thanksgiving break...

for thanksgiving we took the week off & headed down to visit lance's sister & her boyfriend in columbia, sc...

we left at about 10am, and within 45 min 3 out of younglings were out...:)

it was an awesome trip...we actually ended up staying a bit longer than expected.

winter nature tableau...

we made the transition to our winter tableau december 1st, even though technically winter doesn't arrive until december 22nd...

reflections...

children are amazing little mirrors...aren't they??

they mirror who they see & what they see in the world around them, the good & the bad...

i know that there have been several occasions that i have seen my, um...lesser qualities reflected in them. things that i previously never even thought about take on a different light when reenacted by a 9, 6 or 3 year old...is that really what i look/sound like??

but then (enter: the silver lining) we realize what it is we need to work on...

snow, part #2...

i find it hilarious that the last line on my post about our big snow was "so long as our power stays on".

i could not actually publish that post until recently because our power went off as i was going to post it. :) literally...

it went out around 6:30/7pm friday, the 18th, and didn't come back on until that sunday around 3pm. we figure it was out for a good 44+ hours...

it actually wasn't that bad...(and could have been a lot worse!)

however, if it had stayed off any longer though it would have been rough, as we have electric heat & an electric well pump. they say that the storm caused about 50,000 homes to lose power, and lots were off longer than our...so, you will not hear me complaining at all!

here are a few of the highlights...

lance & ehren snuggling...

board games by candlelight...

mmm...popcorn (thank goodness for a gas stove!)

ahh...the martinmas lantern finds itself again in use...:)

melting down snow to drink & flush toilets, wash dishes, etc...

not so fun, as 6-gallon buckets of (packed) snow melts down to about 4"...

my favorite?? grinding our coffee beans with a mortar & pestle...

ehren's 3rd birthday!

on december 10th, our little ehren turned 3!

in a lot of ways it is hard to believe that he is only 3 years old...like when he is 20' up in our hemlock trees or when he is pedaling right along side them on their 'big boy bikes' on his 2 wheeler (with training wheels, of course).

he is quite the sharer as well. for instance, he'll ask if he can have an apple & he will being each of his brothers & i one as well (without our even asking).

granted, it isn't always like this, he throws tantrums & melts like any other child of his age. but the important thing is to take stock in the fact that the foundation is being laid...he is going to be an amazingly kind & caring person one day. and that is truly what we, as parents, strive for in raising our children, right?

we are looking forward to what new joys this year will bring, and to watching this beautiful soul each day as he grows...cheers, ehren!

the birthday bouquet...

the 'toadstool' birthday crown is from an issue of living crafts magazine (fall 2008, i think)

mama made mittens...

photo albums...

on my husband's side of the family, we used to draw names from a hat for the yearly gift exchange, but it was a bit much. for one thing we all have children, and many of us don't need anything (& have much more than we can use to begin with!)


we emailed back & forth one year, debating what to do...what we discovered was that we each longed for more time together as a family, but as i said...we all have children & are pretty spread out across the country. but an idea was born, along those same lines, that has stood the test of time. "the kinney family photo album exchange" is now in its 3rd year.

how it works:

we each put together a set of 4-6 album pages, with little notations/captions here & there, of our family throughout the past year. (for our lot, it ends up being eight sets.)

i like to mix it up a bit each year, trying something new. this year, i am turning to the big box of magazines i keep in the basement, for the photo backdrops. the key is to find pages with a lot of color/pictures & less of the writing. luckily, american advertisements are more about using beautiful pictures to draw us in than the actual products themselves. so much in fact that sometimes we cannot tell what exactly it is they are advertising...am i right??

grade 4 man & animal (science/lang arts, block III, wk I) 11.9-11.12

(this block explores the threefold of man & his relationship to the animal world. )

monday, november 9th

(read on own, my side of the mountain, 45 min)

*workbooks (spelling, math & general ed)

main lesson:

we begin this first week with a discussion of man. we explore the human body & its form, we discover that there are three main parts.


the head, all alone at the top, round, the trunk, broader & flatter, with some roundness, and the limbs, our arms & legs which radiate out.

