POP! Ssssss... What's that noise?

Hi.  This is the Eagle's Nest Dad again.

 

I had several days off to enjoy with the family a couple of weeks ago during Veteran's Day weekend.  That was fun.  I spent most of my time fixing things that had broken while I have been away.  My wife had also managed to drive around everywhere with the van tires having on 18 PSI in the tires.  For those that may not know, they should have 36 PSI.  They looked virtually flat!

Being the good husband, I put 36 PSI of air in the tires.  Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.  The sidewalls were worn and on my may home that afternoon, I had a blowout of a rear tire.  As with most minivans, the spare tire mounted underneath would not come loose.  We needed the tow truck to come and get the tire off and change it.  If you thought that's nothing, you're right!  The next day after church (I was in my dress blues), I was taking the family to Pizza Hut for lunch and POP!  The other rear tire blew out!  I happen to pull over in front of a guy's house (His name is Ernie) who happen to have a manual tire changer a friend of his gave him a couple of years ago.  He saw my van in front of his house with all of us in it when he came home from church.  I had just called a friend of ours to come and get my wife and the two youngest children.  Remember, the spare was already on the van.

 

Our friend (Steve) came and got my wife and took her home.  She came back with our extra tires from the garage and Ernie changed the tires on the rims.  Both Ernie and Steve helped us with the tire change (It is pretty difficult to try and change a tire in a dress uniform and try not to get it dirty.

 

Our winter tires arrived the next day in the mail that I ordered the previous week.  Mounted and balanced.  I left to go back to my base and my wife took the van to have the new tires put on.

 

The Lord works in mysterious ways.  The first blowout came near enough to my house that I made it home as the tire went flat and the second near a guy who had a tire changer when in the country, most places are closed on Sundays.  Then the new tires for winter showed up the next day.

 

However, come this spring, it looks like I'll be buying new tires.

Thanksgiving Follies

To give everyone a good laugh as Thanksgiving nears, these are true stories that have happened to me.

1. All turkeys have 2 holes one at each end.

I found the gravey packet but could not find the neck and liver. I knew turkeys came with them in a small paper bag, as my mom always cooked them for the dog. But as much as I searched that turkey I could not find them any where. So I thought that they forgot to but them in this turkey. Until it came time to carve the turkey, well everyone had a good laugh and I found out a turkey has a hole in each end.

2. Canberries in a can are soild when in the cupboard.

My mom always put the can of cranberries in the fridge the night before thanksgiving. So I always thought it was a liquid and you had to place it in the fridge to make it soild, like you would do jello. Well we were at my MIL for thanksgiving and she tells me to get the cranberries so I look in the fridge, they are not there. She tells me there in the cupboard and I start to get upset, there is no way those cranberries will be jelled for dinner we eat in 15 min. She looks at me like I am crazy, I said they are a liguid you have to put them in the fridge to get them to jell. Well everyone started to laugh, I didn't belive them until I saw the can opened. My mom chimed in that she always ut them in the fridge because she liked them cold.

3. When the turkey goes missing, it's likely it just rolled away.

I had to go buy a fresh turkey as my mil could not eat the frozen one we had gotten from work. It was a busy day and I was tired, well I got to the car and started to load the food in. This was not in the best section of town, so when I bent down to get the turkey it was gone. Thought #1 some one took my turkey, well they must have needed it more then me. Then I was like I will go back to the store maybe they forgot to put it in the cart. Well they didn't have it, so I went back to the car and cried as I really wanted to impress my mil with dinner. Then I went back in to try to buy another one after deciding what other food I could return to pay for another turkey. And at the front desk they had my missing turkey the cart boy had found it sitting in the parking lot, it had rolled off the bottom of the cart and I didn't even notice. I felt better and went home to cook the turkey.

The Girls room

Well we are expecting a new baby in April and I feel the need to move the other childern around and repaint the rooms. So Sarah's room is going to be purple, many different shades  with a hippy feel to it. I think that will last her until she is 18, I can hope. Kathryn will also be getting her own room which she will share with the computer. She wanted pink, but I was not to happy with that idea. So I gave her a bunch of other choices and we are going with a garden room. I will paint the floor white, leave  the walls blue and paint a picket fence around the room. Then I will add some frogs and ladybugs. And Pat says she needs clouds to.

I wanted to paint a tree but my oldest said mom you can't paint a tree, so he said have dad do it. So little does dad know but he is painting a 9ft tree in Kathryn's room when he comes home for a visit. I think that the garden idea for her is a good one as she is 5, and this should last until she is a teenager. And being that she will be sharing with the computer for a while I think Dad will like it to.

The boys will all be going into one room, and when asked what color thet said green. That is going to take some thought, as the color green they picked is alien green, and I am having some trouble with that color. But we will see I will do the girls rooms first as they are smaller rooms.

Kathryn and frogs

 

 

My daughter Kathryn is afraid of ants yet loves frogs and toads, so in this house you never know were you are going to find a frog. One day I had gone into the bathroom and there in the tub were two frogs, well we found those frogs a new home quickly. The picture with this blog is one of a frog resort the kids made in August. There was food to be had, pools to swim in and even a toad lifeguard. It kept the kids busy for hours and all the frogs went home safely later that night. But I am glad that it is time for all the frog’s to go to sleep for the winter, and I won’t have to see any more until spring. Oh and her newest thing is she wants to catch a snake, I don’t think so.

