The New Lydia

Today Lydia, Kate's 5-month old Morkie*, got her hair cut for the first time. Here are some before and after pictures.

Before:

After:

*Lydia's father was a Maltese

Lydia's mother was a Yorkie

Maltese + Yorkie = Morkie

"Exploring"

Yesterday we got to "explore" some of our neighbor's land. We found some great places to film some scenes for our next movie. However, the movie business is at a standstill since my camcorder broke. Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of the following pictures.

Wading in Sandy Creek.

I love how the sunlight sparkles on the water in this picture.

We always love being in big open farmfields. I love the great outdoors!

Pictures from Benjamin's Birthday (Trap Shooting)

We went to the Jay Henges trap field and shot 2 rounds each (50 shots.) We finally got to tro out our new shotguns. I (Andrew) used my side-by-side double barrel 12 gauge. Benjamin used his pump, camoflauge, 12 gauge, turkey gun. Noah used his black synthetic pump 20 gauge. We also brought out single-shot, break-down 20 gauges.

We're pretty new to shooting and had never shot by rotations, but at the trap field we met a nice man who taught us to shoot in rotations and gave us some very helpful advice to improve our aim. It had been about three months since we had gone shooting, but we did alright and had a great time.

Benjamin 13th Birthday

Today is Benjamin's 13th birthday! To celebrate this day we're going to go shoot some trap with our new shotguns. We'll be enjoying the comapny of our Grandpa while we shoot. We'll also be having a small party on Saturday. I'll add some pictures soon...

4,200 Pages in 31 days

From December 25, 2008 to January 25, 2009 Andrew has read over 4200 pages of books! Most of the books were written by the 19th Century author R. M. Ballantyne. However he also read a couple Sherlock Holmes books and a couple books by Douglas Bond.

Ruth & Naomi's Grand Opening!

Our home business, Ruth & Naomi's Books and Media, is having its grand opening! We are having an Open House on December 5-6. Check out our website at www.RuthandNaomis.com

GNFDSSM17312557

Cyberspace Developments: Behemoth & Homeschool View Tube

My family and I have been enjoying some fairly new developments in cyberspace. HomeSchoolViewTube.com is an excellent alternative to the highly uncensored YouTube. All of the videos are reviewed before they can be posted and I've found many of the features on the site to be superior to YouTube. You can watch our videos on HomeSchoolViewTube.com here. It's a great place for homeschoolers to share ideas via video. We've also been enjoying the media download site, Behemoth.com. Here, you can purchase and download many helpful resources including audio books, sermons, music and movies. Items are being added daily and often, there's a teaching you can download for free! Try it out. The first purchase we made from Behemoth.com was a called "The Photographer." We decided to buy this on the recommendation of John Moore (Heumoore Productions). It is similar to an old "gangster" movie. The main characters choose to act with courage and honor despite the temptations presented to them.

Gideon's Conflict with Coyotes

On Monday night (November 3rd), our family finished playing some board games and started our family worship a little earlier than usual. It had been an unseasonably warm day so we had the windows up. My mom was reading from the book of Jeremiah when Kate and Noah heard what sounded like dogs fighting. Gideon, our Golden Retriever was outside on his runner located behind the barn. Noah was worried and wanted to go check on Gideon. So, Benjamin and Noah put on jackets, grabbed a flashlight and headed out the back door. Noah shined his flashlight behind the barn where he saw at least two coyotes attacking our dog. He began to run recklessly towards the wild dogs and yelling at them "to get." He later said, "It was like I was in a trance. All I could think about was saving my dog." Benjamin had been screaming for Noah to "come back." Finally, when Noah was about 15 feet from the conflict, Benjamin's cries took effect and Noah ran back into the house. Benjamin had also been yelling to those inside to get the shotguns which we hurriedly did. The barn has floodlights mounted on all sides, but the switch is located just inside the door. So "armed to the teeth," we advanced together down to flip on the lights and assess the situation. Noah had seen one coyote limp off into the woods and Kate had seen another run towards the orchard. After turning the lights on, we checked on Gideon and saw that he had obviously been involved in a tussle and appeared a bit traumatized. We quickly marched back up to the house with the dog and brought him inside. We then noticed that he was bleeding and found 4 puncture wounds. The poor boy was very quiet and it took a couple days for him to bounce back to his usual happy self. We believe that when the wild dogs first attacked him, that he fought his way to the inside of his dog house where he'd have his backside protected from attack. As a result, he found 4 punctures on his furry, disheveled head. We then gathered together and talked about what we should have done differently and what we should do with the dog in the future. We also gave thanks in prayer for the safety of us all. We couldn't believe that the coyotes would have had the audacity to charge into our yard. We had heard them getting closer for a few weeks, but we had never even seen one around. The next morning we called the vet and our local conservation agent. The veterinarian's main concern was infection in the punctures. Throughout this week Gideon hasn't been outside unsupervised. The wounds aren't infected and are beginning to heal. The agent said that the coyotes probably attacked for territory, not for food. We were somewhat glad of this, because they wouldn't be likely to attack any small children unless it was for food. We don't like for the coyotes to think that our yard is included in their territory, nor do we want our dog to constantly be in danger. The agent told us to feel free to shoot the aggressive varmints. We've gone outside every night, armed with a shot gun, to watch and listen for them. If we finally get one, we'll be sure to post it here.