*draw a head to toe self portrait

lesson b: form drawing, learn to tie & draw "triple overhand knot"

tuesday, november 10th

(read on own, 45 min)

*workbooks (spelling, math, & general ed)

main lesson:

(recall yesterday's discussion)

then delve a bit deeper, relating each body part to the a part of the world...

the head, all alone at the top, round, our eyes shining down on the world around us...with our head, our thoughts, we can brighten the world around us, and so our heads are like the sun.

the trunk, home to our lungs, our breathing in & out, the chest rising & falling...waxing & waning; like the waves rising & falling; we are flat on our back with a bit of a curve on the front...and so our trunks are like the moon.

our limbs...they help us to run & jump, to climb, draw, paint, to create and our fingers & toes that radiate...each with five points, yes!...like the stars...

*draw a second self portrait, as the "star child" (to quote mrs. marsha)...

lesson b: handwork, continue working on spiral friendship bracelet

wednesday, november 11th

(read on own, 45 min)

*workbooks (spelling, math & general ed)

*main lesson:

(recall both mon & tues discussions)

*write a few paragraphs summarizing the main thoughts

lesson b: baking





thursday, november 12th
(read on own, 45 min)


*workbooks (spelling, math & general ed)


*main lesson:
(recall this weeks work)
model star child using fimo (gold, blues & purples)



*paint "star child", verse:

"favorite star of mine" (3rd stanza, anurag kumar)

it is the star that lies beyond the sun,
it is the star of ultimate truth,
it is the star of love & peace,
it is the star where my soul lives."



lesson b: handwork, finish friendship bracelets

updating the blog :)

as impossible as it might sound, i am a bit behind on my posting...

how this has happened with homeschooling, four children, an etsy shop & well, life in general...i just don't know...(lol)

soooo, now that the holidays are over i will be filling in the missing pieces for both our life & our lessons. if you are a "follower" don't be surprised if you receive an onslaught of posts...

(that is the plan, anyway ;)

cheers & happy christmas to you all...

aha!...snow!

i was on the phone with my parents & i were finalizing details about their upcoming christmas visit & my dad mentioned that they were forecasting a winter storm for our area. "we never get snow!" i said.

(literally...we have lived in the wnc mountains since february 2000, and we have only been able to build a snow man one year...when our 9 year old was 3)!

hmmm, how does the saying go?? 'open mouth, insert foot"??

we have a whopping 14" & it is still coming down...

it is amazingly beautiful, isn't it?? so long as our power stays on (we have electric heat!)

this is a stained glass fairy that my mom made us as a wedding gift, beautiful against the snowy backdrop...

katie's blessingway...

(november 7th)

i, along with several other lovely mamas, attended a blessingway for our friend katie. katie is an amazingly beautiful person & such a strong woman/mama...and soon to be the mother of five(!) sweet children.

i actually met her last summer, not long after i found out that i was pregnant with our 4th child. but even in that short span of time she has had a profound impact on my life...and actually volunteered her doula services at evyn's birth...

her due date is december 31st, so pretty much any day now we will get to meet her newest addition!

congratulations, love...


we began the night with a foot scrub & scalp massage to calm the nerves & to remove the layers of doubt, concern, anxiety, stress that come & go during these journeys to the 'unknown'


with these feelings of uncertainty 'washed away', she is now free to replace them with the feelings of love, support, peace & excitement that surrounded her evening...


we each were asked to bring a bead, one that reminds of of katie & her family, to be assembled into a birthing necklace...





we sat in a circle and wrapped hemp twine around one another's arms, linking us each to the next, forming a circle symbolic of the love, support & community surrounding katie...

then we cut the twine & tied the pieces around our wrists (to be worn until katie's baby is born), a daily reminder of katie, her unborn child & their beautiful family...

an affirmation wreath (to serve as a focal point during her labor)

a basketful of blessings & well wishes for katie...

we each wrote a message of love/strength on a stone to comfort & inspire her while in labor...

heather and her youngest (of four)...

we love you, katie!