Life without wife

Hi.  This is the Eagle's Nest Dad.  My loving wife usually does the writing to keep me informed of everything that is going on at home.  Though it has started out well, the posts are fewer. 

 

It is a difficult time to be away from home.  For those of you who travel, you have some idea of what I am talking about.  For those of you who travel when told to better understand me. 

 

I am thankful to the way computers and cellphones have brought our worlds closer together, but it is still not the same.  My life without my wife and children seems empty (especially when you consider I have five children...and one on the way!).  I'm sure my wife will post that one when she gets around to it.

 

For the moment, I am able to speak with her and my children almost every day.  When I find myself in the Middle East, it will be a different story.  I will be relying more on these posts at that time.

 

So here is my post.  I will contimue to post my comments to all the exciting things that are going on at home.  And when she says that she remodels when I am away, she is not kidding.  She has these visions of graduer and once I pull out of the driveway, she starts tearing things apart.  UNBELIEVABLE!

 

I still love her, though.  Where would I be without the unpredictability of my family?  I'd probably be bored stiff. 

 

To everyone who reads this, stay safe, stay warm, and tuned.

 

 

The Dog

We usally keep our dog on a leash when outside and free when inside, as he does not come when called. Well with the cooler weather he has been spending more time inside, and with 7 kids here yesterday and the dog inside. Well he got out, and living in the country he is very hard to catch, so you have to wait until he decides to come home.

Well I dropped the kids off at kids club and was looking forward to a quite night, when I smell the smell of that little anmial that is black with white strip down his back. The dog got sprayed, he came home about 9pm and got a bath and because if left outside all night he will bark all night he had to sleep in the house. So the house smells too, It will be another bath for him tonight. I am so tired of this, this is the third time in a year that he has been sprayed. At least this time it wasn't in the garage with me in the room to, I smelled for days.

 

Filling the freezer

Well I have been doing a restocking of the freezer for winter, and also because of the busy time of fall. So far I have done the ground beef, tomorrow or later today I will do the chicken. Here is a list of what I have in the freezer now:

 

2- Lasagna

2- Shepard’s pie kit (beef, sauce, corn and cheese I just add the potatoes when I bake it)

2- cubed steak and twice stuffed potatoes

1-     Fish sticks and Mac and cheese

2-     Meatloaf

3-     Hamburger meal

1-     Hot dog meal (2 packs of hotdogs)

1-     Steak-um and sub rolls

1-     Brockwurst

1-     Italian Sausage patty

1-     Taco- Kit (beef, cheese, soft tortilla shells)

2-     Chili Kits (beef and seasoning – add beans and sauce from pantry)

3-     Sloppy Joe kits (beef, rolls, French fries – add sauce pantry)

4-     Ground turkey (this I use in Hamburger helper)

 

This gives me 26 meals for dinner so far I should get another 7 out of the chicken today.

Feeling Blond and Polish

We have an ongoing joke in our home about some of the things I as mom do as I am blond and Polish. Well I have been wonderning for over a year why is it when I buy alot of food for the frezzer it still is not frozen solid the next morning. The frezzer we have was given to me by mom and dad and I always remember stuff being frozen solid, but mom and dad never bought as much at one time as I do living in the middle of no where.

Well while trying to find papers about someting else, I look in the file cabient and wow there was a file labeled frezzer. So after having this frezzer for over 2 years I read the manual, and found out there is a temp. control on the frezzer. In my defense I have to say it was well hidden behind a panel that didn't look like it was supposed to come off, I had looked before for the temp control and not finding thought it didn't have one.

Well I pried the cover off and found the temp control and it was set at the lowest setting, so I turned it up to a colder setting and hope that it works. I guess I will see in a couple of hours, and with me doing some OMAC tomorrow it is a good thing I found it.

In my house they call this a blond, Polish moment, I will have to write about the case of the missing turkey some time. That one was a really good blond, Polish moment or Margie as it is only something I would do.

Patrick's schooling

My son Patrick has set what I would think is an odd schedule for doing schoolwork. My husband requires that he wake up with the other kids so he gets up a 7 eats breakfast, gets dressed, and usally does his history reading for the day. Then he turns around and goes back to sleep for 2 hours, gets up eats and then does math or science. Then after every one goes to bed at 8pm he pulls out the rest of his work and just gets it all done with no problem.

 

So even though this seems weird to me, one of the nice things about homeschooling him is that he gets to work when his  brain works the best. And I get to shake my head and hope that some day he finds a job working 3-11.

Nolan's glasses

Yesterday I took Nolan the youngest boy to the eye doctor, he had injured his eye with a knife a couple of weeks ago. Well his eye is healed but instead of 20/20 in that eye he has 20/30. And I found out that he has trouble focusing when reading, so he is getting bi-focals for kids, were the top part will be clear glass, and the lower will be for reading. This will enable him to look at a board and at the book at the same time. I think this explains why even though his reading level is at 4th grade, he gets upset when there are to many words on a page.

