Wanted for HOME Invasion

I have NO idea who these strange characters are, but they're wanted for HOME invasion. If you see them, place them in custody. Their daddy will deal with them. Tickle Finger Torture is an effective torture ;-)

HOME Wedding

We homeschoolers are such a wierd bunch. We don't even leave home for weddings! It's all just done at home. So unsocialized ;-) LOL, j/k. A friend got married in Vegas last fall, and we joined her via computer. The "reception food" was tasty too ;-)

Animal HOMES

Prairie Dog habitat
This kangaroo has a joey in her pouch. It never obliged us by popping its head out, but you could clearly see it moving inside it's HOME. Momma seemed more comfortable lying on her back. I wonder why, LOL!

Sleeping HOUSE

Some people just have to have a little HOUSE to sleep in. Isn't he as snug as a bug in a rug?

Moveable HOME

My kids have their own house! Poppa built it for them. It's insulated, has screened windows, and electric. If you want running water, you have to get that from the river tho, LOL. We moved it from our old house. These are a few pictures detailing the moving process.
Here's the house in the woods at our old house. It's braced for the move, and in the process of being dug out.
Here it's lifted almost free of the ground.
DS was 2 at the time. He was glued to the window watching it all take place!
Yikes, is that a GIRL I see driving the big yellow crane?
Playhouse placed in its new home in our backyard. Funny, we hadn't yet moved into the house, but we needed to get the playhouse moved before winter set in, and the previous owners didn't care if we put the playhouse in their backyard. They were surprised when they came home and there was a new house out their back door ;-)

Alternative HOME

The kids enjoy sleeping in this HOME once in a while. Somehow they never last the night tho, and have to be rescued. Keep the HOMEfires burning, LOL.

Lighting the HOME

Just think! It wasn't all that long ago when HOME lighting meant dipping and burning candles! Whew, I'm glad for the flip of a switch when I want light. It's fun to recreate the past for brief moments, however ;-)

No HOME would be complete....

....without a cat curled up sleeping somewhere! This one prefers a fleece blankie. Have blankie, will snooze ;-)

Every HOME needs one of these!

Don't you need eye protection when you indulge in a juicy watermelon?

What we find around Our HOME

Every spring we are blessed by the bounty of the earth. We enjoy a harvest of morel mushrooms from our yard every spring. This was 2007's haul, including the largest mushroom which was found by DS (then 5). It was the first mushroom he found all by himself. This year his eyes proved to be even sharper than they were last year!

HOMEschool Moment

Proud HOMEschooling moment--DD is helping little brother with his schoolwork.

Inviting Little HOME

Doesn't this look like an inviting little home for someone? This is one of my favorite pictures. No, I did NOT arrange it to be this way--God did. Perfect beauty :-)

HOUSEful of Nuts

I don't know how I survive in the Nut HOUSE! Calgon, take me away :-)

Devotional Thought for Today

It's such a humbling thought to know that God, almighty and powerful, has given us a way to come to Him. There is no way to God on our own. We must approach Him through Jesus our intercessor, who shed His blood for us. Through Jesus, we can come boldly before God. If we believe, we are freely and confidently able to be in God's presence. He honors those who keep His Word and don't deny his name, and who keep their lives pure for Him. He is never too busy for us. He always hears our prayers and knows what we are doing. Isn't this reason to rejoice?

Texts used: Psalm 24:3,4; Isaiah 26:2; John 10:9; John 14:6; Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Hebrews 10:19; 1 Peter 3:12; and Revelation 3:8.

HOUSEful of Books

Every HOME needs to be full of books! Here is the Queen Bookworm!

Yes, I do have a brain!

I'm just not sure where I put it ;-) This morning when I left HOME for work, I turned right. I'm supposed to turn left. I've been turning left all my life, to get to the town where I work. Right is the wrong direction ;-) I hardly ever even NEED to go right. Course, this coming Friday, HOME will become a camper at church camp, and I'll be needing to go right ;-) I woke up thinking about what to pack on the HOME on wheels, and obviously my brain just went flying right on over there with my body wanting to follow.

You'll be glad to know that I haven't screwed up at work today, despite the absence of a brain ;-)

HOMEmade Pizza Margharetta

What an awful assignment--we had to EAT our HOMEwork!

