22 December 2008

Dufflepud




Dufflepud and Fezzik and Mom.

My head is cut off a little because it is difficult to take a picture with a 100lb dog and a 4lb kitten.

20 December 2008

New Member of the Boyd Family!

Matt had a momentary lapse in sanity and..... Stay tuned for more details.

10 December 2008

Christmas Decorating

The day after Thanksgiving we pulled out our tree, made hot chocolate and let the kids go at it. It is really fun. Plus all the nice ornaments have already been broken so there's nothing to protect.



08 December 2008

We've been studying simple machines

Block and Tackle: The First Try.
What were they thinking? Where was mom to stop this nonsense?



The Second Try.
Ahh, that's a much better idea.


04 December 2008

Congratulations Josiah!

Josiah finished his reading lesson book this week. 390 pages of effort. Great Job Joe!!! 100 EASY lessons is not an accurate title. Every lesson was a trial in patience and determination. Josiah, you did it!

Fun at Tracy's

03 December 2008

Well, maybe they are identical twins



A previous comment by Eagle Peak Construction got me thinking. Look at the similarities between Silas and Sam in this year's Thanksgiving picture.

30 November 2008

29 November 2008

additional halloween pics

matt insists I put up a picture of him as Onslow (Keeping Up Appearances). For those who've never seen it I've also attached a picture of the real Onslow.



Gideon likes boxes







27 November 2008

Do you want to go on a quick turkey hunting trip?

9 hours and 10 miles (on foot) later.....







We didn't get Matt in a picture but he did a lot of the plucking with Jamey. I just joined in for the fun and less feathery stuff.

26 November 2008

Museum Field Trip

As you know we've been studying California History. This last week we went to the original Lakeport courthouse which is now a museum. Uncle Don came along to help me keep track of children and the Auch's joined us for fun. We saw fish baskets, fish nets, traps, a tule boat, a rabbit skin blanket, storage baskets, Indian money, spears, and arrow heads. /We also saw early American settler items like guns, clothes, phonagraphs, dishes, books, blankets, shoes, billiard tables, and pianos. We got to sit in the original courtroom at the judges seat, with all the record books behind us. I am describing all of this because I forgot to take pictures. :)

The pictures below are Uncle Don treating us to pizza where I finally remembered to snap a few. Titus adores Uncle Don and follows him everywhere. Uncle Don teases him by walking away and hiding when Titus isn't looking. They are great pals.

I love the picture of Mikey Auch giving Jana the death stare. In the picture of Kelly and Sam, they are haggling over Sam's pay to clean up Jana's poop in the high chair. They agreed on $2.







24 November 2008

We love Grama Betty

In honor of Grama Betty, who we adore. And its not even her birthday.







15 November 2008

Acorn Squirrel Stew

It's not actually squirrel, but who would know. The ingredients are roasted pork loin, stock acorns, and some savory spices. It was pretty good.



Everybody liked it. :)

14 November 2008

Acorn Harvesting

We are studying the Native American part of California History. Today we collected and pounded and "leached" acorns. We used abalone shells (the ones from our camping trip in Hendy woods - thanks to Dan and Leo) as our bowls.


Working together, everybody took turns gathering, pounding, and picking out the nuts.


Elijah looking at his stash.


Sam smashing the acorn. If you look hard you can see it on the deck.


Joe picking out the meat.


Silas guarding the acorn meat from the dogs and Titus.


I'm not sure what Luke is doing but he looks happy.


Here's mom leaching acorns.