Long time no pics nor posts. It's been way too crazy around here with ball games and practices, gymnastics, sewing, guitar and lyrical dance recitals.  But with the last 2 behind this past week I decided to take a few min to squeeze in just one tiny weeny post. 

The arboretum at Auburn Universtiy had a photo contest for adults and children this past week. I just had to post the pics the kids entered! I didn't want to bore you with all the great pics we picked to choose from because they are too many good ones. SO, I limited myself to only the ones they entered. 3 per child. I put them in order from oldest (12) to youngest 10,8 and almost 7. Oh, and I guess I can throw my entries in there as well. Mine didn't get even an honorable mention.  There were some professionals who have studios who entered and won, of course.  We waited (should I just confess and say I waited?) till last day to print the pics and buy the mattes and title our entries. We delayed our friend who was entering with us till the last minute! The kids surprised me with their creativity in their titles!  WOW! Separated! Monkey in the middle! Priviledge (our 6 yodd came up with that?)  That's all the time I have for now though! Enjoy them. Like some kids' entries? Drop me a line and I will forward them (well,the 2 oldest have ems that they hardly have time to check these days during a busy ball season, but I will ask them) your comments. If you want to see the rest of the shots we took of God's creation a few weeks ago when the flowers were so gorgeous, please, head on to my Picasa web gallery.  Enjoy them! N

Well, my blogspot blog did something really weird last nite and jumped the gun on my big news and posted a pic all on its own. I didn't upload it to the blog!!! I don't know how it happened.  So, beware, all ya bloggers. That said I wanted to properly introduce a new member of our family. Orio! Yes, that's how one of our children spelled it in a hurry on the new tiny bowl! The child was a bit taken back when a few giggles arose but then assured us that was the way she intended to spell it. I have 3 shes so I won't disguise which she. But we love the name. It is totally different like the rest of our kids's names! Yeah!  Spelling sometimes does come in handy, especially when not many oreos are ever present in this house (except when Newman's own mint ones are on sale at Kroger).

So, since it's really very late and I need to close for now I wanted to make up for my blogger slip the other day and let you properly see the latest news.  More on our sweet, playfull, poopy baby later!

Blessings, most of the dog pics were taken by the children with a point and shoot camera, not bad, huh? Wait till you see their nature pics we took yesterday at the Arboretum.  That is, one week is all you have to wait till I edit 400 something pics to choose just 12 to enter into a contest. I have to take school off this week in order to get this accomplished or count editing pics with 4 kids behind my back exclaiming: "I took this one! Isn't it good, mom. Yes, honey, awesome. to hear another one say: No, it was me who took it, not you!" SOrry if my dialog is not properly punctuated. Got to get in bed! Enjoy!  Oh, yeah, and brace yourself for more pics. Not the fainthearted this blog is.

Ok, I had a few softball pics that didn't look like they needing a whole lot of editing so I decided to get them up asap.  I know you all are waiting for wedding pics but I took those with no external flash and all on auto so not many good ones but hopefully I can edit some and get that project nailed down next week. Till then, spring is here! We got back from KY Sun and our oldest dd had her first Sball game the very next day and another one Wed.  Talk about a crazy week of attempting to unpack, get meals and do school.  Dearest oldest son's pics should be coming for his first game followed just a few short days later.  I am hoping for an earlier game for better pics. It is really hard to take pics at nite in the field thru a dumb fence.  Sorry about those interferrences. Enjoy! Natalie

Since we were gone to a wedding the majority of this past week I missed this cool contest that was posted on my local HS loop.   http://www.storytubes.info/

It's for grades 1-6 and our oldest won't be able to participate in it.  I wish we knew about it a week or 2 earlier. I've always wanted to make a Youtube video. We've attempted today but it will really take time. So, all of you technocrati wizes, have at it. Help your kids learn how to edit and make a cool 2 min movie about a book.  We gave it a good try this am, but I just couldn't handle 4 stories with a dumb camcorder whose owner's manual I couldn't find anywhere. The exposure was so high we couldn't find a room dark enough to film, so we gave up.  I hope some of you will decide it's worth it and enter. Another thing that slowed me down (on top of unpacking and doing loads of laundry and trying to consign some kids's clothes for KCC (kidsclothesconnection.com) after a weeks absence) was the statement in the contest rules that first 2,000 entries in each region are guaranteed a review for Top Ten consideration and subsequent voting in their selected categories.  Entries beyond this number will be screened if possible, as determined by the regional library partner. So, that was a bummer.  I figured to get into the 2000 one has to be mighty quick to enter first thing tomorrow am.  But making a 2 min quality movie might be daunting to unexperienced parents like me. I know some of you are good and hope one of your kids enters. If so, please, count on us to vote for you. Let us know the category and when to vote!  Have a ball!

