Pumpkin Poems

Pumpkins are orange,
Pumpkins are white,
Pumpkins are red,
On Halloween night.
Scaring the kids as they walk by,
Giving them quite a fright,
Pumpkins are orange,
Pumpkins are white,
Pumpkins are red,
And scary at night.

By: H

The perfect pumpkin in this particular patch,
May be perfect and plump,
Or ugly and unsightly,
Perhaps medium, magnificent, and magical
Or just petite and prestine,
Maybe the kind of keeper,
But I imagine the ideal pumpkin,
Is nearby and notable,
The kind that catches your eye,
In this phenomenal pumpkin patch.
By: A

Collection of Journal Prompts

I've always found H really good at creative writing, she has such an imagination and is funny! I realize I'm biased though. Journal prompts used to be a lot more direct questions. The goal was always just to have her writing every day. She usually begins her day with a journal prompt. I either give one to her or she chooses her own somedays. This year I tried to add in many very open prompts to see what she would do. Now that we are getting close to the end of the year I'm sharing a few with her permission. I typed these as they were written and did not correct any errors. The prompt given is in bold.


"Three more days of this..."

The rain pours down like a waterfall. Lighting crackles, thunder rumbles, dark clouds cover the sun as you watch three days of water falling... like a sad movie in slow motion. Puddles of water gather at the surface of the ground. Beautiful boots, colored coats, and unique umbrellas dancing in the distance. Some people see rain as a beautiful thing. Some people see rain as a fun thing to play in, and some people see rain as a bad and very sad thing. Depends on how you look at things. Three days is a lot of time for people to see things differently.

Write a short myth on why the leaves change colors.

Once there was a beautiful native girl, her name was Agie. She was a normal girl. There was also another beautiful girl named Popo. They were both alike in some ways but different in others. A man named Alohnahi loved Agie instead of Popo. Alohnahi saw Popo was sad so he made the leaves turn yellow in September for her and made them Red in October for Agie and brown in November for himself.

You are an alien on your way to the super prison known as Earth, where you will spend the rest of your life as someone's pet.

"Aaggrrahh!!!" I yelled as my space ship entered E-A-R-T-H-'S atmosphere. I was from the galaxy sophatoshcamparantolapoosa. Also known as Patom. My name is now Fluffy. As I reached Earth my space ship melted away and I turned into a chihuahua. I landed into a "pet store." and got picked out by my new owner. This was going to be long.
Five Years Later.
"Life is better than I thought it would be. My owner is rich and so I get everything I want. My owner doesn't make me eat dog food, I eat human food. The best kind too!"
All of a sudden the phone rang. I answered it.
"We need you back up here." said a familiar voice. They wanted me back in Patom.

"I couldn't find a dragon on sale."

"I couldn't find a dragon on sale." I told my Master.
"Maybe next week." he replied.
My name is Kulahmana, I am a Dragon Warrior! I just need a dragon. Master Cusaph taught me everything I know. "Alrighty then." I said glumly. I was going to have to wait until next week to get a dragon.

"She said I should never work for a dragon..."

But as you can imagine being an eight year old little brother to a twelve year old big sister, I'd NEVER listen to her. She told me I shouldn't work for Mr. Dragonoonoigifallamirnous (every body calls him Mr. Dragon). He is a dragon, but he pays very good.
Five minutes later.
"Simon, You're fired!" Mr. Dragon hollered.
"S,S,Sorry Sir." I sputtered.
"That ain't gonna do it, OUT!"
I came out smoking and covered with ash.
"Told you." my sister said.

A short story about being a peach.

This is the happy story of Granny Peach. Ha! No way is this happy. This is the story of how I was smooshed, shoved in a jar and sold at the grocery store. Well lets start at the beginning, now don't get peachy on me. It was a hot June afternoon and I was resting on my branch, fuzzy as ever. Then, all of a sudden I was picked! I was waiting for somebody to rescue me, but nobody did. They put me in a blender, then fed me sugar. They put sugar all over me. Then I was packed in a jar, it was so tight I could barely breathe. I was with my new friends in a truck for a while. Finally, I was put on a shelf at the grocery store and I've been here ever since.

Write a poem about flowers.

Honeysuckle, violet, rose and thistle,
How she loves to whistle,
Honeysuckle, violet, rose, and thistle,
How I know she loves to whistle.

Oh it's Marigold so nice and pure,
If you're sick she'll have a cure.
Oh, Marigold a-whistlin'

Honeysuckle, violet, rose and thistle,
How I know she loves to whistle.
If you're pure she'll have a cure.
Oh she's Marigold so nice and pure.

Write a short poem that combines two older poems.

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep,
So she ran to fetch some water,
When she came back,
they looked like that,
with three heads on each shoulder,
so she ran up the hill to fetch a doctor,
but she tripped
and tumbled down
and her sheep came bahhhing after.

"That my friend is not a dog!"

