Why do I have such an odd sense of humor?

I do not know why my mind works this way, but I just received one of those recorded election time  phone calls from Mitt Romney. Usually I hang up on recorded messages but since I am interested in the state of my country I listened. Did you know that he (Mr. Romney) and I are going to change things in Washington? Funny, I didn't know that either.

May the Lord find us faithful.

That is gross"er" than I want to be

You Are 8% Gross

You're not gross, but you tend to think everyone else is. And you're right... they are! Some people may think you're a neat freak, but at least you'll never die of flesh eating bacteria.

How gross are you? Take the quiz.

This was gross.

  May the Lord find us faithful.

Non-important things/habits/quirks about me

M

Here are the rules:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.

(2) Post the rules on your blog.

(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website

I was tagged by Mama's Oasis and Homeschooling with a family business so here goes:

1. I am not a morning person, tried it, it is not me. I do not sleep in all morning but I am not up at dawn either.


2. I like only certain pens and pencils, I am picky and if it is a wooden pencil it has to be sharp. Crayons have to be sharp as well


3. As I child, I would save my money and purchase office supplies. I also created a library system with all of my books. I love buying school and office supplies.


4. I used to be really organized, not so much any more.


5. I keloid scar.


6. I had a candy apple red volkswagon for about three months after I graduated high school.

I am not tagging anyone but if you feel froggy, jump in.

 

 May the Lord find us faithful.

Oatmeal in the crock pot

Making oatmeal in the crock pot is a trial and error thing so I will give the disclaimer first. Have a back up plan incase it turns out horrible. (I had that happen in the beginning)

I put 1 cup of steel cut oats (I buy them in the bulk bins in the natural foods section of the grocery store)

4 cups water

In my crockpot it works best to put the oats in around 8-9pm and cook them on keep warm. That works for my crock pot but it is relatively new and gets really hot. Plus they cook for a good 10+ hours.  When we get up I add a little sweetener and the blessings like cinnamon in theirs.

Some friends of ours hooked up a timer to their crockpot and only cooked them for a few hours. There is a learning curve as to what works best in your crock pot and if you have never eated steel cut oats, they are yummy but different. They have  a little bit of a "bite" which I personally love. I started making these a couple of years ago and my blessings don't remember the other oatmeal. (Which I use for granola, granola bars and my favorite; no bake cookies, plus other oatmeal recipes. I even put rolled oats or quick oats in my meatloaf, I also use salsa after one day cutting onion, and green pepper to put in my meat loaf and adding tomato sauce. I was kind of like, why chop, just pour!! I have made it that way ever since. Once every 15 years I have a good thought like that.

Oh, yeah, some people add dried fruit to the oatmeal for the whole cooking process, but that did not work for us. Plus, I am a plain jane (Oh, hi friend) oatmeal gal myself.

 

What do you add to your oatmeal?

May the Lord find us faithful.

Dictation

When it comes to spelling, I have had a very difficult time being consistent. There is part of me that  has a difficult time with Charlotte Mason's methods because I need everything spelled out very straight forward way.  (Yet I did not AT ALL enjoy using a "boxed" textbook curriculum our first two years) I have literally studied everything I can get my hand on about this gentle approach to learning. In the early years I would spend any time I had online searching and reading; plus reading books as well.  I love the whole concept of living books but it has taken me a couple of years to let go and really begin to let the living books do their job. I am by no means there. One day about a year and a half ago, I ordered Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschool Series and one other homeschool book. I am still working my way through and I have obviously not read the books consistently, or I should be finished and on a second or third read. Truth be told, I was not ready for this series when I ordered. Now I am reading through the books and gaining new understanding and perspective as I read. I am making notes(necessary for my learning style) and putting to practice some of what I am reading. Dictation has recently become a practice in our school. We still have a few kinks to work out but it has given our spelling a boost as I teach my son to see the words as he reads them.

