On the Road Again

My travel season is getting ready to ramp up with several homeschool convention trips in the next two months. Additionally, we have an extra, unexpected trip this week. My father-in-law passed away, so we are getting ready to make a very fast trip to Missouri for the funeral.

As usual, I'll be blogging about our travels along the way, but I expect a lot of the pictures will be taken out the car window as we drive along. No time for leisurely stops and sight-seeing.

Life is always an adventure, isn't it?

Tunnel of Gold - review

Tunnel of Gold is the second installment in Susan K. Marlow's Goldtown Adventure series for tweens. Twelve-year-old Jem is caught in the thick of things when trouble erupts in Goldtown with a disagreement between the rich mine owner and the Chinese immigrants over the rights to a previously abandoned mine. Jem, his younger sister Ellie, and greenhorn cousin Nathan, are trying to do what they can to help the sheriff-- Jem's pa. Then along comes a new boy. Chad Carter is the son of an out-of-town investor who is in Goldtown on business. When Chad learns the whole story, he joins with the other kids in their efforts to save the town.

Fans of Susan's previous series will recognize Chad's name as the older brother of Andi Carter--the main character in Circle C Adventures. It was neat to think about this story taking place 16 years earlier, before Andi was born, when her father was still alive and her brother was a kid.

Susan's books are well-written and engaging, even for us "kids" who are a "little" older than her target demographic. She offers lapbooks and free study guides to go along with each title which makes them great for homeschoolers. The third book in this series, Canyon of Danger, will be out in the fall. You can read my review of the first book, Badge of Honor, here.

Today I'm Praying for...

...my father-in-law who had a stroke a few days ago.

...my uncle who is in the hospital.

...a friend's sister who lost her baby yesterday.

Join me?

Artsy Collections

It's been awhile since I've showed you what I've been up to on Etsy. Just this past week some of the items from my shop have been featured in several beautiful treasury collections. It's always so fun to see the variety of beautiful items available on Etsy. Sometimes things pop up in treasury collections that I would have never thought to search for. Check out all the neat products that have been assembled with my very own washcloths and mug cozies in these collections:

Forest Cotton

Denim Blues

shades of blue

lemon up

Gifts for her ~ Sage Green

 Bright and Mellow Yellow

Chicken Update #4

I'm told it's past time for an update on The Girls. Looking back at the previous update, I have to agree. These little biddies are growing and changing practically before our very eyes!

 They moved from their brooder to their coop last weekend. This morning when I went out to check on them, they were cuddled together in one of the nesting boxes.

 As soon as they saw me they decided it was time for breakfast. So they headed out the door and down the ramp to the feeding trough.

They are curious little things. So much fun to watch and talk to. They move around so fast that it's hard to get a good picture of all four of them at once.