Our little family seems to have been through so many changes in the last year, and the last month found us once again, moving. But not very far this time! We bought a little house about 10 miles down the road from the house we were renting, and have been moved in four about 6 weeks now. We are in love with our new homestead, and it really feels like home. A place where we could put down roots and raise our little brood, if the Lord so wills.
Our little house in the woods is just that--way back in the woods of Mississippi, away from traffic and, well, pretty much any other civilization. It is quiet and peaceful, and teeming with wildlife. We're so far off the beaten path that there is no internet access or cell phone service available. And after talking to our cell phone company, we learned there are not any plans of extending service to our little neck of the woods. Not enough people out there, they say.
So, we have learned to live without texting and Instagram and have gotten reacquainted with the ole practical and dependable landline phone service. Oh, Pinterest, how I long for thee! Seriously, though, it has been a blessing to not have these things pulling at me and constantly competing for my time. My house actually stays pretty tidy now!
Due to the move, we are only in our fourth week of schooling. It is going great so far! Emma has already blown through her entire book of Handwriting Without Tears and is making progress in her 100 Lessons. She is wired completely different than my older two children, who whizzed through two lessons a day. She is just as smart (maybe even smarter), but has a much shorter attention span, so we have to approach our learning a bit differently. I still have not ordered her any Math yet, mainly because I can't decide what to use. Any suggestions?
Grace and Elijah are both using Sonlight's Core C and absolutely love it! I could devote an entire post to this subject alone. But for now I will say it is working great for us so far. Grace is taking violin and had her first recital last month. She loves the violin. We are so proud of her!
Elijah is growing into such a big, responsible young man. He helps his Dad take care of the quail and chickens that we raise, and is really excited about getting hogs and goats. He loves to read and occupies his time with gathering crickets, frogs, and lizards for his Critter Collection (I draw the line at snakes. NO snakes.)
Josie is crawling around and "floating", getting into everything! I expect she will be walking within the next month. My baby is growing way too fast! Her personality is a lot more mellow than my other girls, and she is a steady-she-goes little girl, pretty much only fussy when something is really wrong, or Mama has delayed feeding time a little bit too long! Her smiles and giggles are the highlight of our days!
John loves it in the country, and it is the fulfillment of a long-time dream of his to have a place in the country where our roosters can crow and we can raise honeybees without disturbing and/or freaking out our neighbors. We love to sit out on our front porch and watch a mother deer and her twin fawns walk across the pasture in front of the house. You want to see a man's eyes light up, that will just about do it!
I apologize for the long post, but it has been a long time in coming! I do miss blogging, and reading my favorite blogs. I feel like I am away from dear friends, as some of the blogs have become just that to me. Please, leave me a comment and let me know how your fall is going.
