The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ November 9

Good Morning! Here is my Daybook entry for today ~

Outside my window. . .a wonderful blanket of leaves covers the front yard.
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I am thinking. . .about starting my Christmas shopping list – just ideas for now.
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From the learning room. . .Pilgrims and Thanksgiving reading, art of N.C. Wyeth, along with our basic studies.
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I am thankful for. . .a hot shower on a cool morning.
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From the kitchen. . .Chicken Stuffing Casserole for dinner tonight with a green salad, and gingerbread.
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I am wearing. . .pink t-shirt and lt. blue jeans.
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I am creating. . .school plans for the rest of the semester.
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I am going. . .to be helping Sarah finish up her “Cookie Baking” badge this week – she still needs to bake 2 different types of cookies, which should make for a sweet-smelling house this week!
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I am reading. . .Thanksgiving books with the children.
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I am hoping. . .to get a booklist up in my sidebar soon ~ books we’re reading at the current time.
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I am hearing. . .outdoor noises through the open window – crows cawing, little birds twittering, traffic noise on the highway nearby; and inside noises – Michael talking and humming, “Spongebob” dvd playing, and various children conversing.
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Around the house. . .A few less pumpkins on display ~ we cut open a few and roasted the seeds this weekend ~ I then roasted the pumpkins to freeze and use for pies, breads, etc. ~ We still have enough pumpkins outside and in that are continuing to provide decoration for the Thanksgiving season, but whose time will come soon enough!
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One of my favorite things. . .Land O’ Lakes French Vanilla Hot Chocolate ~ I slipped a few into my grocery cart not long ago and will soon be enjoying my first delicious cup of the season . . . yummmm!
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A few plans for the rest of the week. . .helping the kids finish up their Keepers badges for the year, first skating lesson for Tommy and Sarah, shopping, basketball and cheerleader sign-ups and evaluations for Michael and Anna, and celebrating Jeff’s birthday next weekend.
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Here is a picture thought I am sharing. . .

A lovely place to rest on a beautiful Autumn afternoon at the natural science museum we visited last Friday.

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To read more Daybook entries, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman’s Daybook,
and have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Nancy

One of the things I love about homeschooling . . .

is this ~

I assigned Laura the book “Calico Captive” by Elizabeth Speare for History reading on Thursday. She was to read one chapter each school day until it was finished. I expected this to be sometime after Thanksgiving.

Thursday afternoon she reported that she was in the middle of chapter 10. The book had caught her and she was a captive herself. Friday morning she announced that she had finished the book before she went to bed the night before.

Did I mention that there are 23 chapters in the book?

I love that homeschooling offers my children the opportunity to fall in love with a book that they never would have picked up on their own and the flexibility to read it all the way through without having to wait for the rest of the class.

Blessings,
Nancy

A Few Snapshots From Last Weekend . . .

Last weekend was a busy one for us, but thanks to a glitch with my computer and uploading pictures, I haven’t been able to post about it until now. But, I have managed to outsmart my computer for once in my life . . . heh, heh, heh (evil scientist laugh) . . . when even the resident tech go-to support people couldn’t solve the problem. It just goes to show you that if you fiddle around and have a little patience you can beat it at it’s (the computer’s) tricks – either that or completely crash it – in which case, the computer has the last laugh. But, not this time. Thank you for indulging me as I digress.

Anyway, like I was saying, it was a busy weekend for us last weekend. Friday night was our annual Reformation Day celebration at church. Costume opportunity #1. Everyone is invited to dress in medieval attire, which means six costumes around here. Thankfully many of these are worn and handed down year to year, and we only ended up having to purchase 2 new ones this year, which wasn’t too bad – especially since we waited until the last week and they were already marked down 30%. Here are a few snapshots we took before leaving home ~

We spent the evening enjoying a fellowship meal, hearing a short talk on the life of John Calvin, and, after the costume contest, the children ran around the church – attending various booths to play games that each, in some way, taught about Calvin’s life. Jeff and I ran the “Authority of the Bible” booth, where the children had to throw balls and knock down every book (cardboard reproductions) except the Bible. It was lots of fun, but I was so caught up in the events that I forgot to take pictures! So, these will have to suffice – and the older girls looked so lovely in their long medieval dresses, too! Oh, well, maybe I’ll do better next year!

Costume opportunity #2 -the next night we attended the Fall Festival that we have been going to for many years back in our old town. It is full of games, bounce houses, ponies, and candy. It seems to get bigger every year and is sometimes a lesson in patience as we wait in line with the crowds for each event. This night required 5 more costumes (now you know what I spent the previous week doing). I managed to get more pictures this night ~

Our group included three clowns, a cheerleader, and Elizabeth Swann -

We played Limbo . . .

