LightsOnTheLake

Weekly Update

2012-02-19T18:10:00.003-05:00

Since we took the week off, I can't really call it a wrap up. So just an update.

This past week we worked around the house, and just enjoyed a slower pace. The kids caught up on some reading. Lexi worked on her 4H Explorer's book. I got my new computer and worked on getting pics, files etc. transferred over. I just need to get my wireless printer installed now.

Friday night the kids had their last Upward BB games. Saturday night was the final presentation night. One of the Harlem Globetrotters visited, he was alot of fun, the kids got to spin the ball on their fingers.

Tomorrow we begin our last 11 week unit for this year. So I will update more later in the week.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-15T09:33:00.004-05:00

Peyton during his Upward game this past Saturday.

This icicle formed over the weekend. 18 inches long.

The Valentine's Day bear.

The roses Gary gave me for V-Day.

Sunday's Speed Scrap, a page on Lexi's Upward Game

Weekly wrap up

2012-02-09T22:10:00.003-05:00

This week we continued our read aloud-Caddie Woodlawn. We actually finished the book Thursday. So Friday we will begin reading Moccasin Trail.

The kids continued on with their regular studies in Math, Language Lessons, Greek etc.

We had a field trip Tuesday to a local nursery.

We only have 2 more weeks of Upward Games so it will be a nice break once we are finished.

Next week we are taking off-Winter Break. We have to keep reading though-or it will set us behind. We begin our last 11 week unit the following week. I really want to get another book in as well-The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed. So I will have to see, we may have to delay our new unit another week.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-08T10:49:00.005-05:00

Living Stones -This is a succulent plant similar to the cactus.

It blooms in late summer. I like the patterns on it.

Daffodils taken with my new 50MM lens, my mother sent it to me for my upcoming Birthday.

A friendly neighborhood dog dropped in to play with Dixie for a little while.

Dixie loved having a puppy for company.

A picture of the kids. Taken with my new lens.

Chloe (the neighborhood dog) up close, lovely patterns.

Also taken with my new lens.

Our dog, Dixie, who stays in bed even after the humans get up.

4-H Greenhouse Field Trip

2012-02-07T20:42:00.006-05:00

Today we went on a field trip with our 4H group to a large area greenhouse. There were so many types of plants, trees, flowers etc. I had to snap some pictures since my assignment this wee for DPS was repetition and patterns in nature.

They actually sent each family home with one of these daffodil planters.

This is called a pitcher plant. The little pitchers at the bottom hold water and capture insects.

This was probably one of my favorites there. A polka dot plant.

I brought 2 of these home for my planters in my dining room, along with some english ivy. I really like the patterns on this plant too. (And it doesn't require a lot, so works for me.)

I brought home this pretty purple cabbage too.

Repetition and Patterns in Nature

2012-02-04T18:37:00.000-05:00

Our photography assignment this week in DPS is Repetition and patterns in nature. One thing I really like about participating in these assignments is how it helps me "see" the world. During the green assignment, I never realized how many things besides plants were green. During this assignment I find myself really noticing repeating and non-repeating patterns more.

I never realized there were so many different types of tree bark. So many different wild patterns in it. Patterns in flowers, on animals, etc.

This is just a few that I took. I deleted many and these were the favorites so far. But I have to narrow this down to one photo to submit next week. Please vote and tell me which one you like the most.

This is the bark pattern of a tree in my yard. I did it in B&W

because I really like the contrast best in those 2 colors.

If only everything in life were simple and straight.

But many times life takes us on crazy twists and turns.

Twisting vines

rough bark

I really like this shell picture. It leads your eye into the picture.

But 2 people have already submitted shells.

Don't cry.

Topsy turvey shrooms

Some wild bark on my birch tree, it really looks like paper.

More of a texture than a pattern since there really isn't alot of repetition.

Just wild and crazy.

I like this one too, the vines leading your eyes, and the gentle twist.

Straight lines.

Repeating patterns found in how gourds are shaped. The okra long with ridges.

Fungi on a stick.

Some kind of moss fungus stuff.

The swaying bark here leads your eye.

Of course another unique pattern like no-one elses. My fingerprints.

My goldfish, pretty lines, scales and colors.

English Ivy

Crocus patterns

Criss Cross in Plox.

The lines on a brussel sprout.

I never even really noticed the lines and patterns in a banana

until I opened one up the other day.

Pretty patterns on flowers.

So which picture do you like best?

4H 4Him

2012-02-03T20:10:00.002-05:00

Both of the kids got Purple ribbons on their posters in our local club.

They were also chosen to send their posters to county contest.

Peyton got a blue overall.

Today we had some 4H projects due.

Lexi got a blue ribbon for baking cookies.

She used our great Aunt Ella's one cup cookie recipe.

She earned a purple ribbon for her pillow sewing.

Peyton won a blue ribbon for his pecan pie squares.

Weekly Wrap Up

2012-02-02T14:43:00.005-05:00

I am doing this a day early, because tomorrow we will be at 4H.

So today will end our weekly studies. The kids will just do math and LA in the morning.

This week we continued reading Caddie Woodlawn for History.

For Science we learned about Beavers and Bears.

For Math-we continued in our workbook.

Peyton in Fractions (Mixed Numbers) and Lexi working on long division.

For history readers this week. Lexi began reading Soft Rain and

Peyton began reading Beneath the Sky of an Angry.

For 4H Lexi made a handkerchief pillow.

For the baking contest she made our Great Aunt Ella's 1 cup cookies.

Peyton made Nuttin Butter Banana Bread.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-01T11:37:00.003-05:00

Self Portrait-Flicker Photo assignment-Week 4

My DPS photography assignment for this week was Monochrome.

I chose Dixie on the couch against the brown walls.

A female cardinal in my yard. Captured this with my new zoom lens.

The male and female cardinal eating, and pretty plump. No shortage of food this mild winter.

One of the cloudy skies we have seen lately.

Weekly Wrap Up

2012-01-27T10:34:00.003-05:00

I didn't do a wrap up last week, so I will just list where we are and what we are learning.

We are back on schedule with our chores.

I spent some time de-cluttering this week. I hope we can spend some time cleaning the garage this weekend. Not that I enjoy it, but that it needs it so badly.

As for our unit studies in History-we have been reading "Caddie Woodlawn" the last 2 weeks.

This is an extra book I am trying to squeeze in. The kids have been reading individual books on frontier life. Peyton just finished "Wild Bill Hicock", and Lexi is reading "Little House on The Prairie." They are doing these independently.

We are reading "From Sea to Shining Sea" and need to catch up a bit on that.

For Science we have been studying mammals and reviewing animal classification.

In Writing -Peyton is working on Topic Sentences and Main Ideas of paragraphs.

In Math-

Peyton is working on his final fractions book-Mixed numbers.

Lexi is doing very well so far in her Kumon Division book.

(It has been a very good fit for her.) Much less intense than MUS.

They are both continuing their Queen's Language Lessons each day.

Peyton had his Greek 1 final exam today and scored 96. So he begins book 2 next Monday.

So that puts him with a semester of Latin (Books 1 and 2) and Greek books 1&2,

if he has time he may even complete book 3 this semester.

In extra curricular activities-Lexi almost quizzed out at our JBQ meet last Saturday.

She was so excited. She got a ribbon.

Tomorrow both the kids have BB games.

Peyton had art class this week, and Lexi had Musical Theater and Jazz class.

Thursday Thoughts-Decluttering

2012-01-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

De-Cluttering again! Well I have made a commitment to de-clutter some much needed areas. I try to work on a little area at a time, just a few extra minutes a day. This week I have been working on my craft room. I cleaned off my big craft table, organized it a bit. Established a separate Cricut station, with my Big Shot and Embosser, put little storage units under to store cartridges, die cuts, embossing folders etc.

My craft table

My Cricut station

Today I worked on an area of the garage. Which is a place I usually try to avoid. This is the man cave-and a nightmare. We don't have an attic, or large closets, so all our storage is in the basement/garage. This area also houses my husbands vehicle and his boat and fishing stuff. Anyway, he has his tools in the room where I want to move my craft room into. So I have an incentive to get his tools out of my area, so I can move the things I want into this new basement room. We also plan to paint the paneling, and put in some time of floor, or paint the floor. (We can't decide if we want to tile it or carpet it.) I don't like the carpet idea-because we would eventually have to do it again. I prefer to do things ONCE.

