Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 5

Part 1 HERE 
Part 2 HERE
Part 3 HERE
Part 4 HERE

Ben's Cowboy Poetry Corner:
The yearly letter. Can't say I remember sitting down to write one of these.
This year was a long yet short year, as they all are, kids growin like weeds,
weeds to pull, lawn to mow, wood to cut, and engines to pull.
Buryin minivans, savin chevettes, fixin suburbs while fightin off tourettes!*%#
Goin campin, shootin some deer, boy am I glad my wife is still here!
She holds me and hugs me, puts up with my beard, loves me and kisses me even when I'm wierd.
I'm blessed much more than many can say, although sometimes I grumble anyway.
God help me be thankful this coming year, and to all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! and a happy new year!  

Blessings to All

Ben & Laura Leggott

Tyler, Emma, Mayda & Wyatt

Jessica King

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 4

Part 1 HERE 
Part 2 HERE
Part 3 HERE

Wyatt giving the Christmas Report: Christmas is all about Jesus's birthday and it's all about giving too. At Awana I helped wrap Christmas Shoeboxes to send all around the world. Yesterday I went Christmas shopping. I helped make some ornaments at the Scottsbluff National Monument. My favorite part about Christmas is that giving is better than receiving. I hope that everybody had a great holiday.

Mayda, giving the barn report: This year our new calico kitty, Sophia, joined our family in February. She had 3 kittens in May and 4 kittens in September. Fluffy is is two years old now; she is a very fluffy calico. I took her to the county fair and she got a green ribbon. She had two litters of kittens also, one with 4, and one with 5 kittens. We still have 3 kittens from all of those litters: Lioness is gray, Flakes is black with white frost, and Hampster is a long haired calico. Our dog, Buck, is 4 years old. He got a his hair cut in the summer, but now he has a thick coat. He greets our guests. He is very very snuggly. In the spring I convinced my mom to buy two new chickens, a black cochin bantam and a sicilian buttercup. They were very good to show at the fair. Emma still has her pet rabbit, Dan, but she sold her other 3 rabbits. Dan is 3 years old. My favorite thing about living on the farm is that we love to raise animals.

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 3

Part 1 HERE 
Part 2 HERE

Jessica King, with the school report: 

I am happy to report that we have had a brilliant school year so far. Wyatt has been taking on Kindergarten with fervor and has particularly been excelling in memorizing Bible verses for AWANA. It's almost as if he's heard these verses rehearsed 3 times before ;)
Mayda has been enjoying 2nd grade and she is a whizz at geography. She'll be the one that puts us on the map one day.
Emma is in 5th grade and is our resident scientist. She reports her favorite subject at present is science because she loves to do the experiments. Her late science-teaching grandfather would be quite proud.
Tyler is a 6th grader and is the history buff of the crew. He loves the activities included in his history curriculum and enjoys the stories even better than fiction.
I've enjoyed watching and assisting these bright pupils in their studies before I head out the door in the morning to my own studies. I've just finished one semester at WNCC and still have one more to go and then Lord willing it's off to UNMC's College of Nursing!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 2

Part 1 HERE

Tyler reporting on sports:

This year Wyatt played t-ball and got a medal. It was his first year and he played for the Gering McDonald's A's with green jerseys. Mayda played softball for the Bytes Computer Repair team. The girls called their team "lightning" and had black t-shirts. One of her games was actually snowed out. Emma wore an orange jersey and played for the U-Save Pharmacy team. Her team took 1st for league games and 3rd for their league championship. I had a red t-shirt and played for the Doc-U-Shred Braves. We traveled to Scottsbluff and Bayard and took 3rd in the league Championship. I learned how to conquer my fears and swing at the ball instead of worrying about getting hurt. Towards the end of the s
eason I hit many balls. One fun fact was that most of our coaches knew our dad, since they played baseball together when they were kids. We really liked playing ball in Gering this year.