Steps of a Dictation Lesson.––Dictation lessons, conducted in some such way as the following, usually result in good spelling. A child of eight or nine prepares a paragraph, older children a page, or two or three pages. The child prepares by himself, by looking at the word he is not sure of, and then seeing it with his eyes shut. Before he begins, the teacher asks what words he thinks will need his attention. He generally knows, but the teacher may point out any word likely to be a cause of stumbling. He lets his teacher know when he is ready. The teacher asks if there are any words he is not sure of. These she puts, one by one, on the blackboard, letting the child look till he has a picture, and then rubbing the word out. If anyone is still doubtful he should be called to put the word he is not sure of on the board, the teacher watching to rub out the word when a wrong letter begins to appear, and again helping the child to get a mental picture. Then the teacher gives out the dictation, clause by clause, each clause repeated once. She dictates with a view to the pointing, which the children are expected to put in as they write; but they must not be told 'comma,' 'semicolon,' etc. After the sort of preparation I have described, which takes ten minutes or less, there is rarely an error in spelling. If there be, it is well worth while for the teacher to be on the watch with slips of stamp-paper to put over the wrong word, that its image may be erased as far as possible. At the end of the lesson, the child should again study the wrong word in his book until he says he is sure of, and should write it correctly on the stamp-paper.

A lesson of this kind secures the hearty co-operation of children, who feel they take their due part in it; and it also prepares them for the second condition of good spelling, which is––much reading combined with the habit of imaging the words as they are read.

Volume 1 Home Education

Charlotte Mason

I just recently made New and improved nature journals, which are getting used without much prompting from me. Habits, read about in Home Education Volume 1, we are really working on habits right now.

I also started a nature journal blog for two reasons.

1. 
   
   We live in a really cool place and having a place to share that is really neat.
   
   


2. 
   
   It keeps me going with our nature study. (I am thoroughly amazed at God's creation and how even though it is our coldest month here we have had nature to view and study via our found ants and a cat tail that our son brought home from a snowmachine ride.)
   
   

What is your crockpot doing today?

Greetings,
I hope I don't sound like the crock pot spokeswoman, I will leave that for the lady who has dedicated to using her crock pot everyday this year, that is commitment. She has made some interesting things. I do not have the link here but google crockpot everyday and you may find her. I may take time to post the link later. I am in a time crunch here!

Last night I started our crockpot oatmeal before going to bed.

 

This morning after a quick cleaning, I started a pot of vegetable moose soup. No recipe just a few potatoes, carrots, pearl barley, lentils and some leftover ground moose (when I have leftover ground meat from say tacos or burgers, I toss it into a container in the freezer and when I have a good quantity I usually make a leftover taco soup with rice and beans and salsa and the like but I was in the mood for veggie beef soup today. Usually when I make soup I use leftover roast but this meat was ready so I threw it in.) and a little beef broth and water to give enough liquid to cover the meat and veggies. I am looking forward to my bowl of comfort. I hope it thickens up good as I like thick soups or (stoups, as Rachel Ray calls them). Keep those crock pots busy. I have officially given mine an honorary place on my kitchen counter. I do not like much on the counter but I have been using it so much, it deserves a spot. I still keep the other crock pot in the cupboard. It isn't loved as much but I do use it on occasion.

May the Lord find us faithful.

• Jan. 29, 2008 - Some are alive but not eating yet

Well, our carpenter ants are trudging along but most did not come back and the ones that are living are not eating. But little workers they are.

Posting time

Our day has been full. We slept in a little, we always seem to do that on Mondays as we stay up later with Dad on Sunday nights. We had our breakfast and got onto our school work. School work is going well. I have gotten into a routine with things again and that is a wonderful feeling.

We watched The Red Pony on TCM tonight. The blessings and I had the opportunity for a movie night, and we took full advantage. Of course, I have never heard of the book until I saw the movie tonight. I am glad this movie was on as it was a good one for the blessings and I to watch.

Did anyone catch Mansfield Park on Masterpiece last night? I only saw the ending. That is one Jane Austen book that I have not read yet. I will be putting on my library list for this month.

May the Lord find us faithful.

