Happy Autumn!

Today I am grateful for...
Spiced and plain shortbreads with improvised blueberrry sauce
The opportunity to make them on a beautiful morning
Gorgeous fog
Pounding, refreshing rain
The creativity rain inspires
Books, magazine back issues, coloring pages, sketches
The fabulous feast my younger siblings put together (complete with great
decorations!)
Storytime at dinner to celebrate...
Autumn!

Happy autumn, everyone!!

Reenacting A Reenactment

We visited a Civil War reenactment a few weeks ago, and we were inspired.
Dressing our doll house dolls in the most authentic clothes we could find
(even using construction paper and tissue paper), we made paper tents and
set up our camp on a large piece of green felt. Of course, the point of
the reenactment we went to was the war, but we only played the most
domestic (and interesting) side. I thought you might enjoy seeing some
pictures of both events...

1. The battlefield stretched out before us.
2. The Tanker family talks to Mr. Withrow while they prepare to eat
dinner. (Each doll house family has a name, and some of the names stick
forever.) : )
3. My sister pushes her stroller past the camp.
4. Mrs. Withrow similarly takes care of her baby. There are mothers
everywhere!
5. We loved watching the cavalry--they were one of the coolest parts!
6. Avery admires the horses in the stable.
7. The Union flag flies high over one of the cutest tents.
8. Mrs. Roscoe (the doll I commonly play with!) gives Savannah
instructions while they set out dinner.
9. The soldiers came marching back to camp just in time for us to take a
few pictures before we left. So awesome!

That was a lot of fun! : )

Evenings at Home

I love evenings at home. Evenings when our family gathers together to
hear a story, watch an episode of "What's in the Bible?", share funny
stories with each other, or prepare for the next day's meals. Yesterday
evening I spent reading a story aloud to my sister while she soaked her
burned finger. (We had so much fun laughing over the silly parts in the
story.) Tonight I'm just generally hanging out and waiting for my brother
to work all the 'bugs' out of the stock market game he is programming so
I can play it. (I think he has it about perfect now!) I'm so grateful for
this family!

Firsts

I'm very excited to be giving away two books this week! : )

The first is over at: http://edensevaluations.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-treasure-hunt-review-giveaway.html My friend Eden was so kind to write this sweet review for me and host this giveaway. Go on over and join the fun! Thank you, Eden!

This one is really fun as well. I got to do my first interview and giveaway with these awesome people who are always turning out awesome books. (Fancy that!)

http://homeschoolauthors.blogspot.com/2014/09/interview-with-kate-willis.html

Another first for me (as an author) is that I sold my first copy on Amazon! Truly this is a great adventure, and I very grateful to everyone who is helping me along. : )

"Mom, I'm a Scientist!"

We were working on cooking dinner, and my littlest sister suddenly exclaimed, "Mom, I'm a scientist!" I asked her why, and she replied, "Because I just found something out." This whole day has been one of discovery for her. This afternoon she was sitting in a chair "reading" baby books aloud. She forgot how to say burrow, so instead the bunny lived in a bureau. : ) I told Mom about it, and she explained that my little scientist was "reading" baby books to practice so she could read the upcoming word problems in her math book. : ) So cute.