We just returned from a week in South Dakota. We saw all the sights and enjoyed camping in the Black Hills, well really, it was the Flintstones campground in Custer, but the Black Hills nonetheless! And yup, I counted it all as 'school.' I made a notebook for the kids to do along the way....they enjoyed it very much and learned some neat things too.

that's buffalo hide/hair the kids are touching....and the lady below is spinning the hair into rope...one part of the hair is very coarse, not meant for clothing, the other is soft and this gal made a scarf out of it

we took a lot of nature walks

this insect, we think its the tortoise beetle, it is so beautiful, the kids wanted to take it home with them,but it got lost in the van. HA 

this was one of many rocks at the Rushmore monument, they have gold pieces or what appears to be, all through them. when people walk on the paths, it crushes the smaller rocks and leaves a gold dusting on the ground. it was very cool

  many wild flowers there -- some the same as here in CO

this tree is growing through the rock! one of the kids pointed it out to me

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we had a super time!!

We've been enjoying our winter break -- the whole month of Dec. We've baked way too much, done a few crafts, enjoyed friends & one another. Oh yea, we also read a little too!! :) 

Tomorrow we'll be back at it, well I suppose I should say we'll be a little more structured since we'll still stick to our laid back style of learning.

A couple photos from the last few days.... 

We live in Colorado and haven't received snow just yet.....apparently we are gearing up for a big old dumping!

So in the absence of a snowy hill, my 3 year old decided to improvise.....

I know my kiddos are not the only ones to do this, but I found it to be quite amusing!!

For Sweetest Day this year, the third Saturday in October, my friend and I made cookie bouquets for our husbands. It was our first time, but we think they turned out fabulous!

My husband loved his -- super yummy! And of course, fun to make! 

Here are both bouquets.

Here is the one I made for my husband.

I was asked sometime ago by my friend, Keri, to share a picture of our bearded dragon.  I shared my plans to put a post up sharing my pets and my other friend, Mary, thought it would be fun to do it as a Show n Tell. So here we are.

 Up first is Sunny! She is 6 years old and just a lovely foot warmer for those cold winter nights; most of the time you can find her sleeping on my bed. One neat thing about her is that she is our resident ‘dog.’  She literally will follow us when we take walks, all the way to our destination and then turn right around and come back home with us. It’s the neatest thing. Some day we want to put a camera on her to see where she goes – she has been several blocks away, but has always returned home. She also loves to leave us half eaten mice right outside our front door. I was told that was her way of saying, ‘Thanks.'

Now on to Lucy; we got her back in Jan. She is 7 months old. We originally planned to keep her as an inside cat only, but after she got a taste of freedom, we grew tired of trying to keep her inside when we opened our doors. She is however, a scaredy cat! She doesn’t ever go further than a few feet from the door. Once we left her, by accident, outside when we left for errands, she sat on our porch chair till we returned.  She is out children’s baby. She is carried, snuggled, kissed and then some by our children. She doesn’t seem to mind at all.

Our Frog; no name for the little guy. We did the ‘Grow-A-Frog’ thing back in August. Out of the 3 tadpoles we were sent, only this one made it into full fledged frog-hood. I moved him out of his ‘Grow-A-Frog’ house into one of my glass vases. He seems to enjoy his home. I certainly enjoy watching my swim around and do loopdy-loops!

Joy is our new bunny. We got her a couple months ago. You can read the story of her and her roomie here. Joy enjoys hopping around our huge backyard, eating my hubby’s plants and flowers. Just the other day, she found a small hole under our fence and made her way into a neighbors backyard – who by the way has a wonderful dog. J YIKES! I’ve never seen my kids so freaked out – ‘MOM, the dog's gonna eat JOY!’ Mom to the rescue – the neighbor's weren’t home so we hopped over and saved her ourselves. She’s a sweet little thing.

Now to my bearded dragon, Diego. He is just over 2 years old. They are the perfect pet for children as they want and need lots of attention and handling. In fact, if we don’t take him out for a few days, he bangs his head on the glass when we are in the room – as if to say, ‘take me out!!!’ He will sit on your shoulders while you’re doing just about anything.  He eats lovely meal worms and enjoys basking under his heating lamp. His favorite activity is crawling through my hubby's flower garden. Here he is taking his weekly 'bath' -- yes, in the bathtub.

There you have it!

To see more Show & Tells, visit Mary’s blog……

I bought a 'Bubble Machine' and oh, what fun it is!!!

Meet Brownie & Marshmallow.

Our oldest requested a bunny a year or so ago. She completed the required reading and written paper on how to care for one a while back.

 Taylor chose Marshmallow at the shop, but of course Jayda wanted Brownie, who was his roomie. J Dad said yes, but Jayda was told she too would need to read and narrate to us how to care for the bunny until it would be officially hers.

Unfortunately, Marshmallow was ill and passed away yesterday. She had mucoid enteropathy. ( 60-100% mortality rate ) The shop owner had no knowledge of the illness and we trust that he was being truthful. He did seem sincere when we phoned to let him know what happened.

I had rabbits growing up and my husband and I had a couple when we first were married, but neither of us has had experience with this illness. Marshmallow was buried in our backyard yesterday afternoon by oldest son and dad. The kids were very upset but are doing much better today.

We still have Brownie & the kids have decided to change her name to JOY! Isn’t that awesome?! Weeping may last through the night, but JOY comes in the morning!!!!!! ~ love that scripture!

I’m thankful that my children have found Jesus’ Joy this morning!