Foggy Morning

This is what is what the day looks like right now.  The picture is taken from inside and that is my flash reflection not the sun.  There was a little nuthatch at the feeder but you can't see him on this picture.  The close up I took of him was too dark.

Earlier while it was still dark I took Ellyana outside.  It was clear and still then.  I could hear the neighbor's dog barking.  I was pleased that Elly didn't bark back.  She isn't a barker and I like that.

I like looking at the stars in the early morning as they are different constellations than the ones I see before I go to bed.  I just wish I was more knowledgeable on what constellations they are.

In the morning I notice one high up in the southern sky.  To me it looks like it would be a kite and that is what I call it in my head.

I looked in my constellation book and am not sure but I think what I am seeing is parts of two constellations, Little Dog and Twins, with the bright stars Procyon, Pollux, Costar, and maybe Betelgeuse (from a third constellation.)

Ellyana is getting to be a good dog.  She was out of chew bones so we got her a new one when we were in town the other day.  If she has something to chew on she leaves our stuff alone.  We also picked out a cheap little stuffed animal for her that she loves to play with and squeak.

I tried to get her cute turn the head look but missed it.

I best get the children ready for church.

Weekly Wrap Up

I like the term "weekly wrap up" that others use on their blogs.  Writing about one's week does tend to "wrap" it up.  So I thought I would use it, too. 

The snow storm you already know about.  I am happy to report that the weather is much calmer now.  I was just outside taking this picture of the gorgeous sunrise.  The picture didn't capture it very well.  The colors are just beautiful.  There is no wind.  I love the sound of the crunchy frozen ground.  As I walk in the snow it goes, "crunch, crunch."  The sound of the vehicle traveling east on the gravel road had a good crunchy sound as well.  Those are two things about winter that I like.

I also noticed the half waning moon high up in the middle of the sky.  There were a few wispy clouds floating past it which made it look a little mysterious.

I really am a morning person.  I so appreciate being the only person awake at this time.  I like having my dog, Ellyana, sitting on my feet keeping them warm and keeping me company.  And I love my nice hot coffee.

I am running late this morning.  Tim was just home when I got up so we sat and visited for awhile.  He went to bed and won't be up until late afternoon so it was nice to have some alone time with him. 

I was happy that I was able to find Tim some of the lined jeans he likes to wear for work.  Each year we get him a couple new pair.  He likes the brand from WalMart.  I have been checking each time I go to WalMart but hadn't been there for a few weeks.  Instead of looking all around I asked a clerk working in that section if they had any while I was in the store yesterday.  She said they didn't.  As I was walking out of that area I saw a rack of them!  I should have gone back to show her where they were, but didn't.  I was especially glad they still had two pair left in his size.  That should get him through the winter.

The produce warehouse where he works is kept cool year round.  Tim feels the cold and has a hard time in the winter.  He is in and out of the warehouse as he is the one that has to deal with the semis and their trailers.  He can get pretty cold working outside hooking up trailers and getting the trucks running before he backs them into the garage where the loading docks are.  Wearing the lined pants helps a little with that.

We had a good day in town yesterday.  I'm so glad I didn't attempt to drive up on Wednesday.  We got to the library and got the books and videos that will fill our school book basket for the next three weeks.  It was nice to finish our shopping and errands and get home before dark.

Daniel wanted some coveralls.  He had noticed last year that they had some at WalMart.  Since he has a good pair of snow pants I wasn't about to buy him any coveralls.  He was quite willing to use his own money to get them.  I would rather see him spend his money on that than a new toy.  The reason he wanted coveralls had to do with he fact that his dad and his older brother both wear them and he likes that they have zippers down the outside of both legs making it easier to get on and off.

This post was supposed to be a "weekly wrap up" about our activities in school.  So I had best get to that.

Leah studied "U-u-us" in Kindergarten.  Not only did she do activities enforcing the "u" sound in "us" she got to do some fun things in science learning about the 5 senses.  Each day we briefly studied each sense.  For the sense of touch I put some items in a bag and she tried to guess what they were by touching them.  I think she got them all right.  I made sounds for the sense of hearing that she was good at guessing, too.  I had her smell some things while blindfolded.  Yesterday I put 10 items on her desk.  We went over what each one was.  Then I had her leave the room while I took one of them away.  When she came back in she tried to remember what wasn't there.  She thought it would be so easy but she couldn't remember every time what was missing.  We kept doing this until she was down to one item.  I loved her expressions as she realized she didn't know and when she did.  Today we will do a blindfolded taste test.

