1st Road Trip of 2013

This past weekend OG and I took a little road trip out west for our district's Fine Arts Festival.  (Because we live WAY out in the country, round trip total was 824 miles).  It was exceptionally nice to spend some "mother/daughter" time together.  We did a little shopping, too much eating and she ministered beautifully.  Here's a few photos from the weekend:

OG eagerly awaiting her scheduled time slot.

OG was blessed to be personally acquainted with the sound tech, Mr.N.
 We hosted him and his family last fall while they visited our church.

Here she is accompanying herself on the acoustic guitar while
singing Third Day's "Love Song".  She was the only female
vocalist from the Jr. or Sr. division  who accompanied herself.
The judges commented on how much they LOVED that! 

Her scores were much better than last year.  She was upgraded
from "good" to "excellent".  Next year she hopes to close the
4 point gap to achieve "superior with invitation", which would
earn her a spot in the Nationals.

As always, the drive out west is beautiful.

Locked Out and Invisible

There are a large number of home schooled children in our county, more than 30, when compared to our local public school which has approximately 78 students (grades pre-K - 12) enrolled for the 2012-2013 school year.  School bus service is available only within 3 miles of town.  Farm kids can live 25 or more miles out of town and must be driven into a bus stop 3 miles outside of town or driven to the school's front doors.  I personally think this lack of school bus service contributes to the number of home schooled students within our county.

During the past 16 months, I've had an opportunity to meet many people and families within our community.  I've discovered that a very large number seem to be employed by our county's public education system.  There are administrators, teachers, janitors, kitchen personnel, teacher's aides, grounds keepers, maintenance, etc.  It seems that there are at least 2 employees for every student enrolled in the school.

When we lived down home, my personal experiences found most school personnel to be more supportive of our decision to home educate than the general public.  However, up here those tables are most definitely flipped.  When in a group setting, those employed by the public school system assertively ignore me and other home educators and leave us out of conversations - I even had one person step in front of me and turn their back to my face!  Most just seem to pretend that we are not in the room.  At first I was quite shocked by this blatant rudeness and prejudice.

However, after living here for more than 16 months, I've found that it's not necessarily home education itself these people have issues with.  It seems to have more to do with the allocation of educational funds.  Apparently, our county's public education employees believe they are grossly underpaid and they've decided that home education is a contributing factor to their low wages, remember approximately 40% of our county's students are home educated.  Although every home educator within our county pays the same amount of local, state and federal taxes as anyone else within their income bracket, our state and federal educational system allocates education funding based upon enrollment numbers.  Fewer enrolled students equal fewer dollars.

I am very disturbed that our local public education personal would place blame for a lack of funding on home educators - remember, we pay just as much in taxes as anyone else within our income brackets.  Why aren't  the public education employees taking their issues up with the education bureaucracies who allocate those tax dollars, regardless of whom they've been collected from?  Home educators do not receive, nor want, any tax breaks for opting out of the public education systems.

This has become another reason added to my list of why we choose home education.  If public education employees are so very uninformed as to how their employer, the education bureaucracies, work - why would I want them educating my children?  State and federal bureaucrats need to be held accountable for educational funding - not home educators.

Back in the Saddle

They are home .. It's been less than 24 hours, am I already tired?  I am so happy the Lord protected my family and brought them home safely.  The children had so much fun.  I hope to soon go through the photos and find a few to share with you.

 I awoke to what looked like the aftermath of a tornado that had steamrolled through our house.  I already miss the clean and the quiet.  Maybe being home alone for such a length wasn't the best idea?

Unfortunately, I'm the one of those who struggle with clutter, and sometimes noise.  It is very clear that I never think our home is clean enough.  Even while home alone, I thought it could have been much cleaner.  I resisted the urges to clean, clean & clean because I knew taking the opportunity to get much needed rest was more important.

Most of the bags have been unpacked and items put away.  The gifts have been opened and all the wrappings disposed of.  Our home is almost back to a pre-vacation state of tolerance.

My big priority for tomorrow is to get thank you notes written - OG and EJ's favorite task (hee, hee).  This will be their language arts / writing assignment.  I also plan to ease them back into the school routine by assigning a math lesson and indulging in some oral reading.  Even at the ages of 14 & 11 they still like having others read aloud to them.  I LOVE that they have not yet outgrown this activity.

Well, my cocoa cup is empty signaling that it is time for me to drift off to dream land.  I pray you have very sweet dreams tonight.

What Kept Us Busy?

Now that I've returned from my blogging break, I thought I share a "few" photos highlighting some of the things that kept us so occupied.

1.  Mr. B spent several weekends working with the littles on their shooting.

OG missed that one.

EJ not only shot this one but a total of 9 out of 10

2.  4-H and County Fair

OG & Samson receiving a blue ribbon in the 4-H dog show

EJ's Best in Show for his archery display

OG's Best in Show for her shotgun display

EJ with his Interview judge for his shotgun project

The front of our 4-H club's parade float

No one ever told Mr. B the b-day hat should go on TOP of his head!

Just a cutie riding in the county fair parade

3.  Hauled home and stored 35 straw bales for our chickens, lambs and garden.

4.  EJ's and OG's 1st day of school.

All dressed and eager to go ...

