Discovery Academy

Let's Hear it For the Boys

2011-06-20T07:08:00.003-05:00

OK, so it has been a while since I have posted anything, but this week over at I Heart Faces, it is "Let's Hear it for the Boys" week. I had to post this one. My son is all boy. We have little lizards at our house called skinks. They are very cute when they are outside the house. Inside is another story. My son loves to catch them. Usually they immediately drop their tail, but not always. This one is only missing the tip of its tail. On this day my son caught this little fellow and carried him around forever. Of course I had to take their picture together. I think they make a cute pair.

Check out more "Boys" over at www.iheartfaces.com

A Forest of Snow

2011-01-17T16:57:00.002-06:00

Last week we had an awesome snowfall. Usually we have to wait until mid-February, but this year has been different. We even had a dusting of snow on Christmas eve. This snowfall was about 4 inches or so and just perfect for making snowmen and sledding. We also enjoyed snowcream. Yum. My friend and I spent some time in the woods admiring God's handiwork. The snow really brought out all the intricate designs of our Creator. It was gorgeous! Enjoy.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-17T07:35:00.003-06:00

Our first big snow of the season made for a great day. My children and I went sledding with several of our friends. It was exhausting to have to climb the hill over and over, but it was worth it. My friends daughter is the subject of this photo. It was her first time sledding and she could not get enough.

You can check out more Winter Wonderland photos over at:

Over My Head

2010-07-20T16:15:00.003-05:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is "Over My Head". I wasn't sure I was going to enter this week, but as usual the theme got me thinking. Today we went to the zoo. A new exhibit there allows you to feed birds with seed on a stick. The kids loved it and I did to. The birds are just beautiful. My daughter was amazed when these stopped buy her stick for a bite to eat.

You can see more "Over My Head" photos at:

Pet's Week

2010-06-28T13:33:00.003-05:00

The category at I Heart Faces this week is pets. My children went to spend a week at their Granny and Papa's house just a few weeks ago. The second day they told me of a litter of kittens that were, "sooo cute". (You must say that with a high pitch in your voice.LOL) The next day they told me the mama cat had moved all the kitten except this one. The next day was the same story. "Mama, can we please bring her home?" Not what I bargained for. No, was my answer. You see we have one big, fat lazy cat that sheds and really isn't a cuddly kind of cat. I didn't want another one. However, we couldn't just leave her there. The kids had to run for the car with her chasing them just to get away. She was hungry and scared. Mama cat didn't come back the next day, so we decided they could bring her home the next day. Granny got a bottle and some kitten formula. Who know they made such stuff. When I saw her for the first time, I was in love, as was my hubby. She was so tiny; only about 5 weeks. She is now about 8 weeks old and fully weaned. She is a playful sweet kitten. My daughter named her Faith. (Her sisters were Hope and Love). Today she went on a ride with us and was a bit thirsty on the way home. She started chewing on the straw in the Sonic cup in the trash. She knows where the good stuff is. LOL I couldn't resist posting this one.

Check out other furry, scaly, feathery critters over at:

Baptism

2010-05-24T17:02:00.005-05:00

Well, it has been a week and I just realized that I never blogged about Tyler's baptism. Time sure flies when you are busy. Tyler is 7 (and 1/2) and a couple of weeks ago I sat him down and explained, with the use of a tract, how to get to Heaven. He has heard this all his life, but I wanted it to be personal. In fact, lately we have been reading from the book, "Leading Little Ones to Christ", which is a great book that just takes baby steps to tell you about Jesus and what he did for you. I had felt for a while that I should do this with him, but the right time never came. So, on this day, after he finished his math work we sat under a table (he is a boy, you know) and I read the tract to him. It was a children's version and very good. At the end I asked him if he would like to ask Jesus into his heart. He said yes. We prayed and he acknowledged he was a sinner and asked for forgiveness. It was so sweet. Then he had to call everyone and tell them what he did. Now my little boy has the assurance of going to heaven. What a wonderful gift God has given us. I am so thankful for my assurance as well. How about you? Do you have that assurance?

His dad helped him out that day. Doesn't that look like one proud Papa.

Sister had to lend some moral support.

I thought he looked like an angel in his robe, so I had to play with this picture. LOL

A view from our vantage point.

Thanks to Mary Ellen, we got this picture.

