Some of my favorite animal pics

I realized today that I haven't written anything in a while. Turns out I'm not such a good blogger after all. Our life has been boring this last week so I thought I would just post some of my favorite animal pictures.Whiskey giving his baby loves. He has OCD with this "baby".

One of the deer in our yard. Sometimes we get lucky and they bring the baby deer with them.

Scottish Highland Cow. Is this not the cutest ugly cow you've ever seen?

What can I say about this one?

My favorite one of all. My small, red ball of fur. Awww...isn't he adorable?

Monday Morning School

Monday morning...start of school. In her pajamas reading a book with the t.v. remote beside her. "Morgan, can you please start your school work? You actually have to do some today you know." "I know mom. Look"

At least she's reading. And the Anne of Green Gables series is one of my favorite series of books. Plus it has to have something educational in there, doesn't it? If not, at least she's reading.

Oh no, here we go again. "Cerah what are you doing on the computer? You have to do some school work today you know." "I am mom. Look"

Yay. Her least favorite subject and she's getting it done first. And if she's doing it on the computer instead of writing it out so that she can switch back and forth to her online book she's reading that's o.k. At least she's reading.

All is not lost. Our loot from the library!

See, while on the computer Cerah decided to check out halloween outfits. She found a Queen Elizabeth costume which led her to ask me who Queen Elizabeth was. This in turn led to a 30 minute discussion on the various queens throughout England's history. After explaining that there were just a few actual queens who ruled and the rest were wives of kings we ended up talking about Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. If you don't know who they are Isabella and Ferdinand ruled Spain jointly during the time of the Spanish Crusades. Isabella actually ruled Spain while Ferdinand was the King Consort. Ferdinand was also the king of Aragon and the two were responsible for uniting Spain after many, many years of fighting between the many small factions that ruled their own little areas. Anyway, we talked about Isabella and Ferdinand in order to explain who Catherine of Aragon was. Cerah wanted to know why she was more well known than some of the other queens of England who were married to kings and not actually the rulers of their country. Catherine of Aragon was one of Isabella and Ferdinand's daughters who was betrothed to Prince Arthur of England, married for a short time and then widowed. She was then promised to Arthur's younger brother Prince Henry who became King Henry VIII. Anyway, she is mentioned more often in history because she was the first queen ever divorced in English history. Bet you didn't know you were getting a history lesson today did you? So, a browse through halloween costumes turns into a teaching moment and a new interest in King Henry VIII and his many wives for Cerah. Pretty productive surfing time don't you think? And Morgan's interest in Anne of Green Gables led to her interest in Anne Frank. I had given her my Anne of Green Gables book and told her it was one of my favorite books. She liked it so much she wanted to know what else I used to read so then I named a few of them including Anne Frank's Diary. Of course she then wanted to know who Anne Frank was and then what the Holocaust was and so her interest in that era was ignited. Off to the library we went and, well, you saw what the result was. A book on King Henry VIII; two books about the holocaust; and two videos about concentration camps. I think we're doing o.k with this homeschooling thing after all.

Hair Betrayal

My hair has betrayed me this weekend. I was not feeling well over the last few days so I took it easy and lazed around the house all weekend. This morning I woke up feeling better so the girls and I decided to go to the library. On our way I happened to look in the rearview mirror just as the sun came out from behind a cloud and gasp, I saw a gray hair. I completely freaked out! Morgan, in the way only a ten year old girl could, said "but mom, that doesn't mean your old". She is now my favorite again. When we stopped at the library the girls wanted to see for themselves this gray hair that had reduced me to a blubbering mess. So I showed them, bless their little hearts. Cerah promptly informed me that it was actually more white than gray. Morgan then proceeded to tell me that not only did I have one gray hair, I had three. I went from having none to three in the space of three days.
Now I know this does not seem like a big deal but I really like my hair. Just the way it is, or was before the traitors showed up. It's my favorite part of myself. It's different. I love being able to tell people that no I don't highlight it, frost it, or color it. It just naturally looks the way it does. I am not vain. I am just very attached to the color of my hair. I have threatened to send it to the chopping block if it does not stop this foolish march toward Graysville. I am willing to pluck out the traitors and use them as an example to the others. I think I would have made a very fair queen.

Apple Picking part 2

Hey, I know you have the food!

