Cassidy's Carrots and Austin the Entrepreneur

Cassidy did a fine job with his garden this year. His carrots sprouted and when we came home from our holiday he picked some.


The little ones enjoyed their snack of carrots.

Austin and Cassidy did a deal. Austin bought some carrots from Cassidy for 12 cents a carrot. He used his pennies, which he didn't want, to purchase the carrots.

Cassidy gave him the carrots and then Austin sold them to me for 15 cents a carrot. The deal began that he would sell them to me for a dime. I told him that that was 2 cents less than he was paying for the carrots. He said he didn't care. He just wanted the dimes versus the pennies. So funny.

I didn't want to take advantage of him, and I really wanted to see this entrepreneurial spirit take off, so I told him I would pay him 15 cents each. At the end of the deal Cassidy was happy with his $2.40 worth of pennies, as he is collecting pennies, and Austin was happy because he made $3.00 by selling them to me!

Cassidy's More Mature Carrots

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Becoming a Big Boy

Briton is becoming such a big boy! The other day he found a wooden project that Austin was working on and he went and got a small pouch, nails, and a hammer. And then he got to work. For the next week, nearly every day I would find him out on the deck hammering away. He would work for an hour or more - sometimes hours - each time he would work on this project. He was simply pounding in nails and attaching small pieces of wood, but it was something to see!


The next week I saw him up on the roof of the kid's log cabin. He told me that he was doing what his dad was doing. You see, his daddy had been putting on the roof of the new log shed, and Briton was simply imitating him. *smile*

Cleaning the Roof

Not only is he picking up big guys things to do, but he is also beginning to talk. Sadly, our speech therapist left town and left us in the lurch. When I heard he was leaving I felt like I was drowning. It was such a scary thing to be the only person regulating how his speech was coming along. At the time, he was still about 75% (or more) unintelligible - even to me!

Miracle of miracles, in the last few months Briton's speech has just begun to come through. We can understand most of what he says now. The world would understand about 50%. At times he talks so much about something that I have no clue to what he is saying. But that is getting to be less and less.

The interesting thing is that he is passing Savannah in speech. Her speech, when she tries, is very clear. One day, when she said, "Huh?" Briton turned to her and said, "Not huh. Pardon me." It is very interesting to see how the language is in there and is finally coming out!

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Red Friday

This is way late in being blogged, but here it is:

Our town had a Red Friday. This is when the town acknowledges the troops that are fighting for our country. Our boys, being Cadets, were proud to be part of it.

Ray took time off work to join us in the march.

Free sunglasses handed out by some kind lady.

Our Cadets

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Sitting on the Edge of the Nest - part 5

This is part 5 of a five part blog writing that I have done. It is about the teen years and a choice that I have been mulling over for one of my sons. If you want to read Part 1-4 - please follow these links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

So now we have a boy with his own space to take care of, and the beginning of projects rather than simply paperwork. It will take time I know, for him to loosen up. When I first told him I was releasing him from having to do a required list of lessons he was a little unsure of what to do.

He will have to complete his last two classes for the year. But now, rather than worrying about credits and a government diploma, Dane is working towards a Portfolio.

So what is a Portfolio?

It is a 'container' that holds evidence of an person's skills, ideas, interests, and accomplishments. It is a tool that can be used to tell what has been learned and what steps a student has taken to master a subject. It shows evidence of what a student may or may not have had difficulty with and how they might have conquered those problems.

It is a self-assessment for the student themselves, to assess what they have accomplished over the years of 'highschool'. The timeline within will show how the student's interests have changed and grown over time, and it will also provide other people an opportunity to look into a young person's world to see where their interests, abilities, and talents lie.

For instance, Dane loves airplanes. He has had an interest in planes since he was 18 months old. As well, his knowledge of World War II is extremely extensive.

When he heard that the local highschool's aviation class was working on building an airplane at the airport, he called the teacher and asked if he could assist in the construction. The teacher was happy to have Dane, even though he is not a student of the school.

A few days ago, when he was up at the airport helping a teacher drill holes in the wing of the aircraft, he overheard a student mention a Social Studies test he had coming up. A question that was mentioned as possibly being on the exam: How did the Japanese get onto Wake Island? The boys at the airport were throwing out all possibilities of the answer. Not one of them mentioned the correct answer.