Games

 

 

Jenn  and her family had a fun family night playing Life. Tonight my blessings and I played a few games of Uno Attack, which is fun. Then, some one remembered that we have not played Dutch Blitz in a while. So, we got the cards out and commenced to playing. We love this game and if you do not have it you should get it. It is easy to play, you have to be able to tell your colors apart and count to ten with a little fine motor skills and a little speed thrown in as well. The box says 8+ but blessing number one started playing when she was 5. I did notice that there are more complicated instructions in the box than what we play but this is how we were taught. This is a great way to spend and afternoon or evening with the family when the weather outside is frightful! Beats a movie or TV any day of the week.

My Dad is fine he did not have a heart attack but some heart attack like symptoms! His heart is strong, we praise the Lord for that. My husband says my Dad needs to move up here near us!! Good idea Dad!

May the Lord find us faithful.

Please pray

I received a call early this morning that my Dad has had a heart attack. He was going via ambulance to a larger hospital and it is believed that he has a blockage. He is expected to make a full recovery. Dad has had a very stressful and emotional past four months. I pray he will make a full recovery.

May the Lord find us faithful.

Tuesday

Our temperatures have remained on the upside still today. At one point this morning a Chinook Wind was blowing and our thermometer here at home said 37 degrees above. Many would be shouting yahoos but not me. When it warms up, things begin to melt and the roads get slick. NOT GOOD.  It has cooled back down to 32 degrees as the sun has begun its descent. This warm spell should end tomorrow or Thursday, then our temperatures should be more "normal" for this time of year. The blessings just finished up their required school work and have quickly gotten outside for some outdoor time.

A few pictures from today. Here is the moon just before it set, I would say around 10:30am this morning.

This picture is from the same time just an eastern view of sunrise

May the Lord find us faithful.

• Jan. 22, 2008 - Ants

Here is a picture of the pitiful little home we have for these ants. They have yet to eat, but maybe they do not eat right away upon waking for spring, or maybe I have the wrong food. I am still researching. Not many people want carpenter ants as guests in their home!

January2008043.jpg picture by kaysmarmey

If they survive a couple more days I will find them a little more suitable dwelling place. We have enjoyed observing them today and the blessings began journal pages on them as well.

• Jan. 22, 2008 - What my husband found!!!!

While splitting and stacking firewood that had been given to us this fall, my husband split a log that was full of frozen carpenter ants. The blessings came in asking for a jar, I thought how silly to bring them it, they are dead, wrong, they were only sleeping. Just tonight after the blessings were tucked into bed my husband called to announce they were moving around! What a wonderful blessing to have live insects to view and study for a while. Yahoo!! I will post our progress with these yucky things (I despise ants). We will see how they fare in our care. I need to find something for them to eat. More later and pictures as well. This will be an interesting winter project. Here is a little ant information. CARPENTER ANTS: INSECT PESTS OF WOOD PRODUCTS by Edward H. Holsten To date, there have been few problems with insect pests of wood products in Alaska, unlike the "lower 48," where insects cause tremendous losses. However, large black ants of the genus Camponotus (carpenter ants) have caused damage to wooden homes in Alaska. Carpenter ants are generally of minor economic importance as destroyers of wood in houses. However, if an infestation is of long standing, there may be enough damage to require extensive repairs. Usually, only minor repairs, at most, are needed. Besides being destructive, carpenter ants in houses are a nuisance; they crawl over things and get into food. These ants build their nests in several types of wood. They attack moist heartwood of living trees, or they hollow out logs, house timbers, or other soft wood materials that are wet or moist. Occasionally, they will tunnel into styrofoam insulation. Carpenter ants tunnel into wood for shelter and to raise their young. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat the wood. They forage from their shelters and consume both animal and vegetable matter. DESCRIPTION: Ants are social insects; various ages, forms and specialized duties occur simultaneously in a colony. Carpenter ants are among the largest species of ants in the United States. They have elbowed antennae, large heads and constrictions between the thorax and head and between the thorax and abdomen. Winged females may be up to 18 mm long; males are considerably smaller, 11 mm long. Wings are clear with prominent veins. Normally, there is only one functioning wingless queen in a colony, who may live as long as 15 years. There are several sizes (8 to 11 mm long) of workers, all of which are females but are undeveloped sexually. Ant eggs are elongate, white, and gourd-shaped. Immature carpenter ants (larvae) are gourd-shaped, soft, legless and yellow white. Their size varies according to the ultimate adult form (e.g., male, female, or workers.) Pupae (transition stage from immature to adult) are creamy white in papery, light brown cocoons which are often erroneously referred to as "ant eggs." Carpenter ants do not sting, but their bite is painful, especially if formic acid is injected into the bite. LIFE HISTORY: A young colony contains only wingless forms. After the colony has grown to considerable size, a number of winged individuals are produced (Figure 1). These are new males and females (swarmers) whose functions are to begin new colonies. They are commonly seen flying in May and June. After this mating flight, females either reestablish an old colony or establish a new nest. Normally, nests are constructed in dead portions of standing trees, stumps or logs. However, they also nest in structural timbers if they find the conditions suitable. During the first year colonies remain small, consisting of queen, 10 to 20 workers and a few young. In succeeding years, colonies expand rapidly and may number more than 2,000 individuals. It is at this stage that swarmers are produced each year. Figure 1. Winged adult carpenter ant. Figure 1. Winged adult carpenter ant.

