Owl-mazing!

This year in our My Father's World studies we are learning about animals in science. Last week wrapped up our discussion about mammals and birds were our last animal we discussed.

In the teacher's manual they suggested an owl pellet as an extra activity for science. My kids were not impressed! I really doubt that when we get back around to Exploration to 1850, I'll order another one.

 

Madisyn wanted nothing to do with it an opted to take pictures instead. Ty kept telling me over and over, "He ate a mouse, can we stop now? It's a mouse, are we done?". Personally, I found it to be pretty interesting. It's amazing to me that God made an animal that could eat another animal whole and the predator's body can sort all the pieces and separate the hair and bones from the usable, edible tissue.

 

At least ragamuffin Liberty enjoyed family science time!

Bowling Is Right Up Our Alley

Back in May we participated in a "School's Out" bowling party with 4-H. We had trouble locating my camera so I borrowed Madisyn's camera. Some how the memory card was misplaced and we just found it! I'm so glad, as it held the only pictures of most of the kids first bowling trip and Henry's Birthday.

Our older children had been bowling before but the last time we went as a family, Ben wasn't a year old yet! Needless to say, they were able to participate much more this time.

We were very thankful that the bowling alley placed bumpers in the gutters. This made the game much for fun. The 7 and under crew played on the bumper lane and the rest of us played on the other lane.

Daddy was able to join us and he was a great coach! The ball was nearly as big as Henry and Mary Claire but they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Even Libby enjoyed the family time!

Big sisters make everything more fun!

The little girls only made it through one game but the rest of us played two! Kent and I took turns holding little people, bowling our frames and helping the middle kids. We were worn out by the time we were done!

We had a great time bowling. It's amazing how much more enjoyable it is to bowl since smoking has been banned. We look forward to more family times at the bowling alley.

Organizing the Freezer

 I shared on Facebook that I was ordering labels to organize the freezer. Several people {all moms LOL} wanted to see the final result.

For the wire shelving I purchased hang tag labels on eBay. The labels attached to the shelving easily and they seem to be very durable. I plan to use the leftovers to organize the wire shelving in our store room as well.

I debated using the printer to make labels  or using chalkboard labels . I don't believe by printer is waterproof so I used a Sharpie to write each description. I didn't want to come back and discover that the moisture in the freezer caused my labels to be unreadable. I decided against the chalkboard because I don't plan to re-label. The wire shelving labels are movable and aren't sized to a standard label size.

 I labeled the doors with normal Avery name badges.  Because these labels are basic paper, I can wet them to remove. They have been on the freezer shelves for a few weeks and haven't come loose so I would say the extreme cold of the deep freeze doesn't affect the adhesive.

I am very fortunate to have two freezers. The newer one is used for all our meats and the other houses veggies and dairy. Nine people consume a lot of food and being able to buy it in bulk saves us a ton of money each year.

Most of our meats are purchased at Sam's by the case. If you have room in a freezer, ground beef and chicken can be purchased at a huge savings over regular prices. In the last year a friend told me about a store called Chicken City. There are several located in our state and their prices provide great savings.

We like green beans and stir fry veggies from Sam's but our other vegetables are purchased when the local grocery store runs a special. I'm the lady in the store with 20-30 bags of peas, carrots, mixed vegetables and beans in her cart. ;)

Fair-ly Nice Day

We had a beautiful day last week so I decided to take the kids to the district fair. What boy doesn't love an excavator sized just for him. Can you imagine the destruction Ben could create with this little gem?

What could possibly go wrong with Henry behind the wheel? They aren't even moving and Mary Claire and Ben are having a blast! We love visiting fairs and seeing all the animals {our family isn't much for rides, though}. Our local county fair isn't very large and I knew by state fair time I wouldn't be up for walking on uneven ground, so the district fair seemed to be a perfect fit.

Our favorite part of the fair was the petting zoo. Ty was generous and bought food to feed the animals. He divided it among his brothers and sisters and everyone had a chance to feed something.

Some of the animals had their fill of the dry food and would only come to the fence for carrots.

The Antelope was a favorite but everyone was afraid to let him eat out of their hands. They placed carrots on top of the feeder and let him get them from there.

Another favorite activity at the fair is having pictures made in front of equipment. I think it goes without saying that for the Witcher kids, the bigger the better!

A picture in the bucket of the tractor sounded like a good idea but getting everyone to look didn't work out so well. LOL

Even though the rides weren't open when we visited, a picture in front of the Ferris Wheel is a fair time tradition.

 

We decided to save Kent a little time and shop for our next car. ;-)

 

Next we hit the exhibit hall. The kids enjoyed petting a bear pelt at the State Park booth. They were very happy to report to the interpretor that they had visited several of the parks she had featured on the sign.

Of course, the best part of the exhibit hall is all the free stuff. PLEASE, vendors when you see a woman with seven children visit your booth, PLEASE don't tell her children they can have one of everything when she just told them they could pick one thing. Any number times 7 means lots and lots of papers, flyers, business cards, key chains, bumper stickers and bags that will make a mess all over the van and boys' room. Not that I know that from experience or anything. ;-)

Sunday Sunset Horseback Riding

 

We had a beautiful weekend and discussed several things we could do. We were afraid the zoo would be crowded so we passed on that opportunity.

I can't handle walking trails at this stage of pregnancy. Walking is still OK, but I'm concerned about stepping on a rock and one leg moving in a manner it is not supposed to.

We discussed painting our bedroom {a project that has been planned for 5 years!} but I prefer to do the prep work before hand and let Kent help with the furniture moving and painting.

We finally decided to run a few errands and let the kids ride Papaw's horse.

Sarah was last saddled up in mid-July and she seemed to enjoy the cooler temps of this ride time.

Mary Claire even took a turn though she wasn't real keen on petting Sarah to thank her for the ride.

Griffin is old enough now to ride without having to be led.

Sarah seemed to groan under the weight difference between Ty and Mary Claire. The boy barely fits in this saddle anymore!

Liberty wasn't very sure about her horsey ride. Big brother held on tight and Daddy led them around.

Madisyn was the main reason we decided to visit Sarah. Madisyn enjoyed that her brothers and sisters warmed Sarah up and they were free to gallop. Madisyn ran the horse all over the pen.

Liberty has decided that for now, she is much happier riding in the stroller!