Yellow

2010-05-24T08:17:00.003-05:00

This week is yellow week over at:

Here's my entry. Believe it or not this was take outside Wal-Mart. I love the yellow and green leaves.

You can see more faces and yellow over at

Fix it Friday

2010-05-14T08:40:00.004-05:00

It's Friday again and her is another photo that needs fixing. I use Photoshop Elements 8. This was a geat picture. Here is the original.

Here is my edit.

I use Coffeeshop's Baby Powder Room action first. Then I got rid of his boo boos with the healing brush. Then I ran Coffeeshop's Barista action. That's it.

Smiles

2010-04-26T07:48:00.003-05:00

The category this week at I Heart Faces, is Smiles. I had lots of smiles I could have used, but this one seemed too cute to pass up. This was taken at Easter. My son decided he wanted to look like his daddy, so we went and bought him a suit. Daddy supplied the sunglasses. They walked the halls of church looking just this way. Tyler was proud to look like his dad. You can tell by that little grin (smile) on his face. It was too hard to be serious. Momma loves those dimples. LOL

You can see more smiling faces at

Fix it Friday

2010-04-23T11:08:00.004-05:00

Over at I Heart Faces it is Friday again. Here is the original picture:

It is a great picture with lots of potential. I use PSE and opened in Camera Raw. I tweeked the temperature, blackened the blacks, upped the saturation and sharpened it a bit. Then I opened it. I ran CoffeeShop's Perfect Portrait on it, but took out the color pop since I had already tweaked the saturation. I whitened her teeth (teeth always need whitening, no matter what), whitened the whites of her eyes, brightened her eyes, and smoothed her skin a bit.
The snow blur across the face bothered me, so I used the dropper and picked a color near the blur and airbrushed it on to match. Here is how it turned out:

I hope you like it. I love learning new stuff on PSE. If you want to see more fixes, head on over to:

Fix it Friday

2010-04-02T08:47:00.002-05:00

It is Friday again and over at I Heart Faces it is time to fix another picture. This one has the most adorable little girl in it. I couldn't resist trying to work a little magic on it.

This is the original.

This is my edit. I use PSE8 and Coffeshops Perfect Portrait for my action. Super easy and quick.

To see more edits of this picture head on over to

Dramatic B & W

2010-03-29T07:49:00.003-05:00

This week's challenge over at
is Dramatic B & W. Here is my entry. My daughter and I went on a date this weekend and this is one of the pictures I took of her.

To see more Dramatic B & W pictures head on over to

Fix it Friday

2010-03-26T09:26:00.002-05:00

This week's Fix it Friday over at I Heart Faces was this picture. What some great color and great eyes.

Here's what I did to it. I use PSE8.

I hope you like it. To see more faces, head over to:

Jump for Joy

2010-03-08T16:07:00.002-06:00

This week over at I Heart Faces the theme is "Jump for Joy". I just couldn't resist putting this pix of my son in the mix.

You can see more Jumping for Joy at:

Hands on Fun

2010-02-23T07:54:00.002-06:00

This week over at the theme is Hands on Fun. I took this picture at a recent shoot of my friend and her three month old.

See more Hands on Fun at:

Snow Day Feb 2010

2010-02-08T16:55:00.001-06:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Shell Changing

2010-02-05T20:37:00.004-06:00

As you know from an earlier post, Crabitat, we have hermit crabs. Nine to be exact. They are such exciting creatures. I would highly recommend getting more than just 2. Right now we have anywhere from 4 to 6 of them buried up. Some are molting and some are just on vacation. They come and go. I never know what I'll find in the morning in the crabitat. Things are moved, food is gone and crabs are up that were down and vice versa. Some days I find a crab in a new shell and recently, I found a couple of crabs naked. (Not on the same day.) LOL For some reason I found them without their shells on. It was amazing, but confusing. My crabitat is by no means a super warm spot; not in the winter, anyway. I don't know why they were streaking. However, I did get to watch them put their shells back on. God sure did make some amazing creatures when he made Hermit Crabs. I ordered new shells for them and after putting them in the tat the other night, I heard clanging. I looked over to see some shell "romancing" going on. Shelldon was looking over a new shell. He measured and cleaned it for over a half hour. I watched for a while, then I got my daughter's camera to take a video. I knew he was about to change shells. Here is what I saw. You might want to scroll down to the very bottom of my blog and hit pause on the player because this video has some music also.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sad to say, Shelldon had buyer's remorse. He changed back within 5 minutes. I think he found it a bit small.