When Dane came home, he told me of this question and proceeded to tell me the whole situation of what was going on on the island, how the Americans were protecting the island and how the Japanese managed to get on land and it was surrendered to them.

Dane has a fascination with World War II and knows so much about it. He has read every book and seen every movie that he can get his hands on. He has also written, illustrated, and self-published an amazing story of self-sacrifice and heroism of a Canadian soldier during World War II. People who have seen his artwork say he is very talented.

Because of this interest in World War II and airplanes Dane wrote an aviation program for himself this year.

I met a girl last year through my blog, whose husband was interested to hear about Dane. When this man was a boy he did everything he had to to work his way up in the flying world. He hung around the airport and watched planes. He became known by the men and soon got a chance to clean out the airplanes for people. These pilots eventually offered him to fly with them. He then worked his way up through his licenses, until now he is flying a 777 from Vancouver - Hong Kong.

Well, this kind man inspired Dane last year, by sending him an amazing care package full of pilot books, tools, and paraphenalia. Dane has taken the main text (Transport Canada's Flight Training Manual) and is using this book to learn to fly... in the kitchen!

This is the very text that he would be using in a Private Ground School course!!

Everyday, he reads a chapter of the book and then proceeds to do the lessons on the Microsoft Flight Simulator that hooks up to his computer.

This is Dane's passion. Do you think I have to push him to learn all he can about World War II or airplanes? No!

By the time Dane takes his pilot's license he will know that textbook inside and out! And he will have had hundreds of hours of experience flying through a simulator.

And if you remember, when I took Dane to California two years ago, he went in a flight simulator. The people there were so impressed with him that they gave him an extra hour for free. They said his hand-eye coordination was outstanding.

So, back to the Portfolios.

Reviewing a student's portfolio can show a much wider picture of their aptitudes, talents and abilities than a traditional bubble test. In a homeschool, a portfolio can reflect homeschool activities, social activities, and self-directed learning projects that might not be part of a standardized test. Dane will show evidence in his portfolio of the hours he has put into the simulator and his knowledge of the textbook. He will show photos of himself working up at the airport building the airplane.

When I stop to think of what Dane has learned by spending a week on board a sailing boat! That was learning that could not take place in a classroom or at a computer desk. And this opportunity of learning would not have taken place if I had not listened to Dane's interest in experiencing sailing for the first time.

He will now see if he can get on board another of these sailing trips - this time for a two week period. From there he will have the chance to get his Level 2 tall-ship certification.

All of the things he learned on the sailing trips will go in his Science section of his portfolio. He has taken many photos of his trip, written notes on what he has done and this will now be added.

And all of his knowledge and experience in World War II history falls into: Social Studies and airplanes: Science: physics, aerodynamics, Newton's Third Law of Motion, meteorology, the Laws of gravity, mechanics, mathematics, map and compass and so much more

Research shows that students see assessments of their work as being something that is done 'to them' by other people. Outside of the letter grades and percentages, corrected grammar and math questions, students often are not really aware of what it is the teachers are evaluating them for.

On the other hand, making a portfolio is something that a student does as a self-examination/evaluation. Through the course of their highschool years they take note of what they want shown to college admissions professors or prospective employers. Examples of work that they have done in the key topics: Science, English, Math, and Social Studies will be put into their binder/dvd portfolio.

Research has also shown that students benefit from being aware of the strategies and processes involved in writing, solving problems, researching topics, analyzing information, or describing their own observations.

At the end of the day, when Dane is done, he will have a dvd compilation that is so much more than a piece of paper with letter grades on it. Because honestly, just how much value are there on letter grades, anyway?

My oldest son was in public school grade 10 English. The teacher did not have time to teach the segment on Shakespeare and poetry, as she spent so much time on learning how to write paragraphs. Each evening, she had them write three in-depth paragraphs from each chapter of The Chrysalids. By the time he was done, my son had written 51 paragraphs. Do you think he knew how to write a strong paragraph? (sarcasm) That is what is called busy-work.

