Hike to Canyon Run Falls Water Slide

Last week the kids and I and 3 other families took a hike to Canyon Run Falls. I've uploaded the pictures to my Facebook page. Here is the link to the album.

Free Boys: A Dad's Journey Through Parenting, Learning and Partnering: "Voice and Tone"

From Jeff's blog:
Free Boys: A Dad's Journey Through Parenting, Learning and Partnering: "Voice and Tone"

Just a snippet:

Let’s start with the presumption that, in general and barring severe circumstances like being chased by a tornado or something, we as unschooling parents are trying treat our children and each other in ways that make obvious our love, compassion, and genuine interest for each other. When I view my role as a parent and partner through that lens, I think of words like coach, encourage, inspire, share, listen, learn, breathe, relax, enable, empower, observe, enjoy, etc. These words, taken together, help me paint of picture of who I am when I am at my best and most engaged in the things that really matter in my life.

He says some really great stuff here folks! Go read it.

Cheering for 13 year old Dutch Sailor

Dutch Sailor Girl Put Under Care

A Dutch court has put a 13-year-old girl under state care for two months, stalling her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

The decision by three Utrecht judges means Laura Dekker's parents, who support her plans, temporarily lose the right to make decisions about her.

[ . . . ]

Miss Dekker was reportedly born on a yacht off the coast of New Zealand during a seven-year world trip.

She had a yacht by the age of six and began sailing solo when she was 10.

"Since I was 10 years old, I've known that I would like to sail around the world," she had earlier told Dutch television.

"I want simply to learn about the world and to live freely."

Don't you just love government? "They" know better than just "regular" people. I feel so safe now.

2010 VaHomeschoolers Conference and Resource Fair

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
www.VaHomeschoolers.org
Your Resource. Your Voice. Your Association.

This Just In! 2010 VaHomeschoolers Conference and Resource Fair

VaHomeschoolers is pleased to announce the 2010 Conference and Resource Fair set for March 12-13 at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen (located about 12 miles north of Richmond). Planning is underway and the 2010 Conference is shaping up to be a fabulous event! So mark your calendars and save the date! With a new venue, great speaker lineup and more family programming than ever, this conference promises a weekend full of information, resource and fun!

Interested volunteers, please contact volunteers@vahomeschoolers.org. Your help and support is greatly appreciated. If you have a conference suggestion or would like to see something specific at the 2010 VaHomeschoolers Conference, feel free to contact us at conference@vahomeschoolers.org. It’s our goal to bring you the best conference event possible!
Stay tuned for more information and conference details to follow in the coming months!

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
www.VaHomeschoolers.org
Your Resource. Your Voice. Your Association.
~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~
Please feel free to forward this message to other homeschoolers and homeschool groups or email lists who might find this information useful. If this message was forwarded to you, be sure to join the VaHomeschoolers Announce List to receive future updates directly.

Join online: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHomeschoolersAnnouncements
Or via email: VaHomeschoolersAnnouncements-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

VaHomeschoolers is now on Facebook

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
www.vahomeschoolers.org
info@vahomeschoolers.org
PO Box 5131
Charlottesville, VA 22905
866-513-6173

Bumperstickers

I saw a great bumper sticker yesterday at Harris Teeter. It said:

Ok, joke's over.
Bring back the Contsitution!

I think this is where they got it from.

I like this one too:

Rule .303: Deer Hunting for Locavores and Foodies

This sounds like a great idea! From Rule .303: Deer Hunting for Locavores and Foodies:

"I have noticed over the last few years that there are a lot of people out there who did not grow up hunting or shooting, but have expressed some interest in taking up deer hunting. After all, it is ethically the next best thing to being a vegetarian. 'Slow food' proponents and locavores are both groups of people who should logically have an interest in doing this.

With those people in mind, I am considering putting together a small semi-formal class on deer hunting from a 'slow food' and locavore perspective. This would be for adults who are total newbies to hunting and firearms. We'd be doing a series of workshops on topics such as deer behavior, ecology, firearms safety, hunting techniques, field dressing and butchering. Ideally, each student would get paired with an experienced hunter for an actual hunt towards the end of the class."


I have friends whose sons or husbands haven't hunted but are interested in learning how, so I hope they take note of this! Not being sexist here--none of my girlfriends have expressed any interest. ;) And my daughter has gone hunting with Eddie; I just don't think any of her friends are interested, either. As for me, too cold, too early in the morning--maybe I'll join Eddie mid-day just to shoot some pics sometime.


HT: Cvillenews.com

Tiny Snake Tooth

Snake bite

He got bit on July 21st and the wound wouldn't quite heal. He felt like there was something hard in the cut. And sure enough, on Aug 5th he got this tiny tooth out of the cut. Wow! That's what happens when you don't wear gloves to remove the snake from your chicken coop.

Our New Hens

The night after we lost the hen to the raccoon, we penned two roosters in a smaller fenced area between (but connected to) the two larger yards. That night some other creature came and killed one of them. The third rooster was in with all the remaining hens in a coop.



So now we're down to 2 roosters and I can't remember how many hens. But it's the younger girls that are being killed, so we bought 5 young Rhode Island Hens (one is kind of hiding in this picture) from friends of ours who raise poultry for food, laying hens, and eggs. These little girls are already laying small eggs. Yeah! We have them in the other coop and aren't letting them out yet, and they won't mingle with the established flock for two weeks. We still need to fortify the fence where the raccoon dug under.

What is This?

It grew from this size:

to this size:

between July 20th and July 31st, when if tore itself off of the vine that was climbing the fence. Looks like it could be a pumpkin, but I don't remember planting any pumpkin seeds there. I put them elsewhere. Could just be a volunteer or a stow-away I guess. I know I planted various gourd seeds there. Puzzling.