I ♥ Faces Week #1

2010-01-04T16:43:00.004-06:00

They're having a contest over at I ♥ Faces for their one year anniversary. The key this time is to use their logo creatively in your pictures. Here are my entries.

You can check out more faces at

I am submitting this photo into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”

Hilarious Outtakes

2009-12-28T08:22:00.003-06:00

Over at I ♥ Faces this week, the challenge is Hilarious Outtakes. Most of mine come from my son in one way or another. He is a jokester.

He was pretty young in this one.

Teasing his sister during school pictures.

Is that Santa? Nope, just Tyler goofing off.

No Christmas card photo here.

Sometimes sister has to get in on the act to.

Check out more outtakes at

Crabitat

2009-12-20T20:31:00.008-06:00

While on vacation back in September, we brought home 9 new pets: hermit crabs. I have been interested in them for a while, but never really got down to studying them. When we saw them in Florida, we decided to get a couple. Actually, my daughter bought them. She picked out two; one for her and one for her brother. They came with a tiny clear box and some food and other things that are must have for crabs. We took them "home" with us that night and decided that we needed more. So the next day we went back and purchased 7 more for a grand total of nine. They are interesting. They are not rambunctious like a dog or even like my lazy fat cat, but they are way cool. Since we brought them home I have learned that several people have hermit crabs, but have no idea how to really care for them. So, I have decided to finally post about my hermit crabs.

This is our crabitat. It isn't as big as I would like, but it will do until I can find a taller one. I would really love to have one that was taller so I could build different levels for them to climb around on. They are excellent climbers. In fact, they are called tree crabs because they can climb trees. They can do this because of their two pinchers. One is very large in comparison to the other. It is used to hold on to things. If you are holding a crab, and it feels like it is going to fall, you could get pinched as it tries to hold on to your hand. We had this happen the first day we got our biggest crab. He was a frightening crab after that for a while. However, now we realize he is really docile and hasn't pinched since. We know how to hold them so they don't feel like they are falling.

Here is our biggest crab. We call him Big Green for obvious reasons. Yes, I know he is in a painted shell. He came to us that way. We didn't know any better; however, he hasn't found a shell he likes better. For those who may not know. Painted shells are awful. The process of getting a crab out of a natural shell and getting it into a painted shell so it will sell is akin to ripping you out of your comfy bed at night and sticking you in a motel somewhere. Actually, it is worse. It must be traumatic for these little guys. Also paint can chip off and crabs will eat it. They eat anything. Paint is toxic to crabs. Most of ours were in painted shell, but many of them have chose new natural shells.

Look at the size of that claw! Yes, he is is Purple Pincher. He (or she) is sweet, though. I am still the only one who will hold him. He is still scared of us. I hope with a little attention and some love, he will get over that some day. He has lived many years and who knows what all he has lived through. He must be a tough one.

Here is a comparison of Big Green and Pinkie. She is much small than her shell. In fact, just last week she traded to a much smaller shell and it fit quite well. She must not have felt comfortable, though, because she switched back after a few days. We have two other small crabs. One just came up from a molt and the other is down for a molt right now. The rest are a size between big green and pinkie.
Did I mention molting? Yes, they molt. They are Arthropods and Crustaceans which means they have an exoskeleton. In order to grow bigger they must grow a new skeleton and shed the old. We have had two do this so far and two are down right now. This is a very cool process. First, the crab will spend some time in the drinking water dish. He needs to drink lots of water. Our Big Purple (almost as big as Big Green) did this just the other night. He just sat in the water forever. The next morning I couldn't find him. He was down for a molt. They molt underground. They dig a hole in the sand and live in it until they are finished. The first of ours to molt didn't dig very deep. In fact, he really didn't dig at all. I figured he was molting, but I wasn't sure. He didn't move at all, that we could see. After a week of not moving, I picked him up. His claws and legs seemed a bit floppy to me. When I turned him over, they fell out. Oh my, was my intitial thought. Then I figured out he had molted. I looked into the shell and, sure enough, he was in there.

This is what he looked like. He was smaller than before. That seems strange, but he will swell to a larger size soon. That is what all that water drinking was about.