In Bible she learned the words "God made us wonderful."  We read some verses detailing how wonderful we are made and verses about our eyes and ears.

Daniel has been doing so well in his reading!  Yesterday he read his whole Bible portion which was 40 verses.  As his reading improves so does his comprehension.  One big thing in the Charlotte Mason style of learning is narration.  After he or I read he summarizes what has been read.  This helps with retention.  Lately I notice this is easier for him, too.

In ancient history he is up to the time of Jacob.  Yesterday he read about how Jacob deceived his brother, Esau.  Today he will read about Jacob fleeing to Haran.  After he reads I read from the Victor Journey Through The Bible book which goes over the geography of the area, what the area looks like, and any other interesting facts that deal with that particular reading.  It reinforces what was read in the Bible.

Daniel is still working on fractions in math.  He had a review this week as well.  In division skills he is awesome.

In science we did some fun experiments with air and water.  For one of the experiments he made about 10 holes in a drinking straw.  Then he challenged his dad to a race to see who could drink their water the fastest.  Since the straw with the holes in it couldn't create a good vacuum Tim had a hard time getting any water to come up in his straw.  We all laughed about this.

In art he studied some more about Egyptian art and tried his hand at a few projects.  In music we listened to Vivaldi's "Autumn" after listening to the explanation of what was being portrayed. 

Oh, my, it is getting late and I must get ready for the day.  I'm glad that Friday is a "light" day in school as I have all my house work to do.  Since we are invited out to dinner to my cousin's after church I don't have to get a meal ready for tomorrow.  I've got some stew meat thawed and plan to make a hearty beef stew for supper tonight.

Have a good weekend.

Different Looks

 This is what it looked like yesterday.  Now it doesn't seem so bad compared to what it looks like today.

Of course if you are a child this might look better to you.

I didn't like the looks of my poor apple tree.

And I didn't like it that Misty looked like she was shivering.  But she could go in her shelter to keep dry.

I liked the look of enjoyment on Elly's face as she ran around in the snow for the first time. 

And the looks of pleasure on my children's faces are priceless.

I looked at the weather forecast and found that it is supposed to get up to the 50's again soon.  That helps my outlook as well.

Here are a couple short videos I took this morning.  You can hear the howl of the wind.

Since we were getting a nasty down draft I let my nice fire burn out.  We are using our furnace which I am thankful to have.  But it isn't as nice as wood stove warmth.

On the morning news I saw that our school district is taking a storm day.  Our home school doesn't take storm days.  I did cancel my appointment that I had in town this afternoon.  Tim said the roads were very icy.  He could only drive 30-35 mph all the way home from work this morning.  Since the wind is supposed to blow all day it makes for a bad combination.  Going to town isn't worth possibly having an accident.  I can wait.

The children are now inside from their first play in the snow.  So I had best go and start our school.

Stay warm!

Change

Things are changing around here weather wise.  This is how it looks outside today.  It doesn't feel too cold but it is a wet cold.

So last night I made this for the first time this season.

This did a pretty good job keeping it warm in here when we just had cool nights.  But I thought it would be more cheery with a real fire.

The children and I just finished our breakfast of French Toast that Daniel requested.

I found these pictures on my camera from a few days ago.

Leah loves to pretend.  These cat ears help her do that.

"Is it guilty in here or is it just me?"

Leah loves Ellyana.  Elly seems to feel the same way.

We had a great day of rest and worship on Sabbath.  Since it was the fourth Sabbath of the month we had our regular potluck and program in the afternoon.  Then friends came over for the evening.  So nice.

Yesterday the children and I got the yard cleaned up a bit.  There were about 6 bicycles setting around and various other toys that needed to be put away before the snow arrives.

I washed my car and put it away for winter storage.  First I had some fun doing "cookies" in the wet grass.

Tim went to Alfred and got a load of logs from my cousin and her husband's place.  He hopes to get at least 5 more trailer loads out of there.

So "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

End of the Week

After taking Thursday and Friday off from school last week and not keeping up on my work around here I thought about not starting school until Wednesday.  My schedule is messed up anyway.  I hate it when my schedule gets messed up!  But I'm glad that I went ahead with school as the children do better when they keep to their routine and I do, too.

