mantle

This is only my second Christmas to decorate a mantle. It is quite a daunting task. For a week or so this December it just existed. Then the other night my neighbors were going to get their Christmas tree. I asked if they would mind getting me some tree clippings. And this is the result.
I just added the tree clippings to my grapevine wreath from the Fall. I have had the red and gold ribbon for probably 6 years and the silver snowflake ornaments for probably 8 years. I got the nativity scenes half off last year at hobby lobby. I love reusing what I already have!

its hump day

Hump day does not have much significance to a stay-at-home mom I guess. But we do enjoy that Chip is usually free of work on Saturdays and Sundays. So, in honor of it being hump day, here is a little photo to get you through the rest of your week.

I gave the kids cucumbers today with our cheese pizza for lunch. Nate loved them. I was calling him my little "cutecumber". I think this is him enjoying some cinnamon toast a few days ago.

Shake the sugar tree

My new friend Julie, who's son attends Streed's co-op, invited us to watch a pecan harvest at a near-by orchard last week. She said we (the kids) needed to wear some sort of hard hat so that when the pecans fell they would not get hurt. It was such a pretty day. The farmer and his wife were great. They told us all about how to prepare the ground around the tree, where they put the nuts to separate them into sizes and then how the other machine cracks them. The tractor has some sort of attachment that wraps around the pecan trees and shakes them. It was hilarious to see leaves and pecans falling down on the kids. We all left with pecans and some awesome fresh broccoli that ella was eating by the handfulls on the way home. I had to take it from her so we could have some during the week. I even learned that there is a native nut that is small and a desireable nut that comes from grafting a tree into a native tree. Here are some of the sweet pics. Streed liked the dog Duke the best of all!

lovin' the land around us

Chip turned down the street behind our neighborhood to show me something and this is what we found.

So of course the kids and I had to get out of the truck. The donkeys were so sweet. They stopped eating to come over and visit.
We were keeping a fair distance but they started sticking their heads through the barbed wire to get closer to us. So then we had to pet them.

november was a blur

november flew by. here are some high points.
a set of the parents/grandparents were able to come and visit for thanksgiving

taken on a vibrant setting but the trees are pretty here nonetheless

the boys room being clean enough for a photo

riding a bike like a pro

i just loved how tiny nate looked on our bed

streed got a razorback hat from his poppy for a late bday gift

mini me's

This could be a picture of Chip and me during the first half. He was concerned. I was having fun.

Co-op

The parents were invited to sit in on this week's assembly at Streed's co-op. It was a review day of all the info they have learned in the past 15 weeks. And let me assure you it is a lot. It was fun to see not only his age group but also up to 4th grade stating science facts, history timelines etc all the way from Clovis, leader of the Franks, to Truman ordering the dropping of the atomic bomb. Streed thought that sounded cool...I had to explain that it in fact was not. And now we are on a break from his co-op until January. It was nice this week to enjoy a Thanksgiving break. We will start Monday with light review and phonics, phonics, phonics. I was worried about his reading ability but several people have told me lately that I am probably just having too high of expectations. I do not personally know any "normal" kindergarteners in which to compare Streed's reading ability. Some of my good friends' kids are just advanced in a lot of ways. You know who you are!!! :) So now I am more relaxed and am just going to teach him at a good pace. Isn't that one of the beauties of homeschool? Another piece of advice I was given: "if you are not having fun during Kindergarten homeschool, you are doing something wrong".

is he 10?

i got streed this sweater at a consignment sale a few months ago. it is like pulling teeth to get him to wear anything that is not a t-shirt and athletic pants. but, i finally managed to get him in this sweater. he looked so cute i just had to get some shots. he really does like having his picture made although it is sometimes hard to get an authentic smile.

Light: as in "not heavy" and "not dark"

Here is my little Nate Nate now. I took this yesterday afternoon. After my little revelation about what was going on with us, he perked up. No fever last night. It was amazing. I really think once I realized it was a spiritual battle the darkness lifted. I had prayed for him all weekend, but it was different. Right after my post I called Ella and Nate over and we all held hands and prayed for him. A few minutes later my leader from my Mom's N More group from church called and prayed for us too using my same words. It was and is by the power of the name and blood of Jesus .

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal,

but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

real life

At the risk of sounding hokey...I think I (and my family included) am under a spiritual attack. Nate has been sick for a week. He has been on an antibiotic since Saturday but if he is not on Motrin he is running a fever of 103. I have missed about 4 of 10 Mom's N More meetings due to sicknesses. After my blue weekend a few weeks ago I got in touch with one of the moms from the area who also has a child in Streed's coop. She invited us to her house to play. I had to cancel the day of because Streed had fever. I missed out on 2 other invites by ladies in our small group due to Nate's croup. Tomorrow I will miss the last Mom's N More of the semester due to Nate's lingering fever. I really am a slow learner. I am starting now to pray for health and healing both physically and spiritually. Feel free to join me!