CM Blog Carnival

The newest edition of the

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

has been posted.

Enjoy.

Every Vote Counts

Please, make sure you are registered to vote, that you know where your voting site is, and that you make a plan to vote, either on November 2,  by absentee ballot, or during your state's early voting period.  

Without a plan, it's very easy to miss deadlines or let other things get in the way.  Don't let this happen to you this year.  Your vote is very important; more important this time than in many years past.  Make it a point to talk to everyone you can about getting registered and getting ready. 

We can do this!

Multitude Monday: One Thousand Gifts

621.  Brownies, freshly baked, and loaded with love from Cherub 2.

622.  Fresh baked honey wheat bread.

623.  Specks of gold and red and orange in the green of the forest.

624.  Daytime highs in the 70s --- what a wonderful change !!

625.  Clean stalls, lined with fresh pine shavings.

626.  Watching Cherubs learn to work with and ride our horses.  Trail rides too.

627.  Flying Solo for our first outing with our horses.  Cherubs and horses.  Praising God !!

628.  A surprise visit from Dumma.

629.  Chocolate cupcakes.

630.  Beginning our 4^th week of school together, here at home.  How time flies !!

631.  Red dogwood “berries”.

632.  Pecans and chestnuts, still in their “jackets, turning from green to brown.

633.  Bathing suits & shorts to jeans & sweaters; autumn won’t be long now.

634.  Cherubs working with Oil Pastels in their Nature Journals.

635.  Dove soap.

636.  Nature Study outings with friends.

637.  The blessing of a new healthy baby girl for dear friends (R.B.).

638.  Momma and baby are doing well (Praise God !).

639.  Chicken salad.

640.  Rain falling gently all through the night, after nearly 4w of drought.

641.  Two days/nights of scattered soft rain.

642.  Plans for a camping trip with dear friends; what fun it’ll be !

643.  Scouting Adventures – restored hope, renewed enthusiasm, bright outlooks, great plans.

644.  Golden fields mowed short, spotted with round bales.

645.  Finally finding that “magic” horse for Cherub 2,  after much searching since June (when Smokie passed away).  On Sunday when they met, it was “love at first sight” …. that very special kind of love that only exists between a little girl and the horse who “chose” her when their eyes met.  ** Thank you, JE and WE, for "that smile" ... and for offering this beautiful animal at "just" the right time.  And thank you, Lord, for this opportunity timed so perfectly, for her tender little heart's healing -- and for the blessing of being able to witness the moment their eyes met. **

To join the Gratitude Community, or to learn more, visit Ann Voskamp's A Holy Experience.

It's Here !!

Flying Solo

Saturday began with horesy baths ----

lots of scrubbing, brushing, combing.

Once both horses were clean, they rested for a short while.

Then they got loaded into a trailer,
which was loaned to us

 by dear friends, just for the occasion.

We drove our horses to R.B. Equestrian Center

for a playdate --- 

it was the first time our family flew "solo" -- 

loading, hauling, and and attending an event
with our own horses.

It went GREAT !!
Smoother than we dared to even hope.

(Thanks to the G family for prepping us so well !)

Cinnamon tried on her

pretty pink sparkly halter while

she and Cherub 2 practiced

some "in hand"

skills in the arena.

SunnySocks visited an arena

for the very first time ...

she was a little spooked when

some other horses/riders

were going round and round,

but DadToCherubs and Cinnamon

helped her calm down and collect herself.

After the arena time, Sunny and DadToCherubs

hung out by the horse trailer.

Sunny watched Cinnamon and Cherub 2,

and munched some yummy hay.

She did soooo well for her first trip !!

Meanwhile, Cinnamon and Cherub 2 "tooled around"

on the Trail Course together, trying various "skills".

After a short while, Cinnamon and Cherub 2

headed down to the arena for a bit more riding ...

and Sunny watched them from the hillside.

Although it's not a good photo, you can clearly

see the JOY in Cherub 2's face ... 

a girl and her horse ...

in the arena, riding for the first time.

What fun !!

Cherub 2 on Cinnamon, and their teacher/trainer

Ms. R on Kodak, riding in the arena together.

Don't they look so pleased just to be together ?

They tooled around a bit more on the trail course

while Sunny watched -- Sunny did sooooo well,

patiently waiting and watching (and munching !).

After spending about 2 hours at R.B.,

both horses and humans alike were so pleased.
Everything was going even better than we'd hoped.
So, while all was going so well,
we packed up our beautiful horses and

headed home.

It was a fantastic day !!

Sunny did really well, especially for
her very first time

at an official "arena"
with all of the new horses,
new people, new sights, new smells

... it was a great start for her future.

And of course Cinnamon and Cherub 2

had a lovely time working together.
This was their first official "outing"
together too.

Now they are looking forward to

possibly showing together for

the first time this fall.

Thanks to Dumma for coming

along with us.

And thanks G family for

making our first solo trip such

a special day,

for helping us succeed,

and to Ms. R for being such

a patient and dedicated teacher.

We appreciate you all !!