The room right now, taken over by the kids. Always kept in dissaray. I finally just decided to stay away from that area. I make the kids clean it once a week. But I now decided that someone that will keep the area nice-ought to get the better area!

I can't show a picture of the garage before-it is just too bad. Ugh. You would not believe how many empty boxes we keep in case we need them. The box the Wii came in, the box my food processor came in, every box every tool ever came in. Ugh A big box that the pressure washer came in, another box that the shop vac came in. No wonder we don't have any room. We have the item and then the extra box too. Anyway, they were taking up a ton of space. So today I took 1 load of stuff to donate down to the local donation spot, and then threw away another load of trash. And I now have 3 empty large plastic tubs, and two large boxes for dh to go through.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T10:34:00.002-05:00

Our 1st Grand child was born yesterday morning.

He is adorable, the delivery went great, mother and baby are doing great!

Our New Grandson

2012-01-24T12:42:00.002-05:00

Jessica went into labor last night. (They were planning to induce her, but when she go to the hospital to be induced, she was already at 2 cm.) This morning about 4:30 her water broke and he was born around noon today.

Kylan 7 Pounds 15 oz. Gary and I are now Grandparents. Mimi and Papaw.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-23T16:46:00.004-05:00

Monday-(Since we didn't get bacon and eggs on Saturday) Bacon, Eggs, Grits and toast.

Tuesday-Fried Shrimp, Baked Beans, Salad

Wednesday-Dinner out w/ hubby, Ds eats at youth.

Thursday - Baked Spaghetti, Salad and Garlic Bread

Friday-Sweet chicky nuggets (Didn't make them last week.)

Roasted Veggies, Baked Beans

Saturday -Salmon Patties, Angel Hair Pasta, and Corn

Sunday-KFC bucket-lunch, Taco soup that night.

Craft Time

2012-01-22T11:28:00.002-05:00

Today we had our Mother-Daughter Crop (scrapbooking.) I opted to work on sewing instead.

I recently got this kit which includes both aprons. So I decided to sew them.

Lexi worked on scrapbooking some pictures. Then when I got home I made this digital page.

Chasing a January Sunset

2012-01-19T20:55:00.002-05:00

I looked out the window about 5:15 and saw the sun peaking out a bit. So I thought I might catch a sunset.
I looked up the time of sunset and it was 5:48 PM
So , Lexi and I grabbed the camera and Dixie and jumped in the Jeep to go catch the sunset.

I just drove in the direction of the sun, trying to get up on top of a mountain-or on a hill where I might be able to
look down on the land and actually capture the sun before it went down.
No luck there though. It was gone by the time I had chased it to a place where I could get a good view.

But I did manage to capture a few good pics. Glad I took them in RAW format, because the Jpgs didn't turn out well at all.
The sky was beautiful it looked like it was on fire in some places. It has been a while since I have even seen the sunset.
The trees sheild our house from seeing the sunrise or sunset and our house faces north. and with hills it is harder to capture it.

First picture, I stopped on the road.

Then I stopped at another place to catch this one.

I went on further hoping for a better clearing, by then the sun was going down fast.

Another thing I am really glad about is that I shot in Jpg and Raw formats. The jps were almost useless. May exposures were overdone, or underdone. (Probably b/c I am still learning my camera.) But anyway the RAW ones were easy to convert over and stayed beautiful.

I have to say I am glad I chased the sunset tonight. I ended up losing my glasses over it.

When I jumped out of the jeep to capture the picture, I was leaning on the hood of my jeep. My glasses are bifocals and I could not get the shot in focus. So I took my glasses off and set them on the hood. Then I proceeded to snap some shots. When I was done I jumped back in the jeep. A little bit down the road, something hit the front lower windshield and I though "Was that a branch?" Then about 1/2 mile down the road I realized it was my glasses. Ugh. (Well I went back-but by then it was getting even darker. ) Good news is-I go pick up my new pair tomorrow. Dd and I both went to the Eye Dr. last week and both are glasses are in. So we will get them tomorrow. Tonight I am using readers.

Speed Scrap

2012-01-19T15:12:00.004-05:00

MyMemories on FB hosts these usually on Sunday nights. I was able to get in on 2 of them over the past 2 weeks. They also did one today and I was available to do it. It is fun, they list the steps one by one about every 10 minutes. This is all done with digital papers, and elements in the My Memories Suite software. I have been having fun with it. Also it is much quicker than getting out all my traditional materials and doing a traditional page. (Not that I don't still enjoy doing that, I just have to set aside time to do it.)

This was today's challenge and here is my page as a result.

This was Sunday's Speed Scrap

Here is the page I made.

Thoughtful, thankful- Thursday

2012-01-19T14:56:00.004-05:00

Well today I thought I would just share some thoughts and some thanks.

I have been listening to the audio version of "1000 Gifts" on my Cruz tablet. I really love the way she brings out how to be thankful in the midst of just every day things, and in all circumstances.

Just last week when Lexi had a stomach virus, it was easy to be thankful-knowing it was just a short lived virus-and not something worth. It makes me want to watch Pollyanna all over again. To see the positive in the world and not focus on the negative.

The kids and I have been going through this months' list during our morning devotions.

I found it somewhere in the Share the Dare. (Cannot seem to find it now.) There was a list of things to go over each day-to help us think about the gifts we have.

Today was a gift in the kitchen, a gift in the weather and a gift that almost wasn't.

My answers were-my kitchen sink, (I love the large single sink I now have.) the lovely, mild winter day, and both of my children (that almost weren't). Thanks to God for the guidance, Dr. Jones -who did the endometriosis surgery and Dr. Presley who delivered both of them-I now have them.

As I use my camera more this year-I realize how precious and beautiful things and people are. How many gifts God has given us to celebrate-gifts of perspective to see Him in all things.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T09:47:00.003-05:00

Thanking God for the progress we have made in the quest for civil rights for all.

Bald Eagle taken at Wilderness Week-I went to a photography class there this past Saturday.

Isn't he majestic?

Lexi playing Basket Ball.

Bracelets Lexi made to raise money for an orphans.

Lexi's poem on Birds.

Weather Station Field Trip

2012-01-17T14:59:00.008-05:00

Today our Homeschool 4H group took a field trip to our local weather station. We are really fortunate that the weather station for 40 surrounding counties is located just a few miles from our house.

This equipment reads wind speed.

More equipment here that measures rain fall, snow fall, barometric pressure.

The high tech rain gauge.

We watched a tornado video.

Here the computer shows us the 40 counties this one station is responsible for.

32 in Tennessee and 8 counties in Virginia.

The screens showing the doppler radar.

The green is rain, the red is severe storms.

Another computer that is monitored.

Explaining how a tornado or thunderstorm warning is issued.

I was really surprised to learn it was the only station around for 40 counties, the next one is over in the Nashville area, one in Kentucky, one in Al. This station here employs 38 people full time-and their is someone there 365 days a year.

The clouds outside were really neat today too. Dark clouds with areas of clearing over the mountains.

This Week's Meal Plan

2012-01-16T12:51:00.005-05:00

I usually have a meal plan in mind for the week. It usually changes though. So my menu plans are always flexible. If dh works late, or had a large lunch and isn't hungry then I can always change it. So this is the plan for this week.

Monday-Crockpot chicken and Rice. (from Pininterest)

(the kids have BB practice from 7-8. We won't eat until after 8 pm.

So I try to keep this in mind when deciding what to make.)

Tuesday-Spaghetti and Meatballs, Mediteranean Salad and Garlic Bread.

Tuesday afternoon is grocery shopping day. The kids have art and dance in the afternoon.

So I usually try to go then. We won't get home until 5:30 so I want something easy.

Wednesday-church (kids clubs) The kids eat before they go around 6:00 so probably burritos or something easy (grilled cheese) Dh and I will probably eat at out -Mexican.

No big meal will be made.

Thursday -Chick Fil A nuggets Another one I want to try from Pininterest

Roasted Veggies, Baked Beans

Friday-Roast, Carrots, Mashed Potatoes, Rolls

Saturday-Bacon and Eggs, Roast Sandwiches & chips.

Sunday-KFC and Baked Beans

I don't like coming home and cooking after church, and since I like football-it

was always an ordeal to try to get lunch cooked and watch the game. (Since they are in 2 separate rooms-the tv and stove. ) LOL

I didn't mind crock potting meals but after a while we liked some variation.