 

He was one picky child when it came to frames, the first pair he put on and took right off saying they were nerdy looking as they were square shaped. Well then he tried on a whole bunch of oval frames and found a pair he liked. He keeps telling everyone they are for reading only he doesn't have to wear them outside. My biggest concern is him losing them as he doesn't have to wear them all the time.

Baking Bread

As it gets cooler I am thinking it is time to start baking agian, here is my favorite bread recipie.

 

This Recipie is from our pastors family, I found it the best so far , you can't goof it up. It is not for a bread machine but I do make it in my kitchen aid mixer.

To make 3 loaves of bread ( to make whole wheat just use 1/2 whole wheat flour)

Ingredients:

1 pint water
1 pint milk
1 stick melted margarine or butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon yeast
about 3 lbs flour

Directions:

Mix the warm ( almost hot ) milk, water, sugar, and salt. Stir until disolved. Sprinkle yeast on top of liquid and wait a few seconds until it moistens. Stir in.

wait 10 minutes until the yeast begins " working"

Add melted margarine to mix and immediately begin adding flour so that the margarine doesn't harden. Add about 1/2 of the flour to make a thick soup. Gradually add remaining flour, stirring from the edges to the center.

When enough flour has been added so that the dough doesn't easily stick to your hand then dump it on the counter and keed it until it begins getting stiffer ( about 10 min)

Roll into a ball and place back in the oiled bowl. Swish around and turn over so oiled side is up ( so the bread dough doesen't dry out when rising ) Cover. Let stand until doubled. Knock dough down and turn over. Let it rise until doubled agian.

Break dough into three portions. Kneed to remove bubbles and place in bread pans. Let rise until dough rises about 1 inch over the top of the pans. Bake at 325 in center of oven foe about 30 mintues.


I have made this recipie many times, and have never failed at it. Our pastor makes it at Christmas as he gives each family a loaf on Christmas day, and the church smells so good.

A Busy Fall

The lazy days of summer are gone and the busy days of fall are here. I was looking at the calendar for Fall and was surprised to see how busy we are, but with dad gone this year I think it will keep them from missing him too much. And since dad is on active duty I can have dinner whenever it works for us, as usually we would wait until Dad got home to eat.

Here is a list on what we will be doing this year:

 

Sunday – Church and Puppet practice in the evenings

                 Football Game- Conner

Monday- Football – Conner

              Boy Scouts- Conner and Nolan

              Open Swim – Sarah and Patrick

Tuesday- CAP- Patrick

               Football- Conner

Wednesday- Girl Scouts- Kathryn, Sarah, Mom

                    Kids Club – Conner, Nolan, Kathryn, Sarah

                   Open Swim- Patrick

Thursday- Football- Conner

Friday – Football – Conner

Saturday- Soccer- Sarah, Nolan, Kathryn

                Horseback Riding – Patrick, Sarah, Conner, Nolan, Kathryn (only 4 weeks)

 

It will be a lot slower once November comes around, as soccer, football, and horseback riding will be done. The only winter sports we are doing this year is Basketball as wrestling for Conner is to hard to do with only one parent.

 

Nolan's eye

Ok I had plans for today; the weather was going to be sunny and 70 degrees, great weather to get all that yard work done. Well last night after getting home from a 4 hr trip, we decided to have ramen noodle soup for dinner. The first couple of kids went well, then I hear screaming from the pantry down the hall, Kathryn had gotten the last pack from the one box, well Nolan instead asking for help in opening the new box of soup he used a knife it slipped and went into his eye. So this morning I will be heading to the doctors to get it checked, and he looks like patch the pirate with his eye patch.

 

The good news is if he doesn’t open his eye it doesn’t hurt. Well I will write more about what we have been up to this week later tonight.

VBS Day 3

We are doing VBS this week at church, we had it all set up outside as we had a flood in the spring that wiped out the downstairs .And about 3 hrs before VBS a storm came though and wiped out the tents and all the things in the tents. So the first night was a little confusing as we tried to dry off everything and move everything inside. Tuesday went much better with everyone going were they were supposed to go. And here are some pictures from last night.

 

This would be my DH .

This is the herb and spice shop, were the kids are learning about spices and making spice bags.

Here is one of the tribe leaders and the Roman Guard who maintains the order.

 

We also have a candy shop, weaving shop, music shop,  jewlery shop, and pottery shop. The childern are enjoying it, next year I think we should make the groups by age as we either have little ones 4-5 or older ones 10-13.

Storing School Supplies

 

I have things in a couple of spots that I store school supplies, downstairs in the family room are 6 bookshelves that hold all of the books not needed for school that week. But still available for reading.

We live in a split level home and there is a closet at the top of the stairs that was for coats, well the kids hang there coats in their rooms and I use the downstairs closet by my room. So we turned that closet into an office with a door. It holds a 2-drawer file cabinet, an 8 drawer plastic cart for school supplies, a paper sorter from Sam's Club that holds lined paper, colored paper, etc. On top of this I have 6 magazine holders that hold workbooks, and papers for each child. Then I have two shelf’s one holds my binders for TOG, and older sons textbooks. Then the top one has photo boxes to store markers, paints, extra school supplies in anything I don't want my 5 year old using without supervision. It also holds the microscope, and bins for odd and ends.

Downstairs there is a closet that I use for art supplies not used every week, like dollies, beads, etc.

