Spring Break

It certainly does feel like spring around here.  I keep saying it feels more like May than March.  But I love it.

This past week we took "spring break" from school though I didn't get a break.  I spent the week painting.

Last Friday Tim finished the dining room.  If you remember we had to completely gut it.   He and the plumber put in new water and sewer pipes that go up to the upstairs bathroom in one of the dining room walls.  Then Tim put up new sheet rock which took a very long time, 2 1/2 months, for the whole project as he works around 70 hours a week at his paying job.  So I was more than ready to get the painting done so I could use the room again.

I had decided on a deep red, "red delicious," for the walls.  First I had to paint the walls and ceiling with texture paint.  It took six gallons of that.  The ceiling took two coats of white paint after the texture paint.  The walls took even more to get the red to turn out right .  But it looks great.  I finally finished yesterday.  I moved all the furniture except for Brandon's china hut back into the dining room and cleaned and organized the living room again.  Next week I plan to start on the living room.  It will need to have cracks filled and a new coat of paint.

Last night the annual home school convention started.  I had decided to sell some of my used books that I don't use anymore, so we needed to be there by 5:00 to set up.  At 6:00 the sellers could buy from each other for a half an hour before it opened to the public.  I didn't buy any books though the children did with the $3 I gave each.  But I bought some home made soap and lotion a lady was selling that she makes from goat milk.  At the table across from us they were selling dresses that "Amanda" had made.  We found one that fit Leah which we also bought.  With the rent I paid on the table and what I spent on the soap and dress I didn't make much money.  But it was fun to see friends I haven't seen for awhile and I got rid of some things I don't need anymore.

Today I need to be there by 8:30 to help at the convention.  So I had best get going.

Back to the 50's

Last night at our church we had a 50's Fun Night and fun it was.  Here I am with my two lovely daughters.  I was happy to be loaned an actual poodle skirt from the 50's.  It was fun to dress up and see the outfits that everyone came up with.

My Daniel looked very cool.

We had a decorated gift bag contest.  These are just some of the bags entered.  More showed up after I had taken the picture.  Leah's bag is the green one with the stars and flowers,  Daniel painted a red chicken coop and some trees on his, my bag is the tiger bag.  I did win third place which was a $20 gift certificate from Pizza Hut.

This barn bag is Whitney's.  I thought she would have won.  I loved the little horse and cow peeking out of the barn door. 

Whitney did win best dressed.  The young lady beside her won second place for best dressed.

I should have worn my white roller skates.  I could have been the waitress.

We also had a hula hoop contest, a best bar contest, and a bubble gum blowing contest.  How good it was to get together, laugh hard, and enjoy a fun filled night.

Snow Days are Here Again

Whitney and Daniel getting ready to ride snowmobile.

You should have heard the children when they realized Brandon was here.  They were shouting, "Brandon is here!  Brandon is here!"  Elly was happy as well as she saw Brandon had brought his machine that she likes to run with.

Ryan didn't want to ride snowmobile and neither did Leah so he played with her, throwing snowballs and pulling her on the tobaggon.  Ryan is an excellent welder and had made a metal target on which we practiced our shooting skills.

We had a great Sabbath.  Even though we had snow to get through the roads were fairly good and we made it to church where it was great to get together with our fellow believers to worship.  Pastor was ill but Curt gave us an encouraging message on holiness.  We so appreciate Curt's willingness and his talents in this area.



I had made a delicious roast with potatoes and carrots as well as yummy baked beans, corn, and a salad.  It was wonderful to have almost all the children here.  We missed Dustin though.

 

I'm not sure what Leah was doing here.  But they had cleaned the snow off the trampoline on Friday and enjoyed some jumping with Whitney and Jade.




Brandon is pulling Daniel and Whitney with the dogs, Jade and Elly chasing.




I love this picture of Leah and Jade.  They both have the same smile on their faces.

I am always a bit sad when Sabbath is over as I so look forward to it all week and really appreciate keeping it. Elly seems a little depressed today as she enjoys having Jade over to play with. Yesterday she not only had Jade but Brandon and his machines which she enjoys even more than Jade.  This morning she keeps wanting to go outside.  When she does she goes over to the Quonset where the kittens are.  The children will bring them inside for the day.  She is getting along well with them.  Leah's kitten, Ace, plays with her. 

 But we have another week and each day is usually pretty great as well.  Today it isn't sunny outside, in fact it is snowing a little.  I like Sundays as well as I can sleep in a bit and take my time getting my chores done as we don't do school.

In astronomy this past week we studied Venus.  Venus is the third brightest object in the sky and is easy to find.  Of course Venus has no light of its own but reflects the sun's light.  Venus is the hottest planet even though it isn't the closest planet to the sun.  It is about 870 degrees!  And it doesn't cool off at night either.  Remember I told you that Mercury, the closet planet to the sun, gets hot during the day but is really cold at night because it has no atmosphere?  Venus has a heavy thick atmosphere with thick heavy clouds swirling around it which traps all that heat.  The clouds surrounding Venus are different than the clouds surrounding earth.  Venus's clouds are made of sulfuric acid.
 
Another funny thing about Venus is that it rotates in the opposite direction as compared to the earth. If you were on Venus you would see the sun rise in the west and see it set in the east.  (But you wouldn't be able to live on Venus as it is so hot and full of active volcanoes.)  The fact that it rotates in an opposite direction disproves the "big bang" theory which says the universe began by a big accident in space.  They say there was a huge explosion that sent particles into space.  Those particles then eventually formed starts and the planets that orbit around the stars.  If this were so, all the planets would have been formed spinning in the same direction.  Venus's rotation is strong evidence that this did not happen.
 
A year on Venus is shorter than a day on Venus.  This means that Venus orbits around the sun faster than it rotates.  It takes Venus only 225 earth days to orbit around the sun, but it takes 243 earth days for Venus to make a complete rotation (a day and a night).  If you were on Venus, then, by the time day turned into night and back into day again, more than a year would have passed!  This is not true for any other planet.
 
Because Venus is close to the sun, we can only see it for a while before the sun rises and for a while after the sun sets.  Of course, since Venus goes through phases, we won't always be able to see it in the night sky.  It is often called the "morning start" or the "evening star" because it shines brilliantly after sunset or before sunrise.  This is the reason the Romans named it "Venus."  It shined so brilliantly in the sky that they thought it was the most beautiful thing in the sky.  As a result, they named it after their goddess of beauty, who was called "Venus."*
 
This week we will be studying earth as it is the next planet closest to the sun.  I will be sure to share any facts I find interesting.
 
I*Taken from "Young Explorers Series Exploring Creation with Astronomy"