When KFC started running their Sunday 10 piece buckets for $10.00 we

thought it was a great time to take advantage of it. So we usually grab a bucket

and then I heat up some Bush BBQ Beans when we get home.

We are usually eating within 15 minutes.

If we have to go into the city this week-we will be eating Papa Murphy's Pizza that night.

Since that is the only time we get those pizzas. So I may just continue the menu the next night-or save that night for next week. We love their pepperoni delight and their cinnamon wheels.

Last week I got one of their Mediterranean salads. (I didn't have any salad at home and just wanted to grab a go along quickly.) I loved it so much I have decided to go get the ingredients in order to make it at home. (I must admit It isn't cheap-by the time you get sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, black olives, red onions, etc.) The actual price at PM is $5.00 and worth it for all the ingredients they actually put in it.

Curriculum and Books for Sale

2012-01-13T17:12:00.004-05:00

So I have been de-cluttering my shelves. I have books and curriculum that has been lying around for a while now, and I have finally gotten to listing it.

Maps and Mapping, Children around the World Writing Forms, North American Indians Revolting Revolutionaries-$1.00 each.

Magic School Bus books $1.50 each. 2 pb, 2 hb. SOLD

Gullivers travels HB reader. $1.00 Trails to Explore (Abeka 4-4 Reader) $1.50

1st Place HB with Dust Cover $3.00

Teaching Children $3.00

Spanish Word Book $3.00 (HB)

Bread and Jan for Francis, Stone Soup $1.00 each. Stone Soup -Sold

World of Wonder Book collection. These are great books for kids-the present different elements of the gospel, as well as science and other topics, with the Helping Hands Parents Guide. ($20.00 for the set-I will not break it apart.)

$5.00 Bill Nye Paper Recycling Factory-SOLD

USA puzzle. Preschool-2nd grade level.

Amazing Pop Up Geography Book $10.00 (Inside views below.)

Beyond Five In a Row (3-ring bound) $11.00

Math U See Delta complete set $45.00 no writing in any books.

Math U See Gamma Teacher Manual, Test Book and VHS

File Folder Activites -SOLD (These are free online.) I am selling cheap just to get back some of the material costs. (folders, printed and laminated pieces, etc.) $3.00 for all 5. (I will not break these apart.)

Months of the Year file folder. Front pocket for pieces.

Velcro tabs let children attach laminated monthly pieces in order.

Roman numerals -children line up pieces to represent numbers up to 20.

Days of the week-laminated pieces inside attach to velcro tabs.

Nouns and Verbs activity

Kids can place correct clovers in each pocket.

The Candy factory-kids set money pieces beside each amount. (Laminated pieces.)

ASL file folder activity.

The hand motions are printed they just need to be cut out. (Not laminated.)

Take it to your seat Literacy Centers Grades 4-6 Language Arts $25.00 for set of 18. (I will not break these apart) This doesn't even come close to what I have invested in this set.

All but 2 of these covers have been put on the folder. The covers are laminated-many pieces are laminated inside. Velcro tabs are on some of the younger student activities because my son didn't want to write.

These 2 have not been added to the front of the folder yet, all others have been.

Laminated cover and pieces. (Velcro tabs for easy fastening-so all activities do not have to be hand written.)

Other topics -not pictured analogies, syllogisms, types of sentences, persuasive paragraphs and more.

Weekly Wrap up

2012-01-13T11:08:00.004-05:00

January week 2-We were supposed to begin school on Monday but our plans got interrupted by the stomach bug.

Gary came down with some sort of intestinal virus last Thursday and was still home Monday. Lexi began throwing up Sunday night around 11 pm and kept throwing up and heaving until around 8 am. She laid in the bathroom floor on a palate I made for her. Neither of us got any sleep-she would lay down and 15-30 minutes later she would be up again over the toilet.

Around 11 am she finally was able to keep some sprite down and by 4 pm was able to keep down 1 cracker. She finally drifted off to sleep around 4:30.

Dixie snuggling with Lexi to help her feel better.

On Tuesday- Gary was able to return to work. Lexi was still feeling bad. She was able to get some soup and crackers down. The kids dance/art classes began. I let Peyton go, but didn't want Lexi to expose others even though she really wanted to go. (Glad I didn't let her, b/c Wednesday she was back laying around feeling tired again.)

Wednesday she was still laying around and very tired, and ate just a little, as we slowly began to introduce more food-slowly into her diet. We skipped church activities that night. She did manage to get a couple subjects in school done. We finished our Read Aloud-Abandoned on the Wild Frontier, and watched the Rock and Learn Physical Science video. (For science.)

I got some de-cluttering done on Wednesday. I got a new earring holder-this really looks much nicer than the old home made things I was using. (And takes up less space.) It holds 24 pair-so almost all my earrings except for my Christmas ones.

Thursday the kids got their core subjects done-Math, LA, Greek, and cursive. We had eye Dr. appointments-so that took up our afternoon. I also went by Hobby Lobby to get a frame for one of my pictures I enlarged. Now I can enjoy my Eastern Snowball bush all year long. It is featured right above my bed. I also framed some of my other favorites in 8x10 frames. this stream is in my den.

If it seems a little blurry-out of focus-it probably is. I am noticing that I don't focus as well with my bifocals. I do have a new pair of glasses with my new RX coming in about a week. I can't wait. I know I will be seeing much more clearly.

Here is the snowball bush picture-framed 11X14. This wall has been bare since we moved in 6 1/2 years ago. I really never found exactly what I wanted there. Now I have it.

Friday the kids were able to resume their regular work-they finished all their assignments early. They also completed this easy 100 piece puzzle of the US. (Since we are studying the US this year.) We will be ready to go onto Week 7 of Unit 2 next week.

Weekly Wrap up January Week 1

2012-01-13T10:59:00.002-05:00

I don't think I have actually updated since the beginning of the new year. The first week of January we took off from school. I took the tree down on New Years Eve. (Just before the New Year.) I really wanted to go into the New Year with a clean house that was ready for the New Year.

I spent the following week resting, re-decorating with a snowman theme and getting some traditional scrapbooking done.

The table on the deck, since the weather has been pretty mild-I thought we might use it some.

The kitchen table. I removed the Christmas table cloth and put this pretty one with cardinals and holly on it.

Lexi's B-day page on my CM frame on my hutch. And on the fridge-Jessica and Kyle and a picture of her at about 7 months.

We went out one beautiful afternoon for a walk at the lake. I captured a few photos.

De-Cluttering

2012-01-12T20:08:00.001-05:00

Well one thing leads to another and one event led to a series of decluttering yesterday.

I went to open my swivel cabinet while I was trying to put back ingredients I had pulled out to make cookies. Since I couldn't get the door to move properly I assumed something had fallen and was stuck. This led me to unload the whole cabinet, wipe it all out, and re-organize it all.

So as I was sorting this cabinet I decided to move some things like the cereal and snacks.

Which led to cleaning out this cabinet, re-organizing it and labeling some things for easy finds.

Which also led me to clean out another small can pantry. Not pictured.

Then I decided to take some things downstairs that belonged in my craft room.

While there I got distracted and spend over an hour organizing a new gift wrap area. I got inspired after seeing a gift wrap station on pininterest.

The basket holds all kinds of gift wrap. The drawers hold Ribbons, bags and boxes and then tissue. The zebra box holds bows.

On the shelf beside the station are these hand made cards. So I can always easily find a card/tag to go with the gift.

and on this shelf Christmas tags, cards, bows and ribbon.

Next week I want to print out tags to label the drawers and also get some drawers in my kitchen organized.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T12:46:00.004-05:00

Lexi when she was 7 months old.

Me and Lexi

Peyton at 7 months.

Me and Peyton.

I have to say I am so glad I had these pictures made. I wanted them in Sepia so they could be on my walls all the time. Sepia never goes out of style, and of course the vintage clothes make these great to keep on the walls at all times.

Quick Pages-Digital Scrapbooking

2012-01-09T21:56:00.003-05:00

Here are 3 quick pages I made. Quickpages are available free all over the internet. MyMemories even has some. The pages are already pre-made, all I had to do was load the photo and add journaling or titles. (You can add other embellishments if you want.) But I liked them as is. Guess I forgot to add the journaling to the pages. (I got interrupted last night by a sick child.) But this gives you the opportunity to see the page as is.

This was a picture of Christmas lights at Dollywood.