School has been great.  Leah is on T-t-turtle.  Her words to remember are "I don't quit;  I persevere."  After an explanation on what persevere meant she has loved using the word.  It's so big, you know.  We have read several Bible verses on perseverance.  Today we will read about "Mike Mulligan" or "Katy the Steamshovel", which ever one Leah picks.  We could read about "The Little Engine That Could."  But I am kind of tired of reading that story.  On Friday we will read about the "Tortoise and the Hare" and act it out using stuffed animals.

Leah painted the bottoms of two paper plates.  I made a head, legs, and tail out of green construction paper.  Then we stapled them all together.  Now she has a turtle.  Each week I make a badge for her with her words to remember on it.  This week I made a turtle.  She asked if I would not punch a hole in it or put a string for her to wear as she wanted to use it as a baby for her bigger turtle.

One day out of each 6 day lesson we use these cards.  Leah puts the vowels in order.  Then she puts the pictures above the vowel that matches the short vowel sound for that picture.  After she has finished that, which takes her only a few seconds to do, we sing the short vowel song.  It is to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb"  and goes like this:  "I hear a in cat and man, cat and man, cat and man.  I hear a in cat and man - a - a - a, " using the pronunciation of short a when we say "a".  We do this for all the vowels.  She loves the songs we sing and likes the repetition of them even though I am getting tired of the same ones.

Her hair is really messy as I had just washed it and wait until it is almost dry before I brush it.

Daniel has been studying in Genesis.  We are still reading about Abraham.  I got a couple movies through inter library loan on Abraham.  We had watched one last week.  Then I forgot about them.  Yesterday when I was dusting in my living room I found the DVDs.  So we watched part of the other one last night and plan to watch more tonight.  I think it is really interesting though they include things that could have happened but aren't mentioned in the Genesis account.  Since Daniel is a visual learner it helps him to understand better life in that time period.

Daniel learned the second commandment this week.  Yesterday we used the verse in his cursive handwriting practice.  As his vision gets better so is his handwriting. 

In math Daniel is still working on fractions and will be for the next couple weeks.  He is getting quite good about knowing when he needs to "simplify" his fractions but still gets a little stuck sometimes remembering how to do that.  Yesterday he started learning about "improper fractions."  He thought it "easy."

In Genesis for Kids we read about air and water.  Then we did an experiment demonstrating how air has mass.  We filled a big glass bowl with 8 inches of water and got two small clear glasses.  One glass we put straight down upside down into the water trapping the air inside.  The other glass we let fill with water and watched the air bubbles come out.  Then we did it again and filled the glass that had no air in it but had filled with water with the air bubbles from the other glass.  That was neat.  Finally we stuck a dry paper towel into one dried glass, put it straight down upside down into the water, left it there for a few seconds, and then brought it back up again.  It was still dry.

Yesterday the children listened to "Summer" by Vivaldi while they painted a summer scene.  They really like doing this and do well on it.

Tim finished replacing the front steps.  The old ones had so many rotted boards we were afraid someone would get hurt on them.  We want to replace the steps and sidewalk with new cement but will probably wait for a couple years to do that as we want to make a cement patio by the south window which needs to be replaced with a sliding glass door.  The door needs to be put in first as we will need some steps there as well.  In the meantime the wooden steps were cheap to make and will do fine until we can get the other work done.

The children and I picked all the apples from my little tree and got about 8 gallons.  I will need to store some of them in my downstairs fridge as they are just as good eating as a Fuji apple and have no pesticides or wax on them.

Earlier this week we were happy to see this hawk over by my garden.  We got out our binoculars so we could observe it better.  It wasn't afraid of us if we were outside.  It was hunting those pesky pocket gophers that are digging up our yard.  I hope it got them!

I intended to write a short little post but it has grown again.  I best go.

Back in AZ

Dustin is now back in Arizona.  We got him to the airport and heard back that he made it home.  His flight wasn't until 5:30 p.m. so we had plenty of time to get him there.

The little children and I (Tim works Sundays) took him to Fargo.  Brandon drove as well and met us there.  We did some shopping at the mall for Dustin and Brandon.  Our first stop was the pet shop where we saw they were getting Boxer pups at 4:00.  I was glad we wouldn't be there then as a Boxer puppy can be hard to resist.

