Final Chewie Pictures, plus

In the weeks since I have posted an update, our biggest life change was that Chewie (a-hem) went away. We mustered up the courage to do what turned out to be best for all parties, which was to take him in.... He was too much to feed, too much to train, too much to walk, needed too much medical care, and was a hazard around here because when he made an unexpected move he often nearly knocked over a certain less-stable member of our family, whom we do NOT need falling down. Of course I cried. However, I was equally relieved, needless to say, as sad ... which I take to confirm it was the right decision. Natasha went with me. She, too, was sad. However, as far as I know she didn't actually shed any tears. Here are his final four pictures (sniff, sniff), taken before the decision to take him in was communicated to the children.









Jeremy and Justus greatly enjoyed the Men & Boys' Campout a couple weekends ago. Perfect weather, outstanding company, uplifting discussion and devotion, fresh air, quiet, and ... well, not necessarily a great night's sleep (late night, unfamiliar surroundings, others' snoring). Remember shortly after we moved here that there was the tragic death of a young man, a recent high school graduate? Well, in honor of this year's Men & Boy's Campout, which he and his dad always enjoyed, his mom, Judy, gifted their tent to Jeremy and Justus/our family!! Her son was as tall as or taller than Jeremy, and this tent was originally gifted to him a year ago, so he could have a tent in which he could stand up. Sadly, he got to use it only once or twice. Happily, because of Judy's choce to 're-gift' the tent to us, it is going to continue to be used and appreciated!!! She also gave us two air mattresses, a single size and a queen size, the latter of which was a TOTAL blessing, timing-wise because Mom and Dad were able to sleep comfortably (they said) on it while they were here!!!! Earlier, on the day of the campout, Jeremy, at Judy's request, put the tent up before taking it out of town, to make sure all the parts & pieces were there. It is the nicest tent that's ever been in my life, and that's really saying something because our tent when we were growing up was awesome!



N was helping/observing in her new boots (her 'dress shoes' for this season! ha), so I shot her, too.



The same night as the campout there was a Ladies' and Girls' Sleepover at Missy's house. VERY.FUN. One of Missy's cats is this black beauty ... which we later learned isn't really supposed to be picked up (stomach issues). -oops- Sorry Missy!



Taylor was so cute sitting on the hearth!



JoAnn & Karen enjoyed some quiet conversation.



This was the first night we saw Kim's new haircut!! Her hair used to go all the way down her back! [Ooh, ooh! Kim's husband, Jake, was baptized on Wednesday evening!! And ... (sigh) ... it is her grandpa's funeral Jeremy officiated this morning. It was a rainy, graveside service of dark, warm clothes and 30 huge golf umbrellas, just for a visual. All five of us attended, which I think was particularly nice for Jake & Kim's girls, especially Lexie who is exactly the same age as N, within 14 days. It was good to be together for a few hours afterward as well.]



We played games.



Erin had just finished a color guard performance!



Amy, Megan, & Erin. (Megan & Erin are sisters. Amy, again, is N & J's piano teacher.)



The girls played a Kids' Pictionary game!



I had the camera at piano lessons last week!



Ohman. On this picture?? I didn't realize until I was editing the pictures how cuuuute I think this picture is, with Justus's Saints cap sitting neatly beside him on the bench!! (eye roll) He is SUCH a 'neat'-ster!



Donna was baking that day. WOW, she goes to town!

Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason was an educator in England in the late 1800s. She never married nor had children. Her educational ideas were 'progressive' for her time, and have become of new interest to educators (maybe especially home educators) in the last 30 years. I just finished a book called "For the Children's Sake," by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, wherein the author shares some of Ms. Mason's original writings. Of most interest to me was her (Charlotte Mason's) emphasis on the Christian aspect of educating children; please consider the following three quotes.

"Let us save Christianity for our children by bringing them into allegiance to Christ, the King. How? How did the old Cavaliers bring up sons and daughters, in passionate loyalty and reverence for not too worthy princes? Their own hearts were full of it; their lips spake it; their acts proclaimed it; the style of their clothes, the ring in their voices, the carriage of their heads -- all was one proclamation of boundless devotion to their king and his cause ... what shall we say of 'the Chief amongst ten thousand, the altogether lovely'?"

"But let their zeal be according to knowledge. Lay the foundation of their faith ... that they should know fully in Whom they have believed, and what are the grounds of their belief."