Taken at BPS.

Our House at Christmas Time.

Speed Scrap

2012-01-08T22:03:00.006-05:00

Last night was my first time participating in the Speed Scrap. My Memories has a facebook group and each Sunday night they do one. They list different steps and then you create the page. Well I happened to be doing nothing at the time, so thought it was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

Here were the steps:

Here is the page I created.

My Gear

2012-01-05T20:32:00.001-05:00

I got some new camera gear for Christmas, and got this cool backpack to put it all in.

It didn't come in pink, so I took the green and black. The bungee cord can hold 4 or more water bottles. Great for hiking.

A place for extra memory cards, batteries, lens cleaners, cables.

In this main pocket there is a place for manuals, thumbdrives, cables and a mini tripod

Here I can keep extra lenses, hoods, filters, the charger and my point and shoot.

I can even carry my manual with it. (I can fit my Cruz in the pocket too.) I downloaded all the manuals for the cameras and lenses etc. and put them on my cruz tablet.

My point and shoot-that I cannot give up. I love having this little thing handy. (Especially for places like Dollywood, where I wouldn't want to take my T2i on rides etc.

Here you can see my T2i with the 18-55mm lens. It sits up in the top for a quick grab.

Now I just need to find some trails to hike. (And some friends to do it with.)

January Photo Shoot

2012-01-05T18:29:00.001-05:00

The kids and I went to the dam today to walk. (Well to take pictures that is.) But since we were out there-we had to walk. So I got in my exercise too.

The lake is just beautiful, lakes in Texas don't look like this lake. This is a clear water lake and it really is blue in color. Lakes back in Texas are mostly brown. It was beautiful with the blue skies, blue water and I had the kids dress in blue. I also got to use my new CPL filter for the first time. The sun was up very bright around 3pm. (But that is a warmer time to go.) Thus you can see the kids squinting in the sun.

These pictures will also help me complete an upcoming assignment for Digital Photography School. (Something I decided to do this year-to help my photography.) The assignment is "Blue". So I thought one of these might turn out good enough to turn in.

I would love some feedback on which one you think I should turn in. I am leaning toward number 3 below, because it has so much blue and just trace amounts of other colors.

I used a hood, and zoomed so I could get it in for a nice round frame.

My 2012 Bucket List

2012-01-05T11:18:00.001-05:00

I thought I would list some of the things I want to do/accomplish this year.

Lose 20 pounds over the course of this year by:

Exercise (some sort) 3 times a week. I really want to make a commitment to do something at least 3 times a week, whether it is walking, hiking, swimming, wii fit, or a zumba type class.
Eating more whole (real ) foods, instead of processed foods. Eating more organic foods.

Organize my craft room.

Make it a place I want it to be. Add lighting, paint it, paint bookshelves, re-arrange the room. Get rid of old curriculum and books we don't need, to make shelf space to put things away.

Crafts I want to complete.

Missions album
Heritage album
Make a scarflet for Lexi and Kanani
Make Kanani a scarf to match her hat.

Digital Photography School

complete weekly assignments
continue learning new techniques
take photos at least once a week. (purposefully)

Read more books. (Can't really put a number on this one.)

for my spiritual life
for enjoyment

Places I want to go and things I want to see.

Cumberland Falls-the waterfalls and a moonbow, ( I just read about a moonbow and I want to capture one on my camera.)
Take the kids to Sea World when we go to Texas this year.
Got to Tigers in NC. (To see exotic animals.)

Play more board games with the kids.

Practice my guitar at least 3 times per week. (This has been hard to do. I just need to pencil in a time each day-3 times a week-so it gets done.)

Things I want accomplished around the house this year.

Basement painted, new floor put in. Stairs painted, Deck painted, yard landscaped. (Front rock garden and back.) Then we will be done with the landscaping and just have to keep up maintenance.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-04T11:30:00.001-05:00

Well I am going to try to add more pictures on Wednesday and less words-thus Wordless Wednesday.

This doesn't mean without words. Just less words, since I want to make sure I at least notate what the pictures are about.

Happy New Year 2012!

Lexi with her new electric scooter.

The kids at the main library downtown. (Reading)

Well, they weren't both actually reading.

Lexi studying JBQ questions. They have an upcoming meet on January 21.

Dollywood Christmas Lights

2011-12-30T23:09:00.001-05:00

We got season passes to Dollywood this year. I am really glad we did. We sure enjoyed all our visits to DW this year. Another great thing about homeschooling is that we are able to take advantage of the many non peak times they are open. We can also go in the middle of the week. Today the kids got an eye opener. It was crazy. It was very crowded, lines were longer. We had to park at Splash Country. (Thank God for trams.)

Here are some pics. I have to say this is the most beautiful time of the year to go. I am glad we pushed through and went anyway. I normally don't do crowds etc.

I saw this pretty sunset, while I was waiting on the kids -they were in line for a ride. I thought it looked neat.

The lights at night.

The steam train-showing the lights.

With the flash.

Many of the trees were decorated all the way to the tops, it was so pretty! There were purple, trees, blue trees, multicolored trees, they were just awesome.

Buildings throughout were covered in lights.

This fountain just glowed. I love this picture.

We had a really great time.

Our favorite ride was the Polar Express 4D Experience.

Love my new Cruz tablet

2011-12-30T17:19:00.002-05:00

I got this right before Christmas. (For our school.) Our library now has ebooks so I really wanted to be able to take advantage of it. Plus I can download my kindle books to it. I can web browse, listen to music and watch videos. (I haven't figured out the videos yet.)

Here I downloaded a bear pattern to make a bear for Lexi. Cool that it is Wifi. And I don't have to have my laptop set up to have the tutorial with me.

Dollywood Mobile Pictures

2011-12-30T17:11:00.002-05:00

I love being able to send some pics from my phone straight to my blog.

We went to Dollywood today. It was really crowded, we had to park in overflow (Splash Country parking.) Thank God for the trams.

The lines were long-and the kids are not used to that-since we homeschool we always took advantage of going during the week during non peak times.

Going at Christmas and seeing the lights-was so beautiful though. I am glad we went.

Here is dd on the bumper cars.

Just one of the funny signs they have there. I thought is was cute.

2011 Highlights-Newletter

2011-12-28T23:15:00.003-05:00

So as we bring 2011 to a close, I wanted to hit the highlights of what has been going on with us. For those of you that keep up and visit regularly you will probably remember some of these photos. So this sort of serves as our end of year newsletter.

This makes 7 years of homeschooling for us. (Beginning when Peyton was in K.) Well if you count official years that is. The kids are doing well in their studies and are staying busy in all their activities. This fall we began studying America and will continue on this subject until Fall of 2013. Then we will get into Ancient History.

I have stayed busy with homeschooling, household duties, helping out in our women's ministry at church and in my spare time working on my various hobbies. This year I also began playing around a bit with digital scrapbooking, trying to work on photography (just get better in general) and I made my first stuffed bear. (Yes I was pretty proud of this accomplishment.)

Some Christmas Cards I made this year. (If you didn't get one in the mail, sorry-I did not mail out many-but you can see it here.) Hope you had a great Christmas! ;-)

This is a fleece throw Lexi made to help kids in Crisis.

Here is one that Peyton made.

Lexi was in gymnastics this past Spring. She finished up 3rd grade.

In the fall she began Cheerleading for our local PeeWee league football. She also began 4th grade.

She turned 10 in November. She is a wonderful help around the house. She loves to sing, play with her dolls and stuffed animals, and loves to cook and craft. She really has a heart to give to others and do for others.

Peyton started the year playing Upward Basket Ball. (And I was excited to finally get an action shot that wasn't a complete blur. I am finally learning how to work the M mode on my camera a little more.)

In April he turned 11 years old. In May he finished 5th grade.

During the summer he decided he was ready to make the decision to be baptized, to receive God's forgiveness for sin, and to give his life to the Lord.

This summer and fall Peyton played football for the PeeWee league. It is the last year he was eligible. He is going to miss playing, but did not want to go to public school in order to keep playing. He also began 6th grade.

Gary stayed busy at work. In his off time he fishes and works around the house, and helps Peyton with BB and Football. He also teaches Jr. Church each week at our church. This year he joined a local fishing club and entered a few tournaments. He competed in 16 and they won or placed in (means they got money) in 8 out of the 16 tournaments. He finished first in 6 of them. (Well he and his partner that is.) So at least he is paying for his gas and other entry fees, lol.