After shopping we had supper at Space Aliens where Brandon's friend, Riley, met us.  It was nice to see him again and catch up a bit on what is going on in his life.

Then it was off to the airport.

Some last minute photos

I don't remember what that face was about.

We all got an opportunity to be the photographer.

Some more photos from before...This is Brandon.

The older children helped us put together the new entertainment center for our new flat screen TV.

Leah took this picture of the beautiful sunset.

Ellyana loves to get brooms and chew them.

Leah didn't want to jump with all the big people on the trampoline.  So she played on the play set.

Dad and all his children.

It has been a sad day today as I am walking around crying some of the time.  I don't suppose it will ever get any easier.  But I've kept busy as there was plenty of work to catch up around here.

I'm happy to say I have this season's last 7 pints of tomato sauce in my canner right now, a reason to celebrate.  I've been doing laundry all morning.  And we have been doing school.  We finished Leah's kindergarten and are about half way through Daniel's lessons.  We were all hungry so I came down to make some lunch.  The lunch is all finished and the children are outside taking a break. 

I had best get back to work so I can call Daniel inside.

Prayers Appreciated

Oh, this has been a good week.  But it is ended now and I will be taking Dustin to Fargo as he leaves for AZ today.  Already last night I was having a hard time.  I would appreciate any prayers you would say for us. 

We had such a great Sabbath. I've got more pictures but not much time so I will post a few now and most likely post the rest later.

Here's all the Keyes kids together again.

a happy mama and her babies

I love the moon and try to watch the different phases.  It is how we are supposed to keep time according to the Creator's calendar.

The children, except for Leah, enjoyed a jump on the tramp.  Ellyana was in there, too.  You can see her biting Brandon in the leg on this video as she got over excited.

Dustin's Visit

Yesterday was such a good day.  There is something about having your children home even when they are grown that does good for a mother's heart.  Now that I have grown children I can understand why my mother wanted and enjoyed having us home even when I was grown, married, and had my own children.

We had a lazy day.  I made a waffle breakfast which really filled those boys up.  After the food settled we went for a bike ride. 

I've been reading Cesar Millan's, the Dog Whisperer, book Be The Pack Leader.  It has given me good ideas for training Ellyana.  One thing he stresses over and over is that a dog's energy, especially for a high energy dog like Elly, needs to be run off.  A good run in the morning and one again in the afternoon is vital for good behavior.  I really can not run!  But I can ride bike.  So I will take her on her leash beside me while I ride my bike.  It is a little scary on the gravel as she can run really fast and doesn't tire very quickly.  So far I have not had a spill.

After a little persuasion the children and I got Dustin to agree to take a bike ride with us.  He rode Tim's new bike and pulled Leah in the trailer.  Daniel rode his own bike.  We rode south to the hill as Dustin said that he didn't care where we went as long as he didn't have to ride up a hill.  The way south was so easy.  Then we turned around and had to go against the wind.  Whew!  That gave us all a workout.  I was happy I had Elly to help as she pulls a little sometimes.  I kept going past the house, turned at the corner, and took Elly to the end of our trees so I could reward her with a little off the leash time sniffing around in the hay field.

Misty came down to the end of her pasture to see us.  I had Elly's leash in my hand.  When she saw that she snorted, turned, and went bucking and running away.  She's so funny sometimes.  I think she could use the "horse whisperer!"

Here's a picture of the children before we went on our ride. 

I did make my knipfle with some fried hamburgers with onions and peppers for a late lunch.  Whitney stopped by after working in town and visited with us for awhile.  We watched Over the Hedge as Dustin had never seen it.  We all were in bed a little after 10:00. 

Today we are planning to go to town later to do a little shopping.  Then we will all eat supper at La Carretta. 

I best get busy as I want to get some food preparations done today for our Sabbath noon meal.  I gave Dustin a choice between two different entrees, lasagna and roast beef dinner.  He chose roast beef dinner.  I can get the mashed potatoes ready today and put them in a crock pot.  I will try to remember to take lots of pictures of our family gathering.

Surprise!

I got a nice surprise this week.  But I will tell you about that a bit later.

We have had a good week in school and out.  On Sunday I worked at making more tomato sauce out of my ripe tomatoes.  I'm happy to say I only have about 6 gallons of tomatoes left to process.

