Octoberly

Haven't had a garden update in a while.

Our tomatoes & peppers are still going but the nights are getting colder so I don't know how long they will last.

Our cutting garden is full of beautiful blooms. We have had a constant stream of fresh flowers in the house for months.

The bees have been very appreciative.

The birdhouse gourds have been going like mad. We are leaving them in the arbor to dry before we do anything with them.

We harvested our potatoes a few weeks back. We tried potato towers this year because the soil is not so lovely here. The towers only yielded 11 pounds. Nothing to write home about (altho apparently still enough to blog about) but the kids had a great time planting & harvesting them & they were quite tasty so totally worth it :)

We had a nice sunflower crop & the boys have picked 10 or more POUNDS of seeds so far. We should have some happy birds this winter.

Our bumper pumpkin crop was fabulous :)

These are just a few of them. We 'scarred' some of them early on with sayings & everyone did one with their name. Some of them came out super cool.

We harvested literally hundreds of gourds & dozens & dozens of pumpkins. We took the pumpkins & gourds to our Fall Family Festival this last weekend.

See all the pumpkins? :)

The games were pretty popular.

and the food ...and the displays....

and the petting zoo...

and the bounce house...

and the pony rides...

and the hay rides...

It was a pretty fun day all the way around.

So that's what we have been doing.

How about you?

Blessings.

But what about (gasp) high school???

We have been home schooling now for eleven years.

We started when our oldest was in 7th grade & our second son was in kindergarten.

Over the years, we have added  to the family & next year I will have my fourth & final kindergartener.


Have you ever noticed how people are always freaking out about high school? (heck, maybe you are one of them)

"Oh, you'll put them in school for high school right?"  "You can't possibly teach them all the way through high school!"  "I couldn't possibly teach high school! I just wouldn't know how."

High school is a cake walk people.

It's the icing.

 It's our reward for not killing & eating our children when they have read an entire row of 'cat, sat, bat, rat, fat' & then freeze up & have no clue how to read 'hat'.

 <<twitch>>

High school is Nirvana.

In high school our children can read & write & reason. They can communicate & use logic.

High school is E. Z. people ~ easy!

And fun.

You can sit & talk with them. You can bounce ideas back & forth. You can save the world together.

In second grade  you bang your head against the wall trying to teach skip counting & sight words.

Explain the word 'eight'. I dare you. It can't be done. Or 'of.'  Or 'to'.  or 'was.'  It's endless.

By high school they have accepted that our language makes no sense & moved on.

Second grade? Not so much.

The commonly accepted paradigm is that 'anybody' can teach small children & it really doesn't matter but when they get some age on them it's important to hand them over to the 'professionals'.

I couldn't disagree more. I would almost rather see a child started out in public school & then pulled out to be home schooled thru junior high & high school.

Not really of course. I strongly believe the educational process belongs to the parent.

Now I realize everyone can't do that. This is not an ideal world & for some homeschooling is just not possible.

I get that. And I am not beating anybody up over it. So don't get your panties in a wad. ;)

My point is: don't give your kids away just when they are becoming interesting!

High school is not hard. High school is fun. High school is teaching your child to be responsible & reliable & an adult.

We are raising our children to be adults.

We should all be raising our children to be adults.

So who do you want your adult to be patterned after? You? Your spouse? Your family values?

Or 6 or 8 people you have never met who just happen to be teaching at your local high school this semester?

High school is not the time to let your kids go. High school is the time to teach them your values, your politics, your beliefs & WHY those things are so.

So everyday, while I bang my head  against the table listening to my second grader read 'the' as 'tuh' huh' 'eh' for the 9 millionth time, I praise the Lord, that someday, I will be able to discuss  politics, economics, religion, science, ancient history ~whatever ~ with him & I am confident that he will, indeed, be able to pronounce the word 'the'.

Blessings.

Dolphins, dolphins everywhere.

Yesterday, my girl, turned 14.

Her dream, since she was 3 or 4, was to swim with dolphins.(don't ask me why, it wasn't my dream)

My MIL gave us season tickets to what used to be Marine World & is now Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, in Vallejo.

Guess what? They have dolphins there. Guess what else? If you pony up enough cash you can swim with said dolphins.

And guess what else? Yes, you guessed it. My husband & I are suckers.

So, long story short, my girl swam with dolphins yesterday :)

Cute little guys  like this...

and this...(Flipper? Is that you?)

Here is the birthday girl all suited up & ready to go.

And this photograph proves, beyond a shadow of doubt, what we all already knew in our heart of hearts:

wet suits are universally unflattering to everyone.

And look! She's in the water! With a dolphin!!!

Admit it~ ^^that^^ is a cool shot.

So is that one ;)

Look at that! She's swimming! WITH A DOLPHIN!

Waving 'bye bye'.

And then, as if we haven't spent enough money ~ we bought her a friend to take home.

We've made it clear that she is keeping this thing forever. It is going to college with her. It's going to be in her wedding (I'm thinking on the cake maybe?)  Going on the honeymoon. Hanging over the baby's crib. 

F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

But she's good with that. 

After all, she got to swim with the dolphins :)

Blessings.

What's new?

Well.

Let's see.

It's a beautiful day today. Only got up to the high 70's.

Took my 4 year old for ride thru the orchard. He chatterboxed the whole way. ;)

Now he & his brother are out playing in the sand box. Best toy ever. (next to the trampoline that is)

We have harvested dozens & dozens of pumpkins & gourds & there are STILL dozens out there.

Happy sigh.

I love pumpkins :)

Last week we took a trip up to Oregon to do some fixing & mending on our place. We took the trailer & 'camped out' while we worked on everything.

We put a new roof on one of the barns. Replaced a line of fencing between the house & the barn & bought some wire for our friend to replace the fence along the driveway.

The fence that the ultra pig, squatter, scum of the earth, loser pig, ex-renter destroyed apparently just because that is what he is good at.

(I may have a few resentment issues there)

We also did some weed eating & other repairs.

And it poured while we were there. And it froze. Every night. It got down to 28* & the mornings were crisp & cold & the frost was everywhere & it was fall.

I love fall. Sigh.

I miss fall.

 And no matter what  these people around here say there is no fall here.

It just gets slightly less hot (maybe) and then it starts to rain & Voila! it's winter ;)

We had nice visits with our friends & our pastor. Did some glorious tax free shopping & just enjoyed the quieter, friendlier, smaller pace of the place.

And beauty. Oh my word the beauty. I spent a lot of time just staring & sighing at how lovely it is there.

The air is so clear & you can see for miles.

And the stars at night. Wow. It is so dark & the sky is so clear you can see the Milky Way & just thousands of stars.

I miss those stars.

We had a good visit. We got lots of work done. We got cold ;)  It was glorious.

I can't believe it is October already.

My girl turns 14 this Saturday. This Saturday!

We have big plans for her :)

At the end of the month is our Fall Family Festival. That is a big deal around here. Need to start cracking on that one.

And in November guess what?

We are going to the Grand Canyon!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo!

 That is a childhood dream right there & I cannot wait!

What's new with you?

Blessings.