When it came time to do his Provinical Exam in English 10, he had no clue what the Shakespeare and Poetry questions covered, as he had been too busy doing 51 paragraphs! Suffice it to say, his exam mark was below what it should fairly have been. That particular teacher was like any other teacher - doing her own schedule. There are no guarantees that a letter grade is fair or a class well-taught!

So you see, Dane will continue to learn, but now he will learn in a more interest directed way. He will gather evidence of his learning in his portfolio for if he wants to go on to higher education and he will be able to show his passion for what he has learned. He will not remember the last three years of 'school' as being forced to learn things that are not relevant to his life. He will be encouraged to explore anything and everything that piques his interest.

By the time he is ready to enter the real world he will have an idea of what he wants to do with his future, because he was given the opportunity to explore while he was still young. Instead of doing it the other way around: study and then when he is eighteen go out and have experiences and try to see what he wants to do with his life.

UPDATE: This post was written in April and not published til October. Therefore, there will be a new updated post on what Dane is doing at a later date. When I have time...
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Soccer Camp

We have had such a busy summer with camping so many times that I wasn’t sure if I would get in the soccer camp this year. Cassidy went last year and really enjoyed himself. It is put on by the Christian Church and it is $25 per child and for that they get 15 hours of soccer instruction (one week), plus a soccer ball, t-shirt, and a nice water bottle. It is a wonderful opportunity for children in the summer and I am very thankful it is so affordable!

I took the kids for the tryouts on the 19^th of August and the following Monday was the first day of camp. I was curious how Raine would do because I knew that soccer was the one thing that she really liked. She had been taught in Ethiopia by her friend, Fikru, and she would teach our boys what she had learned. I also knew that she had a real runner’s ability. She runs like an athlete. Within months of coming home Ray had seen that she was athletic because he would take the kids to the gym night and Raine would get so into the physical activities. So I figured we had some athletic genes running through her body. This was my chance to see what she had.

They had to do various activities to show their kicking, running, and dribbling abilities and she did fine on all but the dribbling. That was new to her. She was awesome on the running and scoring. For the scoring the children had to aim for two little cones in the centre of two big nets. I have no idea why the nets were there because they were not supposed to shoot for them. Raine did fantastic and got two out of three into the cones *after* she realized she was not shooting for the nets!

Raine missed the first two days due to circumstances, but was able to attend for the final three. When the kids would come home from camp they would tell me if their teams won and invariably Cooper or Raine would tell me that their team won.

I had no idea how hard the competition was until the Friday. That day the kids played against their other age group team again and again, Raine and Cooper’s team won. It turned out that Raine had scored 4 of the 5 goals. The coach said that her energy was endless and she just kept on running and running. So, we may have a little soccer player on our hands. We are also thinking of see if we can get her into track and field. All our kids would love that!

What was nice to see was how the coach pinpointed each of our children’s strengths on their soccer poster. She remarked on how thoughtful Cooper was and how Raine had endless energy. I was happy to see how our kids received sportsmanship awards. There was an event where a team player fell and hurt his leg and both Raine and Cooper ran to help him up. It is always a pleasure when your children are not in the world much (no public school) to get comments from coaches and such to tell you how the world perceives your children. This coach said what a wonderful brother sister team Cooper and Raine were. So nice to hear!

Austin and Cassidy also really enjoyed themselves and can’t wait for next year. I think we may have a busy spring and fall coming up. Here the soccer runs from May through June and then finishes in September. And I think I will have at least four children playing!

Enjoying the End of Week Barbeque

At the end of the week there was a barbeque and then the children were invited to accept the Lord as their Saviour. When I looked over at Cooper he was lying with his head on the ground listening and then a few minutes later he had his head swinging on his shoulders. I figured he wasn’t even listening, but no, I guess boys have an odd way of listening. He was quite aware of what was going on and had accepted the Lord for the very first time!

Austin decided to recommit his life to Christ and reaccepted the Lord as his Saviour. And Raine accepted for the first time.

It was a wonderful day and I am very grateful that the Church puts this camp on. So many children who can’t afford soccer get the opportunity, plus more importantly, they come to know that Jesus loves them and died for them!

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Remembrance Day

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The Army Soldier stood and faced God,

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining,

Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, Soldier,

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

My Church have you been true?'
The soldier squared his shoulders and said,

'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.