And in the dining room were we actually do school I have a large hutch, most of it holds dining items except for on one side were I stack the other kids text books.

Then we have a wicker basket in the living room that holds library books.

When we first moved here I tried to have a schoolroom downstairs in the family room area with fireplace and everything. Well the kitchen is up stairs, and the TV was downstairs, and I like schooling at the dining room table (which is a 9 ft buffet table from Sam’s thank you DH).

I do want to get some more photo boxes I think I can fit 4 more in there. I also still need to update the labels on the drawers and binders for this school year.

The Fall from a Tree

Ok the reason I have not posted much in the last couple of days is because of two young boys Conner my son and Domininc my nephew. Last Wendsday night about 5 min before calling them in for bathtime, I hear a crack and Aunt Margery !! Both of them had just fallen from about 20 ft to the ground. I ran Conner was ok, hurt but ok, Dominic well he was bleeding and crying.

After a trip to the hospital and over 12 hrs, Conner was OK, Dom needed stiches as he had ripped his earlobe off  from his head. He also had a brusie on his lung but was otherwise OK. So after the ER I met his parents half- way between our houses as he lives 4 hrs away, and he felt better once he had his mom. The only reason his mom did not come to the hospital right away is beacuse I told her not to as I didn't want her having an accident at night.

I should have known better then to think cool Dom and Danille have been here since July 4th and nobody has gotten hurt. And yesterday at Grandma's were did we catch them but up in another tree.

 

Well this week Conner is at horse camp, and I pray he doesn't get hurt.

Life with boys is never boring for long.

Puppets

Our family has a puppet minstry that we started just as a family but soon added other childern from our church. We are called the Kingdom Puppets, so far we have done many shows at church, and then 2 in public parks this summer.  We are a young group in that the oldest is 13 the youngest is 7. We also just got two new puppets Charlotte and Claude, these are in memory of my husbands grandparents. My nepews raised all the money needed to buy these puppets, and I am so proud of them.

The kids work hard at every practice, and put there all into the shows, and best of all they enjoy sharing there faith with others. My son Conner always prays that if any one who sees the show doesn't know Jesus  that they will ask him into there hearts so that they can go to heaven some day. It touches me that my childern think this way, and want to do something about it. Puppets are great for childern as the younger ones work hard because they love the Lord, the teenagers work hard because they love the Lord and it's fun. I love it because my childern are learning to share there faith with others and it is a great activity to do as a family.

So if you are ever looking at something to do as a family and like us don't sing very well, look at puppets.

I' ve been tagged

1. What is your favorite all-time movie?

I don't know, now all time favorite book would be Rose in Bloom.

2. Where is your favorite place on earth?

   These are hard, I guess the pine woods at my home. It is very peaceful there.

3. Do you run a home business, and if yes, then what is it you do?

No, but I do e- bay some and sell books on-line

4. What are some lessons in life you had to learn the hard way?

 

That mom and dad are right sometimes.

5. Assuming you're a parent, what is the one thing you are happiest to see in your children?

 

There love for the Lord and caring for other people not only there needs but there souls.

6. What would you like written on your headstone someday?

 

Loving Mom and wife

7. What is your favorite type of family entertainment? Reading, TV, boardgames, kickball etc?

 

Reading together, in front of a fire all cozy with our books and blankets.

Kathryn's Feet

 

Well I meant to write this about a week ago but things got a little busy around here, more on that later.

This is a photo that I found on my camera, it was taken by my daughter Kathryn, when I saw it I thought hmm blog entry.

 

 

 

Will these feet take her to the ends of the world, or just next door. Will they ache from a hard day of work or will  they swell from the birth of a child. Will they carry her off to school and someday down the aisle? How big will these feet grow as she grows taller? I wonder all of this and more, then I remember only the Lord knows were she will go and what these feet will do. So instead of wondering, I will hug my daughter and tell her that I will love her forever no matter what her feet may do, and her Lord will to.

 

   Happy 5th Birthday Kathryn

A trip to the airport

Well this morning I was up at 4am to take my oldest son to the airport, as he is on his way to Colorado to visit his dad, and grandparents. I am sure he will have plenty of adventurers while he is there. He is growing up so fast, sometimes he is a little adult other times I shake my head and ask why did he do that.

Like last night he had a marker war with he friend and he had brown washable marker on his face, I told him to wash up, but he didn’t listen very well. Well we got to the airport and I looked at his face and it was covered in marker, after checking him in I sent him to wash up, and only some of it came off. So after getting through security, I asked “Did you use soap?” answer from teenage son” No why?” Sent him to the bathroom again to wash face this time with soap and what do you know his face came clean.

Then I said good- bye, and sent him off with a big hug and kiss. I will miss him, as he will not be home until the end of August. And when I got home all the other childern were still asleep.

 

Free Summer Activities

 

There are two words that I love when it comes to activities, well three in the summer. They are fun, free, and air conditioned, on Friday we checked out one of these it was the Hands on Science center at SUNY Oneonta www.oneonta.edu/academics/scdisc/. It is located in the basement of the Physical Science building on the college campus. There were tons of hands on activities, from microscopes, to friction and everything in-between. Best of all we were the only ones there for the two hours we spent there. Each of the children I had with me were engrossed the whole time, we even received a complement on how well behaved the children were. We would have spent more time there but it closes at 4pm, so it is defiantly on the list to do again this winter, when cabin fever hits. Here are some pictures from the time we spent there.