I hope to mark my calendar for next year's contest and hope to put the movie making on my project list, like I don't have enough. But I plan on tackling it this summer after I get a gallon of blueberries picked and half in my tummy!

I entered Reading Rainbow's Story contest with our 1 and 2nd grader 2 weeks ago and we took 2 full days "off school" to get that done. Whew! One got her story back with a certificate of participation, another one nothing yet. So , we are hopeful. The youngest one doesn't know what to think about her entry-maybe it was disqualified. Both entries were in the same envelope. I hope that wasn't the prob. But she wrote it on her won and even typed it. I helped her choose her font and edited her grammatical mistakes and discussed syntactical ones on a 1st gr level.  She illustrated it and it was a long process but we did it!   I will try to take pics of the story and illustrations. So cool! You can view past winners and make your own story books. I bet RR has a contest in your state! Here is the link to the national winners http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/contest/national.html

Enjoy!

Just wanted to add these real quick to let y'all in what we've been doing lately. Though we officially took the week off as the rest of the public schools did we didn't have time to be bored.  Figured a few pics would speak more than my words.   A little bit of bowling? Typing review spelling words?  Sewing?  Catching up on some math? Didn't edit any, they'd never make it on my blog if I did! Enjoy!

I hate that we lost the priviledge to use RS free on line this year.  We didn't take full advantage of it for the past 2 years, in fact. When we moved to LA and lived there for just a short 5 months the Ascencion Parish Library allowed free access to patrons of the library to a database, which included RS. All languages.  This year they disabled this feature. So, when I saw my friend blog about it I jumped hoping that we'd win a free copy. It is a pricey program. So, if you'd like to enter the drawing, please, read the instructions below.

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! 

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program.  Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking.  Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included!  For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports. 

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/  and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it.  And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it.  And good luck!  The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg.   And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win.   Yay for free stuff!

I decided to update my old blog and give it another try now that I have learned to easily upload slideshows. My main reason being is that I couldn't display my slideshow pics at their largest. I kind of liked it with the black frame around it and large to view. Blogger wasn't doing that, maybe it was due to my 3 col template. At this poitn I got no clue how to get back to my 2 column. I cannot find my previous template saved anywhere .  So, here I am again, for how long? Who knows? Keep checking. I'll add a note if I moved again. I love moving, didn't you know that? No, not moving to another place, like the whole packing junk. Oh, no, no, no! Nyet (russian for NO)X100 Nyet!  But I do love moving furniture around to make more room or just do freshen up. So, please, put up with me till I settle down in the blogosphere.

I can't tell you how easy it was to add the slidesho to HSB too without going to Flickr or Photobucket (which lost all my pics and I got disgusted with it)! So, today I used Picasa Web Gallery on HSB and it worked fine. I hope I can change the header and the template easily enough.  Enjoy the pictures. Calloways is a great place to bike with the family.  We bring a picnic and enjoy the weather.  This time we started our ride at the butterfly center, thus some butterfly pics.  We ate lunch and watched a squirrel take off with our whole wheat saltine (healthy one, I tell ya). So, that's why that little critter is last in row. i meant to blog about that in my Blogger blog but forgot.  So, here you go, another late nite post. Enjoy it! Leave me a comment if you liked the HSB page better or just cuz you wanted to say hey!

Blessings, Natalie

I am trying out blogger.com for its promised ease.  Please, check it out at this new location: http://seasonsmom.blogspot.com/

I promise to be back if blogger is not my cup of tea!

Blessings,

Natalie

I just found out from my fellow blogger Carri about this neat place-the homeschool lounge.  I had to run and check it out and I can't wait to get signed in and explore.  Sounds like a ton of fun and support for homeschooling moms. But first I have to get my new pics uploaded. So, please, go check it out at http://www.thehomeschoollounge.com/

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Today is my big day! Celebrate with me!

