Applesauce

Last Friday we made applesauce with apples from our own tree.

Here are the apples in a box, waiting for the process to begin.

The apples had to be peeled because of the holes and scabs. Here are Emily, Meghan, and Leah peeling and chopping at the kitchen table.

Apples, cut up, almost ready for cooking.

Apples simmering on the stove. I love the smell of cooking apples.

Applesauce in jars - waiting for the canner to be ready.

End product: 14 jars of applesauce and a table full of peels.

Justine

Signs of Fall

Here are some pictures I took this morning. There is still a lot of green, but the trees are definitely starting to turn colour.

This last picture I took a while ago. The bright green of the trees and the blue of the sky with a bit of puffy white clouds are my favourite colours.

Justine

Space Shuttle Adventure

The following is a journal entry I wrote a few days ago. The pictures were taken another day.

Every school day I take Gavin, Thomas, and Nadia outside for one hour and fifteen minutes. This morning the boys wanted to play space shuttle in the old blue van.

(Brent, Thomas, and Gavin)

Brent (who had some free time), Gavin, and Thomas took turns being co-pilot and "driver".
While Brent was driving, we went to the moon. On the way, we passed the sun and blew it up. We went straight through Jupiter and blew it up as we were leaving.

Gavin got us stuck in the middle of space. Then he hit an alien. Emily was doing a science project and was using the front of the van as a writing desk. We appointed her as an alien.

Thomas, whose knowledge of the solar system and of geography is somewhat confused, decided to head for Africa. But first, the space shuttle got stuck in a tree. After he succeeded in knocking down the tree, he steered for Africa, guided by a map of North America.

(Cyrus walking on the windshield)

Meanwhile Nadia and I lounged around in the back seat. Nadia sucked her middle fingers and watched her brothers' excited activity with a look of mild concern.

Eventually the boys tired of their cosmic flight and turned to the tamer activity of using swings as trucks and race cars. Someday maybe they'll really fly to the moon, but I doubt they'll go as far as their imagination took them one morning in an old blue van.

Justine

On Submission

Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow;
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor:
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks and true obedience;
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband's foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.

From The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

P.S. The Taming of the Shrew is a good book. It is easier to get into than a lot of other books in old English.
Justine

Our Girlie

Here are some pictures of Nadia. She is exactly 18 months old today. After all the boys it is nice to have a girl, and she is really a girl. She loves new and pretty clothes, and will go around the house showing off whatever it is she is wearing.

Nadia loves our cat, Cyrus. She calls him ca' or ki'y. He is not too fond of her, though.

Every morning I get to play outside with the three youngest for a while. It is fun watching Nadia trying to play soccer with the boys, or playing hide and seek with them.

Justine

Introduction

I guess since I started a blog, I should post on it, right?

My name is Justine. I am 16 years old and I have nine younger siblings - five sisters and four brothers. They are: Allison, Leah, Meghan, Emily, Warren, Brent, Gavin, Thomas, and Nadia. My parents are Gerald and Carmen. My mom's blog is called, In His Hands. My siblings and I are homeschooled, and have been all our lives.

I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ as the only one who can save me from my sins and make me alive to God. The purpose of my life is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. I hope to use this blog to further that purpose.

Please feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Justine