This is what fell out. There is no crab attached to these legs and claws. I carefully put the molted exoskeleton back into the hole and put the crab (Giraffey, we call him) on top. Crabs eat their exoskeleton (as do most creatures that molt) to get the nutrients they contain. Giraffey ate all except the big claw and maybe a leg part. Here he is shortly after his molt.

Crabs can be down for a molt for a long time. Giraffey did it in about two weeks. Another smaller crab took at least 3 weeks.

I figure Big Purple will be down for at least a month or longer because he is so big. You should be sure to provide lots of sand for your crab to dig in. The should be able to completely bury up. I have my sand angled with one end deep and the other shallow. It is deep enough for my biggest crab to bury up in. Also, you should never dig up a crab that is molting. It is trauatic and could kill them. Some people may think their crab is dead, but if it doesn't smell like a dead fish, it is still alive.

Can you see the hole in the sand? This is Big Purple. He has dug down to the bottom of the tank. We can check on him from time to time this way.

Here is another crab we call Walker. He loves to walk. He has changed shells also.

You may be wondering what that black thing is under my tank. This is an under tank heater. Crabs require warm temps of 72 degrees at least. Lower temperatures can kill them over time. Our house temperature is lower than that at night, so we need the heater. The heater heats the sand and the crabs sit on the warm sand. If the get too warm they can move farther away. Problem solved. I also put a heating lamp in the tank from time to time. The also need proper humidity to breathe. The breathe through modified gills that must be kept moist. The humidity level must be around 70%. There are several ways to do this. One way is to make sure your sand is always moist, at least the bottom 3/4 of it. Always keep two water dishes in the tank. One must be dechlorinated water for them to drink. You can decontaminate it using the same stuff you would use in a fish tank to remove chlorine and other toxic elements. The other water should be salt water. Do not use table salt. It is toxic. Use aquarium salt for salt water tanks. I use two old milk jugs to store my water. One has salt water and the other has dechlorinated water. You can also keep a spray bottle filled with dechlorinated water handy. I mist the tank from time to time. I usually mist the log because I know it will hold the moisture in for longer. Always keep a lid on the tank with a large hole for fresh air. This will keep the moisture in also.

I have had the question, "What do you feed them?" alot lately. Most folks just give them the crab food that came with them. That is all well and good, but crabs prefer a varied diet. They like something new each night. That is how it would be in the wild. They would just eat what they found. I use my crab food as my staple back up when I am tired and have nothing else to give them. They are omnivores, so they eat anything. Mine love peanut butter on a cracker and almost rotten banana. I have given them soup beans, ham, tuna, veggies and more. Just don't give them the stuff we aren't supposed to eat, like processed food or sweets. They shouldn't have much dairy either. They eat so little that it is sometimes impossible to tell if they ate any at all. Even with nine, I sometimes wonder if they even touched what I put in the tank. That is ok. They are small creatures. I love to watch them feed. There are tons of websites out there to help you care for you hermit crab. One of my favorites is: http://hermit-crabs.com/care.html
You can also Google crabitats and see what others are doing in their tanks. Youtube has some great videos of crabs changing shells.

I love my hermit crabs. They really do make great pets. They aren't self maintaining, but they are close.

I ♥ Faces Pets Only

2009-12-14T08:39:00.004-06:00

This week at I ♥ Faces, the theme is Pets Only (or any animal). This spring we had a family of Mockingbirds hatch in a bush next to our porch. They were just the right height to sneak a peek and watch them grow. One day we opened the front door and found that all but one little baby was out of the nest. Of course, I grabbed the camera. The kids and I followed this little one all over. Mama Mockingbird didn't seem to be worried. He was a stature for the longest. Enjoy.

Check out more pet faces at:

Fix it Friday

2009-12-11T08:04:00.002-06:00

Here's the original:

Here's my entry for Fix it Friday:

You can see more edits of this picture at

I ♥ Faces Sweet Dreams

2009-12-07T06:49:00.004-06:00

This week over at I ♥ Faces the theme is Sweet Dreams. My entry was taken just a few months ago on our vacation to Florida. We had been on the beach all morning and were pooped. Everyone took a nap including my son. He was so out ou it that we couldn't get him awake. LOL He looked so peaceful.

You can see more Sweet Dreams pictures here:

Fix it Friday

2009-11-14T13:20:00.003-06:00

Ok, I know it isn't Friday, but I have been editing pictures all morning. I Heart Faces has Fix It Friday every week. I thought I'd give it a try. Tell me what you think. I am very much a novice, but I like to learn.