I found out how to do a slide show and post it in my blog! I am very excited.  I broke down and called my old VA friend Angel (who seems to know how to do everything related to a blog because she learned it all on her own the hard way).  It was so good to talk to her!  We've kept only an em friendship after we left VA!  I have quite a few friends for who em seems to be the only way to keep the friendship going! SO, I don't mind at all.  But it sure was nice to talk to my old friend! Now, if I can just figure out how to add Angel to my real life friends section! 

Anyway, I was desperate today! I really wanted to understand HTML and things related to it.  I figured since she decided to ask her blogging friends what to do with a new Grain Mill she purchased instead of googling everything herseld than I can brave it and do the same thing. After searching all over the forums for the subjects I was interested in and not finding anything I decided to bother my old friend and hear her voice again.  After about an hour on the phone catching up with 3 years we got down to the point and I did it right after I hung up, well, amost!  I am still messing up something and not all the pics I wanted to load up made it (maybe because I passed my pics limit for the month for the free account with Flickr? I refuse to use Photobucket at the moment because they lost all my pics last week). But it's finally done and I hope y'all enjoy it! Please, feel free to eme or post comments on the blog. I am sorry I didn't get a name for every pic.  I had over 300 pictures to choose from and it took me a few days to get that done.  To name the 150 I chose is a task for a day when I am really, really sick or have a house maid! Or get my hubby to buy me a new battery for the laptop and tackle that assignment when we travel to KY for a wedding end of March! So, please, be patient with me and it's not that hard to figure out the pics meaning.  A pic should speak for itself, my photo instructor says.  I am getting my new Canon 40D Monday! I can't wait! Please, brace yourselves! I hope to get some good pics, well, if I can get out of the house and take something besides posing kids! 

 

Ok, the bread rose just fine, though I needed a whole lot more flour to it the next day just to put it in the dutch ovens (aka my pans with lids), which I wouldn't have needed at all if I measured the liquids the right way.  Here was my set up and I even made some in my Pampered Chef muffin pan because I had too much dough and no room to bake them in a covered dish.  They turned out just fine.  It is best eaten fresh, but we've eaten it a few days later.  The crust is not as crusty, but it can be in the oven. I googled NKB and many sites came up.  A person had a great way to show the process using pics of his 5 year old.  The process is simple till the baking begins. But, I noticed that all those recipes do not use an acid base as vinegar and beer as the Cooksillustrated does (I got the recipe from cooksillustrated.com but it requires a membership for anyone to view it and the short videos and tutorials as to why they decided to revamp this old recipe).  In my opinion, if I am going to use mostly while flour I might as well make the bread worth eating and make it as healthy as possible.  Soaking grains overnite in an acid base releases the phytates that inhibit the absorption of vitamins and minerals.  So, this version is healthier than the yeast, flour and water recipes you'd find otherwise on the www.  It is really worth the effort.Almost No-Knead Whole Wheat  Bread   An enameled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid yields best results, but the recipe also works in a regular cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy stockpot. (See the related information in "Making Your Dutch Oven Safe for High-Heat Baking" for information on converting Dutch oven handles to work safely in a hot oven.) Use a mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser (mild non-alcoholic lager also works). The bread is best eaten the day it is baked but can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days. Makes 1 large round loaf
	2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces), plus additional for dusting work surface
	1	cup whole wheat flour (5 ounces)
	1/4	teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
	1 1/2	teaspoons table salt
	2	tablespoons honey
	3/4	cup plus 2 tablespoons water (7 ounces), at room temperature
	1/4	cup plus 2 tablespoons mild-flavored lager (3 ounces)
	1	tablespoon white vinegar
1. Whisk flours, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Stir honey into water, then add water, beer, and vinegar to the dry ingredients. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours. 2. Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours. 3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

