Merry Christmas To All!

Drawn by Laura.

Pony Power!

Goin' on a Bear Hunt

Our neighbor had seen a bear while he was hunting on our property. As soon as he told us a bear was down back, we grabbed a rifle for self defense in case the need arose, and naturally rushed to try and see the bear.
Joe Houndog lead the procession, verifying the neighbor's assertion of bear activity by sniffing ends of branches and looking at us with horrified eyes and deeply wrinkled brow, reminiscent of the Grinch's dog Max.
When we got to the scene of the bear sighting, Joe explained through vivid body language that the bear had lumbered away through thick underbrush.
As you can see, the day was beautiful, and the path tempting.
Next time I may actually get a picture of Mr. Bear.

O Christmas Tree

Christmas decorations, interpreted through photography by the girls.

Squirrel Girl!

Here's Lottie both in plain sight and hidden in her natural habitat.
We love this squirrel!

Portraits

Here are two pictures that I was pleased with.
I got an Olympus E-500 body last year at a very reasonable price, and finally bought a full price (ouch!) 50mm lens in order to take pictures with my bargain camera.
Super model Debbie cat had a whole photo shoot on the bed, rolling around, posing for the camera.
Laura's hair was gleaming in the sun, and I liked how the new camera could capture the moment.

Cold Front!

Here is our quaint little bonfire area after the storm came through last week.
Everywhere you see water in these photos is normally a wide grassy road.
Before the squall that brought this cold snap, we were at 74 humid degrees in the house. I was tempted to turn on the air conditioning, but I knew that 20 degree weather was coming soon, so I persevered.
My computer died, and I'm using Dan's lap top until I replace my hard drive, but I can share the photos from my new, fancy schmancy camera in the mean time. Lots of interesting blog posts are trapped inside my little red camera till I figure out a way to transfer them.
Tonight the coyotes are running up and down my Cub Creek frontage and talking loudly all about their coyote hopes and fears. Or threatening to eat me, I don't know for sure.
It's frosty cold tonight, about 28 crisp degrees at 11 p.m.

Lottie

Here's just a sample of Lottie's continued cuteness.
She lives out in the woods now, but she comes to the house daily for socializing and for almond butter.

Chicken Day

Here are two girls with the fruits of their labors.
Becky did all of the eviscerating.
Dan chopped off heads, thank God.
Katie and I helped to pluck.
Laura was an excellent scalder, but she and I ran off to soccer practice before the photo shoot.

Secret Soccer Portal

I love playing at Nottoway's field.
I always get the sensation that I'm about to enter Narnia when I go through the door in the wall.
Laura played against them on Saturday and we enjoyed fun afternoon out in the sun.

Katie's Soccer Season

Katie moved up to U12s this year and her coach said on her stat card about her: "Katie is a seasoned soccer player and the preferred starter at right defender. Provided outstanding defense all season. Improved considerably in speed, attacking the ball, and filling in gap on defense."
How her sisters sum up her season is:
Sister, "Hey Katie, what was the score?"
Katie, "15 to 0."
Sister, "Who won?"
Katie, "Umm, I'm not sure."
Katie's caoches have forgotten to pressure the kids about winning, it seems.

Laura's Championship

It's tough when you're the photographer of the family because then there are no pictures of you playing soccer.
Such is the case with Laura.
Her team also went all the way to the top of the James River District and won the Championship. However, they also happened to be undefeated all season!
Laura is also #14. She's in the back row, tallest but for the coach in her normal uniform, and with the coach's arm around her in her tournament uniform.
Laura plays defensive mid.

Becky's Championship

Here's some of Becky's season. Her team went all the way to the top of the James River District and won the championship trophy!
She plays all over the field, both in defense and as a forward.
Here she's behind the boy wearing orange. She's #14.

View from my Window

New Book

Jane Austen believed in writing about only that which you know first hand.
She would be proud of Katie's work.
Here's the book that Kate wrote this morning. I'll bet you can figure out what Scott and Joe Houndog were doing last night.

Murphy's Darn Law

I've been having a burned out feeling about homeschool lately. Probably because Katie's not consistently "getting" two digit or higher multiplication.
Big Dan gave me some sage advice on facebook yesterday: "Don't worry, even the worst procrastinator eventually learns double digit multiplication!"
However, I'm a little weary of the sameness of each day's scholastic activities.
I also have parties and practices every night this week, followed by a two day soccer tournament involving two who will be playing and two who will be watching and cheering, and Dan has to work through the whole event.
What better time to open a cabinet and spill 300 doxycylines all over the kitchen?