Emma giving the County Fair report:

This spring we ordered in 10 cornish cross chicks. They were my own special project. We lost one chicken, but the rest lived. I picked the biggest one to show and won grand champion. Tyler got third place. Mayda showed her cat and Wyatt watched. It was so much fun! The fair had lots of games. One game was a jar that had water in it and at the bottom of the jar was a cup. You had to drop a coin into it, and if you got the coin to go into the cup, then you won some candy. We had lots of fun!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 1

I know there hasn't been much posted here for a few weeks. We have been thoroughly enjoying our family time during the Christmas season. :) The usual hustle and bustle, but we enjoy every moment.

This week we've all been down with virus, so I've had time to work on our Christmas letter. This year we did it newspaper style with each family member doing their own article. I'll be sharing it here with you in installments each day, enjoy!

Current Events by Laura:

• In January I was able to fly to Pennsylvania to welcome my new neice, Charis.
• This spring we were able to spend a week in Kansas City while Ben attended more railroad training. We really enjoyed taking in the museums. We were also blessed to visit Ben's grandma, Beth Leggott, on our way home.
• This year we were able to use and review 39 new homeschool curriculum through The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. 
• This spring I attened a record number of births as a Doula (birth coach). Each was beautiful and precious.
• This summer included many trips to Eastern Nebraska while helping Ben's folks move out of their lake house. 
• In September we enjoyed a short vacation camping at the lake.
• In the fall we were blessed to have Jessica, my sister, move in with us while attending college locally. 
• In October I started a job with the USPS, just working 2 hours per morning at our little village PO. 
• We are still homeschooling; Jessica teaches the first two hours, and I teach the rest of the school day.
• Ben got a nice buck this rifle season, and Tyler shot a tender doe (beause he knows that's what I like!).
• We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving at home with my grandma, Bettie King, here with us.
• The most blessed events always surround our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we are blessed to celebrate His birth. Merry Christmas!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Review: Easy Canvas Prints!

This past couple of weeks I've been whittling down my Christmas gift list for extended family. My husband's folks are always a challenge to shop for. I always want to give them something memorable and unique, as well as something they will like and keep around. They've moved to a new place and I haven't seen it yet, so I knew it would be really hard to find the right thing... until I hit on this. :) Pictures match everything. But framed prints are too simple and easy to really take the Christmas spotlight. Doing a canvas print stepped up my game in just the right ways.

I had the opportunity to review a canvas print from Easy Canvas Prints .Com. I was thrilled! I wanted to do it way back this summer, but alas, I have a terrible time getting everyone together for a picture. Finally, my dad was here visiting, so I "put upon" him to spend part of an afternoon photographing our family. So fun! It was hard to get a serious pose, but we finally did it. Hard part finished, on to make the canvas!

When I say getting the picture was the hard part, I really wasn't kidding. The website made creating my print a snap, and I was done in minutes. I actually played with it for a while so I could see all the features for this review, but really was amazed I could create a simple canvas print so quickly and easily.

I opened up the website and followed these simple steps:

• Choose the size: I went with 8x10"
• Choose the thickness: 3/4" is included, but you can choose 1 1/2" wrapped edge, or a frame, for an extra fee
• Upload your image: making sure the quality is up to par with the size you choose. 
• Zoom and center your photo: especially since the ratio on the canvas might be different than what your camera takes
• Choose your border options: I went with mirror image, since I didn't want to zoom in any more
• Choose your final color and touch-ups: black and white and sepia options are available
• Add to cart! All through the process, there is a project total price in the upper right corner so you know how the choices you made effect the bottom line. The shipping was free too!

Final product:
I ended up getting two prints for my review, and they came in separate boxes and well packed. The shiping was quite quick! Overall I was VERY happy with the ease of ordering, and with the quality. I would truly recommend you check them out. Also be watching for good coupon deals, as they offer them frequently. (Who doesn't love that?!?!)

Disclaimer: I received two free canvas prints in exchange for my honest review. This review reflects my real thoughts on this product. Feel free to find out more by visiting my Disclosure Page above! ©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com