A View From Our Windows This Morning...

 

 

 

 

Studying For The SAT Subject Tests...

 

Mastering U.S. History and...

 

Dr. Suess!!

Life is SO good :)

Pictures, just because...

 

Our little lion!

 

Can you see the jack-o-lantern face on this spider?  Click on it to enlarge it.  Pretty cool!

 

Brother J

 

Brother S

Talk to ya soon...

Chimney sweep...

A few days ago, Daddy built a fire.  Sissy was downstairs taking a nap and came upstairs complaining she couldn't breathe because her room was filled with smoke!  When I went down to get her a book I couldn't believe all of the smoke!  It practically filled her room, you truly couldn't breathe down there! 

 So, daddy messed with the fireplace and finally got the smoke to go up the chimney!  We shoved towels around the basement door and sissy slept upstairs.  The next morning, I called a chimney sweep and they came out the following afternoon. 

The first year we lived here we used the fireplace frequently. The second year we didn't use it at all because of the twins.  The third year we rarely used it.  Towards the end of this past summer I noticed bee's were getting in the house, so daddy climbed up to the chimney and noticed there were hornets in it.  I opened up the fireplace door and could actually here them!!  Talk about scary!  So, daddy decided to light a fire and smoke them out.  This made the hornets so angry that they started coming into the house through the cracks around the fireplace!  It was aweful!!  Looking back it was probably a funny site to see me and daddy chasing a bunch of bee's with flip flops trying to kill them!

Anywhoo, the chimney sweeps came out and cleaned out our chimney and fireplace.  He has been doing this for 18 years.  He found a hornets nest in our chimney that was the biggest one he had ever seen!  He said it was as big in diameter as the chimney, and 2 feet long!  Here is a picture of some of the nest he pulled out (you can see where it was burned by the fire!):

 

We also had 3rd degree creosote?  Anyways, the rest of the nest fell down the pipe and they had to pull it, and a TON of hornets, out from the bottom in order to vacuum and finish cleaning.  He said they built up in there because we hadn't been using it.  He also said it has been a really long time since it had been cleaned, if it had ever been cleaned!

It is now safe again to build a fire and get cozy with a blanket, cup of hot chocolate (my favorite) and a good book!  Thank you Mr. Chimney Sweep :)

Talk to ya soon...

What we've been up to lately...

Lots and lots of stuff!!  Sissy's high school volleyball career is officially over :(  We had her volleyball banquet on Monday evening.  I took a few pictures but they didn't turn out.  Probably because I was also trying to hold onto a little man of mine!  Now on to the next chapter in her life :)  She had a recruiter from her college of choice contact her the other day and take her up to the campus.  They went to lunch, took a driving and walking tour, and also spoke with an admissions counselor.  She had a good time but was tired when she got home!  She has a few standardized exams to take yet, the SAT subject tests in U.S. History, Literature, Math, French and Biology.  She has also scheduled another ACT test.  She will take her last test on January 24.  Everything else is in to the colleges.  Keep your fingers crossed :)

The boys have been creating, creating, creating!  And our little peanut goes right behind them destroying :) Here are some of their creations:

   

Brother J

 

Brother J

 

 

Daddy enjoying their creations :)

 

Brother S's "airplane" (YES, he drew that himself!)

 

Brother J's airplane and spaceship, along with the beginnings of other creations!

Talk to ya soon...

Quinn...

Okay, you have to check out Quinn!!  Well, if your not my brother or his wife (the creators:), that is!  Absolutely beautiful!  Is there a White Forest wish list?  Ya know, kinda like Amazon Wish List?  Great job guys!!

Homeschooling/Unschooling...

This is an awesome essay written by an unschooler who decided to satisfy his curiosity about the public school!  Check it out...

Weekend pictures...

Two days after halloween we are painting our pumpkins.  But that is okay!  Nobody comes to our house for candy anyway, but most importantly sister K and sister E were not home until halloween.  So, we waited.  It was worth the wait!  We had so much fun!!