... to 1880's country school!

EJ at his seat w/ his slate behind him.

Recess!

The 1880's school room.

5.  Grandpa had another birthday!!

Chocolate cake w/ chocolate frosting is Grandpa's favorite.

 6.  More tractor & clean up work.

 7.  EJ played pee wee football and had a TON of fun!!

Although the orange team has the ball in this photo, our blue team was undefeated this season.

EJ is down front in the nose guard position

 8.  Food preservation - this may seem like a lot to some folks, but if the freeze had not got our garden so early, we'd have had 2-3 times this.  As much as we harvested, we are still a very long way from supplying our family for a year.

33 qts. carrots; 60 pts. green beans; 12 qts. spaghetti sauce; 4 pts. salsa; 7 1/2 qts. dill pickles; 15 pts. bread & butter pickles; 3 1/2 pts. bell peppers; 6 1/2 pts. green onions; 8 qts. zucchini; 9 qts. yellow squash; 2 gal. broccoli; 14 pts. turnips; 29 cantaloupes; 1 pumpkin

Well, that's some of what we've been up to during the past couple months.  I am now preparing for Christmas.  I have two of the children's homemade gifts completed & 3 more to go.  Upon completion, if I have any time left I will make a few gifts for extended family and close friends.

What have you been up to?  Are you finished or just getting started with your Christmas preparations?

Has My Absence ...

... from the blogging world made your heart grow fonder?  "Busy as a bee" is what we've all been.  Eastern Montana springs and summers are FABULOUS, but also filled with activities and lots of time consuming outdoor work that can't be done during the frigid winters.  Here's a few posts chronicling some of what's been going on around here.

OG dressed for her 1st formal - "Daughters of the King" banquet.  She was invited to attend with one of her schoolmates.

Rural school and home school track meet.  OG was so proud of her 2nd place ribbon  in the running long jump, 9 ft. 11 in.  Pretty impressive for a girl of only 5' 1 3/4".  1st place was won by a 5' 9" student who jumped only 3/4" further!

EJ earned 4th place in the 100 meter dash.

EJ and OG represented our county well on the baseball and softball teams.  OG's 14 & under  girls softball team  played an undefeated season.

He Just Couldn't Wait ...

...until spring when Mr.B & Grandpa had planned to put up a swing.  So, he did it himself & now he's having a blast!!

EJ on his homemade swing

2009 - 2010 Histroy Trail

A few months ago, (June '10), I shared photos from our 2009 Nature Trail. Today, I'd like to share a few photos from some of the history field trips we've had the opportunity to experience during the last year and a half. Whenever we travel, we try to incorporate various field trips. I think the opportunity to experience re-enactments and visit historical museums helps history come alive in a child's mind giving them a better understanding of the times they've studied.

Renaissance Festival - 2010, Plantersville, TX

OG and a home school mate in period dress. I think they are dancing in this photo.

Birds of prey demonstration.
Bell Instrument. It is played by one person using a pulley type system. Quite amazing!

Demonstration of the Gutenberg Press. If it had not been invented, would we have unrestricted access to the Holy Bible today?

Blacksmithing demonstration. This is a trade that remained virtually unchanged for centuries. There are still folks who use traditional blacksmithing methods even today.

History Trail - Part 2

Naval Air Base Museum - 2010, Pensacola, FL

Board singed by Navy personnel stationed in Baghdad during the 1st wave of the Iraq War post 9/11.

Sea landing Bi-plane from the early 1900's

As modern as this jet looks, it is antiquated by today's standards. Notice how the wings fold up and in. It is designed this way for transport and use on and from aircraft carriers.

History Trail - Part 3

Indian Arts Festival - 2009 Ft. Union, MT

We had the privledge of attending the Indian Arts Festival held at Ft. Union last summer. It was very interesting to learn a few facts about early Americn Native American culture.

Tee-pee: traditional mobile shelter used by Native Americans in early history

Elk Antlers

Demonstration of Brian Tanning an Elk Hide: Did you know that every animal's brain contains the exact amount of brain matter to needed to tan it's hide?

Demonstration of one of many Native American Dances

Demonstration of another Native American Dance

History Trail - Part 4

Mount Rushmore's Museum - 2009, South Dakota

It was so cloudy during our visit to Mt. Rushmore, we couldn't see the faces carved into the mountain. Instead,we saw the majestic image of the U.S. Flag flying in front of a very thick haze. We also toured the museum. Steam engine equipment used as part of the blasting/carving process.

Another display explaining the process of "carving" these huge images into the mountain rock.

History Trail Part - 5

Lewis & Clark Trail Rendezvous Re-Enactment 2009, Ft. Union, MT

These photos are from the re-enactment of the early American Rendezvous along the Lewis and Clark trail. Each year the fur companies from the east would meet up with the trappers and Native Americans out west to purchase furs and hides. The rendezvous served as not only places of commerce but also as a place of rare entertainment and socialization. OG wearing her prairie dress.

Buffalo Hide Press

Annual Supply Manifest

Replica of one of the many shelters that would be used by American trappers and Native Americans alike.