Today at breakfast...

we spent time talking, planning and then reading. Some of our favorite things to plan and talk about during this time of year are what to plant in our garden and what kind of activities would be fun for the summer.

One thing we enjoy doing regularly is reading various stories, out loud. Even though we have already read Laura Ingalls Wilders', The Little House Series, before (this will be our third time), we are reading it again.  It is such a classic and we always find similarities between the books and the seasons we are in.
Hope your day is blessed and productive!
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Taking a little trip

It has been quite some time since we have been able to visit with my family. We live in different states and with the way the economy has been in the last year and a half, traveling hasn't been in our budget. I really don't know anyone who has traveling in their budget these days. Anyway, we are taking a trip to see our family. I've been planning to go to my home school conference also. My family lives in the same city as my conference which will be perfect, because the children will be able to stay with them while I am at my conference! Their days will be filled with fun and excitement and so will mine. Home schooling parents usually spend their days totally around their families...of course we know this is what we are called to do. So once a year, (or every two years, in my case this time), we have an opportunity to be 'fed' and 'inspired'. I am so looking forward to spending time with my friends and family and taking time apart and gaining some insight from pioneers of the home schooling field. I would like to post about our trip, but I am not going to make any promises...Hee-Hee!!

If you give a kid some land...

If you give a kid some land he'll probably want to go outside to see it.But of course, he won't be happy just standing there looking at it. He'll want to run and play on it... And after he runs and plays on it, he will want to climb the trees on it,\When he has climbed the trees on it(and not fallen out), he will want to build something on it!Or rake leaves to jump into.

When he's done with that, he'll want to dig in the dirt that is on it.

After he digs awhile, he'll want to play in that dirt. And he'll go looking for the biggest dirt mound he can find.

And he'll run and play and jump and slide all up and down that dirt mound, until he absolutely has dirt from head to toe.

Then he'll wonder why his stomach is growling so loud. So he'll want you to build him a camp fire. After you build the camp fire, he'll probably want some marshmallows to roast. The marshmallow probably won't fill him up enough and he'll still be hungry. So, he'll ask you to get him some hot dogs too.

After you roast the hot dogs he'll probably be ready to go back out onto the land....the end

We are moving out to the country!

We are preparing to move. We are believing for our house to sell quickly. Although, we are NOT moving quite yet, we have found a home out in the country and are beginning to paint it and get it ready for us to move into.

Last week, we went out and walked the land and had such a nice afternoon. Here are some photos:

This is what it looks like out the back door.

There is lots of room to run and play. The kids will have a place to hunt and fish. There is even a pond and we can move our horses there.My husband is so excited and is looking forward to having time with the boys to fish, hunt a little(I don't know what they'll hunt...rabbits? maybe! Ha!)and riding horses with them. I'll post some pics of the before and after of the inside of the house. That's something to see. I guess I always have some kind of project going. I hope that ends soon...much love, Kimi

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! (ddp 25)

Hoping this finds all of you spending your day celebrating the birth of our Savior and Lord of all creation. We are having a wonderful time together. (Although we are missing several somebodies...you know who you are). Yesterday, we spent the day baking and just being together. We made cookies and I started our Christmas dinner. Here is a little sample. I have a few other pics of some of the other things we made, but I will need to download them later. We are getting ready to play another game. Gotta go for now. Much love~Kimi and family

A Walk & My Violet (Photo proj-Day 21)

In our small town, we have a nice little park that has picnic tables, pavilions, a playground and gazebos, just like any other park. But we also have a very old church, the very first school in our town and some cool, main street (antique) stores. They have been moved to our park and are always on display. Every 1st and 3rd Saturdays, the little buildings are open and anyone can stroll through them and make purchases and see how it may have looked many years ago. They even have wares you can buy. It's really neat. Every year, the town 'department' decorates the entire park up for Christmas. Lights, candles, huge lighted-stars, lighted-banners, and all sorts of decor go up. It literally takes them several months to finish. They start in August to be done by November when they have the "Official Lighting of the Park" opening for all to see. It is alot of fun! And the only reason they do it is to make our town HAPPY.

It is such a fun time. On Friday & Saturday they have a concession stand up and sell hot cocoa, popcorn balls, and other treats for the kids (and anyone else :0) This is a photo of the big gazebo near the front of the park. We make sure to go every year so we can look for any new decorations that might be up. If you get the chance, come on over and we'll go to the park for a walk.

In the midst of all this cold weather, it is quite a job keeping my indoor plants looking good and thriving. I enjoy taking care of little plants and seeing them grow. I especially like variegated Spider plants. I also have just started learning about African Violets. This one was given to me a few months ago and it was only about as big as the first ring of leaves (from the center outward). I guess I must have placed it in the right spot on my window sill and it has been growing very well. I moved it to my little plant cart with my Spider plants and it is still thriving. They seem to get just the right amount of sunlight there in the sunroom. I think having a bit of LIVE greenery in my home is essential. It's one of the staples of decor I like to use when making up a design element. It works for me.

Always Jesus!(photo proj-day 20)

A very nice brunch this morning. We had fluffy, home made biscuits with bacon (turkey, of course), eggs (fresh) and OJ, along with some of that cream cheese icing and coffee. Mmmm...I think everyone had seconds. Camille was able to be with us today and that made it so nice.