On Monday we took a break in Daniel's school to go up to town for the home school swim at the YMCA.  The children really enjoyed that.  I had fun watching them have fun.  We had brought Ellyana, our puppy, up to the vet's to have her sutures removed and picked her up after we finished swimming and getting groceries at WalMart.

Tuesday evening we went to a presentation Lisa's brother-in-law, Brad gave at the Rieland Arts Center at JC.  He has been working in Uganda as a missionary.  What an amazing story he shared.  It was pretty convicting. 

It was nice to visit with Lisa a bit and meet her two oldest girls.  I had first met her several years ago when her oldest son and Daniel were taking swimming lessons.  Except for seeing her once at a mutual friend's house for a birthday party I hadn't talked to her in awhile.  But I have been getting to know her and she me through blogging.

Then last (Wednesday) night I got a surprise.  But I will briefly tell you about our home school week. 

In Daniel's school we have been studying about Abraham and his journeys.  Daniel is getting the geography down now and can remember most of the major landmarks.  He finished learning the books of the old testament last week (we review them still as he has trouble with the last 5) and started learning the 10 commandments.  He will learn one commandment a week and learned the first one well.  I'm so glad learning is getting easier for him.  When you link the left and right sides of the brain it works better.

We have had a full week in all his subjects.  In math he has moved on to fractions.  Last week he was having trouble changing the denominators before adding and subtracting and simplifying the answer.  I'm happy to say this week it is much easier.  Yes!  He is getting it!

Leah finished her lesson on N-n-nest yesterday.  Her school is so stress free and fun.  I love doing it.  Along with her regular phonics and math learning we studied different animals and people and their homes.  Mostly we studied birds.  She did several projects related to this.  One project idea was to make a nest.  I knew she wouldn't want to make a mud nest as she doesn't like to get dirty.  I found a neat idea to make an edible nest on the MFW forum under Kindergarten Ideas that I thought she would like better.  Here is a picture of one of her nests.

I guess we won't finish out our school week because of the surprise.  I am totally okay with that.

On Monday Tim told me he was taking the whole family out for supper at Applebee's Wednesday night.  I was a bit suspicious as it seemed it was for something more than he was telling me.  But I didn't press him. 

On Wednesday afternoon I talked with middle son, Brandon on the phone.  He told me he found another good deal.  This time it was on a 1990 Jeep.  He has been wanting to get a 4-wheel drive vehicle before winter.  I told him I was coming up to town early and would stop by and see it.  He made up some lame excuse that he might not be home.

After the children and I went to the library we had a few minutes before the time we had set to meet for supper.  I thought I would stop at Brandon's if he was home.  I noticed all his vehicles were in the driveway and also saw that Tim's pickup was there so I stopped.  We went into the backyard first as I could see the Jeep was back there.  Brandon came out as we all admired his "new" Jeep.

When we went into the house Brandon was really nervous.  Tim came in, too, and seemed "funny."  It was time to leave so we did.  Brandon said he would drive his own car there.  

While we waited for our table to be cleaned and set up Leah and I went back to the restroom.  When we came back to the waiting area the sun was shining in my eyes and I couldn't see very well.  When I got close to where my family was sitting I noticed an extra person.  First I thought Brandon had brought a friend along.  A look of slight displeasure must have crossed my face (I must work on that!) as they told me I got a "funny" look on my face.  Then I realized the extra person was my first born, Dustin, who moved to Arizona in May!

They all had fun seeing the different looks that passed on my face.  The one look must have seemed like I wasn't happy to see Dustin.  But I explained that and they all had a good laugh.  Dustin is here until Sunday so I am going to be enjoying myself greatly.

I think I might have enjoyed knowing about it and looking forward to Dustin's coming more.  But they had fun keeping it from me.  That's why Brandon didn't want me stopping.  He said he pushed Dustin's shoes under the table while I was standing there looking at his parakeet, Hunny.  Everything makes sense now.  And I'm not complaining about being surprised especially when the surprise was one of the best I could ever get!

Here's a picture of Dustin taken a few years ago at the 50th Anniversary party we kids put on for Tim's parents.  I will try to remember to take some pictures while Dustin is here and post them later.

  

I'm planning to make some good food while Dustin is here.  I think I will make knipfle today as it is one of his favorites and I don't think he can get that down in Arizona.

