We’ve been baking cookies

crafting

playing with our many nativities

working through our Advent materials

and spending time with good friends.

Lord, as we celebrate your birth on earth, let us turn our every smile and sweet moment to you in glorious praise.

A hearty holiday greeting from my Sonflower Sisters group.

I always feel refreshed after I hang with my home school moms. We understand each other very, very (did I say very?) well. A few nights ago a dozen or so of my favorite home school moms joined me for a Christmas party. We chatted, and ate, and chatted, and ate. And toward the end of the evening, we shared some music and prayed for one another. What a tremendous blessing, full of encouragement. Thank you, God for this wonderful group of women!

Brian had a bunch of puppies over to celebrate his sixth birthday.

They played all the games puppies like to play:

Tug of War

Scooby Says

And greeting other puppies.

They also built prototypes for doggie  parks, doggy hospitals, and doggy obstacle courses.

For kibbles and bits, they scarfed up puppy-paw cupcakes and ice cream…

out of real doggie bowls.

We didn’t have time to post the fire hydrant on the bathroom door or pretend to pee on trees. Well, maybe we had time, but Mama censored things a bit. But these little puppies are all worn out and ready for their warm, soft puppy beds.

I made a new friend at the Greater Philadlephia Christian Writers Conference this summer.

She and her husband are missionaries with CLC Publications just outside Philly. She invited me to visit with my family, and I couldn’t resist the offer.

We started our visit with a tour of the U.S. Mint–no photos allowed there. We learned all about how coins are made and actually watched the process happening live. How cool!

Friday night we toured the CLC publishing house. What fun to physically see the Editors’ offices and the old print room–and everything in-between. I asked to see the infamous ”slush pile,” but these days it’s more of an electronic thing.

We spent Saturday in downtown Philly strolling the same cobblestones great men in history walked.

The  line was very long to see the Liberty Bell, so we took our photo with the display at the Visitor’s Center instead, opting to come back on a weekday to see the actual bell.

We spent the majority of the day in the Franklin Institute science museum. (I’ll add another post with those photos soon.)

Sunday we worshiped with our friends and toured the Castle. The castle was my favorite place in Philly.

We had a fantastic time with new friends, in a new place. I hope we can get back there again next autumn.

We’d just sauntered through the park

and were dangling our feet over the edge of the pier when we heard ”plop” and a squeal.

Then we saw it.

The shoe.

Floating away.

Completely out of reach.

[Lone Ranger music]

Then our rescuers rode up the canal.

And one happy little girl went back to collecting leaves.

We hosted a little Cowboy Campfire a few weeks back.

We enjoyed lots of cowpoke singing and dancing,

a licorice lasso contest,

our favorite four-legged friends,

and roasted marshmallows.

Welcome Autumn!

My friend Kathy made this for our homeschool mom get-together last year, and I made some for our Cowboy Campfire last night. The recipe is from good ‘ole Martha, and you can watch her making it online, which I think is hilarious. I don’t want to take the time to watch her when I can be getting it done in my own kitchen. But if you like to watch cooking, go for it.

Warm Apple Pie Spiced Cider

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 quarts apple cider
• 3 tablespoons firmly packed light-brown sugar
• 1 whole cinnamon stick, plus 6 for garnish
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup Calvados or other brandy (optional)

Directions

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cider, sugar, spices, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove from heat; pour in brandy, if desired. Remove cinnamon stick and transfer cider to a pitcher. Serve immediately, garnished with cinnamon sticks.

Yum yum yum yum yum! By the way, I’ve never used the brandy and it’s quite tasty!

(Serves 6…and yes, it’s okay to triple everything. Two cinnamon sticks might do in that case.)

Before the leaves start falling, I’d better catch up on the last few blessings from summer.

Good friends joined us for our last week of summer vacation.

We made our final summer rainbow cake.

We unofficially kicked off our Lego club.

We crafted

and sketched

and made beautiful music together.

These friends are so dear to us we almost call them family. See the resemblance?

A few weeks ago, we had the Sons of Thunder father-son discipleship group and their families over for some good, clean fun.

It was full of targets and shooting,

serious propulsion,

and cyclonic fun!

Funny enough, the families all had Sonflower Sisters in them, too. Here are two original sisters, and dear friends, Phyliss and Juniper.

What a FUN day!