Because those of us who carry guns,

Can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays,

And at times my talk was tough.

And sometimes I've been violent,

Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,

That wasn't mine to keep....

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

When the bills got just too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God, forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,

Among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here,

Lord, It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,

Where the saints had often trod.

As the Soldier waited quietly,

For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you Soldier,

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

You've done your time in Hell.'

~Author Unknown~

So What is Colt Up To?

I have not posted about Colt, and I feel bad because I have had people asking me. Honestly, blogging time is at a premium at my house. Anyone who knows me knows that unless I am passionate about something that I am blogging about I don't blog very often. I do my 'sit down and blog session' about every six weeks: I blog an entire evening and schedule them to post over the next six weeks.

When I get excited about a topic then it makes a good time to write off the cuff. Finally, with the buying of the land you will get spontaneous new posts!

But all the same, I know I have been really delayed in updating you on Colt, and I am sorry. He has had an interesting seven weeks.

When Colt left home he had plans to enlist in the military and also to spend some time just working like a regular person or doing a little travelling. He didn't really know what he was heading out for; he wanted to just see if he could handle it on his own in the real world. Colt did apply for work at the Banff Springs Hotel a couple days before he left home, and he expected to hear from them right away, as the job posting that he applied for was ASAP. And I do know that Colt's letters of reference were exemplary, plus he was well suited for the job he applied for.

Colt arrived in Banff and spent a few days living out of his car. He checked in at the Banff Springs Hotel and he was told he would be contacted by head office if there was a job opening. So being in Banff didn't do him any favours. While he was there he had a problem with his new car (new to him) and he took it to a garage for a check up. $100 later he left the garage with no real answers and only a little peace of mind. Life lesson #1 in the real world handled. *smile*

He was working on his last paycheque from his dad, and so he had to be very careful with his money.

After a few days Colt asked my opinion on him heading to a town a number of hours away to visit a friend. He made his decision and headed in that direction early, early one morning. Right after he got there he encountered his first speeding ticket. Ouch! $368 later.... Life lesson number 2.

I was very proud of Colt because he immediately paid off his ticket rather than letting it sit on his record. He also began driving like a little old lady. That made me happy. I was also pleased that he had been checked so early in the game. It made me feel a little more reasssured of him being more aware of driving speeds after that hefty fine. Him being a new driver and all.

Colt visited with his friend and her parents made arrangements for him. He stayed at the grandparent's house for the nights and being the great kid that he is he volunteered and did yard work and whatever he could to thank them for their 'roof' that they provided for him. He lived in their travel trailer for a few weeks. He also spent time at his friend's house for dinners, and so he helped out at their house, since the dad was often on the road as he is a trucker.

While visiting his friend, Colt tried to get a job to pay off his speeding ticket. It was interesting because during this time I was going through some growing pains of learning how to parent a a child out of the nest. I screwed up a few times, and so did Colt. We had to learn to give and take on the talk and advice section of life. *smile* I had to learn how to listen and nod a lot, and talk and advise way less.

Before I learned this Colt told me he had a job picking apples...

Apples.

My boy who I think could be an officer or the head of any company. *smile*

Hmmm.

Well, then Colt told me he thought I would be proud of him. He was picking the apples to pay off his speeding ticket, and he didn't have any other options for work at that time. He was pleased to be on his own and fully independent and yes, at the end of the day he was making $44 compared to $150 working for his dad, but it was *his money* from a job that he picked up and he was being responsible paying off his bill.

So, yes, I quickly realized it was a good thing. *smile* I also had to remind myself that when I was travelling any type of job, no matter how menial, was a great experience on my trip through life and around the world. They all added to my memories! And perhaps it was time for Colt to take a job that was truly just plain fun/easy!

By the end of the first week, Colt took his friend to a bigger town nearby to try to find her a church to go to when he went on his way. She had become a Christian last summer through meeting Colt, but she has had noone in her life that is a Christian, so she has not been to a church or anything. He did a great job and they found a nice church with some great programs.

