Pocomoke? Oh yeah, in the Mountains?

No, this is not the Poconos.
Nor is it the place from the Beach Boys Song, Kokomo.
Pocomoke City, MD.
Sometimes I even spell it for people with the little song my Aunt Grace taught me.

Even if you have not heard of Pocomoke, it is pretty special.
Famous people have come from there.
It is the Friendliest town on the Eastern Shore.
Phyisteria happened there.
There was the most adorable little Miss Pocomoke in '84.
ahem.

Pocomoke also has a lovely discovery center perfect for the kids when we visit Grandpop.

You can learn how to dredge for oysters.

Apparently, Liv would starve as a waterman, waterwoman, waterperson, waterkid?

The 2 story steamboat begins to wear them out as they run laps.

Here, we are playing.... This is where Ciacie (my sister Carlie) lives, here is where Grandpop lives, here is where Grandpop's boat is, this is where we had to pee 2 hours into the trip....

Margaret is just pretending to like the paintings.  She really just wanted to be held.

Troy is reading about the GIANT duck hunting rifles they used to use. 
Those babies were taller than a man!

And when we have exhausted the museum, our next favorite place is the Pocomoke Elementary School playground- that really has 3 different playgrounds plus a giant slide.

Yes, after Pocomoke Elementary, a sudent goes on to Pocomoke Middle School, then to Pocomoke High School.  There is no college in Pocomoke because come on, who would go to PU? 
ha ha, I'm so funny.

I was actually able to capture all 4 in one shot!

See the bright ball of magic in the corner?
Even Fairies live in Pocomoke.

And where there are Fairies, Pirates must be lurking near by....

I love my little hometown.

I love that my kids get to have some small town fun from time to time.
One day, I would love for that to be all the time.

Everyone has grumpy days

"Some days homeschooling stinks!"  

I won't tell you which Stouffer grumbled that quote.

I'm sure we are like a lot of other families and have productive days and days where I feel like I barely made it through our school work and chores.  

At least I hope there are others like us out there!

A few friends have commented to me how wonderful we make homeschooling look.  

I quickly reminded them that I post only what I want them to see!

So I decided to be better at posting the good and the bad, not just the good and the funny,  

(although I do think this is funny!)

Overall, we do love homeschooling.  There are obvious perks with the negatives/sacrifices/struggles.  And more than that, I know God has called our family to homeschool for this season.  (I have no idea how long that might be.)  If you haven't guessed, this post is more to remind me why we are doing this not-always-fun road to education.  

Confession.  I was the one to quote the first line...... 

The Father knows what is best for us, so we must obey, push through the rough days, and trust in God.

brreak from the mundane

I know how boring bookwork gets.

I know I'm getting tired of making them do pages in their workbooks!

Some days they love getting their work finished, and other days it is like pulling teeth.

I think I'll give you a better example of that next post.

To give the kids a break from book work, we make writing in different formats count for homeschool.  We also write creative stories, lists, poems and such in journals.

Our sweet friend Mrs. Lewis has become our official pen pal.

We leave letters for each other at Ginnie's school, where she works.

She happens to be a major Raven's fan so we reference purple a lot.

Livie is learning letter format, and how to build a good paragraph.

George is learning to sound out and spell his words (with help).

And Mrs. Lewis gets a Virginia original.

The kids are already deciding on what to write her next!

Think the Declaration of Independence smelled like blueberries?

Yeah, me neither.  But it would be cool.
Ha ha, a scratch and sniff historical document!

Well, I thought our not-completely-historically-accurate
history lesson making blueberry ink went well.
(That sounds really bad!) :O

 You need blueberries, salt, vinegar, and a strainer.

 Liv mashed the blueberries in the strainer to get the juice.

 George added the salt and Liv added the vinegar.

 The kids cut their feathers at an angel.

 Then came the fun part. 
Testing out their quills and writing in blueberry ink!

We talked about how Thomas Jefferson used a quill and ink to write the Declaration of Indenpence.
(One appreciates pencils/erasers and better yet, a word processor,
after realizing how many times a document must have been copied to get it perfect!)
We picked out names, and talked about a few, such as John Hancock.
This was a perfect transition in writing their names!

 George could always use some print practice.

 And Livia is working on connecting her letters when writing in cursive.

Of course, I let them just draw to have fun with their quills and ink after our lesson.

My Peppers are on Fire!

I had some goat cheese left over from an appetizer I made for a party.

 So I roasted some roasted peppers to go with my goat cheese.

My friend asked be how I did it and she could not figure out how they don't burn on as open flame.

So here they are.  See?  No flaming peppers!

The flame is on medium, and it only takes a few mins to rotate them around to burn and bubble the skin.  I could have should have roasted them longer, but I had to run and pick up Ginnie from pre-school. (Time management is not my best skill!)

 Once they were nicely charred (more is better than less!) I put them in a paper bag to steam and cool down.

 The steam loosens the charred outer skin from the tender inside skin.

When those babies are cooled (or in my case, when I got back from getting Ginnie and fixing the kids lunch) I just peeled off the outer burned layer to reveal the sweet, soft peppers.  It was easy to remove the seeds and stem too.  Just rinse off any little black bits with water.

I like to store them in an air tight container with olive oil in the fridge and bring them to room temp (or nuke a little) before eating.

These 3 peppers were a yummy snack on toasted baguette and goat cheese, and I threw the rest in some homemade hummus. 

Thankfully....

Thankfully, this Thanksgiving was just wonderful.
Aunt Caroline was ever the gracious and lovely decorated hostess.
I should have taken pictures of her decor!

 Thankfully, I had a certain big brother who was a big help making dough for rolls.
(I had two other helpers, but George was the happiest all week before T-day)

 Thankfully, the weather was perfect.

 Thankfully, I have a husband who is healthy and could enjoy the day to it's fullest.

 Thankfully, Maggie is a happy baby.

 Thankfully, my kids generally enjoy each others company.

 Thankfully, Aunt Caroline had bubbles!

 Thankfully, my kids don't have asthma that I had.

 Thankfully, my husband is a goofball.

 Thankfully, playing outside in the fresh air can tire my babies out
(even if only for a minute or two).

 Thankfully, my children know how to share (most days).

 Thankfully, my bashful child is not shy for the camera.

 Thankful.

 My heart is full.

 My children are healthy and happy.

 My husband is healthy and happy.

 I have Joy that is unmatched by anything else I can list.

Jesus has made my life whole.

 I am forgiven.

 I am free.

 And I am loved.

 Everything else is just, as George would say....

 Bonus!

One particular bonus-
Generations of love.