Fall Fun

 So cooler weather has finally come, well at least what we Floridians call cooler.  At least the heat index isn't over 90!  Anyway, I went into my dining room the other day and couldn't find my table.

 

I did find the following note so I took a peek in...

  

 Definitely good and roomy.  I was going to crawl in and take a nap but some mini crisis or such took my attention and time so the opportunity passed.

With the cooler weather, G is going outside and playing more (thank you, Lord!)  She has a bow and arrow that she enjoys shooting along with chasing the chickens and pretending she is driving the tractor.  Give that just a few more years and you probably will find her driving it!

Last Friday, we took a field trip to a local crop maze.  No, I didn't spell that wrong.  You see, down here in Florida, corn doesn't grow the best (Ask me how I know that) so many places grow sorghum grass which looks similar to corn and use that for mazes. 

Amazing Grace Crop Maze is fairly close to our house which is a bonus and is new this year so we wanted to give them a try.  It was homeschool day so there were quite a few other homeschool families there. 

 

We met up with a old (as in years ago) friend who began homeschooling her youngest last year and added her other daughter this year.  Her son joined us that day as public school was also out.

 

 

We had a blast going through the crop maze, playing on a great playground complete with tractors to climb on, duck races with old water pumps along with swings, listening to a story and some history of farming and going on a hay ride.  I wasn't feeling the best that day but I managed to make it through.  G went home with her friends for the rest of the day and I went back to the house to sleep and lay around on the couch.  That is what I call a great friend!

 

 

Friday Fun

This morning found G up and ready to head to the park. Thanks to a group on Facebook for local homeschoolers, I found out about a PE class on Friday mornings. G worked ahead so that she would have no school today. Unfortunately, I double checked the group and found a message that the lady would not be able to do the class after all due to work conflicts. As she is in the military, I don't think she can call in sick.

 I told G that we would still go to the park and do our own workout. Abigail joined us. After we did an invigorating obstacle course and tried to run up a tree, we went to feed the ducks. 

They were very anxious to see us and even met us before we even got close to the pond. As you can see, Abigail got up on a table to escape them!

 Shortly after we gave them our bread, we heard a noise. The ducks immediately took off together towards the sound. We followed and discovered it was an automatic feeder that had dropped food into the water. They made quite the ruckus eating up the food. The white ones were the funniest with their tails up in the air. 

For lunch we enjoyed a treat. Our local Chick-Fil-A offered a free sandwich with the purchase of a large drink if you wore a FSU shirt or cap. Well, since we are FSU fans, we were there!

This was the second time this week we were able to get free food.  Monday, when we went by the library, they had punch cards leftover from their summer program so we were able to go to McDonald's and get free cheeseburgers.  Have to love finding deals!

Been a looong time

It has been over 3 years but I am back.  I have desired blogging again many times but just haven't done it.  Today, I spent an hour or two saving 60 pages of posts from my previous blog (I can't believe it was still on-line!) and while reading through the things I had wrote, I really desired to get back started so here I am.  I cleaned up the place, did some redecorating and am ready to go. 

Now, what has taken place since April 2009?  In a nutshell, much!!  We finally sold our house in August of 2009, spent the next year finding land and building a house.  You can read about that adventure here.  We have been settled in for 2 years this weekend, in fact!  We have added 9 chickens to our "farm" along with a bunny and black lab puppy.  We are still working on the garden after it was flooded out this summer by TS Debby.  It will need to be moved up closer to the house where it is a little drier.  We are currently waiting to dry up so we can work on that.

As for schooling, we are continuing on.  My oldest, Kemie (formerly known as Eldest), is dual enrolled at the local college and will be graduating this spring.  She has been driving for over a year and works at a local grocery store.  Victoria (formerly known as Longlegged girl) is possibly going to dual enroll in the spring and is learning to drive.  Hannah (Twin 1) and Abigail (Twin 2) are in high school level now.  The older girls are all doing speech through our local club and the NCFCA while Victoria is debating for the second year and Kemie is going to give it a try her last year.  They are debating Lincoln/Douglas style.  The youngest, Puddin, is now in 2nd grade and enjoying a small co-op at our church for science.

As for me, I am busy keeping everyone on track, leading the co-op, being the speech coach and just basically keeping the Mahan machine running.

You are hopefully caught up and will desire to continue following our adventures.  Check out the sidebar for ways to do that.  Until later (but not too long)!

My birthday

My birthday falls shortly after the holidays so it can sometimes be a little crazy for my family. Monday morning found my family showering me with gifts. I received an FSU necklace, 2 new Bibles from my hubby although I have to return one of them because the print was just waay to small for these older eyes. Longlegged girl drew me a picture of a coffee cup as I am changing the theme in my kitchen. It will go nicely with the one hubby drew me. Pumpkin also drew me a picture of a hummingbird. She knows that I love birds and flowers!





The girls and I went shopping after breakfast. We hit some consignment and thrift stores and found some deals on clothing items. Eldest cooked me a dinner of stuffed shells. It was a great way to spend the day!!

Hair Everywhere!

I spent a few hours tonight cutting hair and it wasn't my own which is in need of a haircut soon. I started with Puddin. I mainly just got rid of the ends which were getting scraggly. Daddy doesn't want her hair cut until she is 5. Next was Pumpkin. She made the decision, on her own, to cut her hair as short as Cucumber's. She wanted them to look more alike but she doesn't want bangs. Cucumber wasn't thrilled but it was Pumpkin's choice. Here are some before and after pictures:



Next was Eldest turn. She shocked me yesterday by saying she wanted her hair cut in a bob. She had been talking about getting bangs which I didn't think would look the best. I made double sure before I cut it but once we were done, I could quickly see it was a great choice. I love how it looks fuller and shows off the wave that has developed in her hair.

I did give Cucumber a quick trim also. Longlegged girl was the only one who didn't get a cut tonight. Mainly because she didn't really need it but also because my legs and back were done for!! I don't want to be a hair stylist when I grow up!! We watched Little Women while I cut which I thought was an appropriate movie. The tears flowed all the way around the room during the part where Beth dies.

Dh walked in the room after I was finished and wanted to know if a dog exploded. There was quite a bit of hair on the floor but there is also more cash in my bank account which makes it worth it.

Fall Festival

We had our annual Fall Festival at church last weekend. The girls entered the pie contest. Eldest made a Lemon Meringue with the help of my mom, Pumpkin and Cucumber made a Pumpkin pie on their own and Longlegged Girl made a French Mint pie with my help.

The girls had loads of fun playing the many games. Pumpkin and Cucumber got carried away

Longlegged Girl got led through the obstacle course and Eldest helped lead Cucumber through.Puddin kept herself busy doing a treasure hunt, helping gather balloons and being an airplane.

Daddy led some music around the campfire with his guitar and I just enjoyed fellowshiping and watching the fun. Oh, and taking the pictures :-)

Making Applesauce

Remember all those apples we picked in Vermont? Well, I needed to get something done with them as we were getting tired of just eating them. We decided to try our hand at applesauce. The girls gave me a hand at peeling and chopping up the apples. They had quite fun at it too!

Only a 13 year old

Cutting apples is fun

Longlegged girl shows off her bandages from the mole removal

I think I broke the peeler

How silly can a household of girls be?

Silly enough for Mama to wonder why there are apple peels all over the floor

We let the applesauce simmer all night, however, we found the next morning, that we apparently put too much water in. After playing around with it a little, I found a way to strain it. The girls enjoyed drinking the strained juice and pronounced it mighty fine!! At least nothing was wasted!