We got it in Mexico. We asked around the see whose it was but they just smiled and shook their heads.
"Well, now I know why."
"What is it if it is not a Mexican hairless dog? Can you fix the foamy mouth?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"yes."
"It's a sewer rat, and it has rabies..."

 "There is something in this coffee."

"well what is it?"
"I don't know."
"Ew, it looks like slobber."
"Whoa, its glowing and moving, its definitely alive!"
"Where did you get this water?"
"The river."
"Well it seems that someone put an animal in there."
"What kind of animal?"
"a sea animal"
"Did you drink any of this coffee?"
"no."
"Good, or else you'd be a goner."
"Why?"
"Cause Jellyfish are toxic!"



Thanks for reading and PLEASE tell H what you think!

Petroglyphs Field Trip

Dear reader,  

H here! I wanted to talk about what I saw a couple of days ago. I got to see petroglyphs near Dubois! Yeah, it was pretty cool. The people said they were about 3,000 to 6,000 years old! Some were of hummingbirds which in some native religions is a sign of health. There was also native graves and symbols of death. The little chief guys were pretty cool too. After our tour we decided to go for a hike and see more petroglyphs. On the way we saw Big Horn Sheep! It was an amazing sight.You should go there sometime.

Love,

H

Art in Our 5th Grade Homeschool

Last year while homeschooling H we focused on things a bit differently, to get her used to this homeschooling thing. We made sure we got math, english, and science done first. I didn't even have an art curriculum. I did this knowing fully that H wouldn't miss out on art. H and I are both artist at heart. We can be found breaking out art supplies any day of the week, on any scrap of paper, drawing anything we can think of. Since we accomplished our goals of last year, this year we are stepping it up. We are making sure we get all of our priorities done and more!

I have designed an art curriculum. It is basic. We get together once a week for a short lesson. These lessons vary, but we are going to be looking at several artists over the year. Our first was John James Audubon. Ever heard of Audubon Field Guides, that's because of this guy. H has expressed interest in becoming a Scientist and an Artist. She would like to "discover new species and draw them for the world to see." She doesn't think we should study them in a lab only in their natural habitat. So this was a perfect lesson to start with.

We introduce the lesson, answer any questions H has, then she has all week to do her art project. Our first week was learn about the artist, and do a simple sketch with pencil on paper of a bird/tree of our choice. H decided she wasn't going to do only a pencil sketch so you will see she did a pencil sketch (not in her sketchbook) and then she did a colored pencil version. She chose to do the common Flamingo. She included the Flamingos habitat by including the water and some rocks in the distance.

H pencil sketch of Flamingo

H colored pencil sketch of Flamingo

Ok, this is the perk of being an artist and a homeschool Mom. H now has inspired me to do artwork on at least a weekly basis. I've been terrible at doing any art because I make everything else a priority. I will be doing most art projects with her this year though. So you can see here I sketched a Red Kite, which is a bird of prey found in Europe.

Red Kite and young in the nest sketch by A

H will be putting up a blog post soon. I have wrote two other posts that I haven't typed and put on here, so I will be getting caught up on those soon as well. We plan to get you a lot more blog posts on our adventures this year.

Thanks for stopping by, 

-A

Planets

H wrote this blog post in February. We've been busy around here, so apparently Mom never posted it. So here is a very belated blog post.

Last month in December, I learned about the solar system. I heard that around January 20th, you could see the planets Venus and Mars. I asked my father to wake me up at 5:15 am. When I looked outside I saw a bright star with a faint red glow, which happened to be Mars. I looked into my telescope right at Mars. It was an amazing sight. Maybe you might see it someday.

Sincerely, H

Just a decade...

    So there's an argument between J and myself whether it's the 15th of January or the 21st. Regardless, somewhere this past week we hit 10 years. No not our wedding vows... But 10 years ago I convinced this guy to hang out with me. I wasn't even seriously thinking he would stick around. Good thing I am convincing and good thing he was more seriously committed than I was! I was a very guarded person (still am, mostly) but he waited and helped me climb over my walls and see the view.

    I'd known his family for quite some time. However, I think I can safely say most our family and friends shook their heads, and wondered what we were thinking then. I was thinking this guy was a good listener, and he was an encourager. I needed that. I was in a weird place and in lots of trouble! He was also in lots of trouble. So I reciprocated being an encourager. Our friendship was built on pushing each other to be our best selves. In fact, our vows stated marriage was not about looking at one another, but looking together in the same direction. He is pretty good looking though ;).

    In 10 years we've done a few things together. A few of the most note worthy are: almost buy a falling apart trailer, buying an actual trailer that was worth it, many vehicles, brought home many animals who needed loving homes, got into debt, got out of debt, late nights with friends, even later nights studying for classes, graduating with a degree or two, several jobs that have both stretched us and helped us grow tremendously, several tears, and so much laughter. 