Baseball (or should I say “air-ball”?) . . .

Decorated cupcakes . . .

And pet the animals in the petting zoo . . .

When we were sufficiently worn out, we headed to my mom’s house (an annual tradition) and the kids dumped and sorted their candy – always a highlight of the evening – especially since the rest of us can sit down and relax finally!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend – ours is gearing up to be another busy one, but at least no costumes are involved this time!

Blessings,
Nancy

Autumn Haiku

One of our final assignments in our Fall lapbooks yesterday was to write a Fall haiku poem. A haiku poem consists of three lines and each line has a designated number of syllables. I only required the older children to write their own, while I had the younger ones copy the ones that were written. It turned out to be a very fun experience for all. In no time, Tommy and Sarah had turned out two wonderful poems which they added into their lapbooks. I thought I’d share them with you here ~

First Tommy’s poem ~

Leaves changing colors,
Scarecrows in the fields of wheat,
Harvest time is here.

The syllable requirement for this assignment was 5 syllables in the first line – 7 in the second – 5 in the last. A haiku poem does not have to rhyme, although Sarah chose to make her’s rhyme. Here is Sarah’s poem ~

The pumpkins are here,
And everywhere there is cheer,
Harvest time is near.

I wrote one myself to put in my lapbook (I always make one along with the kids – it’s too much fun to miss out on!). My poem centers around a kitchen theme ~

Pumpkins, apples, spice,
Cinnamon, ginger and cloves,
Autumn baking day.

This activity was so much fun and fairly simple that I think that we will try writing some more about different subjects – nature, history, Thanksgiving, etc.

Blessings,
Nancy

The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ November 2

Here is my Daybook entry for today ~

Outside my window. . .a bright sunny day with blue skies and perfect temperatures in the low 70’s.
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I am thinking. . .that this is a most lovely time of year.
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From the learning room. . .last day of work on our Harvest lapbooks today and then back to normal studies the rest of the week. With the rain finally gone this week, we will be able to do all of our leaf studies in the yard that have been postponed for too long due to the weather.
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I am thankful for. . .God’s strength when I am weak.
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From the kitchen. . .Cindy’s Cashew Chicken with rice and egg rolls for dinner tonight. Fortune cookies for dessert.
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I am wearing. . .navy t-shirt and lt. blue denim jeans.
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I am creating. . .working on the October block in my quilt – “Be forgiving”.
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I am going. . .for a walk later in the day with the kids.
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I am reading. . .Philippians, Autumn stories with the littles.
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I am hoping. . .to spend a lot of time outdoors this week.
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I am hearing. . .insects chirping outside my open window, birds singing, a quiet house (for the moment!).
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Around the house. . .lots of candy from the Fall Carnival and Reformation celebrations over the weekend, too many empty candy wrappers laying around, a very muddy front porch, and kitties sitting in open windows.
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One of my favorite things. . .November – I love this whole month filled with thankful thoughts, the culmination of Autumn beauty, special times with family, and the anticipation of the holidays around the corner.
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A few plans for the rest of the week. . .voting, roasting pumpkin seeds, baking Fall cookies, a day at the Fall Festival in a nearby small town, and celebrating Anna’s 6th birthday.
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Here is a picture thought I am sharing. . .

Roasted pumpkin seeds – a once a year treat!

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To read more Daybook entries, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman’s Daybook,
and have a lovely day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Candy Corn Day!

Today is National Candy Corn Day, so be sure and grab a handful before the day’s over!

While working on our Harvest lapbooks yesterday, we learned that candy corn was invented by the Wunderlee Candy Company in 1880. It was made in the shape of a corn kernel, and thus the name was born. The colors also were chosen to resemble corn. I was surprised to learn that one of the ingredients in candy corn is marshmallow.

My brother held a poll at last week’s family birthday party on which was the most favored candy corn – the yellow or the brown. I, of course, voted for the brown due to it’s close resemblance to chocolate. However, in the end, the yellows won by a narrow margin, with the result really being summed up by my nephew, Dylan, who said he voted for yellow because – “it’s classic”.

Which is your favorite color of candy corn?