A Day at home

First of all, anyone who has been watching the weather probably already knows this BUT, it was warmer here yesterday than in Green Bay!! It actually drizzled the rain last night but thankfully it got a little colder and turned to snow before any major ice was able to form on the roads. AND only 20 degrees seperated our temp this morning and Pa-Pa's temperature in Florida! Welcome to winter everyone, enjoy! It is nice to get an unexpected day off from the normal routine. I had forgotten until last Thursday that my sweetheart would be off from work today. Today has been relaxing yet full.  I needed a little extra time to get moving this morning and it was a blessing to have my sweetheart home to allow me that time. He got the blessings breakfast and moved them through their morning routines and chores while I had a little extra time this morning. I have addressed some much needed weekly cleaning in the master bedroom today (the room that will get extra cleaning through out this week). The laundry has moved through its stages today with two more loads left to go through the cycle. I have a little deferred maintance to do on the closet/homeschool bookshelf reorganize from a week ago, so I guess it can be called stage two of the project. I still have copywork and science notebooks to get put together but they may have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. But, tomorrow is my bread class and I am so excited to see what I learn and to see the Bosch in action. I may never own one but I am interested in seeing it work. Well, I am off to answer a few questions that have been asked in comments.

May the Lord find us faithful.

Making our nature journals

I have been making copies and piles, etc. for a couple of days. Last night we ate in the family room, I needed to get the table cleared off for breakfast in the morning.

So, I got to work.

And got it finished.

One down and two more to go

 

Finished for today.

Tomorrow, I  tackle Science notebooks and maybe new copywork notebooks.

May the Lord find us faithful.

One tired crock pot

Melissa's crock pot here. I am wore out but I still am working hard this week. After I cooked the Southwest Meat and Potato Stew last Saturday I thought my week may be an easy one, not at all, although I did get a couple of days off at the beginning of the week. Monday night I worked all night making oatmeal for breakfast. Thursday all day I cooked, she got out my divided inserts, (now I am cooking two different types of food) one side held brown rice and the other cubed moose roast which was thankfully later turned into pepper steak on the stove top. My inserts we washed and I was put away but not for long. The inserts came back out  Friday and I am cooking hot dogs on one side and chili on the other. All because the family will be out playing(while I am slaving away at home) for a while this afternoon and she wants them to have a hot meal when they return home. I wish we could go back to the days when she didn't think ahead and make these menus. Argh!! At least she hasn't learned how to use me to make bread, yet!

 May the Lord find us faithful.

