J+M+J
Tuesday I was the captain of a quiz bowl team, and for the first time we got into third!
This is me and my quiz bowl team. We are all homeschoolers.
My trophy.
Brandon Valley is the name of the school that was hosting the quiz bowl.
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We can't wait for you to arrive, little baby.
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Can you tell he has been eating chocolate cookies?
First Joseph told me to get the camera, then he became grumpy and said he didn't want me to take a picture.
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I almost fell asleep.
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John Paul and Mango (in flight suit) doing school.
Clover playing 'dead birdie.'
"Ahhh. . . Complete relaxation."
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The other day, Maria uncovered the flight suit (pretty much a bird diaper) I have for Penelope. I had put it there about six to eight months ago, when Penelope was not big enough to wear it. I was so happy when I tried it on her, and saw that it fit perfectly. Penelope is not as pleased as I am, though.
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A few weeks ago, Maria, Landon, and I had the privilege of going to a class were a woman gave a lesson in decorating pysanky. (pi-san-kee) Pysanky is a Ukrainian method of decorating eggs by dipping them in dye, covering the areas you want to be that color with wax, and then dipping it in another color and repeating the process. The finished result is gorgeous. Here are some photos of eggs not done by me to show you how elaborate these can become.
Pysanky is also very symbolic. This lovely egg features designs of three lines meeting and three ovals meeting, and represents the Holy Trinity
This egg has fish, a symbol of Jesus and Christianity since the Roman times.
Now, for pictures of my egg. On our eggs, we did two different designs. On the first side, we did a design that was taught to us by the woman who was doing the class, and on the second side we did what ever we wanted. Here is the first side of my egg.
The other side.
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Early this March, I saw a bird of prey I had never seen before. It was smaller than a red tailed hawk, and had a redder breast than any other hawk I had seen. Later, I identified it as a peregrine falcon. I was exited to have another bird to add to my bird life list. (A list of all the birds I have ever seen.)
Mid March brought a HUGE bird to our backyard. It was a turkey vulture, which I have seen before, very far off. They circle a TV tower in Sioux Falls, and I can see them from my ballet studio, but I never realized just how big they are. (A wingspan of up to six feet!)
This doesn’t quite count as a sighting, but throughout March Mom, Dad, and I have been hearing a Great Horned Owl that has been living in a group of trees behind our house. The great horned owl has the famous ‘who, who’ call, and is the only owl living in South Dakota that does. I am fortunate to have heard it.
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What I find on my camera, even when I have not given anyone permission to use it. Hmm. . . how mysterious.
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Last night I finally got our beds moved back into their places, so I was able to take pictures.
A lamp in my room. This picture shows the yellow more than the other pictures.
My bed.
Close up on the cockatoo pillow.
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When I heard recently that you could make yogurt in a crock pot, I just had to do it. It was simple, just cook a half gallon milk on low for 2 1/2 to get it hot and kill any bad bacteria that would interfere with the growth of good bacteria (otherwise known as enzymes,) then turn the pot off and let it cool for three hours so good bacteria can grow. When the three hours are up, spoon out cup of the warm milk and add a half cup of plain, live active yogurt as your starter culture and mix it up. Next, add the yogurt-milk to the crock pot, wrap it in thick, heavy towels for insulation and leave it alone over night. In the morning, it will be yogurt! It won’t be as thick as yogurt from the store, and I am going to try out different ways to make it thicker,for example, adding gelatin, dry milk, etc. etc., and I will let you know if I am successful.
I like to add a little honey to my yogurt to sweeten it. Dad likes it with vanilla extract and sugar. I am going to try out different ways to make it thicker, i.e., adding gelatin, dry milk, etc. etc., and I will let you know if I am successful.
My Yogurt
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Joseph has a little neck massager under his shirt. He put it there, and then started walking around the house saying, “I’m going to have a baby.”
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P.S: Landon says he wasn’t ready when this picture was taken.