Blessings,
Nancy

An Autumn Tour

I walked around the house the other day and took some pictures of a few spots that have been decorated for the fall season. Just a few of the touches that we have added to our home to celebrate. Some we put out every year, traditionally. A few others are new this year. Many are just simple, but I love their simplicity. I didn’t take pictures of everything, but here are a few areas that I did capture ~

The above picture is on the front porch, as is this one – I put a big pumpkin in this chair by the front door each year ~

I love the way the yard looks when the leaves start falling ~

Coming in the front door, the first thing you would see is this autumn wreath hanging on a closet door ~

In the living room, the mantle has been decorated with fall berries and the blocks changed to reflect the season ~

Atop the living room hutch is a seasonal basket, while the lower part of the hutch holds several types of pumpkins, real and handcrafted, as well as a Harvest candle ~

The piano holds my annual favorite berry pumpkin candle ~

On the nature shelf, our ceramic Fall houses have been set up. I almost didn’t put these out this year, but the children wanted them – many of the pieces have been broken over the years from being played with by little hands. They light up at night and look very pretty, I must concede. Next to the houses sits a basket of colorful autumn gourds ~

The stairs and church pew have been dressed up with cloth pumpkins and corn husk garland (the kitties love this!) ~

The dining room cabinet needed just a simple pumpkin to fancy it up ~

The dining table holds my old milk bottle with red, orange, and yellow berries (love these!) and a lovely white pumpkin that I picked up at the store ~

Into the kitchen, there are pie pumpkins sitting around the counters ~

A Jack-Be-Little on the windowsill is a yearly must ~

A small ceramic pumpkin in a corner and a glass pumpkin serving up Autumn mix candies on the island (you may remember this from my Daybook) ~

Finally, the kitchen hutch is decorated with berries, baskets, and mini pumpkins ~

On the way out the back door, is one of several Fall signs that I have hanging around the house ~

I hope you have enjoyed this Fall mini-tour of our home!

Blessings,
Nancy

Keepers Cake Decorating

Last night was our monthly Keepers of the Faith meeting. The girls spent the evening in the church kitchen, decorating the cutest little pumpkin cakes I’d ever seen.

They were made in mini bundt pan molds and then the girls decorated them with orange, brown, and green icing. There were many different variations of pumpkins that resulted ~

The girls also made fruit kabobs which they used to decorate a pumpkin for a centerpiece, which turned out just lovely ~

It was a fun evening, but the best part of all, in David’s opinion, was eating the cakes at the end ~

Blessings,
Nancy

Bloggy Anniversary!!

Today is my 2 year blog anniversary! Two years ago today I wrote this post. I didn’t know how long it would last, but I’ve found that I really enjoy writing about our adventures, sharing recipes and thoughts on life. It is sometimes a challenge to find the time to write about what’s going on, since the going on doesn’t ever stop around here! And the truth is, sometimes I’m just too tired to write about it all! But, I’m always glad when I get a new post done, and it is archived for our family to look back on and remember our days by.

I appreciate all of you who stop by to visit with our family and share your thoughts and encouragement with me! So many of you have inspired me with your own blogs and I am thankful for you!

Blessings,
Nancy

The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ October 26

Here is my Daybook entry for today ~

Outside my window. . .cold and rainy – a good day to stay inside. Many leaves have fallen and I love the way the yard and drive look covered in their yellow color. A bird was fluttering outside my bathroom window this morning. He kept hitting the window as though he couldn’t fly away – maybe his wing was hurt.
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I am thinking. . .about making some Pumpkin Cobbler sometime this week.
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From the learning room. . .continuing work on our Harvest lapbooks.
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I am thankful for. . .a cozy warm home to snuggle into on cold, rainy days.
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From the kitchen. . .King Ranch Chicken Casserole, with a salad for dinner.
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I am wearing. . .pink shirt and blue jeans.
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I am creating. . .costumes for the children to wear to our annual Reformation celebration at church and to the Fall Festival later this week. I’m not sewing them, just putting things together!
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I am going. . .to be continuing my Fall cleaning this week – last week was rather productive, with a number of jobs being completed.
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I am reading. . .my Bible.
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I am hoping. . .to get a post up this week showing some of our Fall decorations around the house.
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I am hearing. . .children giggling, “Gilligan’s Island” dvd, a board game starting up.
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Around the house. . .a hay bale has been placed on the front porch to hold pumpkins and scarecrows, 2 carpets freshly cleaned (although one of them doesn’t look much better – we think we may have to replace it – so the children can start working on staining a new one!), roses are blooming in the rose garden.
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One of my favorite things. . .the “Eloise at Christmastime” movie. We start watching this one about this time of year, and watch it several times a week – lots of fun!
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A few plans for the rest of the week. . .a busy week – monthly Keepers of the Faith meeting, Reformation Celebration at church, Fall Festival, and preparing for both of these fun events.
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Here is a picture thought I am sharing. . .

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To read more Daybook entries, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman’s Daybook, and have a lovely day!

Blessings,
Nancy