This is the original.

This is my edit.

Fall Photo Shoot

2009-11-14T09:31:00.003-06:00

This year my friend Jane and I decided to let me do our school pix. So, we took a trip to the country to her mother's house and snapped these shots.

I hope you liked them. It was so much fun taking them.

And The Winner Is....

2009-11-12T16:49:00.002-06:00

My baby won a first place ribbon in the RA Raingutter Regalia that was held last week. He was so proud and so was I. They get to do it later, so he might just win again. I'll keep you posted.

My Mom's Silouette

2009-11-09T12:22:00.001-06:00

I took this picture of my mom being silly on our trip to the nature center. I like it. What do you think? Leave me a comment.

My Sweet Girlie

2009-11-09T12:12:00.002-06:00

RA Rain Gutter Regalia

2009-11-04T20:50:00.011-06:00

On Wednesday nights, my son takes part in the Royal Ambassadors at our church. Last night they had their first ever Rain Gutter Regalia, which is a boat race. We have done cars and line gliders, but this was something new. It was a great physics lesson for some because their boats would not even stand up in the water. It was quite comical at times. The boys had fun and the dads learned valuable lessons about boat making. So, what happened was 2 rain gutters were filled with water. This was the race track. Two boats would then race from one end of the gutter to the other powered by wind. In other words the boys blew with all their mights. We were afraid some would pass out trying to get their boats to move just a few inches. Red faces were everywhere. LOL We didn't find out the winners yet, but we will know next week. Tyler's boat was very unique and did quite well. He enjoyed making it. It was a family project, but he sanded and painted it. Then he put the decorations on it and clear coated it. We are proud of our little speed boat boy.

Everyone was excited about Tyler's boat since is was different from all the rest.

Mom had to experiment with some silohette photos of her boy and his boat. I am learning.

Beth Moore Conference

2009-10-12T07:30:00.003-05:00

This weekend a bus load of ladies from my church loaded up on went to a Beth Moore conference. Who is Beth Moore? I was asked this just the other day. She is a well know author and Bible study leader. I have only done one of her studies, Daniel, but it was awesome. The insight God gives her is truly amazing. This weekend was no different. There were over 13,000 women (and a few men) there. The music was totally awesome and God was truly moving among us. If you ever get a chance to go, go. You won't regret it. Enjoy some of the pictures I took.

Muddy Birthday Fun

2009-10-01T08:16:00.002-05:00

My children's birthdays are 2 days apart so we have always had a combined birthday party. This year our theme was mud. Doesn't that sound great. We had plenty of it since it had rained for 2+ weeks straight before the party. People were contemplating building an ark. LOL Last year they ended up squirting each other with paint that was meant for paper and that gave me an idea. So, this year we cleared my garden spot and created a giant mud pit. It was a hit. Lots of mud. My garden will never be the same. After playing like pigs for a while, everyone had hot dogs and barbequed pot roast followed by cake and ice cream. Yummy. The weather was just perfect and everyone had a great time. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Successful Homeschooling Reviews

2009-09-24T12:19:00.002-05:00

Click on the link below to see how you can win $150 in prizes by submitting a curriculum review to Successful Homeschooling. Here's the link:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschool-reviews.html

You can also just go there and read curriculum reviews. They are awesome to help you figure out what will work best with your students.

Beach Trip # 2

2009-09-21T07:59:00.002-05:00

Here is my second post about our beach trip. We took some time to take some family pictures one afternoon. It was fun, but difficult to get a good family photo with no one to snap the picture. We asked a guy on the beach, but apparantly he didn't have much experience with a camera. Enjoy.

Our Beach Vacation

2009-09-19T17:47:00.002-05:00

Vacation was just awesome this year. Last year we briefly stopped at a beach in the panhandle of Florida and got bitten by the beach bug. We couldn't wait to go back. This year we stayed several nights right on the beach. It was great to hear the roar of the ocean out your window. It was great to see the kids splash in the ocean and play in the sand. My favorite thing was boogie boarding. Even my husband, who is terrified of water and can't swim, got out there in a floatie and rode the waves. We look for shells, spied some crabs and some dolphins. I took pictures of birds. I'll post those later. I could stand a much longer vacation at the beach. I hope you enjoy the first of 3 posts on our beach vacation.