 

 

 

 

Kathryn compareing air bubbles in water vs Karyo syrup.

 

 

Husband Don and son Conner learning about static electricity.

 

 

Nolan learning about air flow and how he needs more air for a heavier object.

 

Kathryn learning about friction.

 

 

Don and Sarah looking at there fingernails under the mircoscope.

 

Tramp to the Klondike part 6

May 24- 12 midnight – Boat Mexico leaves Seattle for Alaska. Left Tacoma at 4:30 pm.

 

May 25- Boat going nicely, everyone delighted, scenery simply grand: not out of sight of land yet

 

May 26- still nice weather; no storms; some sick. A dangerous route. Saw the remains of several boats that were wrecked. We are in the steerage with the rest of the hogs and cattle. Dirt will not tell it. I had to feed fish with the rest. (My note: this is a nice way of saying he got sick) It was very rough in the night; the old boat pitched and rolled quite a lively.

 

May 27- Very rainy. We are off the main ocean on the pass. Very smooth; quite different to what it was last night. Several of the passengers saw three whales; did not see them. I was in bed. Had a scrap on board between a sailor and a passenger. The passenger came out second. Both Irish.

 

May 28- Bad weather today. Yet the water is calm and smooth. We stopped at an Indian village by the name of Metlahkatla. They have a white man for a leader. He has educated the; they think the world of him. They don’t allow only two or three other white men on the island. One of them has a white wife. They have salmon canning factory, run by the Indians. They talk good English. On board we have 24 head of cattle, 50 head of sheep, and 10 head of hogs. They are quite close to our dining room. You can imagine the rest. None of the stalls have been cleaned since we left shore. We rather envy the cattle; they are better cared for then we are in every respect.

Swimming

 

 

Here is a picture of the Sarah and Nolan at the local town pool. They are the two childern facing the camera. It has been so hot out that we are at the pool almost every day. And I learned how to post a picture , doing a happy dance.

Time spent per subject

Now for how much time, I am letting him decide when to do each subject as he will be the only one I am home schooling this year, and he does most of his work independently.

But I am setting how much time he must spend on a subject each week. So he could do Math all one day, then science or a little each day.

 

Math – 1 hr per day – 5 hrs a week

Science- 1hr per day – 5 hrs a week

Writing – 30 mins a day – 2.5 hrs a week or when weekly writing is done.

Reading – 1hr per day – 5 hrs

Art History- 30 mins 3x a week – 1.5 hrs a week

Government- 30 mins 3x a week – 1.5 hrs a week

History- 1 hr per day – 5 hrs a week

Latin –45 mins a day – 3.75 hrs a week

Logic – 45 mins a day – 3.75 hrs a week

Typing -15 mins a day – 1.15 hrs a week

Civil Air Patrol studying – 30 3x a week – 1.5 hrs a week

Phys Ed – 30 min a day – 2.5 hrs a week (I don’t count it as time in the day as most of it happens at night.)

Total per day : he will run between 6 to 6.5 hours per day.

 

Now on some of these subjects he has a set amount of work each week, but others it as much as he can get done. Then he will get a 2-week break from that subject before starting the next book. For example Math, Science, Logic, and Latin are all as much as you can do subjects. While Writing, Reading, Art History, Government, History, and Typing are just certain amounts per week, and therefore if he finishes his work correctly early he is done for the week.

 And with the as much as you can do subjects he has to score at least a 90 or he redoes it agian, this prevents rushing.

In New York State 3 hrs a week per subject is considered a full- time class, for High School.

Curriculum Choices

My choices in curriculum for my 9^th grade son are:

 

Tapestry of Grace Year 4- this will cover reading, writing, history, art history, and church history, American government.

 

Elementary Algebra – by Harold Jacobs

 

Exploring Creation through Biology – by Wile and Durnell

 

Lantia Christaisa level 1 and 2 – by Cheryl Lowe

 

Introductory Logic- by Douglas Wilson and James Nance

 

A typing program – which one yet I don’t know

 

So he will end up with the following credits:

History – 1

English- 1

Art History -.5

Math – 1

Science- 1

Latin – 1 maybe .5 depends on how much time he spends on it.

Logic - .5 (maybe 1 if he likes it and we do the second book too.)

Typing - .5

Phys Ed - .5 (maybe 1 depends on how much time he spends on it.)

Government -. 5

So he will have at least 7.5 credits possibly of 8.5 credits.

 

He also will be doing Civil Air Patrol work, but I am not going to give school credit for it except for the PT hours.

Tramp to the Klondike part 5

May 3- Visited the State University and other places of note, could give a full account of the city and country, having had to remain here for some time. We put in our visiting, sight- seeing, church-going, fishing, or at least tried to, but the day was to clear, could see thousands of trout in the water, in fact they were like a moving mass. My boy Heber may think this is a fish story; but it is quite true. The city is full of commotion; people getting ready to go to Alaska. We expect to start in a short time, but as yet have not purchased our outfit.

