Valentine Cookie Collage

Samuel, Alex and Briana decorated cookies today in Junior Church for Valentine's Day.

Family Puzzle

Tonight the family put together this 300 piece puzzle that Curtis received for Christmas from Papa and Grandma. Early on, Jeff said, "I am not very good at puzzles." Sam replied, "I'm sorry, Dad." We all laughed at that, but Sam gained a little bit more respect for Dad's puzzle skills as the evening wore on. We had an enjoyable time. At one point, Dad and the boys were cheering loudly and giving high fives for getting pieces - one would have thought it was a sporting event.

Say Cheese!

Julissa grabbed the 1 lb. shredded cheese bag that lay on the table too close to her plate. Obviously, it was not sealed and she ended up with it upside down. This picture just shows a portion of the cheese that was spilled. It was on the table, her plate, the floor and on more of her highchair.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

This year the kids and I plan to participate in The Great Backyard Bird Count. It is held February 16 through February 19. You can also find coloring pages of birds and other things for kids regarding birds on the GBBC website. If you are interested in something fun yet educational for children, visit GBBC.

Our Mallard Ducks

Today the kids called me to the Family Room window to look at the ducks feeding beneath our bird feeder. I don't recall having seen them before in the winter. We usually see them every spring as they come to the creek behind our place to nest. Then in the summer, we will see them with all the ducklings following along. It is really neat to see them here this winter.

Lincoln Log Fort

Alex and Briana have spent most of the day building and playing with this Lincoln Log Fort. They have been thoroughly enjoying themselves. Curtis and Samuel have also played with them when they took an unathorized break from schoolwork.

Out on the Ice!

We got a good 6 inches or so of snow yesterday.

Jeff took a vacation day today and took the kids outside to play.
Here are 4 of them out on the ice on the creek behind our place.
They played outside today for quite awhile despite a chilly 10 degrees.
Samuel had to come in a little early due to falling through the ice.
He is our one that tends to be a little more daring than the rest.

More Photos of Snow and Birds

 

 

 

 

These pictures are all taken through my Family Room window.

It's Snowing!

It is a chilly 7 degrees here and snowing!

I love to watch it snow but I am thankful to be indoors where it is warm!
We are supposed to get 3 - 5 inches of snow today.

Moving Onward

At the beginning of this year, our oldest son decided that it was time
for him to leave Junior Church and start attending regular church services.
Yesterday during the morning service,

the Junior Church Director presented him with a certificate

and the Pastor presented him with this Bible in recognition of him

transitioning from Junior Church to regular church services.
Just another reminder of how our children grow up so quickly.
It seems like just yesterday that we were taking him to his first church

service at Whitehall Holiness Church.

The Cardinal

I took this photo today through my Family Room window.
Here is a poem I've enjoyed about the Cardinal.


The Cardinal
When autumn woods are bare and dead,

A crested bird, of cardinal red,

Sways like an oak leaf overhead;

And sighs, "Drear! drear! drear!"

When winter woods are white with snow,

And drifts pile high as wild winds blow,

Like flame this torchlike bird doth glow;

And cries, "Whew! whew! whew!"

When springtime's crimson buds appear,

And red-gold columbines are here,

This songster welcomes the new year;

And sings, "Cheer! cheer! cheer!"

When summer's sun sheds scorching beams,

And cardinal flowers beside the streams

Grow wild, this brilliant bird still gleams;

And whistles, "Hue! hue! hue!"

A.E.B.

My Girls!

Briana

Julissa

My Boys!

Curtis

Samuel

Alexander

Quite A Catch!

As Jeff and I were fixing dinner, Samuel walked in and said, "Look at my catch!"

Too Much Pop!

Tonight after supper Alex said,

"When I drink too much pop my nose blows up."

Encyclopedia Brown?

Our 6 year old son Alex informed us that Encyclopedia Brown #7 was missing. Jeff truly thought he meant that #7 was missing out of the actual "Encyclopedia Brown" series.

My Wonderful Husband!

Here is a picture I took this evening of Jeff relaxing while surfing the net.

Our HomeSat Setup for Homeschooling

I offer you a photo today of our HomeSat setup. We use BJU HomeSat for some of our classes for the kids. The classes are broadcast via satellite which comes thru the BJU HomeSat receiver. We choose which classes we want to record and do so on the DVD hard drive recorder. After classes are recorded on the hard drive, Jeff then burns them to DVD. Finally, they are placed in our 400 DVD changer which will hold their place on up to 40 DVDs at a time. This is very helpful since we otherwise would spend too much time forwarding thru a DVD in order to get to the next lesson. One DVD holds one week of lessons for a particular subject. I took this photo while Sam was watching his Heritage Studies lesson today. It is a help to have some of their classes taught by someone else and yet we are all still able to be home together.