I had split pea soup planned for dinner tonite and wanted to serve a crusty loaf of this wonderful bread we've come to really love lately.  So, with the kids busy in an art class you'd think I'd use my time wisely and not start a batch of bread, right? Wrong.  I had to stop and get some beer, for the recipe, of course. The gas station that sells them by the bottle (not case) was on the way home after dropping the kids and I was sucked in the anticipation of a project to be proudly crossed off my busy to-do list!  As I was standing in line to check out with the obnoxious bottle of beer I was getting more and more embarassed and self-concious. What would people think if they knew I had 4 kids and that I home educate my children and you get the picture by now.  I was thoroughly red by the time my turn came.  So, to add to my embarassment the clerk asks me for my ID.  Now, listen, I just found some gray hair after I chuckled at my friend's Angel post about the dilemma of what to do with those crazy, unruly gray hairs.  I didn't think I had to worry about gray especially since I am dirty blond naturally. Oh, God has ways to humble us more than once a day, doesn't he?  So, this dude dares me to my ID! I just about lost it!  But I acted cool and teased the guy about being in the mood for joking with busy mothers in the mornings.  First he told me that he sometimes drinks in the ams himself and that he just wanted to make sure I was a responsible driver! So, he wasn't joking after all, he was serious!  He thought I looked young enough ( to have fun at my expense I'd say). I tried to tell him that it's for making bread and refused to open my wallet in indignation!  Anyway, now I was really ready to use that beer

My BIble opened to the bookmarked page I read the children the same morning- Isaiah 66:2 

 NASB But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word

  I am taking a Principles of Biblical Research class and decided to go deeper and look up the translation of  a few more versions of the same verse as the teacher encouraged us. I have really enjoyed comparing different versions and let God speak to me and listen to what does that verse mean to me?

Amplified Bible But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.

KJV but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Young's Literal Translation And unto this one I look attentively, Unto the humble and bruised in spirit, And who is trembling at My word.

Well, now after I got hubby in bed and kids tucked in I am too wired to go to sleep.  So, that means I can read a few of my friends' blogs (I am way behind on reading, not to mention wirting my own) and get this tagging game my friend got me in over with and feel good about posting 2 X in one day! 

So, please, bear with me as I attempt to follow the rules. ANd first of all I don't think there are 6 quirks about myself I can come up with. I really am perfect, well, almost. I guess I could start somewhere!

I was tagged by MistyThe rules for this game is:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.

(2) Post the rules on your blog.

(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website/blog.

Some of my quirks

1.  I love crunching, sucking, chewing on cooked chicken/fish/beef/ (whatever cooked meat is out there bones) . If it's fish the crisp fins! Yummo! I think my friend Ashley would really agree with that one since she thinks it's really gross.  But I grew up very poor and we hardly ever threw anything away that wasn't edible.  I still make a small pot of soup out of a carcass of one lonely chicken after we get one meal out of it.

2.  I love cleaning, sweeping, mopping, dusting, not doing dishes, sorry, but love cooking! My hubby thinks at one point I was getting obsessivly compulsive, not the germs kind but the good feel kind, no stuff out of place.  But I wouldn't mind hiring someone to do that for me if I could afford it.

3. Love outdoors and try to juice every minute out of a warm, sunny day but do not like camping in a tent. Prefer the living room floor instead and a bathroom within easy reach. 

4. Now, it's getting harder, cuz I am running out of ideas. Hmm! Ok, here is one: hate my hubby's cluttered desk and more often than not try to clean it and organize (unsolicited, of course) when I know it is useless, well, same goes for teh whole house, I guess. But I did try.  Last try was: I needed to move his desk toward a wall to make more trom in our bedroom and "accidentally" all his papers (never filed, you know) slipped off the table and my accomplice(my oldest ds) just went "Oops, mom, dad won't like it" to which I just said.. well, never mind, that is getting too long. 

5. Grew up getting a round of 1-12 massages every 3 months.  I love to get a deep-tissue,(not swedish, no thank you),back massage and used to get them at $4 /hour when we were in Moldova for 5 months in 2005.  Haven't had one since because I am in denial of the $60 fee here.  I would not even consider it decadent and disgusting now if, again, I could splurge. But just one time?  That's nothing! I was raised that to get the full benefits one has to go thru a full course! Yeah, right, not at this price!

6. Whew! Last one! Do not like a messy purse or van to go on a trip in.  My family always wonders why do I still try to get them to clean the vehicle when in just a few short hours there will be chips and books, and scraps of paper and crayons all over teh floor?  Hubby wonders too but is with me on that one, well, if it's his truck

I did it and I tagged Alyssa, Angel, Dawn,Carri,Ashley and have to go to bed cuz it's amost midnite.

