Please Vote

We are trying to take pictures of the kids for their "school pictures". John and I were able to come to an agreement with the other three as to which one to use, but we can't decide on Mark. I like the last one the best even if his head is cut off. John likes the middle one because his head isn't cut off. We both think that the first one would be a close second.

What do you think?

Soap

I've been wanting to sell more of my soap. Selling my soap allows me the opportunity to make more soap :) Anyway, last Monday 11/30/09, I sold my soap at a local Curves. They were doing a toy drive and she invited some local people to display and sell their items. The only fee, donate a toy. I didn't make much but I was glad for the opportunity to finally display my soaps.

Couponing to Disney

Couponing to Disney ( www.couponingtodisney.blogspot.com ) is having a contest for a $100 gift card to ShopAtHome.com. I have to post to my blog for one of the five ways to win. I am new to her blog and have learned a lot from her. We are saving for a new barn. This seemed an impossible task until I found her blog. Here is her link so that you can possibly win also.

http://couponingtodisney.blogspot.com/2009/12/win-100-gift-card-to-retailer-of-your.html

Biology

Just had to brag on Justin. He had a test today in Biology (Temple College) and he got the highest grade in the class. When he first called me, some of the kids were not done including his cousin Vickie. "Vickie is not done though. She has an annoying habit of beating my score." Well she didn't this time, but still did well!!

Rockdale Fair

The Rockdale Fair was this weekend. Justin and Alex showed broilers. They got 22nd and 23rd out of 24, but Justin still made the sale!!!! He had to go clean the fair grounds as part of his 'winnings' and I sent Alex along because they have shared everything. It would have been just as easy for Alex to get the better birds as it was for Justin.

Mark and Rebekah showed market goats. Rebekah got 16th and Mark got 18th out of 20.

Saturday night they do a pig scramble. Mark and Rebekah participated in it last year. This year Alex, Mark and Rebekah participated (Justin was not eligible because he is a senior). All three of them caught a pig!!!! This means that they have to have a project for next year. Once they are at the fair with their project (broilers, goats etc.) then they well get a check that is supposed to help pay for the project.

John wanted me to film the pig scramble. I am so glad that I did. I hope you enjoy them.

Alex got 3rd place. He was the first to catch the pig, but he didn't know where to take it once it was in his hands :)

Mark got a slow start because he didn't hear the announce say go, but he made up for it in the end. He got 1st place!

Rebekah got 3rd or 4th, no one remembers how many pigs they let loose. By the time these poor pigs got to the younger kids they were worn out!

HELP ME!!!

This is all ten puppies trying to nurse at the same time. If you look closely you can see how messy the puppies are. That is because they had just finished eating some dog food. We started Sunday giving them a quarter cup, because I wasn't sure if they would eat it or not. They have wiped out everything we have given them. This morning it was 3 cups!!!

Here is a couple of them finishing off dinner, well snack really because when they were done they headed right for Mom!!


FREE puppies is 3 weeks :)

6 weeks of school

The chart that I use to record the kid's school work happens to be for 6 weeks, which is how the schools here do their grading. So at the end of every 6 week period they get a report card. Rebekah has always amazed me at how many books she can fly through. On the blog I have posted what the kids are currently reading, and I pretty much keep up with it. Well, except for Rebekah. So I was thinking that I should post what books she has read and the 6 week mark seemed like a good place. So here is her list:

Heidi (complete and unabridged)
Temple of the Dragon Slayer
Aesop's Fables
A Midnight Clear
Rebekah in Danger (1621)
Lydia the Patriot (1770)
Sarah's New World (1620)
Ben and Me
Far World: Water Keep
The Babysitter's Club #2
Fablehaven
Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
Sara, Plain & Tall
The Hourglass Door

I gave her Polyanna (complete and unabridged) this morning, the beginning of the next 6 weeks, and she is already on page 75. Even I cannot read that fast!!!

Puppy Pile

This picture is more impressive if you turn it. But for some reason I cannot get the picture to stay in the right direction. How many puppies do you count?

We had two that are mostly brown. Funny is that one is the biggest, above, and one is the smallest, below.

According to Mark, who now lives in the barn with the dogs, there are two that are in competition for being the smallest.

Grand total: 11 puppies

Volcano Experiment

Aunt Carmen sent a set of "Explore and Learn" Books years ago. Alex and Rebekah have read them (yes they take after John's geek gene's :). Anyway Rebekah found an experiment in the first volume, a time honored experiment, and wanted to try it. Why not?!!!

