Created in Poser 4 and Photoshop CS3. Click on the image to go to my gallery…located in the Sugar & Spice Gallery.

Nature Journal…

Victorian Journal…

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We spent a wonderful (but very hot and humid) weekend at Tuckahoe State Park with our boys and friends. Michael, Quinn and I stayed in one of the park’s little one room camper cabins (because we’re just too old and fat to rough it! *smile*) but the twins slept with their troop in tents…as did the rest of the parents, that is until Saturday night when a fantastic thunderstorm rolled through the area and sent most scurrying to the relative safety and dryness of their vehicles.

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Trying to catch up on some blogs, I ran across this posting at Emma Sage’s…read it all.

I am not angry anymore, I am humbled.

At how God used my son, the least of these in the worlds eyes, to
teach me a most valuable lesson that all the beautiful, smart, rich,
degreed, important, initialed people in this world, could not ever
have taught me.

He taught me that all I have to do to define worth, is to look in the
special rear-view mirror of my car - and see what is worthy in God’s
eyes. To see what’s beautiful, rich, and intelligent in God’s eyes.
My son’s worth is that he is simply a child of God. Not enabled, not
disabled. Just a child. An individual. My worth is further defined
by knowing that in loving and respecting that individual that God
thought important enough to create, I am doing what is most important
in God’s eyes as well.

Caring for him.
~
And that is something I will never let society take away from me again.

Ever.
~
Yes my son, if caring for you is all I ever get to do, it is worth
it; and I’m honored to do it.

Please forgive me for the times I ever felt otherwise.

Written by Michelle M. Guppy
For all the Brandon’s of the world and those who care for them …….

Letter to Society - h/t Emma Sage

I love reading about how other homeschooling families homeschool…what they use, how they use it and since Kim recently hosted the “Loveliness of Back to School” fair, I got quite a peek.

“We asked what made you excited about Back to School planning this year. What worked last year? What did not? How do you envision your days? What complicates them? Here are some of the responses:”

Kim had over twenty responses so make sure you grab some quiet time and a cup of tea before you sit down to read the many different ways that families homeschool. Be prepared to take notes, bookmark websites and grab ideas on things to use and do.

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And talking about ideas…I love visiting Dawn’s blog and not just because it’s stuffed full of wonderful ideas but well, because…it has this little widget on the left sidebar of the page that counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the first day of autumn. *smile* She’s also posted her thoughts and ideas for October too.

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The End of Summer

What held the ripe green apple to the stem,
and held the clustered acorns to the oak,
grew old and weary, till at last it broke
and Fall began to drum a requiem.
The weeping willow tore her tattered hem
and shed gold tears when colder winds awoke
to sing the Agnus Dei. Cricket-croak
and locust-song were counterpoint to them.
And now, the owl unfurls its dappled wings
and soars below the moon. Beneath a leaf,
a cautious but ambitious rodent gains
the confidence to venture out, which brings
about catastrophe, albeit brief,
as autumn picks through summer’s sere remains.
~Vaughn Fritts~

Google has a beta Book Search engine that searches full texts of books. The reader applet is quite handy and quickly scrolls through a book’s pages online. Do a search of your favorite author and see what comes up.

The Rosetta Project is an online library of vintage children’s books. “How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers” by Robert William Woods is enchanting.

ChildrensLit.com offers Teaching Guides, Lesson Plans and Teaching Materials.

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Nature Journal

Victorian Journal

Click to view and save PNG - Print on heavy card stock

About.com has a Long List of September Holidays and Special Days.

Woman’s Day Magazine offers a Month of Menus - with shopping list in PDF format.

Kaboose’s “Love the Fall” has coloring pages, recipes and craft ideas.

Education-World’s “Awesome Autumn” pages are loaded with fun activities, crafts, lessons and more. All ages.

Free, pretty Autumn greeting cards to print.

ABC Teach offers Autumn Theme Unit ideas, printables and more.

And finally, “In Living Color:Fall Leaves” from the Homeschool Learning Network.

Jumped up out of bed and fell flat on my face, went downstairs to be greeted by Yumi’s bathroom problems all over my kitchen floor and her backside (bathtime!), youngest twin comes in to tell me that his stomach hurts and then rushes to my bathroom to take care of said problem…all before six this morning.

It’s just another day. *smile*

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Nature Journal

Victorian Journal

Click to save PNG - Print on sturdy cardstock.

I know it’s a little early. *smile* Click to get to the Gallery…in the Holidays & Seasons section.

It can’t be long now. *smile* Cool and rainy this morning and looking out my window I see that the mulberry and maple trees have a few leaves of orange and yellow amongst the lush green.

I had my cookbooks out looking for some new tempting recipes for the crockpot and I wiped the dust off of the bread machine. However, it’s not autumn yet so crabcakes will be for dinner this evening and I found a really tasty sounding recipe.

Phillips Premium Crab Cakes

1/2 lb. Phillips Backfin Crab Meat
1 lb. Phillips Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3/4 cup Ritz crackers, crushed
1 large egg
3/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. seafood seasoning
3/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Combine the egg, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, seafood seasoning, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise in a bowl. Place the crab meat, parsley, and Ritz crackers into a separate bowl. Fix very lightly to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the crab mixture and combine lightly. Portion into 5-ounce cakes and broil, bake, or pan fry until browned on both sides.

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My Momma has a doctor’s appointment today…please keep her in your prayers. Thank you!

A chance to win a beautiful little fairy charm by just leaving a comment.

American Harvest

More fae folk.  Click here to get to the gallery to view.

Nature journal…

Victorian…

Click on each image to open PNG…print on good quality cardstock.

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Summer Sun
~Robert Louis Stevenson~

Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy’s inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.