Look what arrived moments ago!  I am off to open it up further, just wanted to give an update!  Wow, I am impressed.  I was not expecting this fast of a delivery.  Time to get busy!

~Jenn

P.S. Miss Kitty is busy checking it out, too.  Here is a better picture of her from this week.  Ah, my kitty.  Now there is joy!

OK, I know I just said I was not going to post, but this is an emergency!!!  I am a winner!!!  I won a vacuum cleaner over at This Side of Eternity!  I am so excited.  Here is a video that explains what I won.  Oh my!  No more germs!  And this really appeals to my germaphobic side.  (OK, back to my break.)

Merry Christmas to you and yours! 

Not sure how much time there will be for blogging the next week or two with cookies to bake, presents to wrap, cards to make, and other festivities.  I do want to visit some blogs here and there, but posting will have to take a back burner for now.  So, see you again in 2010! 

~Jenn

Well, we got a CD in the mail from Maestro Classics and I showed it to the kiddos and it disappeared!  I *thought* for some reason it was Peter and the Wolf, but when I look at the website, it may have been The Tortoise and The Hare.  I haven't seen the thing since I opened it.  I have had a rule that the items for review needed to be returned to 'the spot' once they were finished with it, until after the review and we found a new home for it ~ well, they haven't finished this one yet!  They have it going when they are playing, they have it going when they are reading, they turn it on at night to go to sleep with it.... I hear it down the hall at various times. 

Just confirmed ~ it was Tortoise and the Hare that we have ~ and since I brought it up, they went and turned it on.  And they asked if they could listen to in the car when we go run errands!

Go check out the website ~ there are a few classic choices and I think they are running a pretty good deal right now!! I guess I am off to listen to the Tortoise and the Hare again while we do math!

*Disclaimer ~ By being part of the Homeschool Crew, I received this product free for use in return for my honest review on my blog.  All of the above is strictly my thoughts and opinions. For more opinions and reviews on this product, please visit the Crew at the link above!

My good blogging friend, Lynn has finally convinced me to give Zazzle a try.  I've always wanted an outlet for my love of photography and computers.  So, I thought I'd start a Zazzle store and put any money I earn towards a real camera, a good one!  (Currently I am using a low end point-and-shoot camera that belongs to my son.)  I am just learning my way around Zazzle. I hope to make more items soon.

Here is my store's address.  http://www.zazzle.com/jenn4him*

~Jenn

Thankful Thoughts on Freedom, England, Homeschool, and Writing by Janice Campbell.

WOW!  November was a C*R*A*Z*Y month at our house!  I will give you a quick recap, so you will know why I was missing!  The first weekend was Halloween, and we had church festivities and a FIRST birthday party on Nov 1.  Then that next weekend was youth hunt.  We spent a few days getting ready for that, and then a few days down there.  Both of the kiddos went hunting, but neither got anything ~ Riley saw one, but he says he didn't have a good shot on it, so he let it walk.  We returned from that weekend at deer camp to hurry up and get laundry done and repack so we could go back down for opening weekend.  We spent opening weekend down there with Rog and his family ~ plus a good friend ~ 11 of us in the camper! ~ we had a great weekend!  Once everyone else went home, we stuck around, went on with our school work, hung out and watched movies, and did some exploring out in the woods.  We stayed til Wednesday, headed home that morning for our normal *which wasn't* routine! 

That night, after the kiddos were in bed, my dog, Rascal seemed restless. I got up and sat with him in the floor until about 1:30am, until he died there beside me.  I don't know why...he was 13 years old, and we had sorta been expecting it, but it was still hard.  I called Rog at deer camp and told him ~ he loaded up to come home.  We had a hard time telling the kiddos and they took it very hard.  It was a very sad day around here and at that point, I decided we were officially on Thanksgiving break ~ we were all too emotional to focus.

From there, Friday night, I sent Ry around to his cousins house, then had a couple of Girl Scouts over to spend the night.  I think there is nothing better than listening to a group of giggly girls!  And I love that my GS Troop are friends besides scouts!  Well, they were here because we had a scout thing the next morning, and it was just easier!  They had a great time though!  Their even the next morning ( an hour away) was CSI: Diamonds ~ really cute fake scene set up and the girls had to do some investigating to find out who forgot to sign the letter that said welcome to the event I have a surprise for you, come find me!  The girls had a great time with it!

While we were an hour away having some Girl Scout fun, I got the call that Rog's grandpa had passed away. So, as soon as the girls finished up there, we hurried home so we could pack once again and head to Tennessee.  We drove all day Saturday, spent Sun, Mon, Tues in TN and then drove all day Wednesday.  The Tennessee trip was very emotional for me, as it has not been that long since I lost my grandpa.  I had a really tough time with everything happening at once as well.  It truly was a bittersweet trip ~ we had an awesome time visiting with and reconnecting with Rog's family, but would have wanted to do that under better circumstances. 

On the way home we took a different route and went the Huntsville Alabama.  We did take the opportunity to stop in and the space center.  We did a super quick  mini tour and decided it was definitely worth a trip to come back to!

Home barely in enough time to celebrate Thanksgiving ~ even though we really weren't in the mood to. We spent Thanksgiving Day with my family, had a good time visiting with everyone.

Rog spent the rest of Thanksgiving weekend in the deer woods, while the kiddos and I hung out here...

And that my friends was our C*R*A*Z*Y November!  Praying December is a little more calm!

As is our habit, we had another full weekend.  The highlight being a trip to the local zoo to see their Christmas lights.  

Here's Ryan hard at work on the scavenger hunt to earn a free pencil.  (I'll do anything for a free zoo pencil.)  And that hunt was challenging.  They had us looking high and low for 32 items!  It was a mental workout for my old brain, but I did it! 

Along the way, we met a real reindeer named Willow. 

Since we were all bundled up for the cold, we didn't mind the freezing conditions. 

Fantastic lights and displays were everywhere.  Plenty of animals were also out enjoying the later zoo hours, too.  I'd have to give the zoo credit for their effort.  And it was nice that we had already bought our zoo membership long ago in June, so there was no extra cost. 

One last item of interest.  This is the official photo of the kids with Santa taken a few weeks back. 

Merry Christmas from my blog to yours! 

~Jenn