I'm going to go now and get busy on my day.

My Beautiful October Morning

It is such another beautiful day outside.  I'm so glad I thought to take my camera with me when I did chores this morning.  So I will tell you about the pictures.  Then if you want to read about our week you can later on down the post.


This picture isn't from this morning but I included it anyway.  I have been enjoying driving my car this summer.  It is a '78 Trans Am (Big Red as I affectionately call her) I have had since 1980.  It was a graduation gift from my father.  It had been in storage for many years and only has 60,000 actual miles on it.  Brandon worked many hours getting it running good again.  We all enjoy driving it.  Good old muscle cars!!


 

I wish we didn't have 2 miles of gravel to get to the pavement.  By the time I get there my vehicle is all dusty.  And I have noticed new chips on the sides.  But I am going to drive it anyway as it is so fun.

Every morning I go out to give Misty, Whitney's horse, her treat of grain.  She is quite used to me now, and I to her, to where we aren't scared of each other anymore.  I have started brushing her.  She just loves it.

Look at those eyes.

The sunrise was glorious!

Then I head over and let the ladies out of their stinky home.

Misty is always on the lookout.

Ellyana is getting so obedient.  She really loves to chase the chickens but is being good.

My poor little tree is so loaded with apples.  I will go out later and relieve it a bit as I need some apples for my pies I want to bake.

Still being good.

Hennies are heading out for free range.

 

Since it is so nice out there I am letting the children play a bit before we start our school.  We have a light day today so that will be nice.  Tim wants to take Daniel fishing on the boat when he gets up.  We actually got to see each other as he didn't get home from work until 6 a.m. when I was just getting up for my day.

We have had a great week of learning.  In Daniel's history we are chronologically up to the time period of Ancient Egypt.  We studied a lot about the pyramids and tombs.  As interesting as it is we are ready to move on now.  This little book has been great for science this week.

The Bible portion has been focused on learning the books of the Old Testament.  Daniel knows them all pretty well now.  Each day he would make a little card with the name of each book he learned written on it and put all the cards in order.  I think that helped him learn them better.  He has been looking up verses from the books he learned, too.  Then he would read them to me.

In math he was working on division and has moved on to fractions.  His brain really accepted the division this week and now it is so easy for him.  One day he was laying on the floor under the table crying because he couldn't get it.  The next he was whizzing through those problems.  Great!!

We have been using God and the History of Art for our art curriculum.  He does two assignments a week in that.  For one assignment he drew a maze inside of a pyramid tomb.  He really liked doing that and did a good job at it.  In music we have been listening to and studying Vivaldi.  On Tuesday we listened to "Spring" from The Four Seasons while painting a spring scene.  Fun!  Leah did this too.  Their paintings turned out really nice.

Leah finished her 6 day lesson on A-a-apple and started on N-n-nest.  We enjoyed studying about apples.  Her words to remember were "If I stay in Jesus I will have much fruit."  I made a tree and some red apples with the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) printed on them.  When she demonstrated that fruit she would get to glue that apple on her tree.  It was good practice for me to be noticing and encouraging good behavior.

One day she made a tree.  We used her hand and arm to trace the trunk and branches on some brown construction paper.  I cut out a green oval for the leaves.  Then she took some red paint and used the tip of her finger to make some apples on it.  I made a little yellow bird that she glued to the tree.  While she did this I read this poem to her. (All these ideas come from her My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum.)

There's a little birdie in the apple tree,

Chirping out his little song for you and me.

He's a happy birdie, and I think he knows

That God is watching over him wherever he goes.

But that little birdie isn't half so dear

As every little boy and girl that God put here.

So as I watch the birdie in the apple tree,

I know that God is watching over me.

(author unknown)

We also read "A New House" in  "Grasshopper on the Road" by Arnold Lobel.  Then Leah drew a large outline of an apple.  She drew and colored what she thought the inside of the worm's new house would look like.    She liked that as she likes to draw and color.

For the N-n-nest lesson her words to remember are "God takes good care of me."  She will be studying animals, their homes, and how God takes care of them and us.  Along with her regular phonics and math activities we will get to do some other fun activities focused on birds and animals.  One day we will make a nest.  I haven't decided if it will be a mud nest or an edible nest.

The day is going on and I have almost used the time I allotted for posting and the children's recess.  So I had best get going on our school.