Ponderings

How can it be November? It is hard to believe we are almost through 2009!

We are preparing for our trip to see the Camaratas for Nate and then to Florida for a couple of days. We can't wait, although I am deep in the making-multiple-list modes. We are very excited to meet with the Camaratas again and get information from them on how to help Nate communicate more and more and how to help him learn. They are amazing people who have such a heart for kids, especially late talkers (guess it helps that they have seven kids and Dr. C was a late talker too, as was one of their sons). Anyhow, we'll have the van loaded to the gills and will be putting lots of miles on in a few days. We can't wait to bake a little in the Florida sun, and Nate and Ellie have been talking about Mickey Mouse for weeks.

I've learned one thing about blogging. I would love to put together long posts with lots of neat pictures. In reality, I end up starting a post, having it auto-save, and finishing it off in a couple of weeks (or months). I've decided I need to just post when I can, sometimes only a quick picture or note.

So, this will be a quick post as I really should be focusing on my big stack of need-to-do-before-we-go lists.

I finished up an online class on using copywork and dictation for language arts. It was a month long class, and I learned so much. The class really helped me feel comfortable using copywork and dictation as the main source of all our language arts needs. I would much rather use passages from the wonderful books we read to work on grammar, vocabulary, spelling, etc. than a dull, boring workbook. The class had many great ideas which I tried out on the kids. I really enjoyed the class.

We had a very special visitor to our home. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do much in the way of preparation as we didn't know the visitor would be coming.

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Thankfully, he was able to help himself to something to drink----

Yes, folks, that is a skunk drinking out of the water bowl our cats use. Yikes! Bill spotted Stinky and called all the kids over to watch (and snapped the picture). Nate and Ellie were running around the house yelling "Stinky". The next night, we had a raccoon peeking through a window watching us.

Stinky decided to check out what we were offering the cats another night. Bill and the older three kids were at karate, and when they got home, Jack ran up to the door. It was dark outside and for some reason, our yard light wasn't on. Jack got closer to the door and realized that the black creature he saw wasn't our cat Estherme, but STINKY! Jack ran back to the car, and Stinky left a little bit of himself behind. Oh yes, he sprayed the deck! The unique odor quickly penetrated our house (these 100+ year old farmhouses aren't sealed incredibly tight). Bill got the job of cleaning up the "skunk oil". It was only a spot about the size of two quarters, but boy, did it give off an aroma. Even the bedrooms upstairs had a nice skunk smell when we all tucked ourselves in that night.

We closed the restaurant as soon as the sun started to set, and we haven't seen (or smelled) Stinky since!

Parts and Pieces of Our Fall of 2009

We went on a "night walk" at Grandma and Papa's farm. The kids love doing this! We didn't see any wildlife (hmmm, wonder why---maybe the noise level:)), but we sure had fun! The kids can't wait to go in the snow.

Then we had a campfire and enjoyed the night!

The older kids decided to sleep out on the trampoline one night. They are all on there (some under covers).

Joe created a great fort for Nate and Ellie---

Shucking some corn---

And enjoying the work----

On another walk at Grandma and Papa's----

A find from a nature walk (woodpeckers had filled the wood with holes which slugs had filled---Nate and Ellie were very interested).

Nate busy at work on his nature walk.

A picture Joe took for his "Fun Workbox" assignment of taking pictures of five things in nature.

And finally, Ellie having a conversation with Aslan:)

Kids are like sponges

Last night, Bill took Joe and Jenny to activities and brought Ellie along. After they dropped off Jenny and Joe, they went to get a haircut for Bill and then to Target to pick out some new pretties for Ellie.

Bill said that Ellie saw some she liked and picked them up, saying, "I like these ones! They're gluten free!!"

How gluten free living can affect all areas of your life:)

A Memorable First Nature Walk of the 2009-10 School Year

Two weeks ago, Joe, Nate, Ellie and I went out on a nature walk. I'm using a book called The Handbook of Nature Study for Joe's nature walks this year. We went out with the idea of finding two things to research. We were all picking up acorns from under our oak when Joe exclaimed, "Mom, there's a bald eagle!!" He flew about 12 feet over our heads! Joe and I were so excited and started running after him.

The eagle flew in the direction of the barn and then circled over the woodshed about four times. I was able to snap a couple of pictures.

What a wonderful first nature walk of the year! Joe was in heaven and came in and called Bill, then sat down and drew an eagle. The next time we went to the library, he checked out all kinds of books on eagles. We saw the eagle again the next morning but haven't seen him since.

An Answer To Prayer

We've had a great summer (with frost warning in the northern part of the state tonight, I guess summer is ending soon!). I will post more on what we've done but wanted to share something that happened last weekend that was very memorable.

Joe, Jack and I were at a friend's helping with a garage sale. Bill took Jenny to the wildlife rehab that she volunteers at. One of the girls wasn't able to come, so Bill decided to stay and help (he had Nate and Ellie with him). They helped clean up the paths and some owl and eagle cages. The owner took the eagle out of the cage and walked the eagle to a temporary spot while they cleaned the cage out. Bill said the eagle was awesome---huge and very majestic. The owner also has two poodles, one which was out with the kids.

Saturday night Bill and I went up with Nate and Ellie for bed. We asked Nate if he would like to say prayers. In the past, if he would pray, he would sing a prayer we sing. Nate said, "Dear God" paused a little, then said "Thank You eagle, thank You dog, Amen". Both Bill and I were moved to tears! It was so touching to hear him verbalize what he was thankful for from his day!

God answered a prayer in giving Nate the ability to praise Him!

Celebrating 50 years!

We spent the weekend celebrating 50 years of marriage for Bill's parents! Saturday we spent the day at Jim and Paula's visiting with relatives we haven't seen in years, and Sunday we had a delicious meal at a restaurant on a local lake.

Bill's parents raised five terrific kids and are blessed with nine grandchildren. We all had fun spending time together. The love Dick and Rita have for each other and for their family was so evident throughout the weekend. How blessed we are to have such wonderful parents and grandparents!!

Don't they look incredibly happy?!

And here is our troop all dressed up:)

Quick Post (by Joe)

Hi people! Remember me?
Did you ever know I have a SPIDER!

Yep, Harriet.

My favorite football team is the Bengals. Take a look!

Bye!