Let It Snow!

We had our first real snowfall.   The kids were very excited.   Deborah and Aaron are asking for a snow day tomorrow.

 These pictures are taken without the flash.   

Student Statesmanship Institute

This week Nathan and Stephen took part in Student Statesmanship Institute (SSI).   They played the parts of representatives. They researched bills (that had already been through the Michigan House), listened to testimony, and prepared speeches in favor or against bills.

In the evening of the second day, they all gathered together to give their speeches and vote on the bills.  

 Nathan defending the ban on stem cell research.

 Stephen passionately defending his bill for a Marriage Amendment.

 They both enjoyed their time and enjoyed seeing both of their "bills" pass.

Fall Kittens

Our cat Mavis had a batch of fall kittens.   This time she had them close to the house and we were able to tame them very easily.

It got so that whenever we went outside, the kittens would hear us and come running.

 Stephen liked the kittens best.

 A couple of them fell asleep while they were on his chest!

Apples and more Apples

We had a lot of apples this year.   I estimate that we harvested about 20 bushels of apples from our 9 trees.  This was our biggest harvest ever.

They were beautiful and we hardly had any bugs in them.

We had so many Red Delicious apples that we decided to make cider with them.   We took 8 bushels up to a friends' house.

 She had picked some other types so the cider tasted delicious.   We used an old fashioned press and the children had a great time.

 I've also made a lot of applesauce.   Good thing we love it so much!

Volcano time!

This year is Geology, Meterology, and Astronomy.   So for Geology, you always have to make a volcano with baking soda and vinegar.   So why just do it in a bottle when you can make one outside?

 Notice the sides of the mountain with the poor hotels and houses built by foolish people who should have known better than to build on the side of a volcano.

 A really big "explosion" of "lava".   That house is toast.

20,000th Egg

Today Aaron collected the 20,000 egg produced here at Cold Feathers Farm.

Now we're trying to decide what to do with it?   Fry it?   Make it part of a quiche?

A Hunting We Will Go!

This year both Nathan and Stephen participated in the youth hunt.   Some deer were spotted but none close enough to get a shot at.    Today they are trying their hand at bow hunting.   

Fun at the Fair!

We participated in the county fair again this year.   No best of shows this year but we still did well.   Aaron got an "A" award for his eggs.

I got a second place for jelly (opal basil herb jelly), second place for pickled carrots, and third place for my cherries.

Stephen, Deborah and Aaron all got "A" awards for their vegetables.

 We took our traditional Ferris Wheel ride...

... and bumper car ride. 

 We saw the animal show - this year it was elephants!

Fun in the Woods

Deborah and Aaron have made nature forts in our woods.   Deborah has camouflaged hers with branches from a tree that was cut down.   She's also tried to transplant some wild sage and some mint but I don't think they made it. 

 Aaron's fort from the back.

 Aaron's fort from the front.

 We had some beautiful sunlit days this summer.

 We did have some trees fall down so my dh got his John Deere out and went after those trees.  He wanted to drag the trees to the meadow and cut them into firewood there.

 It's hard to tell from the picture but he's chained three logs together and successfully drug them out of the woods.