 

Have brought outfit as follows:

 

Hardware:

2 picks, 2 shovels, 1 ax, skinning knife, 2 gold pans, 1 gold scales, 4 pairs spectacles to protect eyes from snow, 3 buckets, knives and forks, spoons, fishing tackle. Half interest in tools to build boat, such as whipsaw, handsaw, bits and brace, nails, hatchets, cook stove, tent, which cost about $20.

 

Clothing:

2 pair blankets, 2 pair rubber blankets, 6 pair socks, gloves, towels, needles, thread. Boots and shoes alone cost $20. Mittens, hats, mackinaw, 2 pair overalls, 3 overshirts, 2 suits underclothes. Cannot give price of clothing because I brought several articles from home.

 

Groceries for Two

 

400 lbs Imperial Flour                         9.50

6 cans baking powder                         2.50

30 lbs pitted plums                              1.80

30 lbs evaporated apples                     2.10

30 lbs evaporated peaches                   2.00

30 lbsevaporatedapricots                  1.20

10 lbs tea                                              3.00

15 lbs coffee                                         4.50

20 lbs salt                                               .20

6 cans milk                                             .65

2-¼ lb mustard                                        .20

200 lbs bacon                                      23.00

100 lbs pink beans                                2.00

4 lbs evaporated onions                        2.00

6 lbs vegetable soup                              1.60

25 lbs evaporated potatoes                    4.90

100 lbs granulated sugar                       5.00

50 lbs yellow corn meal                          .85

40 lbs rolled oats                                   1.00

½ lb pepper                                              .20

10 lbs rice                                                .50

2 packages soda                                       .15

6 packages magic yeast                            .25

1 doz. Extract of beef                            4.00

5 cakes soap, tar                                      .25

3 bars Ivory soap                                     .50

1 bottle Buckeye vinegar                         .50

20 lbs salt sides                                      1.40

Canvas bags                                            3.60

10 boxes matches                                      .25

                                                              _________

                                                                79.50

 

Drugs:

 

1oz quinine, 1oz fluid ex jess amine, 2 bottles of one minute cough cure, 1 bottle mustang liniment, 1 sack of Glauber salts.

 

Fire Arms, Etc.

 

2 guns, 2 revolvers, 400 shells, 2 big knives, 2 belts, lantern and oil.

 

The whole outfit weighed about 1,500 pounds.

 

 

 

Tramp to the Klondike part 4

April 29- 1897 Cloudy this morning has indications of rain. The name of the boat that sailed was Topeka. Several have been from here to Alaska and have struck it rich. Seattle is a good place to live in. Meals 10 cents, beds 25 cents.

 

April 30- Sunshine; everywhere beautiful. They tell us that it does not get as hot here as in Ohio, nor as cold in winter. It is quite the seaport. Ships come

here from China and all parts of the globe. A great many different flags are floating in the breeze.

 

May 1- Raining. Lots of Damp weather in Washington. Saw a six-seated bicycle. There is here a mammoth hotel not completed; the boom went down and work stopped. It would have been a fine structure if completed. The city covers thousands of acres.

 

May 2- Sun shining. Delightful day. Attended M.E. church; heard a good sermon on the Golden Rule. Attended Young People’s meeting. Sermon in the evening, “ The Good Fight.” It was plain that it was a working church.

Tramp to the Klondike part 3

April 25- Sunday Morning. Nabton, State of Washington. The Sun is shining and it is a beautiful day. Saw a flock of wild geese flying a little way from the train. The country along the road looks more like farming then in Dakota and Montana, though not to flattering. They have to irrigate to be sure of a crop and that is worse then under draining, but as we go down into the state it looks better. Lots of fruit trees in bloom, some very large orchards could be seen but too much sage bush. We are in sight of snow all the time. Further up the mountain the snow is from six inches to a foot over the ground. On the top of the Cascade Mountains we go through a mountain two miles long. As we go to the other side we go up and down, around the hills across the ravines. Zip we go, and here at last we are in Tacoma, Washington about 1pm. We took a room in the Grand Central Hotel. Beds 25 cents, meals at restaurants 10 cents up. Tacoma is a very fine city, 25,000 inhabitants. In the city of Tacoma Mr. Dallas found a relative, but by the way rather distant, an old miner by the name of C.A. Broken. Mr. and Mrs. Broken were very entertaining. In our conversation we found that he was very fortunate in the commencement of his mining career, having made $80,000 the first year and now has an interest in a gold mine in California. This is a good place to live in; several things to interest a person. Fishing is good and any amount of game. The roads are in good condition for cyclers; thousands on the road. It was not safe in the streets. Wheels as thick as bees in a swarm. A boatload of men, women, and children came over from Seattle, and every one of them had a bike. After having spent a very pleasant time in Tacoma, we left for Seattle on the 28^th and found it a city of 65,000 inhabitants. The country between Tacoma and Seattle, is the most beautiful we have yet seen, but after all give us old Ohio. Ohio forever. Irrigation to us seems to be the greatest drawback in Washington. Here are very large dairies. We saw hundreds of calves in pasture, orchards in full bloom and garden truck well advanced. Peas six inches high and other truck accordingly. We walked a great deal over the city. The ocean comes up to the town. Streamers come here to be loaded. There is one going to Alaska in the morning.