  I am sorry I haven't gotten the P3 of our vacation but this post just has to come out now before I get carried away with other matter of our busy life. So, here I go:

We just signed up for Netflix and I asked my sweet friend of SweetSavages to share her list of movies their family watched.  She is always so helpful and we are all grateful for her timely reply. Thank you, Misti.  After watching A few movies on line straight from Netflix (not that many choices for now-one was THe Cross and the Switchblade and the other one was William Tyndale) we couldn't wait to get Time Changer.   It was on the top of the recommended list.The family is almost done watching special features (please do so because the testimony of the producer and just how the movie was made is so interesting) and I had to hop and google a quick review before I get wired up writing all that's on my heart.  It doesn't do it all that it deserves but it's short in its plot.

We all loved Facing the Giants and William Wilberforce's story in Amazing Grace, which my friend Angel dedicated a great post about it here.  We rank Time Changer in the line of these awesome stories. It spoke to all of our hearts.  Here is a short review I found on line (If I would start writing one now my hubby wouldn't be too happy cuz he wants me to go to bed at a reasonable time) to whet your appetite.  You would want all your children to watch it with YOU!  May it minister to you as it did to us.  Please, share the message with everybody you know! I edited the review a bit . You can read it in full here and read other reviews on the movie as well. Highly recommended!

Time Changer
A Movie Review
by Kyle Pope

The movie Time Changer,by Rich Christiano, by all appearances looks like your ordinary “B” science fiction movie you might find at any video store. To my shock and appreciation this move is anything but ordinary.
     Set in the 1890’s, the main character, Dr. Thomas Carlisle is a professor at Grace Bible Seminary. After writing a book which advocates that teaching Jesus’ moral principles alone in order to bring about social reform, Carlisle seeks the endorsement of the Seminary faculty. Just as approval seems to be unanimous, an older professor, played by Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubbing of the old TV showThe Love Boat) challenges the book’s premise that even without teaching people about Jesus the world would be better if Jesus’ morals were taught. In a discussion that one might expect to hear in a Bible class rather than in a SciFi video, a debate proceeds regarding the absolute authority of Jesus, the worthlessness of good morals without Jesus and the effects that morals without Jesus could have upon the world. Although the faculty, led by the dean, Hal Linden (Barney Miller, from the TV series Barney Miller) favors endorsement, the decision is delayed the two can reconcile their views.
     What has led the the older professor to his objection is an invention he has perfected which had allowed him to travel 100 years into the future. In doing so he witnesses our own generation living without respect for the authority of Jesus. When Carlisle himself is taken into the future, he witnesses apathetic believers, unbelief in Jesus and rampant immorality. After four days in the future he realizes the error of his book’ premise. Carlisle returns to his own time and in an almost “Ebenezer Scrooge-like” epiphany changes his book, his teachings and his beliefs. 
     It was quite refreshing to see the movie portray Carlisle’s disgust with blasphemous speech, immodest apparel and children showing disrespect to their elders. This was the first movie I have ever seen that unashamedly referred to the teaching of Malachi 2:16 that the Lord “hates divorce!”
     The movie was also interesting because historically the 1800’s saw the beginnings of the the “Social Gospel” movement, in which the denominational world sought to “save” man through moral and social improvement. Jesus was set aside and man’s social needs were emphasized over his spiritual needs. Time Changer portrays the denominational world’s reevaluation of its own faulty notions. While the movie doesn’t go far enough in that baptism, church organization and scriptural worship are ignored, it is a refreshing change from what is generally available. Jesus Christ does have all authority. To teach Jesus’ teachings without teaching Jesus is no more valuable to someone’s soul than if we taught them nothing at all. Time Changer. Producer Rich Christiano. Five & Two Pictures, 2001.  

We headed to WV a little bit before lunch the day after Xmas (after all the fudge was eaten and the head of the family went to work).  We spent the nite in a hotel and woke up to a few more hours of driving to a ski area called Canaan Valley.