This evening my husband and I took a walk. Then he wanted to take a photo of the house with all the lights up. After that we went to the place that claims that they 'always have THE lowest prices, ALWAYS'. I can honestly say, we haven't been there but twice the whole season and that was ONLY because my grocer was out of what I needed. I have made it my business to stay away and have found it to be "rather refreshing". Plus, all that extra $$ is still in our pocket. I tell myself and live by this..."the only thing I really, always need is Jesus!". JESUS, ALWAYS!

Just for Autumn (day 19)

Micaylah and I decided we would make something this afternoon. After I got her started on the sewing machine, she wanted to finish it herself. Since I had some felt left over from another craft, we cut it up into equal pieces and sewed all the squares into a larger square.

Then we laid the two pieces together, cutting and tying all the ends together. You probably already know what it is...we made Autumn(our little min-pin) a mini tie blankie, especially for her. Now she has her own little place to rest on and she can use it to sleep with. She has a snowman blankie that she sleeps with, but she already seems to like her new one.

Merry early Christmas, Autumn! ps...we'll do just about anything to keep from being idle--hee, hee!

Early Winter?

It seems that winter has come a bit early for us here in Sweet Home Alabama. These last few days have brought some cold winds and even colder temps.

Although we have had frost several mornings already, this morning we woke up and there was frost all over the ground...it was everywhere! It was the prettiest morning yet. Sunshine everywhere, glittering mist, brisk air into your lungs!! Just wonderful! "Frost on the pun-kin!", says Grant's Granny. Meaning that it's a 'frosty white' all across the fields, the hills and mountains and also time to bring in the pets, store up the lawn furniture and get out the favorite recipes for baking! Ooooo, we love it. There's just something special about baking when it's brisk and beautiful.

We have a few Holly Berry Trees in our front yard that are producing so many berries this year. I'm told that is a sign of a hard winter ahead. The berries will be good food for the birds passing by later this month. We've already had so many flocks flying by, we knew winter was on its way soon.

It registered 30 degrees on our digital thermometer early this morning.

I woke the kids, bundled them up and out we went. They were picking up tiny pieces of grass with little crystals all over them. It really was beautiful.

I don't think these pics do the frost justice. If you look far out in the middle of the picture, though, you can see the deeper frost that is in the shade of the trees. It was precious to see my sweet children having fun early this morning. They are hoping for some snow pretty soon.

saturday afternoon...

HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR SATURDAY AFTERNOONS? Oh, we like to spend them together and doing fun stuff that keeps us feeling refreshed and young and full of life! Here's what we've been doing lately...

...we went out to ride a while....here's Garrett, Austin, Micaylah and Camille at the horses gate. the sun was setting and the sky was a gorgeous violet-blue. God really knows how to mix the color pallet! WOW! Here's 3 of our horsies. Black Beauty is rolling because she likes to itch after she has had a good brushing. Diego is the 'painted' one and a fly is biting his belly and Maria is our thoroughbred and largest of all the horses we have. (Macy is not in this pic, but look below). Here's Macy. She is my husbands' Walking Horse, but she doesn't like to walk very often...what she really likes is to RUN! Especially when my husband is riding her. He likes to run too. She is a very good horse and has a great disposition also. She will stand while you groom her and even lets the kids ride her. Next to Maria, we have had her the longest. This is Beauty. She is a jet black Tenn. Walking Horse with good papers. And she rides like a dream. You won't ever know if you hit a bump with her. She is great with the kids too.

They are grazers...the eat lots of grass, fresh hay and sweet feed. Sometimes we give them alfalfa feed and it makes them get real fiesty! That's a good time to go riding...they will get up and go! Looks who's getting into the snack tin...what's inside? Mmmm...fresh baked chocolate chip cookies! Missy is feeding Beauty some fresh grass while we brush out her long mane and tale. She really enjoys the tlc we give her. I think she's a bit spoiled :) Look who's getting on her horse! Don't fall Camille. Camille owns Maria. Maria is our biggest horse. She is 16.1 hands tall and has a nice lope. She can really stretch out when she is in a full run. Garrett thinks he can catch her if she were to fall off the other side. The weather has been so nice lately that we have wanted to go out more often and so we will pack a snack for us. I baked some chocolate cookies and carried them in a little antique tin and then brought a treat for them (the horses-they really like granola bars). We load up and take a little trip to the country. This is Diego. He is our baby. He is only 3 and is a tri-color paint horse. He is great with the kids and loves to put his head on your shoulder. I can't wait to ride him. We haven't even broke/gentled him yet. I think we are going to do that this fall. He shouldn't be any trouble since he has such a great disposition. I broke my first colt some years ago after we had gentled him for several years. When I got on him, he didn't even buck or anything. I think it's a trust factor. This particular afternoon the horses were over with the cows. So we tromped through the pasture and called out "Hhhaaaaw--ssseeeeeeeesssss" as loud as we could. This is the call that they answer to and then they come running. They don't even have to see us. They can just hear our voices and up they come over the hills and oh, they look so beautiful. I love to see them running across the hills like that. This is my horse. (Beauty) She is just wonderful! My husband got her for me 3 years ago after my other horse was struck by lightning 2 years prior. I wish I could ride more often. I love to go riding. Look at this boy! Isn't he so cute?? He loves to roll and itch his back. They say that a horse that can roll over is really smart and highly intelligent. Too bad we can't get good $$ for him.

Who's this going into the bushes?? And what are they doing? Hmmm..potty break! LOL!!!

For the last 6 Saturdays in a row, after working we have been taking some time to breath...ah..just a little time to refresh ourselves.

Ok, I am needing to get going for now. More soon!!