Thank you. Yum

I want a baby cow. A black and white one so I can have chocolate milk any time I want.

2008 Ford truck that survived it's first Michigan winter

This poor guy wasn't as lucky. Can you imagine the conversation in that house before he went out to the bathroom? "Hey, guys, I need to use the privvy. If I'm not back in an hour come out with the fire and unstick me." I guess they forgot.

It really was a fun day. We love going to the orchards around here and picking fresh fruit. Now we have to go back to pick our pumpkin. I hope we get fresh cider and donuts again.

Apple Picking part 1

I had to trick the girls this morning. I admit it, I will occasionally bribe them or trick them if I need to. I know, I know, I am probably damaging them for life. Apparently you are supposed to be able to just reason with your children and all will be well. There will be nothing but harmony in the home and everyone gets along great. I think they forgot to stop at my house when they were doing this study. So, yes, I will resort to bribery and trickery. And this morning I had to. You see, I decided that it would be fun for them to go apple picking with one of our homeschool groups. The girls don't like to do anything with any of the groups. They are not friendly kids (nice yes, friendly no). I think they get that from me. I will talk to someone if they talk first but I won't start a conversation. Cerah and Morgan are like that too. So I didn't tell them we were going as a group. I just asked them if they wanted to go apple picking which they readily agreed to. Anything to get out of the house and away from school work is good with them. When we arrived and they realized that there were more kids there I got the evil eye(s) but since we were already there they decided to make the best of it. Somehow I knew that would happen. Here's our day:

You can't talk about the orchard without showing a picture of the sign. It's just not done.

Everybody got a bag for their apples and we were allowed 5 apples each. No, this picture's not staged - really. Doesn't everyone stand sideways and smile when they're picking apples?

Here's our transportation out to the orchards. Everyone should ride on a tractor pulled hay wagon at least once.

After lunch (which I have pictures of but the girls won't let me show due to full mouths and surprised faces) we went to the play area and farm animals for some fun.

Jumpin' off the hay bales!

Home Improvement - budget style

A couple months ago Morgan decided she didn't want to share a room anymore so we talked Hannah into moving into the guest bedroom upstairs. That lasted about a week or so until Hannah decided she didn't like the room upstairs and wanted to be downstairs again. But now the only place to sleep was on the floor as we had already moved her bed. Of course, this didn't stop Hannah at all. To solve the problem she simply put her beanbag right next to Morgan's and slept on them.

Morgan, however, does not like this arrangement. So I decided that maybe if we redecorated Hannah's room she would like it better. Cerah, Morgan, and I spent three days while Hannah was at school getting everything ready. I shopped at thrift stores, bought the do it yourself stuff from craft stores, and only bought new what I couldn't find used. And I recruited Rob to make a couple shelves for me that were $10 each at the store and had to be finished. He made them for $2 each and look even better than store bought.

Hannah's room before

The two pictures are thrift store finds that we repainted and the picture frame was a do it yourself from the craft store.

This is the wood that Rob started with

And this is what I got!

It's not quite done yet. We have to repaint part of the room by the windows and then put up the curtains. Stay tuned for the final reveal!!

Back to school

Hannah decided this year that she wanted to go back to regular school. Of course, she decided this the same day that school started. We really don't like the school that our neighborhood is assigned to so we decided to try and get her into one that is right down the street instead of the one she is supposed to go to. In order to do this we had to go to her home school and have the principal sign a transfer request, take that request and get it signed by the principal of the school that we wanted her to go to, and then take that down to the main administrative office (which happens to be 15 miles from where we live). We got permission the same afternoon we took the paper to administration so we went to the school so Hannah could meet her teacher and be a little familiar with the school.

The other two say "no way" to going back to school. But, they did find that they missed Hannah while she is at school so they decided to make a special snack to surprise her when she got home. They got out their cookbooks, picked out a sugar cookie recipe, and made these from scratch. Hmm, let's see.....that's reading, math, and home ec crossed off the list for the day and they were just having fun. I love our school! While I went to pick up Hannah they prepared the snack.

Do you think she liked her surprise? She even got to invite her friend from across the street over to join her. Unfortunately for Cerah and Morgan it was back to work for them.

They do look like they're having fun though, don't they?