Monday Marvels

2009-09-07T19:58:00.006-05:00

We have a little friend living in our Rosemary bush. Of course we named her Charlotte. What else would you name a yellow garden spider, ( Argiope aurantia). She has grown a lot in the last few days. Last year, my friend had a Charlotte. She was so interesting to see and hear about. Her spider was so friendly that it would eat from your hand. She even laid eggs, but I don't think they hatched. We have love looking at our Charlotte for the past few weeks. I hope she lays eggs and her babies live in my flower beds next year.

God's Glorious Creatures

2009-09-03T07:39:00.003-05:00

Last year about this time, my father screened in my back porch. We finally got a door for it, but it turned out to be much cheaper that we thought. So, my dad took the door with him to work on it. Now the patio is open and all kinds of creatures find their way in there, especially insects. In the past few days we have found some interesting ones. I took pictures so we could share. This year we will be studying insects for the last part of Zoo I, so this is very timely.

This one is definately a Sphinx moth or Hawk moth. They are so large and probably one of my favorite moths. He was already dead when we found him. They are unique because they pupate underground. It is related to the tomato/tobacco hornworm. (those big green worms that eat your tomato plants.)

This one is another favorite. Many confuse this one with a bumble bee. The size is about the same, but it is definately a moth; a Clear-winged sphinx moth. You can tell it is a moth when it is flying by looking at its clubbed antenna. When first born, the moth has black scales all over its wings, but as it flies most of them fall off leaving the wings clear.

Here's another view of him.

This one is a moth also, but I am not sure what kind. Look at his body, especially his tail. He was on the screen and looked like a leaf instead of an insect.

Here he is from another angle.

This is a black swallowtail. She was fiesty and I had a hard time getting her out of the patio. I usually try to scoop them into a box and then let them go. She wasn't going in the box, so I ended up gently using my hands.

We have also had a host of wasps and bees and the Arkansas state bird, the mosquito, camping out back there. As I was eating lunch on Sunday after church I looked out to see a hummingbird caught back there. I knew it would happen; I just didn't know when. I so wanted to be able to hold it, but it didn't seem very sure of me. Hummers are smart. It spotted the door and left on its own. We have lots of hummers at our house. We usually read our science or history on the porch so we can watch them feed and fight. One we have named Curious because she will fly up to the screen and look at us as we are reading. She is a cutie. She is tough to. She defends "her" feeder very well. They also feed from the other flowers in the garden underneath the feeder. We like to put rotting bananas out there to attract small insects for them to eat. Hummers love insects.

I'll keep you posted on what else we find that is interesting. I think we may have a door up some time next week.

Rosemary Stripey Hatched

2009-07-22T10:42:00.009-05:00

Oh wow!!! She hatched, finally!!! Who? Rosemary Stripey our Black Swallowtail Caterpiller chrysalis. You can read about her here: http://ghomeschool.blogspot.com/2008/09/gods-glorious-creation.html and here: http://ghomeschool.blogspot.com/2008/09/as-of-tuesday-we-have-new-caterpillar.html

She came to us last fall on September 9th. A lady in our homeschool group found a bunch of the caterpillars eating her parsley and decided to give them away. It didn't take Rosemary Stripey (RS) to turn into a chrysalis, about 2 days. That was way back in September. That is over 10 months ago!! We carried her to vacation in Orlando for a week and since she has been sitting atop our fridge. I had given up on her. 10 months? Something must be wrong. I decided to put the box outside on the porch as a last resort. Maybe the house is too cool for her. We keep it on 78 degrees most of the time. The next day, yesterday, Bobbi came in and was telling me about a box on the back porch. It took me a while to understand which box. "Mom, it has a butterfly in it. It is on its back, and I think it's dead." All my hopes sank. What have I done? We rushed out to see. There she was on her back on the bottom of the box, but she was wiggling. Yeah. She's alive! I opened the box and helped her up onto a stick that Tyler brought me.