While in this town, Colt contacted a friend of mine and had a chance to visit with her for lunch one day. She had never met Colt, only heard about him through me. She and her husband have been fabulous in helping Colt out. They have taken Colt and his friend under their wings.They have totally discipled them both. I feel so blessed that my son, who is trying so hard to just get on his feet, has these friends to guide him.

Everyday he was driving an hour to get to this town (as it is a bigger centre) to try to find work. Every morning he would show up at the unemployment office to check the job board. No matter how hard he looked he could not find a job. He told me that the woman that was dealing with him had told him that he was the most motivated young man she had met. I told him that I could certainly believe that.

By the end of two weeks looking for work (now gone from home for 4 weeks) Colt was getting a little desperate. He had no work and his money was coming to an end. One day my friend very kindly found Colt a place to stay in her town, so he could be nearer to the work centre. This has been a tremendous help for him. But he still didn't have work. He kept on pounding the pavement putting in resumes everywhere. As well as this, he has been attending a church regularly. He goes to Youth one day a week, Cadets every 2nd Saturday, plus he attends a College and Career group once a week with his friend.

One day I got a text from Colt. He told me he had found a job. Actually, he said, my friend had gotten him the job, but he didn't think I would like it.

Hmmm. This left me thinking.

He called me that evening, but by now I already knew what the job was because I wasn't waiting to be told. I called my friend, so I was 'prepared' in case it was a 'not good' job. He said to me, "Did ----- tell you about my job? Did she tell me where I am working?"

Poor guy! Seriously, it was not a bad job. It just wasn't what he wanted.

He got a job at McDonalds.

I am so proud of Colt. He tried so hard to get a job of his choosing, but he couldn't. And his money was running out, so he had to take what he could. And of course, knowing Colt, he put into that job every bit of hard work and integrity that he would any 'great' job. In the meanwhile, in his first two weeks at work he won two awards for 'Perfect orders and till' (a hard to come by award) and 'Most certificates sold'. He sold 79 and the runner up sold 12! No kidding, that is Colt!

I asked him if he was thinking of enlisting in the military, and he told me he was not at the moment. I left it alone to see where it went.

A couple weeks into the job, Colt told me he was really not sure what he wanted to do. He was not really enjoying the job. The people complain a lot and 'the customer is always right' (even if they aren't). And boy, can people be rude! *smile*

He was wanting to enlist in the army, but at the same time he doesn't feel ready to buckle down and begin attending a four year program in college, which would be part of his program. He doesn't want to keep at his job - it is just not him. Even his friend, who risks him leaving town, is telling him that this job is not for him; he needs to enlist in the military where he will be challenged.

So at the moment he is really needing some good prayer and direction. I think his heart is torn with his feelings for his friend, which makes it hard to leave town. I think a little head space would be a good thing, because he is so young, but really he has to make the call. Also, heading off to a heavy four year program is a huge committment. He just needs some real direction. In the meantime, I am so blessed to have my friend and her husband giving him and his friend such amazing mentorship, hospitality, and friendship!

Colt is feeling really lonely and homesick right now. He doesn't want to come back to our little town because it really doesn't have anything to offer him. He doesn't want to leave where he is because of his heart connections, but at the same time he really knows he has to make some decisions.

So he is at an impasse where there are a lot of things going through his head. I would ask that any of our friends that read this blog, please pray for God to clearly guide Colt, and give him clear signs as to what he is to do next.

He wants to come home for Christmas, but to do so would cost him about $500 one way. It is ridiculous. That is because he is in a small town and so are we, meaning connections. We shall see what happens, but in the meanwhile, whatever happens, he is in God's hands and I know he will be just fine.
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Let the Fun Begin!

Climbing an Ice Storm Tree

Today Ray and I and the six younger children headed out to the land. We wanted to drop off Ray's old work truck and the travel trailer. The plan is that next June we will move into the trailer and will work from there. That is if the house has sold. If it has not sold, then we will still stay here for convenience sake. (Showers)

Ray's old truck was going to sit there and eventually be used by Dane. It is 20 years old with 500,000 km on it! Well, it has just been given a new lease on life. It will have a snow blade attached and become our new snow plow. The older boys will love it because they will get to drive it, since our driveway is so long.

