Counting down the days

Not the days until Christmas.

They've been counting down the last few days of NOvember. 

Grant went to bed early tonight so the month would end sooner...or so he reasoned. 

Grace didn't mind quite so much. 

And I'll be happy to have a bit less chaos to deal with. They get a little crazy dragging things out. 

It's been fun. But we are all glad December is here!  Let the fun begin!

It Runs In The Family

Loving animals runs in the family.

Grace has to do volunteer work for Junior BETA Club.

She chose to do her hours at the pet store socializing stray cats.

Emily and John did this a few years ago for the same purpose.

 

And I'm guessing I'll be back in two years so Grant can get his volunteer hours.

My life sort of resembles the movie Groundhog Day.  

I keep doing the same thing over and over!

A love of coloring runs in the family too.

I have seen a lot of this going on since it is NOvember.

 

I'll have to post some of the finished works of art.

We have the political gene in our family too.

This is our local Junior Achievement Biz Town.

Each year the fifth grade class takes a field trip to Biz Town.

Everyone gets a job for the day.  They learn about invoicing, billing, taxes, licenses, budgeting, applying for loans, paychecks, using a checking account, debit cards, and more than I can even remember.  It's a lot for one day.

The kids really love it though.  It is such a fun experience.  And everyone participates.  They are business owners, CPA's, policemen, doctors, utility workers, sanitation workers and ....well, you get the idea.

Part of Grace's job was to give a speech at the open and close of the day.

 

She was the mayor of Biz Town.

 

So if you ever need advice, Grandpa, on how a mayor should do his job, feel free to ask Grace.

She is an expert now.

Something else that runs in the family is our love of a good bargain.

How about gas for 86 cents with Kroger Fuel Points?

 

I put 25 gallons in my car for less than $22!!!!!!!

 

That makes me happy.

What's Going On?

 I'm cleaning and organizing and catching up thanks to an unexpected weekend at home.  Yeah!!!

So, the first project involved getting old pictures off my camera.  You're gonna get a lot of old pictures mixed in with new ones for a while.  I'm sure you won't mind.  And maybe, thanks to my early onset dementia, you will see a few pictures that I've already posted previously.  Lucky you!

Grace doing pottery wheel

She is making pencil holders to give her teachers for Christmas

Once again, I marvel at how grown up Grace is becoming.  This fall when I took Emily shopping for clothes, we took Grace with us.  She found some very cute things that fit her pretty well. 

Now Emily's favorite clothing store is also Grace's favorite clothing store.

Plato's Closet Consignment Store

It also happens to be my favorite store. 

 I'm not penniless when we leave there!

 Newest projects at Rock Hills Farm

We are working toward certification as a Homebased Processor.  That would mean we can sell other food items besides syrup, honey and beef...all three which are exempt from most state regulation of food items. 

Once we are certified, we can add a few things to our growing list of foods for sale.

This list might include organic peanut butter

 

whole wheat bread

  

and baking mixes like muffin and pancake mixes to complement our syrup.

I've got to take a training class and then submit recipes for approval. 

Sounds simple.

We shall see. 

You know you might be mentally distracted and a bit too busy when you arrive home to find

one very lucky bunny loose in the living room

 where you forgot you put him three hours earlier.

I say lucky because the dogs (who are afraid of the bunny, thankfully) were also in the house.

  

That could have ended badly. 

Emily's First Show - Free Admission

These are all pictures Emily took at the farm. 

She is hoping to get into a photography class next year at high school.  These pictures will be part of the portfolio they have to submit to get into the class.

She is REALLY hoping to get her Dad's Canon 5D camera to use if she gets into the class.

That's what she used to take these pictures.

Not sure either thing will happen, but no matter.  I enjoy her pictures whether she takes a class or not.

Even if she doesn't get into the class, I think I'm going to make her take pictures for our Rock Hills website.  She might as well earn some money taking pictures.  Then someday she can buy her own Canon 5D.

 

Because I'm pretty certain her father won't share toys.

Oh, Baby Baby!

In no particular order I offer you pictures of our 2015 crop of babies.

There are only four babies and three mommas.  It just looks like we have fifty!

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

BOOM!!!

One tired mom

Two hours

Six kids

Almost one hundred trampolines

Add that together and it equals

One happy bunch enjoying a Friday night at House of Boom

Happy Friday!

Spell chekk - again

In the past, I would have said something such as 'I ride in the car with my family.'

Now?

It would be more correct to say 'I writhe in the car with my family.'

WRITHE

[rīT͟H]

VERB

1. make continual twisting, squirming movements or contortions of the body: 

   "he writhed in agony on the ground" · 

   [more]

   synonyms: squirm · wriggle · thrash · flail · toss · 

   [more]

   • (writhe in/with/at) 
     respond with great emotional or physical discomfort to (a violent or unpleasant feeling or thought): 
     "she bit her lip, writhing in suppressed fury"

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   I am living the definition of writhe. 

   Joy riding has been replaced with fear writhing while buckled in the passenger seat. I see no end to this situation. 

   
   

   Anyone who says their prayer life is lacking has never ridden with a sixteen year old driver in rush hour traffic. 

   
   

   Just sayin'.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Oh. And to recover from my rather stressful car ride, I sought refuge in my bedroom. 

   
   

   And found this....

   

   
   

   
   

   Yeah. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

   
   

   

   
   

   Sigh. 

Because Spellchechk....

 NOvember is half over.  We have enjoyed our extra time playing and reading.  Grace and Grant find themselves with time to do things otherwise neglected in preference for watching television or playing video games.

Part of that free time was spent at the BMX track, and I DID take pictures.  I forgot I snapped a couple on my phone.

But last night NOvember gave me the biggest laugh I've had in a while....

I was gone most of the evening driving John to and from All-County Band practice.  Though Emily was home working on homework, she left Grace and Grant to entertain themselves.

They chose to make a book of their favorite Pokemon characters. They even gave their book a cover page.  Unfortunately, they didn't use spellcheck when they made it.

And much to my surprise it was Grace who misspelled 'pitchures'.  I fully expected it to have been Grant.  The funniest part came when they both agreed that by marking out the H they now had the word spelled correctly.  

I didn't have the heart to tell them otherwise.  It's okay.  

We are from Kentucky you know.

Here are a few of the thirty or so PITCURES they drew last night....

I totally do not understand their pokemon world, but they take it very seriously.  They talk at great length about attacks, hit points, powers, etc.

I smile and nod as if I am really contributing to the conversation.  They don't seem to mind my lack of real knowledge as long as I'm interested in what they're telling me.

That's all that matters.  Well, that....

along with telling them how to really spell PITCURES!

Someday.