First: Baking Soda

Second: Colored vinegar

The reaction :)

Who's Taller?

As we were walking into church yesterday I was looking at Mark's pants yet again. I had bought him some new pants around his birthday and then when I bought Alex pants, I passed his down to Mark. For the past couple of weeks or so, as we have walked into the church I've wondered what the heck the problem was. Alex had just grown out of them, Mark should be fitting in them better. Then it hit me (yeah I'm a bit slow). I made them stand next to each other right then and there, I couldn't believe it. We have been warning Alex that this would probably happen, that he was definitely going to be shorter than Justin and probably shorter than Mark, but here it was and I all but missed it. Alex is cool with it. He is a pretty laid back kid anyway.

Does God Exist?

Cute Chicks

Day old Buff Orphingtons anyone? Please?

Alex and his Rubik's cube

Alex is trying to solve his rubik's cube for the Youth Conference Talent Show. We made a video to enter, this is part of it. He has been driving us nuts for weeks with this project, but I didn't find out that it was an official project until a few days ago. I also had no idea that he was able to solve the puzzle in a minute on average!!!

Spring is here

These are blue swedish ducklings. The one that looks like a bandit is a mutt. Half blue swede and the other half a mixture of Aunt Tammy's ducks.

Justin has been hatching eggs for the last couple of weeks. The week we got our show broilers (two weeks ago, Justin and Alex are showing them in the Milam Co. Fair), he hatched 5 chickens (3 survived). Last week he hatched 5 ducklings and 4 chicks. This morning he informs me that he already has 3 eggs showing signs of life. I'm soooooooo excited (not). Anyway, he is trying to sell them so if you are interested in saving my sanity gives us a call :)

The meat goats are due at the end of March and the Dairy goats are due the middle of April. We also got our first turkey egg today. And yes, Justin rushed it right in holding it with great care. We have four Turkey hens - that kind of scares me. How many eggs do you think they will lay?

New Stove

Well I think this is the last of my house pictures, for now. Steve installed our new stove just before the New Year. He about broke his knee cap just getting it to where it needed to go, but here it is in all its glory. Yes, it looks exactly like Jeanie's and Tammy's, except mine does not have the convection oven part. I LOVE my new stove.

Seamless Finish

This is what my living room has looked like for the past 4 days. Yesterday he draped the plastic all over the place. Today he finished!!!!! He also fixed a few other things. All in all, I'm glad to be done.

Finished Outside of House

I sent this group of pictures to John around Christmas. The rest of them are in the family file. The dirt on the bottom of the skirting is from the rain or dew dripping down and splashing on the skirting. Also on the back porch we will be adding a board so there isn't so much of a gap. We won't be keeping the ramp, it is just there to help us move.

Arrival - Halloween

I've kind of been unsure how to post some of this and that is part of what has taken me so long. This seemed the most amazing picture and then all of the pictures have been added to the 'more family pictures' file. Kind of an interesting series of photos. This is our new home when it arrived. Yeah, it got stuck on the ravine. They brought in a bulldozer to fix the ravine and I think everyone on the land cheered because of it.

There is another picture of them backing the front section in and it was a really tight fit. The picture does not do it justice because I'm guessing there was about six inches from the new trailer to the old. It was quite nerve racking to watch.

Krammy Boy turns 12

When Mark was in the 2nd or 3rd grade he created Krammy Boy. (Mark spelled backward). It was just something fun to write about since he had to come up with something everyday for homeschooling. Later Benjy Boy was created by his friend Ben. Anyway, he struck this pose today while I was taking pictures for his birthday (this is his new shirt from his Dad), and it reminded me of Krammy Boy. They grow up so fast.

So, on the boys' 12th birthday we compare how tall they are to me. It started because Justin was growing so fast that a couple of months before he turned 12 I said that he would be as tall as I was by his birthday. Sure enough he was exactly my height. Alex was several inches below me. Mark is maybe, maybe 1/2 an inch shorter than I am. Can you believe it?!

Happy Birthday Mark!!!!!

Proud Mom

I took Justin to Temple College this morning because a hold had been placed on all of his stuff. So we went in to take care of it and in the process found out his grades last semester. He took College Algebra and English Composition I. He got A's in both classes. Yeah, he is pretty excited too.

This semester he will be taking English Composition II and History II.