  Anyway, when I fold clothes I like to do it in my laundry room and set the folded clothes on top of the dryer (if it's clean).  If not, it'll be done on the kitchen table.  During the spring/summer I like to hang clothes outside and I would fold as I take them down off the line and put them in the basket.  When taken inside, it's ready to be put away!  I enjoy hanging clothes outside when I can, it gives me more time to be outdoors and enjoy God's creation.  In the past, I used to set all the freshly clean clothes from the dryer in our bedroom, and it would be sitting there unfolded for days.  When kids are looking for something to wear, the clothes would be found scattered.  So I don't put the clothes in our room anymore.  If not folded in the laundry room right away, it goes to the kitchen by our table to be folded and put away.

Here's a snapshot of what it was like this afternoon.  I folded some jeans and a couple skirts that's ready to be put away.  I have more clothes washing in the washing machine and another load in the dryer drying.

Also, those of you that are looking for ways to save money on laundry soap.  I found this awesome recipe with pictures that shows how to make it.  I haven't tried it yet, but I did ordered the bar soap that's needed to make it with, so I'm anxious to try it out.  : -)  Click here for laundry soap recipe.

My day normally begins between 5:30 to 6:00 a.m., but this morning my husband woke me up at 6:55 and we both were shocked at what time it was!  We had forgotten to set the alarm clock last night, but thankfully we were up in time.  I've been taking care of a baby girl and her mom and dad bring her here around 7 in the morning.  Whew!

Our day went good.  We're still studying about Ancient Egypt and just have about 5 lessons left to go, then we'll move on to Ancient Greece!  That should be interesting. 

Today's lessons:

Bible/Literature - Exodus, chapters 1-4 - We read the story of Moses.  Although my kids knew the story but it was good to discuss it again.

Grammar - Sentences - identifying declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences

Writing - dramatizing the story of Moses by writing it as a play (they have 3 days to work on this)

Social Studies - Ancient Egyptian history and culture - cooking project (We will be making Cleopatra's Kisses (sweet cookies, I think).  It calls for honey and I'm out of it, so as soon I get some we'll be making some.

Science - desert words - ghost rain, ground water, hygrometer, nomads, plant biomass, predator, producers, rain shadow desert, salinization, species diversity, succulents, torpor

Math lessons were done as well.

Hello!  First, I want to thank Tia, the senior editor of the Homeschool Blogger Company for picking me as the blogger of the week!  Thank you, Tia! 

We had a good day here in our usual busy household.  The weather has been acting crazy.  It has been very cold here except for today it was in the high 70's along with it being windy.  Tomorrow it's suppose to be in the 30's.  Sometimes I just don't understand the weather.  This is February!  But Spring will be here before we know it and I'm really looking forward to it. 

We just finished our book, The Golden Goblet, for our literature lesson.  It was quite interesting.  Tomorrow we'll start reading in Exodus, the story of Moses.

This is what I should be doing to get in better shape!  :P

Okay I admit, I'm struggling with my weight and have 40 pounds that I would like to lose!   

The Weigh Down Workshop by Gwen Shamblin has been on mind recently and I decided to check out the website and after watching some of the demos and seeing the testimonials, it seems like the best way to lose weight.  It makes sense to me.  So I'm trying to decide if I should spend the money to get the DVD's, workbooks, etc. or not.  Has anyone used the Weigh Down Workshop?

This is what I copied from the frequently asked questions at the Weigh Down site:

God and Weight Loss?

Many people ask, "What does God have to do with weight loss?" Our answer is: EVERYTHING!

He created your body to work wonderfully, with intricate systems and an ability to maintain itself. However, the more that mankind thinks it knows better, the more weight it gains. God did not dictate the Basic Four Food Groups or command that we eat according to food exchanges and fat-gram content. He did provide boundaries for our eating - hunger and fullness. He created the digestive system to create a growling stomach when the blood sugar level drops to a certain point to alert you to the fact that the body is ready for fueling.

Unfortunately, this foundational cue to the body has been ignored for so long that most people don't even know what it feels like and think it is a bad thing to even find out! Aside from the damage to the body that overeating creates (after all, the body is His Temple), God is broken hearted over the fact that so many of His children have learned to run to the food instead of to Him for comfort, companionship, and acceptance.

People are giving their heart and passion over to something other than God! But the hard fact is that food is NOT a friend and it cannot give back to you; in fact, it robs you of time, money,  self-esteem, clothing, relationships, everything.

But the One True God gives BACK to you! He loves to provide you with all these things and MORE if you will only take His hand and turn away from grabbing onto the food that your body does not need. Once you are obedient to God’s rules in the area of eating (hunger and fullness), you not only lose the excess weight, but you will lose the desire to overeat. Food will no longer tempt you, and you will be free to live life without a heavy heart.

God does not care about what we eat, so we should no longer feel self-righteous about following any man-made rules. Instead, what God cares about is how much we eat; He cares very much about - and is displeased with - overindulgence.

I found this site called Blogging Basics 101 and wanted to share!  Thought this might help for those that are searching on how to change their blog design.  It took me awhile to figure out how to change my blog.  Hope this helps someone.  Have a blessed weekend in the Lord!

It started snowing pretty hard here around 5 p.m.  It's calling for 1 to 5 inches of snow.  So I guess we'll see what it'll look like in the morning.  Here's a couple snapshots...

If you'll look closely, you can see the horse in the background.  Can you see it? 

Blessings.  :)

Last Friday was our 16th wedding anniversary.  My husband planned for us to go to Branson for the weekend and didn't tell me exactly where we were going till we got there.  He wanted to surprise me and yes I was very surprised!  We stayed at a very nice log home and everything was just beautiful and we had a wonderful time!  Here are some pictures of the cabin.

Here is a picture of what the other log homes look like and this one would be perfect for a MOMYS (Mothers of Many Young Siblings) family to stay.  We hope to come back and bring our children to stay in one of these homes for a weekend.  My kids would love it!

During our stay, we went to one of the shows at the Grand Jubliee and watched my cousin that sings in a quartet.  He's a Christian country singer and is very good at what he does!  Some of you may have heard of him.  He was on a show called America's Got Talent during the summer.  We don't watch much TV, but we did watch it every time Jason appeared on the show.  He was one of the top 5 finalists.  He was very close to winning!  It was neat watching our very own cousin on national television.

Me and my cousin, Jason Pritchett  :)