They actually won 1st place in the 1st tournament of the year. And cashed in $425.00. You can read more about that here.

Here is my scrapbook page I made at one of our moms' night crops. (We usually get together at least once a month to work on scrapbooking.)

Gary and Peyton entered a tournament during the summer and they placed 2nd.

In November we had to put our dog Buddy down. His health began deteriorating much more rapidly and we felt that his quality of life was gone. We had him for 13 years, he is very missed in our home.

Dixie, Lexi's dog, AKA "the baby" is doing well, she turned 2 this year, and she loves to run, play and be petted.

So that is our highlights for the year. We wish everyone a wonderful 2012. We hope you all will keep in touch. I am looking forward to turning a new page on the calendar. I look forward to new opportunities to learn new things, to watch my children as they grow in the Lord, and to take in the wonderment of all God's creation. I also hope for many opportunities to be used by God to make someone else's world a better place to be in.

Blessings,

Michelle

Cherokee Caverns

2011-12-23T22:17:00.001-05:00

Tonight we took the kids to Cherokee Caverns. They opened especially for Christmas and put some lights inside, with a Santa and a tree. They had some hot dogs and other food that you could get and eat by the fire. We didn't eat there. It was fun, it only lasted about an hour.

Here are some of our pictures.

Entering the cave.

This was in a tunnel. You walk on a platform while the top sides spin around. There are high

fluorescent colors on the wheel. (I barely made it in the tunnel before I was almost sick.)

I don't do motion things like this well.

I think Lexi got her fill of it.

I am so glad I was able to capture some of the beautiful colors in the cave.

When I used Auto it made them all drab. (Thanks to the night scene mode I got better colors.)

Not sure why the blur, I think it is b/c the shutter stays open even after the flash and then if the kids move it blurs. (That or I was not still enough.) But I was using a IS lens.

Anticipation and the week before Christmas.

2011-12-20T22:06:00.001-05:00

Here are some pics I took of the kids on Monday. We went shopping at BPS for dad. (Sshh!) He isn't supposed to know. Good thing he doesn't read the blog, and isn't on FB.

Anticipation

I am calling this picture...."Wishful Thinking".

I got a virus, my throat has been hurting really bad ever since Saturday night. So by Monday morning it was hurting so much, I knew it had to be Strep throat. I haven't had it in years, but remember the pain associated with it.

So I go to the Dr. only to discover it is not actually Strep, but a virus. Unfortunately it hurts like Strep, but there is no z-pack or shot that will make you feel much better in 24-48 hours. Instead this virus runs a 5-7 day course.

So I go ahead and opt for the gargle that is supposed to help your throat. (Since I am in dire straights.) And this stuff is like a Pepto bismal consistancy with a hint of orajel type stuff. So it feels like you are gargling pepto. (Then your mouth and throat get a little numb.) While the taste is terrible. (It actually does bring some relief for a full 20 minutes.) I am also supposed to gargle with salt water. (And I am eating Tylenol as often as I can. I have a little tickling type cough-that really hurts when I do cough, so I try not to.

Anyway I hope that I will feel my old self soon. Today was a little better than yesterday.

The kids have done well getting their work done very independently this week. I have had to help a little in math, read over a story Peyton had to write and read 2 chapters out loud today. (That was rough.) But other than that, they have been on task, and have allowed me to rest and sleep in when necessary.

Picture edits

2011-12-20T20:38:00.001-05:00

I wanted to play around some more with my pictures. The black edges is called Vingette.

I added a little HDR effect in Piknic. I wanted it to look more icy and translucent.

My favorite fall flowers. They are so vibrant and colorful. I added the edge vingette and also a HDR effect to bring out the strong definition.

I added a frame and also slight HDR effect to the flowers. (And the verse.)

I added the vingette effect this time in white. (To get the white hazy look.) and added the frame and verse.)

I really love this one. Especially if you see the original picture. Nothing really exciting about it. This has the HDR effect, along with a little sepia toning and I framed it.

Just so you can get an idea. (Here is the original picture.) Of course this picture makes him look much more pettable. LOL

The Living Christmas Tree

2011-12-19T16:53:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday we went to "The Living Christmas Tree". It is a musical/play production. Probably the best one I have ever seen at Christmas. Anyway here are some pics I managed to capture. (And I will add, it wasn't easy.) We were sitting very high up, so high it troubled my stomach. The seating was very slanted. But anyway I zoomed in trying to capture the screen, some parts are blown out, not sure how I could have helped that though, since I was at the lowest fstop this camera could go.

This was a cool scene with the angels ascending up into the air at the birth of Jesus.

They had real camels (That carried the kings.)

This was the picture/climax of the show. It is blown out because the lighting was off, you can't see the baby in Mary's arms.

But the 3 kings-show up with all their entourage, their servants, their gifts etc. (And they all fall down and worship Jesus.) I was in AWE!

My Bokeh

2011-12-14T21:15:00.001-05:00

Digital Photography School-Assignment

2011-12-14T21:00:00.001-05:00

I recently joined a Digital Photography School's forum. They have weekly assignments -that are optional. They allow you to try to work on photographing things, etc. They choose winners after each one.

Well, not that I think I would win, since I am one of the ametures on the board, there are many professional photographers on the forum.

Anyway this week's assignment was to choose a Beetle Song title, take a picture that could be the album cover.
I only had a few hours because the assignment closed early this morning. (And I only found the forum last night.)
Also you couldn't use an old picture. You had to take it within certain date parameters.

So after thinking a bit, I listed to a few songs. I really liked Octopus's garden. I also knew one of my kids had a stuffed octopus. So I took it outide and placed it in my pansy planter. Here is the picture.

Of course, I realize how lame it looks, so in photobucket-I played around with the editing. I clicked on the invert button and it produced the inverted color image. Which I liked better. So I submitted it.

Out for a walk

2011-12-14T20:51:00.001-05:00

Today dd and I went out for a walk. Of course Dixie wanted to come along. So dd let her ride in the stroller.

I took my camera with me, thinking I might capture some shots-maybe I would see things-I don't normally see.
Nothing really spectacular about any of the images. Just things I am working on. Looking for neat things.

I saw this snowflake (dd hung in a tree.) I just now noticed it. (Guess it wasn't very noticeable when the leaves were out.)
Anyway I was able to catch a little reflection from the sun on the flake.

Dixie saw a couple squirrels-she really wanted us to let her chanse them.

Here you can see her captivated. (And me and dd's shadows.)

I was in awe of how many pine cones this tree has. Wow!

Tried to capture the sunlight (where it would look like a star.)
This is something I am working on trying to figure out.)

More of those pine cones .

Oh say, can you see?

Forgotten, but there when you need it.

Looking through pics

2011-12-10T23:18:00.001-05:00

Just some pictures I like. I was looking back at the past few years, some that I really like and wanted to edit or tweak a little. Also I am blogging straight from Picasa-and really enjoying the ease of doing it. I may use it more often in the future.

I love the focus of the dogwoods here with the blur in the background.

I love the brilliant color of the tulips, but want to try doing it again with a blur background.

I added a little saturation to bring out the fall colors here.

I just cropped out the people in order to highlight the reflection and beauty of nature.
Actually my BIL took this pic.

Our dog, Dixie, she is just cute anyway!

Bright colors of my summer porch flowers.

Back deck flowers.

My neighbors tulips BW focal pic.

At regular color.

a Bee in a flower at Dollywood.

a Tree on an island of the lake, when the water is low.

Parrot Mountain

2011-12-10T21:58:00.001-05:00

These were taken back in September of 2008.

I wanted to crop some of the birds down.

Merry and Bright

2011-12-08T19:33:00.001-05:00

Scenic Photo

2011-12-08T12:03:00.001-05:00

Taken last fall at Clingman's Dome. (On the hike up to the top.)

Christmas Trees-photography

2011-12-08T11:53:00.001-05:00

I found an article the other day on taking pictures of lit Chistmas trees. So I had to try it on my own.

This is a picture I took without the technique.

This is one I took with the technique. I set the shutter speed very low-around 1/30th, the ISO was 3200 and I set the fstop as low as it would go with this lens, which was 4.5. (I think it would have been even better if I could have had a lower fstop.)

I also used a tripod. I stll want to work on the picture to see how I can get the ornaments to show up- (not out of focus.)