Planning the School Year

Well yesterday I spent more time on getting my school year planned. Since my son has issues with handwriting I pre- typed his biology vocabulary words out into a worksheet for unit 1, he will only need to fill out the definitions. I also spent a lot of time pre-reading the book 20^th Century by Peter Jennings. I found out that Ernest Hemingway was an ambulance driver in Italy in World War I, I always thought of him as a writer only. What I really like about this book so far is the personal stories that are in it, the first hand accounts of someone who saw the foxholes of World War I, or grew up as a black child in the Deep South with Jim Crow laws. I think that this year of TOG 4 will be an eye opener for both my son and me.

I also spent a chunk of time making planners for him; he will have two planners for the year. One to plan his work out on for the week, and the other to record what he actually gets done and how long it takes him as we need to record hours for high school in New York State. I think that two separate planners will be neater by the end of the year, next week I will get them copied and bound at Office Max.

Tramp to the Kondike part 2

Some days I will add one new day from the diary some days more, I hope you enjoy and if you are studying the Gold Rush this will help make your study more personal.

April 24, 1897 – Montana is the country we are going through. Ground covered with snow. The mountain scenery is immense. There seems to be very good farming lands. There are two huge engines to our train, larger than I ever saw in Ohio. We passed a smelting mill in Prickly Pear Junction that used to smelt 250 carloads of ore per day, giving work to 500 hands. At present has only 300 owing to depression in sliver. The distance across the plains, what we would take to be a mile or so, was about forty miles. While enjoying the beautiful scenery we longed for the family, were it only to enjoy the indescribable scenery as we glided along.

  One of our fellow passengers is a Norwegian by the name of Rees. His name would indicate Welsh blood. Another is an old gentleman upwards of 70 years old; very good company, has traveled all over the United States;

quite familiar with the scenery as we pass along, having been along the road twelve different times; thinks the state of Washington is the one for farmers to make a home and fortune. We went though two long tunnels; had to wind around the mountain so as to get to the top.

  Canyons were deep. We could look down almost straight, which was anything but pleasant. We thought of the smashup should we go over.

  We are now on the highest point of the Rocky Mountains, 5,583 feet above see level.

Bound for Alaska

Bound for Alaska

 

April 20,1897 – Started from Ottawa, Putnam County, Ohio, at 1:16 pm; arrived at Chicago at 9:20 pm. Found good board at reasonable rates.

 

April 21- reached the fiftieth milestone on the journey of life kind providence has watched over me thus far. What awaits me in the future we shall see, or someone shall. Brought tickets, I say tickets because the party was made up of two, a Mr. J. T. Dallas, a young man of 22 years of Ohio State University. Paid $ 57.30 each for tickets to Tacoma, Wash. Left Chicago at 11:22pm.

 

April 22- Arrived at St. Paul at 3:15. At daylight could see the mountains of Illinois and Wisconsin. All along the banks of the Mississippi River is very mountainous and looks to be very poor land. The river of late has been very high, several miles of track being washed out, making traveling dangerous. We had to go very slow so as to avoid upsetting into the river. It looked quite scary as we went along. On board was a woman in great trouble trying to smuggle her pug dog on board. She succeeded.

 

April 23- Found us in North Dakota. Nothing much to be seen but snow. Drifts eight feet deep. Saw one horse on a hillside nearly covered over. We crossed the Missouri river, which was very muddy. All streams are high, making it very dangerous to travel. The land was anything but inviting, stock thin and seemed to have suffered, and they would get on the track, so that the train had to stop often to avoid running them over; had to get off and clear the track in order to proceed. Saw several colonies of prairie dogs.

 

       

Tramp to Klondike

I have decided to type up a diary that was written by my great great great – grandfather wrote when he went to the gold fields in Alaska. I will write a little more each day so come on by for a look. This book was written around 1899.

 

Tramp to Klondike

By R.W. Roberts

 

 

 

Preface

 

When the United States government purchased Alaska from Russia, European powers and diplomats in general were of the opinion that the sum, of 7,200,000 was far in excess of what would ever be realized from the transaction.

 

    But the two cents per acre paid was a good investment.

 

    It is true that Alaska is a country that offers but little inducement to the farmer, mechanic, or laborer. The snow and glaciers are not at all inviting of those of warmer climates. Yet not with standing all of this, the purchase of Alaska has already proved to be paying investment. The fur trade alone has paid back the purchase money in royalties. While the salmon industry has been simply enormous, and not only proved sufficient to supply our people, but has found it’s way to foreign shores.

 

    The output of Alaskan gold mines until recently has not attracted much attention, though the Treadwell gold mine and possibly a few others, have turned out more gold then had been generally supposed.

 

     But today “ Alaska”,” Yukon”, “ Klondike”, and gold in connection with those names almost demand the leading place in newspaper columns and occupy the uppermost place in the minds of thousands of not only Americans, but of those of every civilized country on the globe.

 

     There are very few things, if any that can create such an excitement as the discovery of gold. What is there that man will not endure in order to obtain it? And the only thing needed to reach the North Pole is the assurance that there is gold there; ready to yield to the miner’s pick and shovel. If from any credible source such assurance should come, then in less than six months there will be a highway cut out, even on glaciers if needs be, and a fair sized mining camp established and taken possession of, but the North Pole actually changed to a May Pole with the American flag waving on top.