We got there at 11 am and bought lift tickets for 12 and we got on the slope around 12:45! Yeap! It took us that long to get everybody boots, skis, rent a few snowpants for the people who grew out of the ones I found in the shed in KY (Mihai, of course and ...me... well, I never had one). We were all wiped out by the time we got our gear and were sweating up a storm by the time we walked out to the slopes. When we got up the steep slope with skis and dressed with everything we had on we thought that was the worst waste of money we ever invested into! What is all the fun everyone is talking about? That was torture. There was a cold rain pelting our faces and clothes soaking them faster than we cared to get wet.  That place needed some steps to the point from where one can get a head start. I thought I was stuck with the little kids and almost felt doomed into not even trying skiing! But, after 30 min of figuring out how to keep our feet and skis together and being pointed into which direction to go for beginners we were off! We were most impressed by our least athletic child! Dd2 (8) couldn't be stopped. She rarely fell so I was lucky to get a pic of her. The only one.  Oops! But she figured out how to get up so fast! I never did! I had to take off one ski in order to get up!  She was funny getting up but she was off in a sec down the slope! I had a hard time keeping up with the kid! She continually had to wait for me at the lift!  One time dd1 and dd2 got tired of waiting for my husband (he had them at the time while I was still figuring how to ski with my dd3 (6)) and decided to take a left onto a pro slope!  I got on the lift and was enjoying the scenery when I spot 3 dots walking down on the grass of the steep slope. It was my husband walking 2 reckless girls!  He couldn't make the slope and didn't think they could either.  The girls were very disapointed.  I was glad he was there to catch them!  Youth, thoughtlessness... I tell ya!

I had to stop 30 min before our lift tickets expired (just 4 hours) and get my camera from the lockers just to take these only shots. It was raining for the first few hours and my jacket was soaking wet within an hour, so it wasn't smart to ruin any camera.  SO, I tried just to ski, not fall and have fun.. DD1 (10 today)  isn't in any pics because she was too tired after a few hours and went to sleep by the lockers. The ones who persevered and couldn't be pulled off the slope got to be captured in these only memories. I wanted to save some downloading time so I made a quick collage.  I almost gave up though cuz even though it's a quick one it was still threatening my posting by another week!. But I persevered too and voila!  I am off bowling for dd1 10th BD.  Hope to get some pics posted later!   

 To be continued in P3- Maryland, cousins and friends collages.

My friend Misty of SweetSavages has done a great job sharing her holidays with pics and all! I have been wanting to do so for a while too.  She split hers into 3 parts.  I hate to plagiarise but I find it's a great idea!  So, sorry, girl for using your idea and commenting on some things from your blog.

While her family left for Florida on a vacation we went to KY (where she lives about 45 min away from our place)so we didn't get to even see each other! We spent 3 days there having our own bedroom and our kids sharing the bedrooms with my friend Ashley from KentuckyMommy. We were so comfy we were afraid to wear our welcome out a bit too soon. Our house winterized and furniture- free just sat there lonely the whole time. we were staying with our friends, less than a mile away as the crow flies. We found a valve leak that caused a moldy wall in the bathroom and ds's room. Hopefully, it all got fixed with a few floor boards, sheetrock and vanity removed (hopefully totally burned somewhere). It was scary to actually see black mold! I heard and read so much bad stuff about it and now I saw it in my own house. So, Kentucky Mommy and her family blessed us abundanlty! The kids enjoyed fresh home made fudge that Ash's dad made as a Xmas tradition to remind us that we are in a family regardless where we are  .  Fudge was super good .  It is something I have never made and don't know if I will if it requires the amount of sugar I saw go in there, butter is ok with me, if it is raw, especially)!.  Leaded coffee galore daily, hearty, healthy food, great fellowship with our friends and kids we didn't see much around (cuz they were so busy playing), sweet dogs and cats are all sweet memories.  We really had a great time! Thank you Jesse and Ash for being great hosts!

to be continued in Part 2 -going up North and skiing on the way

How much more wordless can you get, Summer Faith!  Summer during Autumn;s stamping BD party!  I got home after being gone all day long today and Sum wasn't a very happy camper.  Her face reminded me of this pic!  Thanks Amy, for campturing Summer!  I know you love my kids! I love yours! Becca follows by yours, truly, budding photographer-MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  I love this pic! I took it! Sorry I didn't add my water mark! It's way past my bed time but in an hour there won't be no more Wed! Hahahaha! Have a great Thanksgiving! Natalie