I forgot to add this really cool video I took of the octopus being totally sociable. Check it out!

This was another side trip on the way back from Houston. There is a hidden treasure there that many don't know about. This place is call the Forbidden Gardens. It's kind of small, but it's really cool. Read up on ancient China before you take a trip out. Expect to take a guided tour of the place. You'll learn so much!

Okay, I'm sorry... I just had to do that for those who would actually look. I could hold that tree in my hand. Yes, it's a miniature replica of the city. But, all of this really is in China. As soon as I get a job there, would you like to come with me and help me with my kids? :-)

This is the imperial vacation home. What a lovely place.

And that's all for the pictures. There are a few more areas on the tour. One being the weapon room and another being the architecture room.

And, the final display is the Venice of China. Here's some info about that: http://www.micktravels.com/china/tongli.html It's very interesting. This was always the place where men would go to find their wives. All women here were beautiful and had those lovely cripled feet the Chinese loved so much. To this day, men still go to Little Venice or Tong Li to find a wife.

Happy Ancient China studies!!! Now, get to Katy!

One of the joys of my work is the ability to travel with my kids. I recently got a short-term job offer in Houston. I managed to con my friend into coming with me to watch the kids and stay in a hotel with a heated indoor pool. Not a bad bribe.

I wouldn't say that the Houston Aquarium is all that we thought it would be, but we still had fun. It's deceiving three-stories are for something like private parties. This is not part of the aquarium. There were some pretty good highlights though...

We rode of the carousel. You'd expect there to be all marine animals.

And so there were.

Most of you have seen this great video. I just watched it again and got another laugh out of it. I thought you all might like to get another giggle, too. :-)

We've been working hard on homemade gifts for Christmas.

We love these beautiful Christmas Potpourri jars... and they made lovely gifts for our family during our Thanksgiving get-together for the Christmas season. Since the cost of spices and canning jars was quite a bit most costly than I expected, we used smaller jars and divided the recipe in half. I believe it'll still have the same effect. Also, if you shop at the Commisary, you'll find the spices and jars about half the price at Walmart.


Sweet Christmas Potpourri
3 Tbsp. whole cloves 1 handful of pine needles
2 bay leaves 3 pieces dried orange or
3 cinnamon sticks lemon rind
2 cups water

Mix all ingredients and place in a jar.

Attach this to the jar:
Sweet Smells of Christmas
Put Sweet Christmas Potpourri Mix in a saucepan. Add water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer all day if you wish.
Add water as needed. When finished, refrigerate and reuse.

Here's another Christmas project. My grandmother made us some wonderful knitted dishclothes last year. I was afraid to use them because they were handmade, but when I finally did, I fell in love with them. So, this is what we're making for several Christmas gifts. The cloths on the right are dishcloths, made with Peaches n' Cream worsted weight yarn. These are very sturdy. The cloths on the left are made from a "silk soft bamboo blend" yarn. They are very soft and look lovely when crocheted.

These are quick and easy projects even for the amateur crochet crafter. :-) These are all single crocheted, some with a double crochet border. I chained 32 for each to start.

I completed my first baby blanket. I enjoyed making this! It has a lovely pattern. As you can see, I'm still quite the amateur. The points are not all even. Hopefully the mom who receives this blanket will overlook my errors. :-) Being handmade will maybe make up for that.

And of course, homemade Christmas cards. You can view these on my other blog:
http://stricklystamping.blogspot.com/

Have you noticed something interesting in the sky just after dusk? Two bright stars gleaming in the sky next to a beautiful sliver of a moon. We've been watching each night as these two stars pass one another. Guess what that means, they're not stars, they're planets. Of course, you probably already knew that. Venus is always near the moon from our persepective this time of year, right?

Be sure to check the night sky tonight. We won't get to see this happen again for years to come.
Check this website for more information and for a nightly skywatch update.

I just finished reading the first 100 pages of this book so I could be well-prepared before we get started with art skills. I've enjoyed the reading. It's given me a different perspective on how I see things around me. I can look at an object and see the basic drawing elements... a dot, a line, a curve, an angle... The wall beside me is just a fat line. The light bulb in the fan is a dot. I'm eager to get started, but first we need just a few supplies. I'll post how we're doing so you can follow along with us if you like.

The book we are using is:

I think it is necessary for mom to read through the end of Lesson 1 before getting started. This will help you to understand where this book is headed and will give you the confidence you need to start drawing with your children.

I have divided the preliminaries and lesson 1 into days. We'll be working on it daily only because Taylor is very excited and will want to do it daily. Later, we may work on it only once or twice a week. If activities for that day take a lot of time or if they get into a certain aspect of the activity, we'll choose whether or not to complete the additional ones listed or save them for the following day. This should be relaxed and easy-going.

I've learned to never limit our time or rush through something that is of interest to my kids in order to "get it all done". Our lesson plan is usually completed during the summer but is continually changing according to activities and interests

I'm going to attempt to start this with Daniel, too. I think it'll help with his motor skills and support his request for learning to draw. Maybe we can get into writing the alphabet soon after he learns some drawing elements. :-)

So, here's our plan so far:
Supplies:
- fine-tipped markers - dark shades
- broad-tipped markers - lighter colors, as many shades as possible
- scratch paper - copy paper
- drawing paper - sketch pad format, paper thick as possible, matte finish
- large envelopes
- file folders

Day 1: Let's draw p5-6. Discuss attitudes. Look through book at pictures, collect things to draw and add to files.