The Offical Last Day Of Summer

Today marks the autumnal equinox, the point in the year when the length of day and night are equal (the exact time this year is 11:09 p.m. ET). 

Starting tomorrow, the days will be getting shorter, the air brisker, the nights a little longer. 

CM Blog Carnival

The newest edition of the

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

was posted this morning.

Enjoy !!

Multitude Monday: One Thousand Gifts

601.  First day of school – excitement, expectations, education.

602.  Cool mornings - some when I could almost use a sweater.

603.  Air conditioning off, curtains blowing with gentle breezes.

604.  Camping with Scouts.

605.  Quenching rain.

606.  Laundry caught up.  For the moment at least.

607.  Delivering firewood cut from trimmings to dear friends.

608.  Tiny touches of red and gold in the green of the mountains – the coming of Autumn.

609.  Fresh baked bread; first loaf made by Cherub 3.  It was delicious.

610.  Warm oatmeal on cool mornings.

611.  DadToCherubs began his diet, and is beginning to lose.  Hooray !

612.  A very smooth first week of school completed.

613.  Heartfelt discussions with Cherubs - they are growing up so quickly.

614.  Cinnamon’s limp – it was just a sting or bite.  Praise the Lord !

615. Giggles shared with the girls, late at night.

616.  Horse-y playdate coming up --- how fun !

617.  Swimming and splashing together at Indian Boundary.

618.  Warm tea shared during our Bedtime Read Alouds.

619.  Solid school plans, clear to-do’s for every day.

620.  A successful beginning for our local homeschool support group.

Would you like to join in the counting of the many blessings Our Father bestows on us ?  Visit here to learn more about the Gratitude Community, or simply visit Ann Voscamp's A Holy Experience.

Signs of Autumn

We went up to the lake at Indian Boundary

yesterday to swim a little, and noticed some touches

of color laced through the forested mountains.

It seems Autumn may be

coming sooner than we'd thought ....

Elective: Equestrian Studies

Cherub 2's school plans for one of her electives

this year are a bit "horse-y".

She has been learning to ride for a year now,
but wants to take her "hobby" more seriously now,
as she is considering a career in the Equestrian world.

Her plans, assembled in a Charlotte Mason style,
include a combination of horse literature (fiction and non-fiction),

horse veterinary care and anatomy,

horse "care" manuals,
horse training methods and resources,

DVDs about various horse-topics

such as styles of training and riding,

perhaps some riding clinics and shows (and of course Horse 4H) ....

Some of the books we've planned are:

True Horsemanship Through Feel (Training - Leslie Desmond & Bill Dorrance)

Natural Horsemanship:  Six Keys To A Natural Horse-Human Relationship (Training - Pat Parelli)

Natural Horsemanship Explained:  From Heart To Hands (Training - Robert Miller)

The Seven Games of Parelli Natural Horsemanship (Training - video - Pat Parelli)

The Horse Owners Veterinary Handbook (Care and Keeping - Thomas Gore, DVM)

The Horse Lover's Bible:  The Complete Practical Guide To Horse Care and Management (Tamsin Pickeral)

True Horse Story (Literature - various titles from this series by Judy Andrekson & David Parkins)

Black Beauty (Literature - Anna Sewell)

My Friend Flicka (Literature - Mary O'Hara - we'll also watch movie 1 and 2)

National Velvet (Literature - Enid Bagnold)

The Black Stallion (Literature - this title and other's in the series - Walter Farley)

Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind, Justin Morgan (and other stories).

Draw 50 Horses (Art - Lee Ames)

All of these are tied together in a neat balanced package,

and are topped with weekly Horsemanship Training and

weekly Horseback Riding Lessons.

Today our trainer/teacher came ....

Ms. "R" worked with Sunny first (our yearling),

and then the whole party went off on

their first trail "adventure" next door.

It promised to be a wonderful adventure !!

 Sunny was busy checking everything out  ...

and other than a few small spooks,

she did really really well for her first

time on a trail "walk" !

Sunny loves and trusts Ms. R ....

plus she seems to gather a lot of her

"horse" confidence from Cinnamon .... 

As you can imagine then, 

having Cinnamon AND Ms. R with her on the trail

worked really well.

Her spooks were limited (and short lived) ...

and without much spookiness,

Sunny is curious and continues to be willing to "try" new things.

By the end of the trail, Sunny was "old hat" at trail walking.

She appeared to be quite pleased with herself.

HA !

Cinnamon acted as though she had ridden this trail

a gazillion times before, even though it was her first time ... 

she and Cherubs 2 had a fantastic time together, I believe.

Above:  And look at that view ... WOW !!

What a blessing it is to live here,

and to see this every single day.

Here's the adventurous party heading back toward the barn ....

And here, Cherub 2 and Cinnamon are waiting for

Sunny and Ms. R to catch up ....

we also suspect that Cinny was

checking to be sure we

didn't want her to maybe go 

into the barn first ....

maybe a snack from the Feed Room, Cinny thought ???

Ahhhhh ... back in the pasture again ...

safe and sound ...

and s-o-f-t.

All of the adventurers, human and equine alike,

were pleased ... it was a grand adventure, indeed.