Our very own Charlotte

The last few nights we have watched an amazing spider spin her web just outside of our laundry room door. Eager hands would turn on the porch light and view the wonders of web making only inches from our eyes. It has been a true testament to the awesome creativity of our God to watch the spider meticulously create a web, catch unsuspecting insects through the night, and then take her whole glorious creation down at sunrise, only to repeat it all again. This display went on for several days.

Last night however, something was different. Our spider was not making a beautiful web. She seemed slow and uncoordinated. Her web never appeared and this morning she was not resting in her usual spot above the door. In her place was an egg sack. Her life had come full circle. Goodbye Charlotte.

One Week Old

It is hard to believe that our baby calf Jonah is already one week old. He has grown so much in just seven short days. We are expecting another calf any day now from our other cow Posey.

The Purple Ribbon Brownies

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I have never liked homemade chocolate brownies. They always seemed too dry and cake like; not fudgy and gooey like my trusty Duncan Hines box mix.

Well everything has changed! Allie made a brownie recipe from Paula Deen's Savannah Country Cookbook for the County Fair and LOOK OUT! These brownies are called "Lady Brownies" and they will knock your socks off.
Here is the recipe:

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
6 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (we used pecans)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Blend together sugar, oil, eggs, cocoa, and vanilla. Add flour; mix. Add nuts; spread into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Recipe says it yields 15 to 20 brownies, but I'm thinking more like 12 :O) (if your lucky). They are THAT good!

Fair Results

Drumroll please.......

Allie:
Visual Arts - Tissue Paper Flowers - Blue Ribbon
Cooking - Blonde Brownie - Blue Ribbon
Cooking - Chocolate Brownie - Purple Ribbon (Eligable for The State Fair)
Photography - Apple Blossom - Purple Ribbon (Eligable for The State Fair)
Photography - Flowers on Piano - Purple Ribbon (Eligable for The State Fair)

Caleb:
Visual Arts - Torn Paper Ocean Scene - Grand Champion Purple Ribbon
Cooking - Snickerdoodle Cookies - Blue Ribbon

The County Fair & Missing Dad

This week is our local County Fair and today is the big day to drop off 4-H projects for judging. Allie and Caleb both made projects for the Visual Arts display. We all think they turned out well....definitely purple ribbon quality in my book :O)

Caleb's torn paper and tissue paper ocean scene.


Allie's tissue paper flower bouquet.


They both will also take baked goods and Allie will enter her photo of the apple blossoms she took in April.



On another note, Allan left this morning for a week long business trip in Louisiana. We miss him already. We will be doing all of the farm chores this week, so pray for the critters. Friday cannot come quickly enough for us.

Last minute fair entry:
Allie liked my "tissue paper flowers on the piano" picture, so she created her own version and had it printed in black and white. Very Elegant.

Another Blessing!

The weather here has been amazing. It was in the 70's yesterday and felt like fall. To make things even better, our sweet cow Rosie had her baby last night. A beautiful, healthy, sweet, baby boy. I think we'll call him Jonah. He's so little!

Weekend Fun!

The kids had a camp out this past weekend and the weather was PERFECT!!! We had high temperatures of 78 and lows in the upper 50's - in Kansas - in July - it was unbelievable!
We made a campfire for the usual fair of hot dogs and smores, and well, we learned a little something about cooking out. Who knew you had to let a fire "burn down" before you could use it? Probably everyone EXCEPT us :O) The fire proved to be a bit hot when the girls went to roast their dogs, but Dad came to the rescue. If you have a steel fencepost, your cooking stick, the ever-useful duct tape, and a couple of hay bales lying around, you can outwit the fire!

"Cookout Forts"

We are LOVING this!

We got our Happy Phonics set in the mail from the nice folks over at Love to Learn and what a hit! My Ashlyn (3 1/2) couldn't wait to get started. I wasn't even halfway done cutting out the first game (muffin match) before she was begging to play. I can see why this program works. I feel like I must mention that it is worth every penny of the $49.99 price tag - the games are printed on very high quality cardstock and the instructions are clear as a bell. If you have a young one at your house that is ready to learn to read, give Happy Phonics a look.

What do you use for...

Today I'll be adding our curriculum specifics to the blog in the left hand column.

flexability and answered prayer

Well, we started school on Monday and Tuesday the kid's grandparents called and asked if they could pick them up Thursday and keep them a couple days. My first thought was, "Oh no! I have this whole week planned out, and now I am going to be two days behind." Then I thought, "Wait a minute, this is not a race. We can be flexible -I'm the teacher- and maybe this is a little blessing from the Lord."

I am always wishing to be able to spend a little time alone with my husband, and now He is giving me two and a half days. (Did I mention we have not had a single day without kids in 3 1/2 years?) If I had chosen to get all stressed out about the reading we weren't going to get done, I might have missed the joy and answered prayer that was right in front of me. Besides, what is more fun to a child than spending a few precious days with Grandma and Grandpa?

Now, what to do for 2 1/2 days.....:O)