The Big One (Hike, That Is!)

As promised, here are the pictures from last week's hike! Travis and the three oldest boys hiked to the top of the mountain behind our house. It was about a 5-6 mile hike one way, straight up the mountain. They had a great time, but all came back pretty tired. They had to carry all their equipment and provisions up the mountain with them. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking! :

1.Here is the abandoned fire tower, the top of North Mountain. This was the destination. The kids were shining flashlights off the tower, and from behind our house it looked like a huge campfire!


2.Travis and the boys got a rabbit and roasted it on a fire: 3.Happy campers hit the "sack":

4.The view from the top(the picture doesn't do it justice, as on a clear day you can see for about a hundred miles out into the valley): 5.Despite the cozy fire, the campers were pretty cold!!!
6.Going up the mountain. I'm glad this wasn't me!:
7.Taking a break:

8.Caught Will on camera!!! 9.Hamburgers on the mountain:
10. John Paul getting his camera working:

Monarch Time

It's Monarch season again, and it's time to start scouring the Milkweed plants for caterpillars. Here is the little display we set up in our school room:


Our little guy:

The Anticipated Hike

If you look on the photo in my header, you can see some tiny little buildings at the top of the mountain. That is the fire station(no longer in use) on top of North Mountain, Virginia's tallest mountain. The mountain is directly behind our house.
Well, after all these years of living here, Travis and the three oldest boys are going to take an eight-mile hike to the top, and camp in the middle of nowhere(no campsites, here!!!), with all their provisions on their backs.
They hope to get some good pictures-coming to the blog soon, I hope!!!!

Homeschool Thought of The Day

"The 'Curriculum of family' is at the heart of any good life."

~given to me by my sister, Colleen(did you think this up Colleen?)

Here are some neat little cards Colleen made for me one year at Christmas:







On one side is a sweet little picture, and on the other side is a little saying. Then she covered them with clear contact paper. They are so cute. For the pictures she used old books and magazines.

The Lazy Cook

My mother and Aunt (sister Alice) brought the children back from Mom's house today, and I thought I would make some soup for lunch. This is what I had to use up: pumpkin from our garden two years ago(it was frozen), fresh onions from the garden (this year), and some cream(provided by Penny). I also added a red pepper and some thyme. I made a discovery as I was cooking: I love to cook, but I don't like to follow recipes. I really do enjoy seeing what I can come up with from our garden's bounty. It's something different every time!!!

More Party Pictures

Some more pics of our family 4th party:

Family Fourth Of July Party

We had our own little 4th of July party last night. It was a lot of fun, and the best part was that it was very impromptu(those are the best kind of parties, in my opinion!) We built a campfire, grilled chicken and corn. Then we did some fireworks and had hot chocolate and apple pie for dessert. Here is a video of our fireworks.

Sam, Our resident photographer

Sam took these amazing pictures last night:

Happy Birthday, America!!!!!

We celebrated the Fourth at the Frontier Culture Museum. There were lots of games and old-time fun. We had a terrific time. Sister Alice, my Aunt, is visiting from PA. She, my parents, and our dear family friend (Lew) all came to the museum. It was wonderful.

Cool Book Alert

D
DK (Dorling Kindersley) has done it again with their incredibly cool book, One Million Things. We found a copy at our library. The name speaks for itself- a book about a million things! The pictures are great with topics ranging from the development of babies to how machines work. It is formatted so that each topic is covered in a two-paged lay out. Here are some of the topics covered:Fungi, Movement, Skulls, Cells, Genetics, Gravity, Molecules, Galaxies, Meteorites, Farm Crops, Volcanoes, Festivals, Extreme Living, War, Money, Movies, Architecture, Media, Art, ......The list goes on and on! My kids are really enjoying it. I hope you do too!!

Summer Fun With Friends~Happy Birthday Emily!

Seventeen children(including ours) will be in our home tonight! It's Emily's birthday, and she's having a birthday bash!
We started out the afternoon by fourteen of us going to Mass!
Then we all went to Walmart to get the birthday food and fireworks(actually, just sparklers and fountains).
We came home and ate pizza, and it started raining!!!!!! Yikes!!! We snuck the Pinata in-just in time!!
After the rain cleared, the boys went to the pool, and the girls (the tougher ones) headed to the river to try out their swimming tubes.
They came back and showered(and wiped out the towel closet....) and set up the tent(they're camping out!)
Next was icecream making, and now it's time for kick-the-can, capture the flag, and a campfire!!
This is so much fun.....................................for one night :)! (We really are having a great time).
Here's a little video clip of the pinata:

Making Ice Cream

Alex and Will were making ice cream in a bag. The bag exploded, so they went to plan B and put it in a can. Then the whole gang joined in!