    Even more remarkable is the family we've built. The friendship we have that pushes us to be our best selves has resulted in a beautiful girl, H, that we obtained custody of several years ago, and finally I adopted her as my own in 2015. Our handsome son, C, we also work hard to be passionate about life, and make him proud daily. We miss him with the greatest ache, but have learned so much through grief that makes us better people and parents. Our rainbow, M, has amplified the beautiful parts of life. She teaches us to slow down and embrace each moment. We are remembering to view the world with new eyes. We have this beautiful family, in this home that maybe is just a house that needs love to most... But is home to us. In a decade with this guy, we have come far, and it really shows me that we will go far if we continue together. :) 

    We still want to bring home furry children daily. It's a real struggle. We still are staying up late studying to accomplish our next goals. We are still just two people encouraging each other to keep going, to never let anything stop us, and planning the next decade the best we can to be the best people and parents as we can for our kids. We still are sharing tears and causing each other much laughter. 

It's just a decade... And it happens in a blink! 

In the Middle of Here and There

    Happiness is what we are all after. We all want to be the definition of happiness, and we do so by pursuing dreams, by counting our blessings, and by enjoying all the beautiful things in the world. Those three things I believe our family is good at! One of the hardest things I've ever encountered has been the ability to be simultaneously overjoyed happy and walking on uncharted territory.

    After we lost C, I struggled with postpartum depression, or perhaps it was just grief induced depression. Either way it was tough. When I say that I knew M wouldn't fix that, I really did. I can't lie though and say that I hadn't hoped the joy of a rainbow baby wouldn't at least help patch me up. She absolutely does. However, it was quite shocking to me that after she was born I would have postpartum depression again, and looking at it now I'm sure I have both depression and anxiety since her birth. Everything I do I usually over think and make into something it isn't. Still some days I wake up and don't want to crawl out of bed. Other days I wake up in the middle of the quietest hours of night and think for hours. I did seek help and treatment, but they didn't help much. I've found since the day I asked for help that I only wanted to make it go away. I had things to accomplish and wasn't allowing myself the grace I needed to give myself time. I'm not saying it's OK, as in I should just live with them. I'm saying that I should allow them their place in shaping who I am, and learn to get through them, whatever that means. The good news is M and H are every reason of my every day to get out of bed and figure out my way through them. They are every reason for me to crawl out of my cave of depression and talk myself off the cliff of anxiety. They are every reason for me to figure out these next steps to get us where we want to be.

         We are approaching 10 years together this month and some other important anniversaries are upcoming. In all those years we have done some amazing things… and we have fallen on our faces a few times. Every time we've been able to pull through, and I don't doubt that this is just another one of the challenges of life that will shape us. If you had talked to me about plans years ago I would never have imagined this was my life. Today though it is, and I have set my sights to keep heading this direction. It is full of the scariest challenges and makes little sense to most. The easy way out would be to drop the dream and rejoin what many view as "Normal". Normal doesn't suit me anymore. The word "Lost" keeps coming in my brain when I try to put words to this. Lost, doesn't describe it at all though. I know where we are, I know where we want to go and because of those two things being lost is not what I am. I'm only on uncharted territory, and I don't know how I get from where I am, through the epic jungle, to where we want to be. All that inspires me says we must persevere the struggle though.

    I really wish I had all that money that I didn't have when I thought I was broke when J and I first started out. Ha Ha! While we have always been pretty frugal, and need little we haven't always made the best choices financially. Even to this day we mess up. We've taken Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course more than once. It works in our opinion. We just are struggling to live on next to nothing to elevate what we think is more important than money in our lives. We value our family time and goals for our family. We always had two incomes, and we always both worked hard and just paid for or did whatever we needed to. Since discovering that we really needed to have a passion or a love for what we did even if it meant less money. We want to spend more time together, build a "homestead" and be close to self-sufficient. A part of that plan includes me being home with the kids, gardening, and our new journey of homeschooling. We hadn't planned on only one income though and didn't prepare well. We really believed I could market myself to be a freelance Graphic Designer. I have some degrees and experience. If I could get a few jobs here or there I would be able to supplement his income. It hasn't happened yet. This has left the pinch a bit more than anticipated.

     The one thing I know is the depression and anxiety are calmed by me doing art. I can't design anything right now. I gave up my programs to free up more income for now. So I am painting, drawing and expressing myself through any medium I can get my hands into. I'm hoping that I can figure out at least establish the finances to go back to college this year. I'm truly hoping that by obtaining my Bachelor's in Graphic Design I can finally get myself marketed for some income, or even work for a firm some how. J has his own plans to be creative and freelance eventually. I'm hoping we figure out  the money to chase our career dreams. Eventually we'd love to be "early-retiree's" in the we don't work for an employer and are actively doing passionate jobs. It seems like an unreal dream, but we know that it is possible.

So I'm stuck in the middle of being at the happiest I've ever been, counting the best blessings, chasing dreams that we CAN achieve, and also walking on uncharted territory that is full of scary traps and dark corners. One step at a time, we'll continue forward.

- A