Monday, June 21, 2010
Answer to the Poll
What did we NOT see on our trip? Armadillos! Can you believe we went through Texas twice and didn't see a single one? However, Arkansas is a large producer of rice, so we saw plenty of rice paddies and Pierce DID see a black bear in Texas! Thanks for playing with us!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Frugal Friday--going bananas!
Today at the store we ran across nearly 50 pounds of bananas that were quite brown. It looked like a deal to me! So I asked the grocer what he would charge if I bought them all. His first price was $12, but I got him down to $8. It came out to 16 cents a pound--quite a good deal, they were marked at 69 cents a pound and are normally 79. Don't think I took advantage of the grocer--he asked for my number to call me when they had more!
When I got home the 5 oldest kids and I worked to preserve them*. We cut them into thirds, peeled them and put them on trays to freeze (this takes several hours). Once they were frozen, we bagged them and left them in the freezer. The hands-on portion of work took about an hour and a half. We process them this way so that we know three portions equals one banana and so that we can pull them out separately. The first time we tried this we didn't freeze them separately and ended up with huge lumps of frozen banana that were unusable until thawed. It's worth the extra time and effort to do it well.
An added note: We use frozen bananas in banana bread, with other fruits and veggies in a Vitamix to make shakes or run them through a heavy duty juicer to make what we call ice cream (nothing added, just banana and occasionally frozen berries). On our road trip we were all feeling "general malaise" and realized that we hadn't had shakes in a few days. We stopped by Whole Foods and purchased some. It wasn't as good as homemade, but we all felt much better!
*Lauren was helping, but broke to take a photo. "Mom, you have to put this on your blog!" she said. She keeps me on my toes.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Confessions of a Bibliophile
Today we went to a homeschool used book sale. This is like a alcoholic going to a bar. Worse yet, I had an envelope of money put aside for the purpose. I was hoping to find three specific books, but came home with a wagonload (literally) of books that I had been hoping to find and a few nice surprises. Good thing I restrained myself! Seriously though, I spent very little and got some really great books. The great thing about homeschool book sales is that homeschoolers have such great taste in literature! It's much better than the big box stores and a much better price. At the last book sale I got rid of everything I wanted to sell and so was free just to browse this time, nice!
Lauren has already started A Chance to Die by Elizabeth Elliott (about Amy Carmichael). Thomas is looking forward to a curriculum we found called Applying the Bill of Rights to Real Cases. Pierce is enjoying Art Fraud Detectives, and the little ones are anxiously awaiting being read to. As for me, I'm looking forward to reading TULIP, The Five Points of Calvinism in the Light of Scripture or The Ballad of the White Horse by GK Chesterton; I'm not sure which I'll read first. Although we don't use much in the way of formal curriculum, we are all looking forward to jumping into a geography curriculum we found called Map the World by Heart.
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. ~Charles W. Eliot
I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves," New York Times, 7 August 1991
Monday, June 7, 2010
Miscellaneous Photos
These were taken at a Rest Stop in New Mexico. Beautiful. However, after Lauren took these, we had to get the kids out of the grass. Thom saw a rattlesnake, a second one; he'd seen one in the road shortly before.
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Heading Home
We're leaving Mississippi now. It's been a good trip so far. We've been outside of Internet range most of our trip (yes, we're that far out)! I'll have to post more as I am able. We couldn't get to Voddie's church in time, but stopped by a nice church in Sweetwater, TX.
Next stop was Austin where we checked an acreage to buy. We all ended up covered in chigger bites. Lesson #1: wear bug spray! I've been out of the South too long! More on our possible move soon.
From there we traveled as quickly as possible to Mississippi and arrived early Tuesday morning. We saw Grandpa and Grandma, Great Grandmother, aunts and uncles and cousins and family that I don't know yet the correct term for the relationship.
All of the redheads.
The Thomas' trying to figure out what to tackle next.
We helped clean up Grandpa's vineyard and orchard and worked a little on building a deck. Dad, Lauren and the boys worked especially hard. They wished they could work like that everyday rather than going to work or studying.