"The expressed knowledge attainable by us has its source in the Bible, and perhaps we cannot do a greater injustice to children than to substitute our own or some other benevolent person's rendering for the fine English, poetic diction, and lucid statement of the Bible."

Living History Farms, Part 3

N dictates: "After the 1900 farm we went into a hill building, a building under a hill where they had different exhibits about farming. My favorite part was the true or false exhibit. I also liked comparing an old-fashioned kitchen to a kitchen today. They have a small theater where they showed a movie.





We rode on the tractor back to the Visitor’s Center. I was glad to rest my legs on that tractor ride. [On the way to the farms J and I rode on the very back bench of the second trailer; on the way back to the Visitor's Center we rode on the front bench of the first trailer!]





[At one point on the tractor ride, the road passes under the Interstate!]



[I was asked who this man is! It is Gary, Elaine's friend from Louisiana; all of his family lives close by him so when he has a vacation he visits Elaine!]



Then we ate lunch at the Machine Shed and drank out of Mason Jars.









Then we visited the town. In the first house, my favorite things were old-fashioned toys, like the spin-top.



I also liked the laundry room, which had a board for washing with. The pantry had a lot of the same things that are in our pantry, but in different style. I liked the feather bed that was very soft and comfy, and there was a cute little cradle. In that room was a wash bin where people would ‘do their toilet’ in the morning. The stove in the kitchen had a lot of doors. The burners can be lifted up. I got to lift one and it felt heavy.



At the Millinery there were so many pretty hats I can’t tell you which one was my favorite. Some were black and some were white. A lot of them had flowers, but some had jewels and feathers. One of my favorites was a black one with flowers on it and it had a veil in the back. We got to go in the back where the millinery made the hats. We weren’t allowed to touch anything, but it was interesting. She had a very pretty dress back there.

At the Drug Store we looked at different kinds of tooth powder. My favorite one had cinnamon in it. There was some make-up there. Some make-up made ladies look pale. We didn’t look at all the men’s stuff.

At the General Wares store there was a coffee grinder and a scale. You would put one part of the scale on the number on the ruler part of how many pounds you wanted, and then you would put the things you wanted in the bucket of the scale, and if you could lift up the ruler you had as much as you wanted. They had Rock Candy on a stick, and other candy too.



There was also a tall, white church building at the very end of the town. When we went inside it there was a pump organ and a piano. Mom and I played one of the songs from the book we’re practicing from at home. I liked the big, pretty window at the front. I liked the way it was stained. It looked like a four-leaf clover, with rainbow colors. There was a sign hanging on a rope that said, “Don’t pull,” probably because that rope was attached to the bell and the rope would ring it.



At the printer's place I got to see big pieces of paper that had been printed on with a very large ink pad. There was also a smaller ink pad which I got to print on! And I got to take the paper home. It says “Living History Farms, September 17, 2008”. It also has a picture of pigs. Justus almost got his fingers crushed when we were rolling the big, heavy roller over the paper.





On our way out, we passed some trash cans with a whole lot of admission stickers on them, and I put mine on one that did not have any. The End.

Living History Farms, Part 2 (of 3)

We walked on a shady trail called Miller Nature Walk. We took pictures of Grandma next to the sign because Miller is her first last name.





There were lots and lots of acorns on the ground. We saw a raccoon track, we think, but we saw only one foot print.








At the next farm, the 1900 farm, there were horses inside the barn. Two of them were white with freckles, and I liked them.







There were very smelly hogs,



and there was a beautiful carriage parked in stable. It was pure black with leather seats. It was covered, and the roof had tassels. [Wanna hear something sad?? I took two pictures of this sight. This shot was the *least* blurry of the two!!]



The chicken coop was full of chickens and one BIG TURKEY. In front of the house there, Justus pretended to mow the lawn with an old, manual lawn mower.



Inside the house people were having lunch. They were dressed not like we dress, because their costumes are from history.



In the parlor Justus played the squeaky pump organ. While he was doing that, I laid down on the chaise lounge. I pretended to be asleep. In the main bedroom there was a trundle bed.





Outside, there was a small vineyard and there was a cat sleeping in its shade. The cat is white and black and brown.



The last animals we saw on the farm were sheep. We thought all of them were males, and one was very old. They were just past the orchard.