Day 2: Discuss area for artwork - quiet and uncluttered. Discuss relaxation methods described in lesson 1 to use when beginning or stressed. Experiment w/ Supplies p58. Level Exercises p44 (copy on separate pages). Determine level

Day 3: Copy page 60, study 62-64, observe elements around you. p64 visual game

Day 4: p65 random warm-up. Practice coloring.

Day 5: break

Over weekend: prepare duplication warm-up sheets by creating a 4x4 box chart like the one on page 66, fig 1.4. Make several copies and store in file. Prep sheets for duplication and matching exercises for this week (p66-67). Prep a sheet for mirror imaging exercise. Copy Wow! I Can Draw! exercise, p 76. Read lesson 2

Day 6: Get familiar with warm-ups: Duplication Warm-up, Matching Warm-up, Mirror Imaging Warm-up, Abstract Design Warm-up according to level p66-75

Day 7: Visual Warm-up (p64). Identify drawing elements for the following exercise before starting. Wow! I Can Draw! exercise p76.

Day 8: Duplication warm-up. Draw bird according to directions on p 77-78

Day 9: Abstract Design Warm-up.

Day 10: break... if completed all tasks early in the week... add activities from lesson 2

Here's a complete lesson plan for the school year: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/dwclp.htm

I'll probably refer to this lesson plan, but I didn't feel that the preliminaries were covered well enough, so I made my own plan for that.

Please comment on this post if you are using this book and have advice or if you are following along. Also, please send an pictures of work that you've done or prepared exercise sheets. I'll post those ideas and completed artwork

We're off to chop down a Christmas tree!

We went with the scouts on our annual trip to the maze farm. We always enjoy this!
http://www.southtexasmaize.com/

This is what the maze looks like this year. If you want to go, you'd better get out there before the end of them month.
There are other fun activities besides the maze. This is the barrel train. Daniel loved this!This is the corn popper. It's amazing what a big hit this is for the kids. Mom can just relax at the picnic tables neaby under a shady oak.

I hope to get some more pictures posted of Peaceful Meadows. This is the farm that we volunteer to work at on Friday mornings. We clean stalls and pens. Occasionally, we wash and brush the horses. This miniature horse is named Amber. She's a good girl. She needs to be exercised daily. Unfortunately, we're not able to help more than once a week. We would love to recruit some other families to help at this farm. It's fun and educational! There is a very special cause in it, too. This farm is being built as a ministry. There is a huge vision here. God has His timing and provisions lined up. Is your family one of them? If so, please come visit Dennis and Judy at Peaceful Meadows.

You may contact Judy at any time to volunteer or just visit.

Their phone number is 210-649-4179.

Welcome to Lost Maples! In South Texas, if we want to see fall like the rest of the country, we head Northwest to the land of lovely color. The big tooth maple is mostly responsible for the autumn beauty of this area. Other trees such as the Chinkapin and Lacey's Oaks, Florida Basswood, Pecan, Black Willow, Green Ash and American Sycamore also populate the area and add to the beauty. Also found here are the unusual Texas Madrone Tree, three kinds of Buckeye, Witch Hazel (common in Mississippi), four additional kinds of oaks, Texas Mock orange and sycamore-leaf snowbell whose white clusters of flowers bloom in late September. Can you tell that we're doing tree studies?

You can find more information about Lost Maples on their website.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/lost_maples/

Back to the trail...
We took a group hike with some of our scout family friends.

This is the best picture I was able to get with my camera that even comes close to the feeling we got walking along in the beauty our God's creation. These pics were taken near the beginning of the East Trail. The kids were throwing leaves up in the air and watching them fall down around them.

My best guess is that this is a Red Oak. We should get better at identifying trees soon. I just purchased a Texas tree book. If I find that it's greatly beneficial, I'll post the info on it. In the meantime, if you know of a great local tree book, please post a comment about it! Another great way to learn tree identification is to frequent the local parks that have ID posts for the plants and trees in the area. Jack Judson Nature Trails and Friedrich Park both have ID posts. You can pick up an ID key near the entrance of the trails. If you know of more local trails with plant ID posts, please post. :-)

Here's a guess on this one... I think it's a Green Ash. Correct me if you know better.

Here's a more familiar leaf. These are the leaves of the Big Tooth Maple.

This is the Chinkapin Oak, most commonly found in limestone soil which is plentiful in the Sabinal River canyon.There are lots of water crossings along the trails. This area is part of the Sabinal River canyon which includes many small creeks and natural springs leading into the river. The water is clear and clean. Mr. Naugle taught us that when you see water spiders, it means the water is very clean... and we did see plenty to the delight of the children. These are the creatures you see gliding over the water and less disturbed areas.

This tree was near the end of the East Trail where it meets with the Maple Trail. We're almost there.

A few hours after we arrived back at camp, we decided to tag along with a family heading to Medina for their famous apple bakery. Everything is made from their orchard. We like to get some of their yummy soft serve apple ice cream when we go.

On the way there, Daniel fell asleep... in his snack.

We just had too much fun. I hope you get the opportunity to visit this wonderland. You can't miss it!