Here is the article if you want to try it yourself. http://unskinnyboppy.blogspot.com/2010/12/taking-pics-of-tree.html

More picture play

2011-12-06T22:42:00.001-05:00

Here are some more pictures I really loved taking and adding some words to. Some I posted before but changed the fonts/words.

For a better view you can probably click on the image to enlarge it.

America Unit

2011-12-05T15:22:00.001-05:00

Well I am way behind on posting about what we have been doing in school.

We took a week off over the Thanksgiving Holiday in order to travel to Texas and visit with family.

We are now on week 4 of "From Every Mountainside".

We are reading "The Story of Sacawejea".

The kids did a report on Thomas Jefferson, we are continuing adding states to our states notebook. Today we added in North Carolina -the 12 state to join the union. We are continuing our geography terms notebook. We have added rivers, continental divide, cliff, mountain range.

In Math Lexi is working on simple division.

Peyton is still working on fractions and is in Book 2 of Key to Fractions.

He is also coming along well in Latin and is on his last lessons in book 2 of Latin. (Next semester he should begin Latin Book 3.)

They are both continuing Language Lessons.

In science we are learning the anatomy of the flower.

Upward Basketball practice has begun and they practice one hour each week. The kids are enjoying it.

Here is a picture of the kids with Dixie taken last night at Bass Pro Shops

Playing with Pictures

2011-12-05T14:08:00.001-05:00

I have really been wanting to get better at photography. Now that dh got me a new camera. (I am hoping for the zoom lens for Christmas.)

Here are some pics I have taken, and added scripture to. I think I will continue to take my favorites and eventually create a calendar. They are all of places we have been hear near our home in Tennessee. I also want to learn how to soften waterfalls etc.

This was taken at Bald River Falls

Taken in my front yard.

Taken at Elkmont on Chataloochee Mountain

Bleeding hearts that bloom in my back garden every spring.

Our yard in winter.

At the Aquarium

Pigeon Forge-at the women's retreat

Taken at Clingmans Dome

Bald River Falls

Snowball bush in my yard.

Carver's Apple Orchard

Bald River Falls

My azaelas.

A nearby Park

Texas Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T23:02:00.001-05:00

We went to Texas for Thanksgiving to visit with family and friends. We really enjoyed our visit. The weather was mild, not too hot, not too cold. We ate way too much. (This week we are on diets, trying to shed the extra pounds we put on.) LOL

Jessica, my stepdaughter and her husband Kyle. (They are expecting in late January) She looks great!

Arielle, and Jaden (Peyton and Lexi's 2nd cousin)

Peyton and Tyler (another 2nd cousin) playing video games.

Gary's sister, Sandy

Sandy's dog, Gigi.

Lexi with my 2nd cousins (John Paul's girls) which makes the girls 3rd cousins.

Playing Hand and Foot

My great Aunt Ella and the kids. We played Hand and Foot with her too. Ella and I beat Mom and Gary 2 times, they won once.

My mom and her cousin Glenn, who is also my 2nd cousin and the kids 3rd cousin.

At Uncle Jerry and Aunt Lanna's house. Roasting Weenies, watching movies on the big screen projector outside.

Tina and her children. Tina is the kids cousin and her children are their 2nd cousins.

(Tara, Philip and Alexis.)

Peyton and Lexi with Jaden and Austin (2nd cousins)

Gary and I took mom and Ella to eat at our favorite taco place-Amayas. We were happy to see they have moved into a much nicer, bigger place now.

Bearvo

2011-11-29T10:13:00.001-05:00

I made this stuffed bear a couple weeks ago. It was a gift for my stepdaughter, Jessica, she is due in late January. It was my first attempt at a stuffed animal. We named him Bearvo. (After the mascot-Beevo.) LOL I also put a rattle in it. So it rattles when you shake it.

Here she is at the shower receiving it.

My Buddy

2011-11-12T16:42:00.004-05:00

This week we had to put our schnauzer, Buddy, to sleep. He was 13 1/2. It was hard to do. He was very special to me. My husband got him for me after a miscarriage, and he became my comfort. a year later I experience another miscarriage-losing a twin pregnancy. I was heartbroken. Buddy was like a baby to me then.

Two years later God blessed us with our son, Peyton. He was born on the same day as Buddy exactly two years later. (It was like God was saying I gave you Buddy until Peyton came along. )

Buddy loved car rides, and to go fishing with us. He loved to swim and would often jump out of the boat to cool off. He used to love to play ball when he was young. I will miss him dearly. We have all shed tears this week, he is missed here at home. I thank God, though for the gift of Buddy. If dogs do get to go to heaven, I know Buddy will be there.

He was a great companion and friend.

Lexi's Bday Digi Scrap page

2011-11-08T17:53:00.001-05:00

So I really like playing around with Digital Scrapbooking. This free page layout came from the Shabby Princess.

http://www.shabbyprincess.com/InTheGrooveAlbum.asp

Wednesday Freebies

2011-11-07T21:06:00.005-05:00

Here is a preview of this weeks Freebies with pages I made from them.

Here they are:

Here is the link to this freebie.

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_1

Freebie pack http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_3

Don't forget you can save $10.00 on My Memories Suite using my code STMMMS55432 .

Lexi's Luau Birthday

2011-11-07T20:56:00.002-05:00

This year Lexi turned 10. She wanted a swimming party, so we thought a Luau theme would be cute.

I had them write Happy Birthday in Hawaiin on the cake and also use the Hawaiin version of her name.

Each girl got a Lei and a hair flower.

We had pizza, juice and then 1 1/2 hours of swim time in the indoor pool.

Libby gave her doll Clothes for Kanani (the Hawaiin American girl she got from us.)

It was a pretty lime green dress, undies and green shoes.

Courtney got her a shadow box kit.

Ansley got her an Easy Bake kit.

Reagan got her a pretty little baby. She already named her Arabella, and calls her Abby for short.

Alexa got her a Loom kit with some yarn. She has already started on knitting a hat for Kanani.

Fall Photo Shoot by the Lake

2011-11-07T20:42:00.001-05:00

We recently had a playdate at a nearby park at the lake. It was a beautiful fall day. I can't really decide which is my favorite, but I am leaning toward the first one. (The back to back pose.)

It was really fun catching all the pictures. I can't wait to add them to our scrapbooks.

4H -November

2011-11-07T20:28:00.001-05:00

Posters were due for our regular monthly meeting. This is Lexi's poster.

This is Peyton's poster. Since the kids are not much on drawing, or at least they don't feel talented in drawing, they did it sort of scrapbook style. Adding word art, and clip art. Lexi used heart punches to make the shamrocks.

Our 4H group also has a history sub group called Time Travelers. We are learning about Tennessee History and our family histories. So this month's assignment was to do an interpretive speech of a famous Tennesseean.

Libby, one of our friends, was Dolly Parton. She was so cute.

Tommy was Jack Hanna.

Lexi was Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. This was her first ever public speech, and she did very well with just having a note card to go by.

Peyton was Mack Brown. Peyton did good too, he did it interview style, so I asked questions and he answered them.

Weekly Wrap Up-End of First Unit, Beginning 2nd Unit

2011-11-07T20:11:00.001-05:00

This week we used for review. We finished up "A Cabin Faced West". We also finished up "The Light and the Glory for Children."

Since 4H took our day Friday, I decided to begin our new unit early. So we began our 2nd book "From Every Mountainside."

We began reading "Ben and Me." We will be reading "From Sea to Shining Sea for Children."

During this 11 week study we will begin making a presidents notebook and also a states notebook. We will be documenting what we are learning about each as we read about them in history.

In 4H the kids had posters due this week.

Purse

2011-11-03T19:51:00.001-04:00

I made this purse the other day at our Hobby Hall craft time.

Here is the link to the purse and pattern.

http://www.mesewcrazy.com/2011/06/knot-tote-tutorial.html

I think it is really cute, I just wish I had made it about 3 x that size.

Kids Sunday Photo Shoot

2011-10-30T22:51:00.001-04:00

I took some family photos for some friends today. After editing and helping the colors out, they really turned out well. So I snapped some of my kids as well.

This is the same image. I just edited it to make close ups of the other images.

I need to learn how to get the glasses glare edited out. I get this a lot when I shoot people with glasses.

Fall RR Tracks Photo Shoot

2011-10-30T22:11:00.001-04:00

These were some pictures I took the other day at a local RR crossing.I also created my own watermark.