Okay, I have to answer some questions and make some statements. As to what a well-witcher is, Kelly, ask your mom! :o) She knows of them from in the States. They hold a willow stick or a metal stick and they can feel the pull of the water. But trust me, we will be blessing our land before we move on to it! To cover all bases! *smile*

Denise, just imagine this land filled with daisies and dandelions and wildflowers!


There are so many poplar trees that it will be gorgeous with the lime green leaves filling their branches! I know that the land looks barren and butchered right now, but you have to imagine it when we have cleared so much of the dead wood and when the spring comes! It will be a sight to behold. And trust me, I have already made it clear the things that I plan to do. I am not going to worry about relying on Ray, who will be much too busy. No, I am going to hire myself the people I need to finish the landscaping. It might take a while, but I will get it done. I intend to have a beautiful lawn leading into a glorious meadow!

And as far as internet goes: My heart almost stopped on Sunday night when a friend dared to suggest I wouldn't be able to get internet. HUH?! Nope. Not. Never. Yes, I will! Do you think God would take me back to the country and then strand me without my dear friends at the end of my email? Or my blog! Not likely. *smile*

I called a couple places today, and I have a guy coming out on Monday to see if he can get it. I then have a back up of a satelite guy coming out after that, if necessary. I warned Ray that I didn't care if I had to build a tower myself - I am getting my internet. *grin* (and just for you all to know, I barely use the 'net' - I simply blog and visit with friends via email, but then the kids need the internet for their schooling - so I am not addicted, but I could not imagine going without it!LOL!)

When we arrived at the land today, the first thing we did was decide to try to measure out how many power poles we would need to get from our property line to our house site.

Our trailer, truck and all the kids land toys delivered for winter. The timing is remarkable. We put the house on the market and were able to remove the undesirable items from our property and park them on our land. This way our home looks nice and uncluttered.

We decided to walk to the entry way to our property to measure the power poles, and it was so neat. Anyone who knows me knows that I am the type to have a golf cart in my home to walk from one side to the other. Much to lazy! *grin* So what was I doing buying a property where I might have to get some exercise?

Because there is something to walking through a park that you own! As we walked past this great big pond we could see that the ice has begun to form on the top. Oh, how heavenly this will be in the winter: ice hockey at one end and figure skating at the other. Actually, if you could see the pond, it is like a large curved tear drop. So the hockey rink will use the big rounded portion and the skaters will get the rest. What you see above is part of the hockey rink. God is so good!! We have tried for the last 10 years to make a rink in our yard. First we started with plastic and 2x4's and it sort of worked. Then the last three years we have used the sports court we build. It was pretty good, but it wasn't iced property and it didn't get thick enough. Now, we have a real skating rink!

We had a 200 foot tape measure and the guys took turns holding one end of the tape and measuring out 150 foot sections. We had budgetted for nine poles at about $2,000-$3,000 per. Well, by the time we were finished measuring to our preferred site location we were up to fourteen poles. Ouch!

The plus side of this is how wonderful it will be to be this far from other houses! But yet, remember, we are only 5km from a main highway and 10km to town! How radical is that! Dreaming, I must be dreaming. *grin*

But we are willing to do this because we really want to be off and away from the road easement that runs through our property, plus we don't want to be near the fence, nor too near the train track, nor stuck in the woods. So that made it a bit more limited. Besides it is a beautiful spot!

After we had finished measuring out the poles we plotted out where we wanted the house. We put it in such a way that my kitchen and schoolroom look out onto the meadow. It sits so that that part of the house faces the setting sun. We will have a verandah running off the master bedroom overlooking the meadow and the setting sun. The other side of the house will face the distant lake in the valley. That too is a beautiful site. I have told Ray that we really should consider putting a verandah on that side of the house too! He commented that we could later connect the two verandahs with a verandah on the south side.


This is our view of the lake from our property. This is what we will see from our east side verandah.

These are swans that we saw on the lake. Austin had written a note to a friend asking for pictures of swans so that he could draw them. He is an amazing little artist with a talent that was just discovered. So it was wonderful when we drove past the lake and saw swans!

After we had done plotting out the house Ray asked if we wanted to go exploring. I can't describe the feeling when you clamber through grass and trees and brambles and know that it is *all yours*!!