Warmer and a better outlook

Well, I think the colder weather and limited sunlight and sick kids(which means staying home more) is at bay for a while. It warmed up quite a bit today and we were dumped on with snow Wednesday night. I think it set a snowfall record or made it to the top ten or something like that. We are heading up to the home of one of the Widow's in our church to plow her driveway after my bread is finished and my sweetheart gets back from checking his snares and gets the four wheeler with plow loaded ont eh trailer. It was about 15 degrees when we were in town this morning. Yahoo!!! We are now over 5 hours of possible daylight and none of the blessings are sick right now and sweetheart's head cold is clearing up!!  I went to buy wheat berries today, Prairie Gold was what the local grain lady had, and I can already tell it will be better than what I have been picking up in small quantities at the grocery store. I am going ot make one loaf of bread and shape the rest into hot dog shaped buns as we will be gone a while and will need a quick supper when we get home later.

May the Lord find us faithful.

• Jan. 18, 2008 - Snow (Updated with pictures)

We had a large dumping of snow on Wednesday night. It was great, you probably think it is funny that I say that but Fairbanks in not known for large snowfalls. Sure we have snow on the ground from October- April but the quantites are usually small, it just stays put because of our cold temperatures. Have you also noticed that I have never posted a picture of my blessings making snowmen? We have a dry snow here and it does not compact into snowballs at all. You pick it up and it falls out of your hand like granulated sugar. Why? we live in a dry climate, that is one of the reasons why I always say 0 degrees isn't that bad, because it isn't that bad! This man's article is a good read to learn a little more about Alaska and our snow fall amounts. I tried to find some technical explanation for our dry snow but I will have to keep looking. I do not have a picture uploaded right now but I will work on it this weekend to get some deep snow pictures on here to add to this post. My to-do list is calling my name. Here is our deep snow. January2008016.jpg picture by kaysmarmey This is what I call a table top green house made by my sweetheart. We can grow two or three tomato plants in here in the summer. January2008017.jpg picture by kaysmarmey This is my new little shrubby tree that I bought at Lowe's this fall, it is supposed to survive -50 degree temps. but now it is a little more insulated against the colder temperatures that will come later in Jan. and Feb. January2008019.jpg picture by kaysmarmey This is our lone black spruce tree in our yard. Here is a picture and article of a large black spruce tree. January2008015.jpg picture by kaysmarmey This site has some Alaska pictures that look really cool. (Oh, Jenn you will love this site!)

Name and sandwich

What Melissa Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package - suave, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes. In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun. You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it! Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

May the Lord find us faithful.

• Jan. 17, 2008 - Bunny Trail!

We do not see any snowshoe (or varying) hares in our yard, nor do we see their tracks in our yard (that might have something to do with the chocolate lab that patrols our yard keeping out all small and sometimes larger animals(she ran a cow and a calf moose off the other day) )but they live and eat on the vacant lot that ajoins our property.

Here is a picture of a well used trail. I apologize if you cannot see it very well, it was a gray day yesterday. Plus, it is difficult to see snow pictures on grey days.

January2008013.jpg picture by kaysmarmey

Here are hare prints:

January2008010.jpg image by kaysmarmey January2008014.jpg image by kaysmarmey

Here is a sky picture, we have big sky here:

January2008005.jpg picture by kaysmarmey



We had a very welcome dumping of snow last night, after lunch the blessings are heading out to enjoy. Tomorrow I will share a little about our Alaska snow

Doctor

Updated:

I took blessing #2 to the DR. she does have pink eye and drops have started, groceries have been picked up and we will watch and see who, if anyone else, comes down with pink eye.

I truly try to take care of most health issues naturally to the best of my knowledge and use the knowledge of the owner of the local health food store as much as possible. But, we are heading out to the doctor in a few minutes as blessing #2 woke up with goopy, stuck together eyes. Yuck!!

May the Lord find us faithful.

Here we go round the mulberry bush! Not really.

Happy Monday,

Just filling you all in on a little thing I am trying with my family. I got two glass(peanut butter jars). On one I wrote: kind, loving words; first time obedience; love you neighbor; initiative,thus, pleasing God. On the second I wrote: unkind words; disobedience; selfish behavior; lazy, slothful, thus, pleasing self. Each time someone is pleasing God I will put change in that jar. Everytime some one is pleasing self, I put a plastic chip in the pleasing self jar. You see, the money is worth something is likened to laying up treasure in heaven; the plastic chip is worthless and is laying up earthly treasure. Now, my plan was to take the full jar of money and doing something as a family together, but one of my blessings suggested that we give it to the missions offering at church, even better and truly laying up treasure in heaven. We will see how it goes as the day and week progresses. I needed something concrete that my blessings could see their behavior in a real way. I will update and let you know how we all respond. (I am keeping myself accountable with this method as well.)

