Thoughts, Adventures, & Daily Life of a Home-Schooled High-Schooler

On Monday I cleaned up my desk and put away all my school books. All of the sudden, it hit me that I don't need this stash of favorite notebooks and mechanical pens - there is no "next year of school - I'll use it then". * * * * * * * * * * * * This spring, several of us have different projects. Most of the projects involve animals - ranging in side from tiny bunnies to full grown dogs. Dad has pigs - 3 of them. The idea is to raise and butcher them this fall, with possibly a greased pig contest before then.   They have been given the names of Pinky, Black Tail, and Spoty. **Please be informed that these pigs were named by the younger children** Mom decided she wants to plant beans. Dad made her the raised beds, relocated the tea beds, and several scoops of mushroom soil later, they are ready to be used. Brian and I have our puppies, which went to the vet on Wednesday. Trenton wants chickens, but we have yet to find laying hens. Martina's project is helping Mom wi...

The last 2 months have been very different than life before COVID-19 invaded. But it has settled into a 'new normal'.                 Today, the store went back to normal hours. At 4pm it seemed a little strange for the shop to remain open.  But, enough about anything COVID. * * * * * * * * * We took puppy pictures last week! For every good picture I got, I probably got 10 of the puppy not cooperating. Such as the above photo. . . . . . . . this one as well. . . . 

Its been a strange week.  The week started off with a drive-in Easter Service at Green Ridge. We stayed in our vehicles and the preacher spoke from the bed of a pickup truck. After the service concluded we left as directed, waving to our friends, and then dropping the offering into the red bucket. I spent a good portion of Monday studying. I had my EMT test scheduled down in Chambersburg on Wednesday (more details on that later in the post) and wanted to be well studied and prepared.  Returned numerous calls and answered questions from interested (and disappointed) puppy customers.    Made Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole for lunch. Yummy! Tuesday was also spent in studies, and in the evening Brian and I left for Harrisburg. We participated in our EBI class discussion on monasteries (We all decided that while there are some virtues for monasteries, none of us would be joining!). On Wednesday morning I awoke long before my alarm was to...

The puppies are 8 weeks old today and quite a few of them have already departed for their new homes. It was fun having them, but I'm glad to see them go.   I'm sorry, but that is one adorable puppy! Ok, all of them are cute. . .     One little boy who will miss the puppies. . . The whole litter at 8 weeks old.

      The puppies started opening their eyes in the last few days, and the younger children are very excited that they can hold them more often.      But for me, their eyes being open means taking puppy pictures (not as easy as it sounds, trust me), setting up accounts with advertising companies, and (grrrr) the registration process.  Mr. Avery decided that he would rather sniff out this new environment instead of looking at the camera. I think that taking pictures of puppies is actually harder than photographing people. Humans at least understand the English language and cooperate better than 2 week old puppies. For the most part. I did have 1 pup that thought it should be back with its brothers & sisters rather than having somebody try to set it into a pose on an old sheet.   Asher, who decided to crawl around after the camera, and hence his paw is not on the pic. "You think I should look at the camera? No wa...

      Anyone that thinks having puppies in the middle of winter is no problem, I ask you to deeply consider what you are out to embark on. Think out all the outlandish possibilities of the work if could give you, or all the problems that having puppies could produce.       Our dog will be having puppies next week. With the less-than-ideal temperatures, she has taken up residence in our garage. However, our garage houses much more than just our dog, and we thought it wise to confine her to a certain area of the garage.      Then there is the problem of watching the clock, because it is very important to take her out for a potty and exercise time(the former more important than the later). We could keep her in the garage and only take her out for and exercise period, but we chose to take her out more often, as neither of us enjoy the job with the title of "Super-Duper Pooper Scooper".      Beca...