The younger ones enjoyed lots of room to run and play. Stephen and Lucas played with toads and Lucas made pets of the millipedes that were everywhere indoors and out!
Zoe picked wild blackberries for dessert one night.
Grandpa even taught us to shoot his rifle. He can still nail it! The rest of us weren't too shabby either!
Yesterday, Thom's brother had an accident that could have been very serious except for what can only be God's hand of protection. We were really thankful to be there to visit him in the hospital.
This morning we worshipped in Hamilton, Mississippi where Grandpa preached a great sermon on the significance of and impact every Christian can make by the way we live.
It's good to be going home, but I already miss the family.
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Meteor Crater
Friday afternoon we stopped by Meteor Crater. In the photo above, we are approaching it from the highway. It looks like one of the many mesas from a distance. The land around is red and rocky and flat. A bit like Mars with scrub. Below Lauren is taking a picture. You can see how huge it is. The floor is 550 feet deep, that's equivalent to a 60-story building! It is 4,000 feet across and 2.4 miles in circumference. I wonder if anyone was around here when it hit. Can you imagine?!
Another interesting thing was the wind. It was so windy that it was difficult to stand straight. I'm talking hurricane force winds, no joke! It was this way all the way through Eastern Arizona and New Mexico. The guide at Meteor Crater told me nonchalantly that this was typical Spring weather!
Thom talking with another home educating Dad that we met.
Zoe holding on to Daddy for dear life in fear of the wind.
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Grand Canyon
Friday we went to the Grand Canyon. I've dreamed of seeing it for years! When we first entered the park, it looked like the entry to a zoo--you, know, visitor center, gift store, picnic area, etc. "Where's the Canyon?", we wondered. We followed the trail, then, between the trees, we saw it.
It took my breath away. I've never seen anything so awe-inspiring in my life. It really struck me how much water it must have taken to cause such a thing. Suddenly the enormity of the Flood hit me as never before and I began to weep in awe of our God.
Enjoy the photos. I hope they will begin to convey the beauty and vastness of the canyon.
Living History
After a good night's sleep "car-camping" and a big breakfast, we're off again. We entered the Mohave Desert just after nightfall and drove until almost 2 AM before we had to stop. it's very interesting--we just finished studying about Jedediah Smith's exploration of the West, the Colorado River and the Mojave. Now we're driving through, seeing it for ourselves. I'm surprised at how scrubby it is. For some reason I pictured it being more barren. The land is mostly flat with occasional mountains and mesas in between. The thing that strikes me the most though is the vastness of it. We've been on the road for half an hour this morning and are still in the desert.*
It's funny--the kids think we're on vacation; we've discussed the history of Route 66, are reviewing American history, and studying geography experientially. All of the kids are tracking our progress on the map. And we're still listening to J.R.R. Tolken. I think this the most productive week of "school" we've had in a while!
* The desert land continued on until just before we entered Texas.
We're Off!
We left around 2 PM for our biggest vacation ever! We're driving from the Silicon Valley across the South all the way to Mississippi to visit family. It's the first time we've seen much of Thom's family in 4 years. We're taking two weeks and plan on taking our time to tour on the way.
First stop is the Grand Canyon. None of us have ever seen it and we're really excited. This first leg is nearly 13 hours. We plan to drive as long as we can, napping in the car this first night, then spending tomorrow in the canyon. We'll spend tomorrow night in a hotel.
It's good to be on the road. I was determined that the car would be organized, that I would check all the kids' bags so that nothing would be forgotten, and that the house would be left clean. The house is fairly clean, so far we haven't noticed that anything was forgotten, and the car is pretty orderly. You may think that a 15-passenger van would afford plenty of room, but with nine people, suitcases, diapers, strollers, and food, it's pretty full! We did manage to pack lightly however. We're all comfortable, enjoying the gorgeous California scenery, and listening to The Fellowship of the Ring on CD. The baby is even asleep!
We stopped to stretch our legs at an almond orchard just off the highway.
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