Big Universe, Small World... ©2013-2020

Tunnel adventure number 3 and walking through the underground mall!! In the early part of the 1900s, South Carolina had an underground area with stores and restaurants. There is an open mall area, now mostly offices and small boutiques, above the underground mall.

Yep - there are several really OLD OLD tunnels under the city...Yep - we found them!  Yep - we explored!   

Because climbing on the train is what you are supposed to do when you go to view one. :)

I have been thinking about writing about this a lot - often - too often to count. It did not happen to me, but it pains me. These thoughts occur more than I would like them to do so. And, when they do, I am overwhelmed. Most of the time if occurs with me looking at a picture. Other times it happens when I see some trait in my children that reminds me of him and then my mind jumps, runs, faster than I can stop it and I am saddened. It lingers over family photographs in a manner which cannot be described. The backdrop of this is a simple statement of something that occurred almost a century ago...almost 90 years ago to be exact. My great-grandmother was murdered. I have heard some say she was slain. I know the words mean the same, but it seems to me like it is a nicer word. Murder sounds heinous and evil. The manner in which she died was pure evil. It ripped apart a family. It took a mother away from her children. It left a stain of sadness upon us. And, I do not think people often thi...

We melted the chocolate and mixed the peppermint pieces with it. It was then spread out on wax paper.  Bark clean-up with the child!!  Things that bark!!  Hahahaha!!   Things that bark!!  Hahahaha!!   Things that bark!!  Hahahaha!!  The bark cooled after an hour and was broken into bite size bits.  ...all ready to go...

So, this was supposed to be a gift from my younger son to my soon to appear grandson. Alas, I ended up doing all the work and everything.  :/     We chose a plain wooden basket and plain wooden blocks. These were all sanded and painted. And, painting that sucker took blooming forever.                                    So, the finished product is really cute and I do hope it is something he will play with and enjoy. I did tell my younger son when he has children they will not get a basket of blocks like this because it took ssssssssssssssoooooooooooooo  llllllllllllllloooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg to paint it. Although, when the time comes, I will probably change my mind.      

These are things I have noticed in our last three years of homeschooling that I did not necessarily know before I homeschooled...obviously I will need to add to this list as time passes on... 1. Homeschool children do not necessarily know how to line up. When my son is at a social activity and the adult tells the kids to line up to play a game or do an activity, the kids end up in a mass blob. 2. Homeschool children will not automatically write their names on their papers as public school children do. Putting your names on your papers is an automated response in public school children. Once handed a test, worksheet, or even blank sheet of paper, the public school child may have no idea what to do with that paper, but he/she knows to automatically, without question, write his/her name at the top. This is especially difficult when you gather homeschool children in a group to share instruction support and you have three or more kids in the group and no one writes his/her...

My younger son found a rotary saw blade that had been discarded and brought it home to make a knife. It is process in the making, and is not a finished product yet, but he is making some progress.  I did not get a picture of the saw blade before he started.    This is where the knife piece he started with came from. You can see how the pieces fit together.    Here he has shaped it out a bit.    And, here it is more knife shaped. It is sharp. He plans to make the handle from recycled wood pieces.

My hubby and younger child helped me to finish the recycled pallet wall this past week!  view from the back.  gated entrance. lock on gate! :)   I did (and am still) going around the base on the inside of the garden to apply spare netting and left over caging material to piecemeal a way to keep the chickens (and other smaller animals) out between the cracks in the pallets.  This is the view from inside the gate. Please excuse the mess of some of the beds and raised tables. Some of these are being prepped for the spring.  This is the view from the top looking down!

Feel like I am running ragged. Charlie requested egg-drop soup for lunch. I really did not have much time to do anything today. I have mandatory

Awhile back, I did a post about wanting to not leave my children a legacy, but to forge them a trail. I wanted them to have a life where they knew it was okay to BE in Christ ,

One of my hens is molting badly...the days are hot and I am concerned she will be at risk for

Awhile back a tree fell across the chicken coop. No chickens were

We Know We Are Homeschoolers... Clothes: 1.  I have to consider if I should get out of my pajamas and put on normal clothes, because a friend is coming over. 2.  My son wants to know if he has to change into normal clothes. 3.  My son puts on a pair of jeans and we discuss he is growing out of them...we may have to buy him new ones. I would be more concerned with such if he were going to public school facilities, but in our environment, he can dress as he pleases. School Supplies: 1.  We buy the normal textbooks for subjects and content (though none are secular). 2.  Our school supply list included items like the following: ax sledgehammer hacksaw permanent markers duct tape rebar poles stakes fencing wire pallets 3.  We also bought paper and pencils. In general: 1.  People not within the same circles of you and your family do not understand the things you discuss. 2.  Family members may not understand what you are doing...

The child has had issues for months with one toe...this along with a broken and crushed wrist bone have not made for a successful or fun summer.         He dropped a huge can of spaghetti sauce on his big toe in early March and fractured the toe. The nail fell off a bit later and has regrown back in oddly. In June, he went to camp and the toenail became ingrown and infected. He went to the doctor and had to go back two more times and eventually went to the surgeon about this blooming toe. After a round of antibiotics and a surgical consult, he was deemed to be healing and they doctored a bit on the nail and nailbed and sent us on our way. He went to scout camp for about two weeks and returned with the toe cracked (another scout stepped on his toe - twice) and the toe got infected a second time. We went back to the doctor a second time and my son was placed on another round of antibiotics and half of the toenail cut off. The rest was left in...