 

 

May the Lord find us faithful.

Revisiting the crock pot

I have posted about my love of my favorite kitchen servant, the crock pot before. Right now I have ground meat and onion cooking in the crock pot, when the meat is thoroughly cooked I will add the rest of the ingredients for

Southwest meat and potato stew

2 lbs. ground beef(moose in my case)

1 large onion chopped

1 cup water, divided

1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes

1 bag (16 oz) frozen corn

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 cup salsa

1 tsp. each salt and cumin

1/2 tsp each garlic powder and pepper

2 Tbsp. flour

In dutch oven, brown beef and onion, drain(I do not have to drain moose, we grind ourselves and do not add any fat, moose is not a fatty meat like beef). Add 3/4 cup water and all else except flour and extra water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Combine flour and remaining water. Stir into stew. Cook until slightly thickened. ( I have often skipped the flour part and it is just as good with out)

I am adapting this recipe to my crock pot. My crock pot gets very hot on high, so after the kitchen was cleaned up from brunch I pulled out old faithful and tossed in the meat and chopped an onion and threw it in. My meat will not be dark brown but it will be cooked thoroughly. (One of my beefs with the crock pot is all the pre browning,etc. often required. When looking for a crock pot recipe I  look for that. ) Here I go with parenthetical thoughts. Once that is accomplished I will add the remaining ingredients and go about my day regaining some sort of control over this house before plunging into next week.

Speaking of crockpots, one of my favorite blogs to read is  Clark Chatter ,. she just started a Crock pot blog that I have been reading. Stop in and see what she is cooking up. I have not tried any of the recipes but they all look yummy and very practical.

When you plan your menu for this week (you do make a menu, don't you?) Plan at least one crock pot meal, you will not be disappointed. Let your kitchen servants do the work for you while you spend time with your blessings.

May the Lord find us faithful.

Friday

I started my day with a quick trip to town. I had to get some supplies to make science, Bible and Composer/Artist/Hymn/Folksong Notebooks, plus a few other necessities to get through the weekend. I headed home to an empty house as sweetheart and the blessings were out on snowmachines. When they returned, I made lunch and hot chocolate to warm them up. (We are heading into a cold snap here) I have been very lax in getting everything accomplished with all the sicknesses that have plagued our home since Dec. 26th, with a little lazy thrown in there. I started clearing off the desk, always messy. Then I moved to the rest of the dining room, which is now clean. I have cleared the clutter off of the kitchen counters while I cleaned up from dinner. I will finish the kitchen/entry tomorrow. Question? Does any one else out there take Super Mom vitamins? I have them but they seem to drag me down instead of aid in the energy department. I took them last week and had a horrible day. Any imput? Thank you in advance. Oh, yeah, some where in my day  I made two loaves of bread and three pizza crusts as well. We will definitely be having pizza leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I made this bread recipe using the hand method (I used the kitchen aide), from the taste we took it seems like it will be good bread. I am looking forward to getting to know how to make good bread using the freshly ground flour.

 May the Lord find us faithful.

So many thoughts

There are so many thoughts running through my head, so many posts running through as well. There they sit as I cannot get them to come out.

 I do have to send you over to the Alaska blog to see what you can learn and what fun you can have in January. I am looking forward to Jan. 18, A.A. Milne's birthday and Winnie the Pooh day. Oh, what fun I plan on that day. We will have some honey but I will pass on the condensed milk.

January 13th a banner day. Masterpiece Theatre is going to begin showing 6 Jane Austen books turned to movies for the next 6 weeks. I am really looking forward to this one. Now, if we can get home from church that early. I hope so.

I know there isn't much here today but with all that stuff running around in my head it is difficult to think about my blogging.

