Pictures and Stuff like that!!

Our little puppy Annie continues to do very well after near death from parvo. Goodness...it was so bad and that little black wiggly thing almost died. The vet really didn't know if she would make it or not but she is BACK........MORE wiggly than ever and rotten....rotten...rotten!!! (But still wonderful and believe it or not, relatively obedient for a 14 week old puppy!) We are teaching her new tricks...the newest one is to "leave it"....she has to sit or lay and we put a treat about 4 or 5 inches away and she has to "leave it" until we tell her to take it. (Even then, she doesn't take it and actually waits until we hand it to her!) Someone should do that to me with brownies...only don't ever tell me I can take it....that might help me a bit.

Wow...it is suddenly snowing really hard and heavy. It is coming straight down down like rain!! It would be nice if it would stick a little bit! I have a few "snowy days" stories I would like to read to Israel and having snow on the ground would make it even better! (See the pictures BELOW...taken after I started this post...)

Speaking of stories, I have recently come across "Five in a Row" materials. I can't believe that I have been involved in homeschooling for several years now and I have never known about it!
For anyone who has never heard of it, the parent/teacher reads a childhood classic to the student for 5 days in a row...thus the name "Five in a Row." Each day, you concentrate on a different aspect of the story. For instance, we have been reading "Madeline" this week. Israel is happy with the rhyme and repetition of that story and the illustrations are interesting as well. From that book, we have then studied Paris, France, the buildings in Paris, "order and symmetry", being "unique", compassion, the flag of France, the continent of Europe, etc.......

Israel is really interested in these books and this style of learning. For each book we read and study, he is making a kind of  lapbook and putting them in a binder. ( I have notebook dividers that I found in our stash of stuff and I have had him use two of these to make each story's "lapbook." Some stories we have added a vertical piece of stiff paper to the dividers and taping it at the top so that it can flip up for additional work/fun!)

He is learning so much and we are both enjoying this. (We had been doing First Grade History with a well known Christian publisher and we were both incredibly bored! What freedom and fun this has brought to our homeschool!)

I highly recommend Five in a Row if you know of anyone who could use it!

 This was our rapid snowfall....and then it ended as soon as it started! Israel, Annie, and "Foxy"-Annie's toy all went for a walk in the snow in the front yard.

 This is just a cool picture (I thought) of an old wagon wheel and a bush on the side of our house with a light layer of snow.

 Baby Annie!!! It is REALLY hard to get this little puppy to hold still for a picture! Doesn't she look like a black baby bear?

 These are our two raised bed that I have been babying along this fall and winter! Every time it is a fairly nice day, I try to add some more "ingredients" to the soil. I have been layering composted cow manure, some soil, and decomposing yard waste. It looks pretty good now but I guess the real test will be during growing season, right?

This is kinda funny....kinda. See that old roll of fencing between Israel and the raised bed? That fence has so far cost me $510.  You see...I was on my way to buy that old grungy fence that it's previous owner did not want. I was buying it for $10 and it is my plan to fence in the garden area...to keep out the deer that may venture out of the woods behind our house..... Then....the deer with the death wish ran into my new car. After the deductible, that old nasty fence will have cost us $510. Ok...go ahead, laugh.  This is the story of my life! EVERY TIME  I think, "I am NOT going to pay a professional to do such and such....I can do it myself!"...it ends up costing me more in the long run. Don't even ask me about the wedding dress I was making for myself...the ONLY part of the wedding dress that ended up in our wedding was a tiny bit of lace that I wrapped around our Unity candle!! HAHA!!! I ended up buying a pretty suit dress from JCPenney instead! (I looked like a fat blue mermaid in the dress I was trying to make! SERIOUSLY!!)

Have a lovely day...take care!!
Blessings!
Beth