       This little book contains the history of the journey, trials, hardships, and endurance of one of the many who have succeeded of late in reaching Dawson City, the haven of the Klondike gold seekers.

 

      Mr. R.W. Roberts, the gentleman who wrote the diary, is a farmer, born a few miles north of Vaughsville and six miles west of Columbus Grove, in the county of Putnam, Ohio. He has always lived on the farm on which he was born, until he left for Alaska. His family lives there now.

 

      The writer is well known, not only in his own county, but also is known to many in the adjoining counties. He has devoted considerable time and care to the raising of thoroughbred cattle, and he is very well thought of by those who have known him since a boy. He was Justice of the Peace for six years and has filled other positions of trust to the satisfaction of all. Since his visit to Europe, he has felt a stronger desire then ever to see the more romantic sights of his own country.

 

Whatever is written in his “ Little Red Book,” as he calls his diary, will be most readily believed by all who have known him.

 

He did not write it for publication, but simply for the benefit of Mrs. Roberts and the children.

 

Allusions to family matters here and there in the diary (though omitted here) prove that he never meant it to be published. The neighbors and friends of the family advised Mrs. Roberts to publish it, and with the assistance of Rev. J.G. Thomas, of Lima, who was for some years a neighbor of Mr. Roberts, the diary was prepared for the press. And now will tell the story of how Mr. Roberts succeeded in reaching the Klondike, where gold awaits the lucky prospector.

Setting up TOG Year 4

This year I am using Tapestry of Grace Year 4 with my 13year old son; this will be our first time using this curriculum. In the past we have used sonlight, and some abeca that did work well .But I wanted something that used lots of reading real books and I could use full time with my older son and after school with my younger children. TOG looks like it will do this for me and at a price we can afford. I really like the way the writing program was written, with grading rubrics and everything; great for writing challenged person like me.

 So I spent today setting up my binders; I am placing everything in sheet protectors, as I tend to read while I eat or am drinking tea. I am also making my own planning book for Patrick to fill out not only for his TOG, but his other studies to. I am also trying to design a calendar for him to fill out the time he spends each day on each subject, as I need to track hours for him.

I have started reading unit 1 and I am thinking to myself this child is going to have a better understanding of 20^th century history then I ever had. I am starting my list of books that I will need to get from the library and which ones I will need to buy and when. I am getting a handle on things I think, and by September when we start working on schoolwork each day I should be ready.

Filing away Life

Filing is a chore that I hate to do, but when done the rewards are great. Yesterday I went through the school files from last year in preparation for this upcoming school year; it was hard not to cry. As I saw in writing and in pictures the growth of all my children.

On a deeper level filing is also a reflection of our life. When I file I see the big picture of what we think is important to us. Whether it be receipts for our puppet ministry or Boy Scout and Girl Scout awards. I see all the military paper work, the dental bills, the medical bills, and I think what a life we live. To have a husband who has a steady job, food on the table, and the ability to share Christ with others as a family. I also see the busyness that sometimes takes over; I think do I need to pare down some of the extras, what is really important to God. But then I see our family and think God has blessed us with this life, and as long as we serve God, then I will live the busy life that my family blossoms on.

 

And now a little about what I saw in my childern's school life as I went though the files. Patrick once again with little effort was able to bring home A’s from the local school, and seeing this reaffirmed the decision we have made to once again home school. Sarah in her first year at the local school worked so very hard and to see her September work compared to her June work is proof of that effort. Conner’s reading just grew this year from a 2.2 at the beginning of the year to a 3.8 at the end, not bad for a boy going into 3^rd grade. Nolan well you really cannot put this child into words, one more year of public school for him and he will be home schooled as his learning rate is higher then most. He received an award for straight A’s in all subject’s all year long, and in reading alone he went from 1.1 to 4.0.And last but defiantly not least we have Kathryn the baby, she did a ½ day pre-k and went from a child who was spoiled by her older siblings to one who wants to help.

 

Since I have a mixture of home schooling, after schooling, and public school, for school filing I do the following. Each week I file a sample of writing, math, photos, and sometimes an art project the rest I toss when they are not looking. Then at the end of the year all of these papers are looked at, some I do toss but most I place into a big envelope label with their name and place in a tote in the garage. I keep in the file their report cards, end of the year testing, and a list of goals. I hope to someday to make a book of their work with samples from babyhood to graduation.

 

Why Eagle's Nest

Three years ago we moved from a city were you could say pass the salt to your neighbor though the window, to 7.5 acres in the country. Well my husband said that a house with this much land needs a name, so after much thought it became The Eagle’s Nest. The reasons being that not only are we an Air Force family and are active in Civil Air Patrol. But the verse in the Bible Isaiah 40:31 “ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. “ 

 

We view our home as a haven for children, not only our own but also their friends. This summer we have 2 extra children with us my niece and nephew, and I can say they are growing. Not only taller with the amount of food they consume, but as children. They love to play outside, climb trees, swimming lessons; even chores and schoolwork are getting done. A big thank you to my sister Sabrina for letting me borrow her children this summer to enjoy.

 

That is were the word nest came, I want my home to be a nest were all children are welcome to rest, learn, and grow. A place were children feel safe and loved, and grow not only taller, but as future adults. For now that means having nieces and nephews during the summer and school breaks, but in the future maybe children from other lands.