HOME Science Lab

Yes, homeschoolers do science. At home. Please, hold your gasps. It's so easy. Look closely--we even made the lightbulb (lower left) light up. Only had to get help from scientist Poppa once, tee hee ;-)

HOME Decor

Decorating the HOME is fun! I sponge-painted this bookcase for dd's room. She liked it so well that a couple of years later, she did another one for herself. Nothing like having a "signature touch."

Pretty nice HOME

DS and Poppa take a break from tending the HOMEfires, aka chopping wood to fuel the maple syrup cooker!

Welcome HOME Again!

A different kind of welcome HOME--this time for returning Civil War soldiers. OK, so we're 143 or so years off. A couple of years ago, dd attended a week-long Civil War history camp.
Welcome home banner
Recruiting poster
DD and her friend, in period attire
Welcome HOME parade
My kids, in Civil War uniforms of the North & South

Bible verse of the day

Today's verse of the day on www.BibleGateway.com is Psalm 46:10--"Be still, and know that I am God...." This really struck me today. In the daily rush of life, and everything that crowds into our heads, God gets crowded out. You can't get to know someone, and fall in love with him/her, in a crowded room. Sure, you might meet there, but then you go off somewhere quiet, private, even intimate. That's where the true friendship is made, the true relationship is built. The same thing goes for a relationship with God. If I can't make time for Him, and if I can't have quiet time spent with the Word with no distractions pushing Him out, how will I ever know Him? How will He be able to be my friend?

Welcome HOME

Can you imagine the thoughts of countless immigrants as Lady Liberty welcomed them HOME once and for all? Our country truly IS the great melting pot!

HOME away from HOME

At this Civil War Re-enactment Camp, we learned what home life was like in a nomadic encampment.

HOMEgrown Fun

Sledding, and the Olympic Snowflake Catching event. If you've played in the snow, you know what this is all about ;-)

HOME is where the snow is!

HOMEmade snowshoes work almost as well as the real thing. Hint hint, Mommy, I need some snowshoes next winter!

My dd's sermonette from church

Friendship is a highly valued gift from God. I’d be lost without my friends. They give me advice, pray for me, and help me when I need it. You need friends for everything you do. Psalm 109:4, 5 shares, “In return for my friendship, they accuse me; but I am a man of prayer. They repay evil for good, and hatred for friendship.” Think about that!

Do you have any close friends? I hope that inside your heart, your best friend is Jesus. To be honest, sometimes I get angry at my friends. They say or do something you don’t like, and you just BLOW UP! Proverbs 12:16 says, “A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” The person or thing that leads us astray could be one of our best friends—OR a computer, a book, TV and movies, or a painting or drawing that is not uplifting. There are all kinds of wicked or bad things that you have to look out for.

A good example is David and Bathsheba. He had many wives; she had a husband. I can’t imagine the guilt, pain, and crying that went on between them as a result of their actions. They loved each other, but they did not have to give into temptation. They could have just remained friends. But instead, they were lovers.

To illustrate my point of view, I’ve written a short story, entitled “I’d Rather Eat Spinach.”

Ally pushed open the door of the Dairy Queen and walked over to her friend’s table. Amber looked up from her milkshake just long enough to flash her “trouble” grin. “Uh-oh” thought Ally. But instead, she said “What’s up?”

Amber pulled out a box. “Cigarettes!”

“How am I ever going to get myself out of this one?” thought Ally. “Where did you get those,” she asked?

I’m not telling,” said Amber. “Let me finish my shake and we’ll go smoke a couple.”

“No way! I’d rather eat spinach,” cried Ally, as she ran out of the Dairy Queen.

Just as the story illustrates, you need to choose your friends carefully, and make sure they won’t try to get you to do something displeasing to God. Think about who your closest friends are. Then tell them that they are special. Pray for them, or help them with something. That will make both you and them feel good.

I don’t know who YOUR best friend is, but mine—he’s in heaven, and his name is Jesus.

HOME Ec!

This was certainly tasty HOMEwork for this "class" ;-) HOMEmade applesauce, yum!


Boiling the apples on the stovetop...........and "helping" set up the grinding mill.


Pushing cooked apples thru the mill. Do you think they were hot???


Turning the crank--lookit 'im go!

HOMEwork

Didn't you do this when you were in school?

They're panning for gold, in case you wondered. Yes, it was real gold. No, we're not rich. But we have a HOME :-)