Hopefully I can figure out an easier way to get it on, without having to do it manually on each photo.

Fall photo shoot

2011-10-30T21:10:00.001-04:00

Saturday was a beautiful day here, so I took the opportunity to snap some pics of the kids during the fall changes.

At a nearby park.

Trees in my backyard.

The view from my den/kitchen.

The view from my deck.

View of the lake.

Fall foliage with lake in the background.

Towering Trees.

Weekly Wrap Up Week 10

2011-10-28T17:58:00.002-04:00

We have had a busy week this week.

We began the week with 4H Time Traveler Activities.

(This is a group where we learn about history and different things like that.)

We learned about all different types of apples.

Then in the afternoon we took a walking tour of a nearby town.

That is where I captured this picture and decided to digi scrap it.

(This is using free elements from Shabby Princess.)

History:

We began reading A Cabin Faced West and read chapters 1-5 this week. We finished chapter 14 of The Light and the Glory for Children. This is our last regular week. Next week will be a review week to review the previous 1 weeks.

Math:

Peyton is almost finished with Key to Fractions Book 2.

Lexi is managing in MUS Gamma on Lesson 25.

Latin:

Peyton finished his second quiz on Latin book 2 and scored 100.

Fall Work

2011-10-25T20:28:00.005-04:00

Well there are so many things I love about Fall, but raking is not one of them.

The Fall colors have changed so fast this year, and the leaves have fallen really quick too.

They fell so fast that the mower just got bogged down. So we had to rake some up just to mow.

The yard behind is after we already did the other half of the yard. Our front yard was literally littered in deep leaves.

Wednesday Freebies

2011-10-25T08:57:00.007-04:00

Here are a couple pages I made with the 2 Freebies you can get this week.

Here is this Wednesday's Freebie. 2 Digital scrapages already made.

Freebie download 1.

Freebie Download 2

Don't forget you can save $10.00 off of My Memories Suite Software using my code.

STMMMS55432

My Memories Suite Album

2011-10-21T11:44:00.003-04:00

Shawna at Womack Bunch was the winner of the free copy of My Memories Suite. She just made her first album with it. You can view it here.

Here is her first page. Go check out the whole album.

Gary's Birthday

2011-10-19T12:19:00.001-04:00

Gary turned 50 this week. For his birthday he went fishing with Ott Defoe. He had a great day on the lake with him.

Last night I made Baked Spaghetti and we got him a Tropical Pineapple Cake.

Fall Foilage

2011-10-14T14:33:00.001-04:00

Our yard has been quickly showing colors of fall. Over the last 2 weeks many trees have changed. This week many trees are dumping leaves like crazy. So I wanted to snap some shots before they all fall to the ground.

Week 9 Homeschool Reca

2011-10-14T14:15:00.001-04:00

This is the 9th week in our America Unit Study. Here are things we have accomplished.

We finished reading "Johnny Tremain", and we also watched the movie.

We finished reading "The Matchlock Gun", we also watched Felicity (An American Girl), since it was the same time period. 1775.

We are also reading " King George What Was His Problem? The Whole Hilarious Story of the American Revolution."

In Science:

We drew Zooplankton, Phytoplankton, Nekton and Benthos. (We also defined them-where they live and how they act.)

In Independent studies:

Peyton completed :

Lessons 20-25 in Key To Fractions Book 2

Latin Book 2 Lessons 9-13

Queens Language Lessons 26-30

He also aced his spelling pre-test!

Lexi completed:

Lesson 7 Funtastic Spelling and aced her pre-test!

She worked on Multiplication skills, took lesson 23 test in MUS and began lesson 24.

Queens LL-Lessons 26-30

The next two weeks we will be on fall break, but the kids will continue LA and Math, and Peyton will continue Latin. (That should only take about 30-45 minutes per day.)

I am looking forward to getting some fall cleaning done. (Curtains all washed, carpets cleaned, basement cleaned, and hopefully some much needed yard work done.) Dh is taking off the first week too.

Family Page

2011-10-12T14:13:00.003-04:00

Elements used in this layout came from the ShabbyPrincess. This is the Moody Blue QuickPage. The glass dots, journal tag and flower came from Carrie Stephens Spontaneous Delight. Again these are freebies you can download and add to the program.

The Winner is......

2011-10-12T12:21:00.004-04:00

I just had a drawing for the My Memories Suite Software giveaway.

The Winner Is......Womack Bunch!

Those of you that didn't win, that is okay. You can still get the software for $10.00 off,with my discount code. By using this code at MyMemories.com, you can save $10 off My Memories Suite (you get it for $29.95 instead of $39.95) AND you also get a $10 gift certificate to use in their online store!

Simply go tohttp://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software and use STMMMS55432 in the promo code box on the shopping cart page!

An added bonus if you purchase by next Wednesday you can get the added Freebie shown here.

You can download it here free after purchase.

I will also be offering different freebies each week,

so check back for more each Wednesday.

You've Been Framed Challenge

2011-10-10T17:34:00.004-04:00

I entered my first challenge at My Memories Blog I just began digi scrapping. So I haven't really made many designs yet.

I designed this page today, just playing around with my new My Memories Suite Software. The people at My Memories have allowed me the opportunity to give away 1 free download. You can check it out and enter here.

I downloaded the Free Plentiful Collection at ShabbyPrincess.com. I used some of the elements shown here. I love that you can grab free digital pages and embellishments and add them into the program easily.

4H Birdhouse

2011-10-07T16:58:00.001-04:00

This was Dd's first birdhouse. She made it for 4H. The only thing we really helped with was cutting the hole in the milk carton.

First she spray painted the carton black.

She gather twigs and then cut them the same size with pruning shears.

After she had cut 100 sticks she began to hot glue them onto the carton.

We cut a little flap at the bottom so it could easily be opened and cleaned. She just put a rubber band around the bottom to hold it closed.

She put a little bird sticker on the top. Dad helped her run the down through the top, where we will attach a string to hang it.

Then she glued on some moss.

We entered it in our club contest today under recycled materials, and she won a purple ribbon for 1st place. She was very happy!

I plan to hang it on our deck!

Homeschool Update

2011-10-05T20:44:00.004-04:00

I forgot to update last week.

So this is just a generalization of what we have been covering. This is considered week 8 in our first unit study series this year. (We have 2 more weeks, and then 1 for review.)

In Science we are learning about Plankton (Zooplankton and Phytoplankton), also about Nekton and Bethos. (Groups of animals.)

We have been reading a chapter a day of Johnny Tremain. (These are long chapters, so I was really glad to get the audio version today from the library.) We are also reading The Matchlock Gun, we have read that before a couple years ago, but Lexi really doesn't remember it well. Her daily work is usually centered around this book, while Peyton's is centered around Johnny Tremain. We read about Johnny helping throw tea overboard during the Boston Tea party.

We are also reading through The Light and the Glory for Children today we finished up chapter 11-No King But King Jesus.

The kids are reviewing for Jr. Bible Quiz this week. They have really been doing well. Unfortunately they will have to miss the first meet which is this coming Saturday morning. They both have morning Football games and it is Homecoming week.

In History we have been adding to our Colonial Booklet-we added in occupations, and money.

In Math Peyton has been working on simplifying fractions (review) in Key to Fractions book 2. Lexi has been working on addition review this week, tomorrow she will review multiplication.

My Memories Suite 2 -Review and Free Giveaway

2011-10-04T15:52:00.014-04:00

Over the past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to try out My Memories Suite scrapbook software. There is so much to say about this program I really don't know where to start. The first few minutes I tried the program out I was able to make this layout below. It is what I have chosen for my blog topper. I was able to make this in just a few minutes, playing around without any tutorials etc. The picture layout was taken from a collage inside the program I just chose the color of background paper I wanted and added in some embellishments (The clothes pins and brads.)

Here below is a digital album I made. This is one of the many pre-designed albums within the program. (There are many others online free, and some that you can purchase as well.)

You can choose fast fill or fill the pictures one at a time. (Which is what I did.) If you have a theme album like a vacation this is a great fast way to create an album and just add in your journaling.

Another great thing is that I could customize the colors in the album to match my theme which is Red and Navy. If you look at the last picture in the series you can see all the original colors in this album. I just changed the circles and mats to the colors of my choice.

This is what the page looked like before I changed the colors. You can move any of the circles, make them larger or smaller or delete them if there are too many on a page for your liking. You can add a text box and even additional embellishments from the program if you choose to do so.

