Barefoot Hillbilly Wife to a Redneck......

I am very pleased to tell you that this is my little girl. We "adopted" her through Compassion International. Though I may never see her in person, she is dear to my heart.

As I read the posts of a blogger named Ryan, about his amazing trip with Compassion International, I was astounded by the beautiful photos, the majesty of the animals, the smiling faces....and then I was overwhelmed with grief over the sight of the children, seeing the conditions in which they live, the utter horror of what is supposed to be a childhood.

If true religion is feeding the hungry, caring for the abandoned, the orphans, the widows....what had I done lately? I wept bitter tears.

Here I had been thinking of breaking down and starting to get manicures. I figured I'd go about once a pay day, $20 every other week, and treat myself. What's $40 a month? I deserve it, right?

Instead, I'm sending $38 a month to a little girl whose life might be a little better.

Life, up date

It has been a long time from my last post. I am doing some what better with the loss of my beloved Hope. some days are better than others. We did adopt a puppy her name is Issabella. We enjoy her, but she can not replace Hope.

Kristi our baby turned 18 years old. That one is hard at times. where did the time go?? She is a senior in high school and going to college, time has gone by so fast. Our oldest daughter Dejah is expecting our fourth grandbaby on my birthday November 1st. We are so happy and can not wait for the new baby.

My friend Annie's daughter, Jennifer, who is 25 years old, had emergency surgery due to she has cancer. Jennifer is getting married in December. Her husband to be and his family are a blessing to them all. They are sad that Jennifer can not have babies any more, but they say they will love any child brought into the family. Annie is having a hard time, she is heartbroken. Jennifer is waiting for her results to start cemo.

What is Geocaching?

On an Outing, Part 2

On an Outing, Part 1

With the warmer weather coming, we have been taking advantage of it. Yesterday, I gave the kiddos a little less book-work, and urged them to buckle-down and get what was assigned done as soon as possible. They got done around noon, and we loaded up the backpacks with drinks and sweatshirts, and we headed off to Raven Rock State Park. Doing this on a weekday, would give us the chance to enjoy the quiet of the park, with as few other people there as possible. There is just something about the solitude of nature, to enjoy God's handiwork.

One of the first things we saw, was a neat little tree identification center. You rotated the large disk, and it pointed to a tree and displayed information on the tree it was pointing at.

After walking on the smaller trail, we decided to hit the longer one nearby.

This is one of the first things we saw. The boys' response, "Yeah!!!"

Signs of Spring

After a little while, we stopped for a break. Thirsty puppy.

A creek along the way.

Jen took my picture too.

Another stop at the creek along the way. Jack love the mini waterfalls on the rocks.

I thought this tree looked like it was yawning.

After a nice long hike, we came to the top of a very long staircase.

I stayed at the top for a bit, so I could take a picture. Here, they were only about half way down.

Say "Cheese!"

At the bottom, there were beautiful rock walls and formations for which the park is named.

I loved the roots of this tree, so pretty.

Here and there, we found carvings in the rocks. I thought this one was really neat.

Peek-A-Boo

The kids had a blast, climbing up on the formations, watching the water trickling down from the ledges.

Proud Mama moment. Josh helping Jen down from the rocks.

This fallen tree was laying out over the water, and covered with baby ferns.

It was absolutely beautiful. We can't wait to come back when every thing is green and full.

Heading back up the stairs, and on to the rest of our hike.

More to come.......

Why Homeschool

Chewy Molasses Cookies

Lovely Weather for...

The last few days, we had some lovely weather. I made a run to the local yard waste landfill, and picked up a truck load of soil for the raised bed gardens. You can't beat the price. $10 - and enough soil to fill my raised bed, Mrs. Q's raised bed, and spread lots of soil on the yard to help the grass grow.

My kiddos helping unload at her house.

While we were outside, Little Mama made a new friend.

With the great weather, we decided it was the perfect day to fire up the grill. While we were out there, we saw something really nice.

Look in the sky....

It was a string of airplanes coming in to the nearby Air Force base. If you live around here, and know about some of the things going on....you know that those planes were full of soldiers, who had been gone from their families for the last year.

And the really great part, is that this is a group that left shortly before "our guys."

You know what that means?

It's all the closer to my own husband, and "Mrs Q's" husband being home as well.

I can't wait, honey!

Our Classroom Companion and Books

In a typical day of homeschooling in our house, we have a continual companion in the classroom.

Hickory Pete of course.

This is his particularly favorite place to lay. Right in front of...or ON Joshua's work.

Sometimes he has to reach out and encourage Joshua - he just can't help himself. "Way to go Josh! Slap me some paw!"

He is perfectly happy here.

Until he sees something that catches his interest.

In this picture from the last post, he had decided to play with my packet of tissues.....it is allergy season.

He's a very smart cat. He learns by osmosis.

I'm all about reading. My kiddos are always reading something. Sometimes I assign a specific book for a specific reason - like Homer's Odyssey when we were studying the Greeks & Romans. Other times I let them pick a book from the collection on the shelf.

This is what Jennifer has picked to read next. She just finished Robinson Crusoe.