May the Lord find us faithful.

• Jan. 12, 2008 - Well, it did not take much to get me here!

I toyed about an Alaska Nature blog for a little while now. I mentioned it to Jenn tonight and she voted yes, so here I am! Doesn't take much to get me to do something. Over the next weeks and months I will make this little corner of the blog world my own via a personalized template and the nature in my back yard, Alaska. I will be back next week to give our nature report and give some weather statistics.

Dogaversary?

Today I made this to celebrate the second anniversary of adopting our chocolate lab, Emmy.

Since she should not have chocolate, she got this: a special treat, moist and meaty

Here is picture from two years ago, boy how my blessings have grown in two years. And boy, how we have gotten attached to this silly dog.

I am here, I had a head cold the end of last week and was spending time doing only what was necessary and resting the rest of the time. I feel much better now but am now playing catch up.

May the Lord find us faithful.

Come along with me!

This is a full post. First of all, if any of you have any ideas for neat things to add to a hope chest that is to be given to a 16 1/2 year old, please share. We are making her a recipe book full of family recipes and having special people in her life write her notes/letters to be complied and placed inside. (I know the normal items that go inside a hope chest, I am asking for any other "special" things we can place inside) And no, I do not have a 16 year old that I have been hiding but Pa-Pa does and her daughter is getting an hope chest this summer and we want to have a few special things to start it out with. Thank you in advance.

For those popping over from Tiany's either scroll to the bottom or join the tour of my little town.

Now, the tour of our little town continues:

First, on this day the temperature was -6 degrees, not too bad, seriously.

Jump into the van with me and we will grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and take a tour.

 

These drive up coffee places are quite popular here, they are everywhere. With names like Mocha moose, strange brew, Mocha Dan's, sunrise, the list goes on and on.

After the post office, I headed over to the library to grab a picture there. It was not opened yet, but I got my picture. We are supposed to get a new, larger library in the not so near future, just in the planning phase now. We need it, there is not enough room for the books! I do my best to take as many as possible to help them out

!

Next, I snapped a photo of one of the candy cane light pole we sport on Santa Claus Lane in North Pole, yes, Santa Claus Lane. 

We won't stop by the play ground today, but here is one on Santa Claus Lane, my blessings always called this one the fire truck playground as it has a fire truck!

 Santa Claus House is on St. Nicholas Drive!  I hope this map link works. North Pole city limits are quite small and do not live in the city limits but we have the North Pole mailing address.

This is the North Pole website

Hey, over at the RV park next to Santa Claus House there is an Ice Festival going on, let's look at a couple of the carvings, there is more info on this at the North Pole website listed just above.

 

This would have been a great place for a Christmas Card picture this year, too bad I do not get out much! I wonder how many people from our area sent this as a Christmas card picture?

Yum, Pagoda was one of the ice park sponsers, I love Pagoda. I never like Asian food until I ate here after we were married. I know this is a dark picture but I am adding for those  readers who have moved away from here and enjoyed Pagoda while living here.

 

This big guy sits next to his house.

I learn something new every day! Our Wendy's is the number one fast food stop according to the travel channel. Wow, I am majorly taking this place for granted!

So, what will it be for lunch? Wendy's or Pagoda? Please say Pagoda!!

Thanks for going with me and have a safe trip home.

Next Tiany has a lot going on this week. She asked us to share a few of our favorite things. That is tough for me. But I will try. Stop by and wish her a very happy Blogoversary!

I really like my Bare Escentuals makeup

I also like that Victoria is being published again. I read this magazine in college and stopped when I married and moved to the Last Frontier. I have since realized that I can live here and still be myself.

I also love paper, stationary, notebooks, pencils, pens, etc. I love paper and plan on dabbling in calligraphy this year. I have always wanted to do so, now is the time.

Tiany also has a giveaway for a Raising Godly Tomatoes Book that looks great. I am going to check this one out.

One last thing, I also blog for hsb's homeschool nations for the Alaska blog. This week I linked to a few Alaska web cams. Pop over and check out other parts of my great state. Thanks. 

May the Lord find us faithful.