As we mosied along I was looking for a hill. I was hoping to find an area that the children could sled on. I found it! I could envision it when it was cleared and full of snow and children. How small our little hill would look in our present back yard! laugh! And they have been so content here. Just imagine!

Traipsing Through the Underbrush

A very wide hill full of mess. Yes, one more project to clean up. But oh, so worth it! While we were clambering back through the 'jungle' and exploring other views and hills, we heard a "toot toot", and someone exclaimed, "That's the train!"

We began hot-footing it. Actually, everyone but Briton and Ray, began hot-footing it as fast as we could up the hill and across the mess in the general direction of the train track. Since we had no idea where the train track was other than 'It's coming from over there?' we weren't very speedy. We could hear it rumbling past, and I stopped to listen to the squeak of some part of the train, and I just loved it. I couldn't believe that that wonderful sound was coming from our property!

I could just see my children out there waving to the conductor, as he travelled across the meadow and marsh.

Young Boy Watching the Train Passing

As I arrived back at the truck I saw a site that I am sure to see again. Boys on the land...

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Those Last Few Days of Summer

August 30-September 4

This last week of camping has surely been a blessing. Each day, as I awake and walk out my door into the still warm early morning air I can’t help but speak out loud thanking the Lord for this unexpected late summer holiday!

If you could feel the quiet and calm in the air that I feel as I gaze around me.

This campsite is such a wonderful difference to the last one in that we are right on the beach. This is the view from my bedroom window.

The View Out My Bedroom Window (no zoom used)

The first few days here it was hard to see the land on the other side of the lake, due to the heavy smoke layer that was cast over the land. There is a forest fire about one hour from here that is still 0% contained. Thankfully, it is in a forestry area, but still, the nearby town has been evacuated as they have not been able to get it under any form of control.

The kids have enjoyed having their bikes here and even though Briton is not big enough to ride his own two-wheeler bike, he had the pleasure of being a passenger on Cassidy’s bike.

We discovered this amazing foam on the beach. At first, I panicked (literally) thinking my children had been taking bubbles down to the beach. So funny! Turns out it is sea foam and the collected buckets and buckets of the stuff!

When I went and bought groceries for this impromptu trip I bought blueberries, pineapple, and cherries. Oh so wonderful!! I bought three big bags of cherries, since it was a holiday after all. I had no clue how expensive it was until I got here and checked out my receipt - $24!! LOL!! Oh well, they were wonderful.

Wonderful that is until they hit my stomach. Oh, my dad used to tell me, “Don’t eat too many cherries. Not good for your stomach.” Aggghhh!! What could they go to me? HAHA! Well, let me tell you. DON’T eat too many cherries!!! My stomach was in knots for the next two days. I consumed Rolaids like nobodies business, until thankfully my friend gave me a homeopathic remedy and my stomach got back to normal. But I have to tell you those yummy cherries were worth all the trips to my second home – the outhouse!! *grin*

As well as the yummy fruit I also stocked on a few junk food items: chips, pop, and lollipops. I was trying to be a bit careful when it came to letting the kids eat too much pop, because until this summer they really didn’t drink pop. This summer they have truly enjoyed the luxury of those forbidden sugar drinks.

Always a Poser!

So I selectively bought three new kinds of canned drinks: Brisk fruit juice – that was a hit; Brisk lemonade – also enjoyed by the kids; and then my second mistake: Nestea Vitao Mandarin flavoured. It *sounded* good. I mean, mandarin flavoured drink. Yum.

Not! It turned out to be an antioxidant!! *grin* It was so healthy that it didn’t even have a list of calories, calcium, sugar and all!! It simply told me to drink one as needed for antioxidant purposes! Cassidy begged to try one, so I told him he could. Later he told me I could keep it. Too healthy for him. Now, I told him, I have to do my research and find out if it really was healthy.

And the other item, the one the kids love, was the lollipops. Each day the children line up and I ask them how their day has gone. Have they done anything not so good today? They wrack their brains for their ‘sins’. *grin* And then I ask, “Did you make right?” They very earnestly tell me how they made it right with the person they wronged.

