~December~

~Teaching Conference, Road Trip Style~

I enjoyed a teaching conference I went to last November so much that I went again this year... with one sidekick and 5 teen girls in my van.  There was also two men and three teen guys that made the trip in other vehicles.  I was happy to have Jordan on the trip this time!

I have never driven so many hours at one time... that was my most worry some part of the trip.  The trip out went very well.  We stopped a number of times... for coffee in PA,  Cabela's in West Virginia, supper in Ohio and groceries.  I was so thankful for nice weather!  

We stayed at the church that was hosting the conference.  We were in some of the school rooms, so we had to have all our belongings packed up and moved out early each morning.  

Most of the girls had cots or couches to sleep on.  These two guys took the floor.   Jordan and Caleb only slept a few hours so the floor wasn't a problem for them.

We had four hours to fill the first morning before the conference. We enjoyed a trip to Jungle Jim's, we walked around Hobby Lobby (do not play with the big feathers... it angers the workers who got up on the wrong side of the bed) and we took a long early lunch break at Panera Bread... and that was all before 11 am!

Me and my side kick Kristi ♥ in an outhouse in Jungle Jim's.

Some of the gang in Jungle Jim's.

We had a great time at the conference.  Five general sessions, lots and lots of workshops with brain overload, but good stuff.

Many in our group won door prizes.  Caleb and Jordan had to play a game for theirs.  They put an Oreo on their forehead and had to get it to their mouth without touching it!

We enjoyed using the school gym (but not the showers!) and had fun meeting up with some of the missionaries that have visited us through their Bible Assembly program.

I had a great time with the teens and am so glad they could learn how to teach at an early age.  We are all working together to teach Jr Church and I think they will do a fantastic job.

I was most concerned about the trip home... I didn't get much sleep and we had to drive almost straight through.  God certainly was answering my prayers (and the prayers of the moms in the church) by giving me a wonderful trip home.  I got tired of driving but not tired.

I seriously need to let Gregg go next year... and I hope to take a mission trip instead!

~Big Kneedls, Big Cozy Blanket~

I got myself some size 50 knitting needles!  I had to use nine strands of yarn together to make the yarn thick enough... I could have used 12 strands if I had them!

I used two strands of multicolor tan/brown/off white

four strands of off white

three strands of brown

(I think that was the mix)

This cozy blanket was for Trevor and Oliva... the newlyweds!

I would certainly like to make another blanket like this... BUT my needles were not long enough and I had to smush every row on to make the blanket wide enough.  I have my eye on these for knitting... someday.

In the meantime, I've taken a break from knitting bit projects... I'm still trying to fit some embroidery into my day!  Soon, very soon!

~Field Trip~

The week we didn't get to do our normal Prairie Primer day, we had a field trip with our church homeschool group to a local environmental center.  It all worked out just fine!

The first part of the visit was to learn about Johnny Appleseed.  We all brought apples and made some apple cider in this handle little contraption.  Yumm-O!

Kiersten couldn't wait to do it, but the man talked to her and that totally ruined her day... this photo was taken just seconds before the traumatic moment ☺ haha!  It was fun to have 4 year olds to sixteen year olds in the class.

We then went outside for a nature walk.  I really loved this part and our guide was extremely good with the kids.  Whatever they found or walked passed they asked about... and he told them all about it.  They started looking closely at everything and asking questions.  It was neat to see that.  We normally see a leaf as a leaf, but look closely at those leaves!  There are wondrous treasures everywhere!  If nothing else the kids learned to pay attention.  There were acorns under this tree yesterday, where did they go? How were these seeds meant to be spread?  Why do you think that birdhouse is at the top of the tree?

Kiersten enjoyed the Cicada shells.  

A good guide is so important!  And we had a great one!

~Prairie Primer ~ Prairie ~ Week 2/3~

We did not get together for week two because we were having sewer problems so we changed our plans a little for this week and tried to fit in a little of both.

Week two we learned about mules, malaria, wolves, mosquitoes and wells.

Week three we learned about three different kids of trees, trapping and we started on some Indian books.

The kids had fun making moccasins out of paper bags.  I misread the instructions though so most kids only got one moccasin instead of two (not enough bags).  They had fun running around in them anyway.

We taught the kids to play hopscotch.  Some of them are very uncoordinated! haha!  They caught on quickly though.  This simple activity reminded me of the importance of them learning all sorts of things.  Hopscotch in general won't make them an amazingly well rounded adult... but, there are things in this simple activity that that are good for them.  Coordination, following directions, waiting their turn... children's play is so important!

We also made little bow and arrows.

Next week we are not getting together but doing a bunch of Indian studies.

~Picture Day~

Finally a nice fall day to take the kids outside for our annual photo day.  They very much dislike getting their pictures taken :-)

 Eric 8 1/2

 Jared 13

 Jordan 15

Love 'em!

 Kiersten 4

Nathan 6

Aaron 11

my little army ☺

~Birthday Boys~

Gregg and Aaron have their birthdays within the same week.  Ironically, Aaron is the most like Gregg out of all the boys.  They both got steam engines for their birthdays ☺

Aaron also got a florescent orange hat and vest...  He is hoping to pass his Hunter Safety Course on Saturday!  One family hobby of racing wasn't enough.  We wanted to make our schedule more crazy and add in hunting ☺