Nature Walk

 

Checking on the ant hill.

 

Spider web in the light.

       

Fall blooms.

First Levitations

Every month the grade school department of our church has a memory verse and a challenge memory verse.  Dacia Grace has memorized the monthly memory verses every month since moving up to the grade school class.  September marked her first month of attempting the challenge memory verse which was not really a memory verse per se.  The challenge was to memorize all 66 books of the Bible.  While she did not get all 66 done, she did get rewarded for her attempt and for making it all the way through Ecclesiastes.  Arthur and I were so proud of her.

In the process of learning them, we were working on the major prophets......

Isaiah.....


Jeremiah........


Levitations.....

Ezekiel


and

DANIEL!

Arthur and I had a good laugh at that one.  Levitations!  :)

Cupcake Decorating 101

After the cupcake decorating fiasco for Dacia Grace’s Half Birthday Celebration, I said I would never decorate another cupcake! 

Well…………

I was invited to a cupcake decorating class taught my an amazing lady from our church.  I had so much fun!

The first thing I learned was that my tools from the Half Birthday Party cupcake fiasco were BROKEN!  No wonder I could not decorate them at all!

We learned an easy, peasy way to fill the icing bags!  They practically fill themselves!  Without ME being covered in frosting!

Then we began decorating…….so much fun!

Here are some of the finished results.   I can’t wait to replace all my broken equipment!

Once home, Dacia Grace helped add the finishing touches of colored sugars and candy hearts.

   I decorated all of these myself!

By far my favorite one that I did. 

It was so easy once I was shown how!

AND……

Yes, they tasted as good if not better than they look!

First Grade School Pictures

So today was the first day of CBS.  We have taken a picture on our front steps every year since we started.  This year was no different EXCEPT that I will be using these shots for her official first day of First Grade shots.  She has grown up so much!

When did she group up?!

All ready for her first day in the Primary Class at CBS!

Showing her sassy side!

Hedge Hog

 

 

Yesterday while driving around Hood River for the Pear Festival, Dacia Grace called Arthur “the hedge hog”.  She was trying to call him the Head Honcho.  Oh how we laughed!

Simple Woman’s Daybook

Outside my window...
signs of fall are all around.  The air was colder this morning.  The clouds were here most of the morning.  The air smells of fall.  The leaves are beginning to change.  

I am thinking... 
about fall recipes!  Making lists of recipes that we want to make and/or try in the coming months.

I am thankful for...
the wonderful time that we had in Hood River yesterday.

From the learning rooms...
we are making up some activities that we were not able to fit into the schedule last week.  I love that we are able to be flexible this way.

From the kitchen...
my counters are covered in fresh fruit from our trip to Hood River yesterday.  The blueberries were still in season and we were able to pick almost 20 pounds of Elliots.  We also came home with 25 pounds of peaches and about 10 pounds of pears. 

Tonight we will have stuffed peppers with quinoa which is a new recipe for us. 

I am wearing...
a red three-quarter sleeve tee-shirt with blue yoga pants, striped socks with cats on them and a pair of blueberry Dansko clogs.

I am creating...
nothing right now.  I will begin thinking about Christmas here in a week or so.

I am reading...
the teacher’s manual for school.

I am praying...
for the upcoming UN vote on partitioning Jerusalem and Israel.

I am hearing...
Bob and Larry Sing the 80’s otherwise known as The Gourds Just Wanna Have Fun by the Veggie Tales.

Around the house...
things are actually doing quite well!  That is amazing!

One of my favorite things...
fresh blueberries and peaches!

A few plans for the rest of the week...
a special field trip on Thursday and the beginning of Bible study on Wednesday morning.

My Picture Thought...

Still love that my girlie was baptized last week!
Here Pastor Brett is praying for her while Daddy watches.

Portland Mounted Police Tour

    The trainer is “dressing” the horse for duty.Watching the trainer work with the horse in the training ring.  Notice her pink cowgirl boots! 

Exercising on the horse tread mill.  This machine not only exercises the horses but is also used to de-sensitize the horses to flapping plastic bags, flags, skate boards, loud noises, etc.  Anything that will startle a horse on the street.

  

Our tour guide, Roxie, showing us all the different work horses.

           

The friendliest horse in the stable, Punch, who allowed all the children and adults to pet and admire her.  She is not fully trained for street patrols but will be out there soon.