Or I will ask what they did that was loving and kind this day? It is nice to see them looking for ways to bless their brothers and sisters, and then hearing and seeing how nice they are treating each other.

They then happily take their lollipop. It is all done in good fun and they love it.

One day, I was looking for something and I said that the person who found it could be the one to give out the lollipops the next time. Savannah was the one to find it. You should have seen her grinning!! She often has the hardest times with her questions, so to be the interrogator was fun for her.

And she took full advantage of making it as hard as possible on her big brothers:

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and had possible good weather til Thursday, at which time it would get cooler. There was also a possibility of rain one day. Well, we did not expect the rain we got!

We woke up on Tuesday morning to grey skies, but warm temperatures. It began to rain and the children kept themselves occupied indoors while the rain pelted down.

About lunch time the weather cleared up and it got beautiful. Bright blue skies, and just in time for some friends that decided to visit us.

During the morning’s rainstorm, Cassidy and I took the opportunity to learn a new game: Milles Bourne. It was great fun and when our friends arrived, Cassidy taught their children also. It has been a lot of fun learning new games this summer. There is more time to play games while camping than there is when you are at home and feeling the need to do all your ‘work’. I love that!

My boy Briton, who doesn’t eat enough to keep a fly alive, decided he liked the look of what our friends were having for dinner. He perched himself on their table and as “Fisher”, as he calls her, cut up her dinner he would happily share the pieces she gave to him. When I came to ask him if he wanted more of *our* dinner, he said, “No yucky dinna. Yummy heah.” He preferred her dinner to my tasty burritos! Too funny. Thankfully, she was happy to share with him.

The children all brought their bikes and Briton and Savannah brought their trikes. They have lots of fun on those, but today I decided there was no harm in seeing if my ‘4’ year old Savannah could learn to ride a bike.

When Raine was given her bike it was given to her with training wheels. I mean, after all, she was four years old, right? Then this spring we took the training wheels off and on her first time riding it she took off. No effort. Simply got on and rode. I was impressed! Cooper did much the same thing when he was four years old, but the rest had taken ages to learn. Colt was one that insisted on having one training wheel before he was willing to remove the last feeling of safety! *grin*

So this day I gave Savannah Raine’s bike and told her to go to it. Do what she could. I watched her for a while, and she had it all together. The only thing she didn’t have was gathering enough strength in her leg to get the bike going and keep it going. So that was when I decided to get involved. I gave her instructions, balanced her, and then gave her a push. A few wobbly rides and she was off. No problem. Another born athlete, or at least born bike rider! No training wheels. From trike to bike when she has her upcoming birthday!

Of course, she had to be the one to have her first bike owie. Crash Savannah we called her. But she was a tough girl, after the initial tears.

Cooper came up with some new fun: riding down from the campsite, through the sand and into the water. Great fun!

The boys have enjoyed finding golf balls in the lake and diving to retrieve them. One day I saw Austin paddling out to sea with a trike on his kayak. I asked him what he needs the bike for?

“I’m going to dive for it.”

Okay, that makes sense! Why stick to golf balls when you can have more interesting things to retrieve!

During our evenings, after the little ones were in bed we would watch a dvd from the old Daniel Boone seasons. The boys are really enjoying it and it is a fantastic boys type movie! We were discussing making the boys some buckskin jackets and coon skin hats, so they can play at Daniel Boone. I would prefer that kind of play to army play any day!

Usually I don’t give the kids chips to eat while we are watching the show, but last night I did. Silly mistake! When we came out here we forgot the speakers to hook up to my laptop, so we are struggling to hear from the tiny internal speakers on my computer! If you breathe you might miss what is said!

And can you imagine, we brought the Little House on the Prairie Season 6 season finale with us and we had to listen to the big Does He Does Me movie between Laura and Almanzo in whispers!!! We will definitely have to rewatch that episode!

So last night, it was so hilarious because the kids all had bowls of chips and were sitting on each side of me. They didn’t eat their chips while the people were speaking and the moment the scene changed or it showed distance land or something, I could suddenly hear a bunch of movies chomping and crunching down on chips, and then in simultaneously they would all stop on a dime when they recognized someone was about to open their mouths to speak. It was so funny! I will remember my speakers next time I go out! *grin*

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