Sharing this with you was simple. I just clicked share in the program and export as JPEG. I chose the pages I wanted to do that to and it automatically converted all these pages to jpegs so I could upload them here to view.

Another thing I really like is the collages you can make and print with this program. I still like to scrapbook traditionally and this doesn't take away from that choice, it enhances it. I can print out a page 8 1/2 x 11, and then add that to my scrapbook pages and embellish it as I wish. So after making these collages, I can print them, add them to a 12x12 page and embellish further if I wish. Being able to print them myself saves on time, and ink costs. Plus I don't have to try to position each 4x6 photo on a page. This re-sizes them for me.

In the program itself you can also edit the pictures. You can remove red eye, crop, reorient the picture, zoom the picture, change it to b&W, sepia, or another tone. There are many different options within the photo editing element of the program.

The one thing I have not yet tried that I am really anxious to try is adding in the video portion to the digital album. Lexi has some great cheers that would really be cool to be able to click on the picture and then see the actual cheer. It would also be neat to see some footage of Peyton's game within an album. So that will probably be one of the next things I attempt to do.

Just a couple other things I really felt were great about this program is the wonderful online helps. There are many Youtube tutorials, and the program has within itself a great step by step- how to section. These are things I plan to visit soon, so I can expand my knowledge of all this program can do.

Along with getting to try out the software myself, I am also excited about the opportunity I have to give away one downloadable version of My Memories Suite 2.0 to one lucky person. This is a $39.97 value that you can win for free! You can come back next Wednesday to see who won. (And if you don't win, but decide you want to purchase the program, you can come back and get a code from me that will give you $10.00 off the price of purchase.!)

Here is a great video that will tell you all about the program and the benefits it will give you.

And even for my friends that still love to traditionally scrapbook with scissors and glue-you need to see this too!

If you would like to enter to win:

1. Go to the www.MyMemories.com.

2. Pick out your favorite digital paper pack or layout. At the top you can choose under free kits or new kits and choose from either one.

3. Then comment on my blog telling me which one you chose. Don't forget to leave me a way to get in touch with you.

I will draw one lucky winner next Wednesday October 12.

For other information, coupons etc, you can visit these other My Memories Suite sites.

Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/

Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/mymemoriessuite?ref=ts
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite

Roof over Back Deck

2011-09-29T13:27:00.001-04:00

We had to replace our roof over the house due to wind and hail damage. So we thought this would be a good time to go ahead and add a roof over our back deck.

I love it. We still have to paint/stain it all, but I am already enjoying it. This morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the deck while watching the birds, squirrels and bunnies. I am really surprised at how much bigger it feels.

The kids, this morning drinking hot chocolate. It was still a little chilly this morning.

By 11 AM it was very nice and we went out on the deck to do our reading. It was really nice.

Weekly Wrap Up

2011-09-23T14:16:00.001-04:00

This week we had roofers working at our house. So we have had to try to do school around a lot more noise than usual. I am very happy though that they are here. A friend referred this company and I am really happy with them.

We are getting new shingles (due to wind and hail damage.) So while we were at it, we figured this would be a good time to add a roof over our deck. (I wanted a metal roof, Gary wanted the architectural shingles-so we compromised. We got shingles on the house and we are adding a metal roof to the deck.

This is the view from downstairs. The deck is over the walk out basement.

The white that you see on the deck is primer. The paint job we had done last year, peeled, so we now have part of the deck painted with a primer. When we get the roof on we will get the rest painted with primer, and then will paint it in the spring.

In our Home schooling, this week we finished week 6 in our America Unit Study. Here are some of the things we learned.

Science:

We learned about glaciers and added them to our geography notebooks.

For Geography we also learned the terms: cave, and palisade and added those to our notebooks.

Peyton read The Light in the Forest-he finished up the book today and wrote a report on it. Lexi read and finished The Courage of Sarah Noble and wrote a report on it. They are listening to Sign of the Beaver on Audio.

Today we began Johnny Tremain. Peyton will begin Hostage on the Nighthawk (which was put on hold because he started the other book.) Lexi will begin Kaya.

In Language Arts, Peyton wrote another Limmerick, we studied prepositions and figurative speech. We added information and examples of figurative language to our Grammar rules and definitions notebook.

We also began Poetry notebooks:

We copied a poem and Lexi even illustrated hers.

For History we learned about life in the 1700's, about white and Indian relationships, about prejudice. Today we began a colonial life notebook. Where we cut and pasted some pictures of clothing worn then.

For Bible we have been learning about the children of Israel and they are getting ready to enter the promised land. We are learning about Joshua in More Dangerous Devotions.

Math-Lexi is on 2 digit multiplication with regrouping, and Peyton is in book 2 of Key To Fractions.

I am also in a Bible study on Wednesday nights :Beth Moore- Here and Now, There and Then (Revelation study.)

Birthday Flip Flop Invitations

2011-09-23T13:50:00.001-04:00

I made this during one of our recent Hobby Times. They are invitations for Lexi's upcoming Birthday-(Pool) party.

They open up and the details are inside.

Football and Cheer Pics

2011-09-17T15:31:00.001-04:00

Today we had team pictures. I ordered one of each of the kids team pictures. I was also able to capture some of my own shots.

Week 6 America Study

2011-09-16T14:53:00.003-04:00

This week we began with a field trip to Rocky Mount where we learned much about the 1700's in America.

In Science we learned that surface currents are caused by winds and tides, and deep ocean currents are caused by the changes in water temperature from the poles to the equator and back, and also by the amount of salt in the ocean.

For History and Reading/Literature -Peyton is reading "The Light in the Forest."

Lexi is reading "The Courage of Sarah Noble."

We are listening to "The Sign of the Beaver" on audio. These books focus on Indian-white settler relations.

In Language Arts, Peyton had to finish a limerick and then also write one of his own.

This one he had to finish: The first line was supplied, the words in italics are what he added.

There was a small lady from Trent,

who got in her door a small dent,

when she stooped down to look,

she fell down and shook,

and when she awoke it was lent.

Here is the limerick he wrote by himself-with a little help from me in finding rhyming words.

There once was a boy who had brains,

Who went out to play in the rain,

Then along came a truck,

That splashed him with muck,

But it all got rinsed down the drain.

He has also been working on capitalization rules, and finding errors in text.

Lexi has been copying a poem "These are the Days When Birds Come Back" by Emily Dickenson

Together in our unit study we are working on identifying prepositions, and reviewing nouns, verbs, and articles.

Lexi finished up her modern cursive book this week. So she will be starting another one that I did not make Peyton finish. I gave him the option to complete his LA work in cursive instead if he did not want to do additional copywork.

In math Peyton is working on Book 2 Key To Fractions. (Multiplying and Dividing Fractions.) Lexi has been working on 2 and 3 digit multiplication by 1 digit. She has been having a rough time. Sometimes she multiplies wrong, other times she carries incorrectly. (Carrying the wrong number, and also adding in the carry incorrectly.) So I can tell we will be spending time here.

In Bible they are both memorizing their portions daily for Junior Bible Quiz. They are quizzed on questions of bible knowledge, they also have to memorize scriptures, and learn what the books of the bible are about. They have a schedule daily M-F of which questions they need to go over and learn the answers to. Then on Sundays they practice Bible Drill at church.

Peyton is continuing his Latin and has completed over 1/2 of level 1. (So maybe he will manage to get in all 3 levels this year.)

On Wednesday, we took a day off to go to DollyWood with friends. We had a great time, there were very few people and hardly any children on rides since school is back in. So us homeschoolers had the place almost to ourselves. No lines for any ride.

The shooting Star

Adventure Mountain

Bumper Cars

Football and Cheer Game 2

2011-09-15T10:01:00.001-04:00

Lexi's cheer squad waiting for the Super Grass Cutters to run through onto the field. She is in the row facing me-she is standing beside the coach.

On the sidelines cheering during the game. Front row, 3rd from left.

Close up of her yell!

On the field at halftime doing their cheer routine.

Peyton before the game.

#18, he fell down after a block. He also got to carry the ball 13 yards for a first down -on the second play of the game. Which I missed because I was helping the cheerleaders change clothes after their game.

Lined up -far left.

Peyton makes a block and keeps this guy from getting the ball.

another block on another play!

He had fun, had a great game and they won against the Raiders 19-13.