Chocolate Covered Peaches

We went to the Romeo Peach Festival this weekend. It is a 5 day festival that goes on every Labor Day Weekend. The first year we went surprised us - we didn't think it was going to be a big event. Turns out we were wrong. Every year thousands of people converge on Romeo to enjoy the festival. There are vendors, crafters, businesses, carnival rides, parades, bed races, car shows, car cruises, kids day, and lots of food. The oddest food we have seen so far is chocolate covered peaches. I love chocolate...in fact I live for chocolate but I just could not bring myself to try a chocolate covered peach. Maybe next year.

Can you guess Rob's favorite part of the weekend? Yep, it's the car show


Bed races down main street. Only in a small town! They sure were fun to watch though

Classic car cruise.

I love watching these even more than going to the car show. I like seeing the owners in their cars and imaging the story that goes with them. What tales we would hear if we only asked.

Romeo Peach Queen and runner up.

The Peach Queen has to be a young woman who lives in Romeo.

Our trip to Mackinac Island

View of Mackinac Island from the ferry boat

Wow, are we really that far up?

Arch Rock - a natural rock formation on the top of the island that looks down on the water.

The girls and my niece posing for a typical "see where we are" sign

Back on the boat after a long, tiring but enjoyable day

In July we decided to take a trip to Mackinac Island with my parents and my niece. When I heard about the island it just seemed like the kind of place I had to go check out. There are NO automobiles of any kind allowed on it. When you want to go somewhere on the island you either ride your bike or walk. If you have to move something a horse and cart is used. How neat, I thought, to be able to spend a day in fresh, pure air not tainted by exhaust fumes.

The only way to get to the island is by ferry boat or airplane. We decided that since we wanted to have money for shopping the ferry was our best option. It was the perfect day out, sunny but not hot. The sky was blue, there was no wind and best of all, no rain. We had been having rain all week prior to our trip and even went through some on our way to the ferry. Once we paid and were on our way we started taking pictures of the island in the distance and as we came up to it. On first sight of it I just knew it was going to be a fun, relaxing day. That feeling lasted right up until we got off the ferry and actually saw the island up close. Yes, it was beautiful just like I had been told. Yes, there were lots and lots of shops to go explore. And yes, there were lots and lots of people. In fact there were people everywhere - on bikes, riding in carriages, walking on the sidewalks and even in the street. Hmm, I don't know why I thought it wouldn't be crowded in the middle of summer with it being the number one tourist destination in Michigan.

Well, nothing to do but begin our exploration. So off we went only to discover that once you get past the first street on the water where all the shops are the rest of the streets are all situated on hills. Very, very steep hills. We decided that maybe the best way to see the island was not on foot as we had originally planned but by horse drawn carriage. We found the ticket booth for the tours and asked how much they were. After hearing the price we decided to go back to plan A and walk as much of it as we could. I am not sure how many miles (yes, miles) we walked that day but I will say that walking in fresh, pure air does not stop the huffing and puffing that begins to occur about halfway up the first hill. In my defense, did I mention the hills were steep? We did see a lot of really neat things though. We were able to see the fort that was stationed on top of the island. Arch rock, a natural rock formation in the shape of an arch, was interesting. The best part for me was the view looking down at the town and the water from the top.

By the end of the day we were all exhausted and looking forward to getting back on the ferry boat. We will go see it again but this time we are renting a room right on the island and bringing enough money to see the island in luxury - from the back of a horse.

Why blog?

Dad showing Cerah where to drill the hole so the whistle makes noise
Morgan making her whistle while Dad stays close!

Dad and Hannah working on her whistle

Last weekend Robbie decided that he wanted to make a whistle. Off he went to the garage and for the next hour I neither saw nor heard him. Pretty soon he comes in the house to show me this whistle that he had made out of some wood scraps he had. The girls, of course, thought that it was the coolest thing they had ever seen and decided they each had to have one. So off to the garage he went again, but this time with three girls in tow. A few minutes later I went out to see what they were doing. They were all standing around one of the woodshop tools listening as their dad showed them what they needed to do. I quickly rushed back into the house to grab my camera so I could capture the moment and send it out in an email to the people I knew would want to see it. It struck me then that having a blog, which I had been thinking about for quite some time, would be an easier way to record and share the many moments of our life that our family and friends are missing. And so our family blog has been started. I hope you enjoy it.