This is how she came out of her chrysalis.Tyler is the stick man at our house. LOL. She must have just hatched because she was still small and shrivled. She was still draining and drying. Oh, we were excited. She stayed there all afternoon and night. Our porch is screened in, so we felt lucky that she could fly around when she was ready, but we would still be able to see her when she left us. She is a beautiful butterfly. One of God's awesome creations. New life right before our eyes. I checked on her, frequently, all morning. She was flapping her wings a bit, but still draining early on. Then, after class, we were going to read our history on the porch with her. That's when I noticed she was gone. She had flown down to the floor by the door and was fluttering on the ground. I thought she might be having problems, but she was ready to fly. I helped her out and off she went. You can tell in the video I was excited.

They've Grown

2009-06-25T13:26:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since we let our baby frogs go. They were so cute. Today I was turning on the water for my garden and looked down. Guess what I saw? It was one of our baby frogs. Apparantly he likes it in the butterfly garden because he is still there. I ran to get the kids and of course Tyler had to pick him up.

When we went to put him back we found his brother (or sister). They have grown so I guess they are finding lots of food. If they like ants, they can have a feast.

I hope they stick around a long time. We will make sure there is water there for them and maybe they will. I'll keep you posted.

All Grown Up

2009-06-18T08:30:00.005-05:00

Well, 6 of our tadpoles are tadpoles no more. They are frogs. I have decided that tonight we will set them free. I think they might starve if we don't. I'm not much of a mother frog. I catch bugs, but I'm not sure they eat them. The are just so cute!! I love to watch them.

Remember what the looked like just a couple of weeks ago? See his tail. It is all gone and he can breathe on land now.

The little guy on the rock is our newest convert. See how tiny he is and how almost transparent his little arms are. Compare his size with the one on the right.

Here's the whole family. There are 6 total. One is hiding at the top of the rock.

Only 2 or 3 are left that aren't complet frogs yet. This guy is close. He has arms and legs, but he still has a pretty long tail. It won't be long before he comes out of the water.

I have loved raising these tadpoles to become frogs. We fed them algae wafers and flake fish food as tadpoles. We then fed the frogs bugs and bloodworms. They had to be tiny bugs because they are tiny frogs. Actually, they are toads. To catch bugs, took my small fish net and a jar with some water in it to the tall grass in our yard. I made sure the water was dechlorinated just like the water in their tank. Then I set the jar down with the lid loose. I would pull the net through the grass and on to the jar after quickly removing the lid. The back on goes the lid just as quickly. Swirl goes the water in the jar to get their wings wet. That keeps them from flying away. Now I can pour them into the tank. Supper time. We also have ant in our house from time to time. Now is one of those times. We would gently squish the ants and put them in the frog water. I am tired of catching bugs, so tonight we set them free.

More Self-sufficient?

2009-06-17T14:23:00.004-05:00

Recently, I have felt that I should learn to be more self-sufficient. Times are tough and we are always called by God to be good stewards of all He gives us. This year my garden is doing so much better. I am learning little by little how to grow things successfully. I harvested my first green beans and my first pea pod yesterday. My tomatoes have gone wild and I should have tons of ripe ones within the week. My children and I went on a bike ride today and decided to drive the truck back to a house that had cut down 2 trees. I wanted to cut some of the smaller branches to use as support for my beans and peas. It worked well and it was free.

Another idea my husband and I have been working on for a while is saving rain water to use in the garden during the summer. We have had the containers to catch the water for a while, but that was as far as it went. Well this weekend we decided it was time. We bought the stuff and I finished them today. I am so proud. Now it won't rain. We will have drought waiting to use our new rain barrels. LOL

This is our big barrel. I just cut off the downspout with a hacksaw and attached a plastic diverter to it with screws. Then I put the plastic diverter into the hole on the top. This one comes with an spigot. I just have to figure out how to attach a garden hose to it.This one is actually 2 plastic barrels attached with a pvc pipe. I used a hole saw to cut a hole in the top of both barrels and insert the pvc pipe. I then caulked around both for a good seal.The water will come down the downspout, into the plastic diverter and into the first barrel. When that barrel is full it will overflow into the second barrel. When the second barrel is full it will overflow into the yard. We will be elevating both barrels so gravity will help empty them easier.I also used a paddel bit to drill a hole for the spigots in the barrels. Teflon tape will create a seal around those to keep the water in. All I have to do is attach the hose and turn on the spigot. Free water.Finally, I finished my swing. It is not in its final spot in the yard, but it is finished. The next thing is to figure out where to put it. Then we will buy a section of cattle fencing and create an arch over it. On that we will grow some sort of vine. It will be awesome when it is done. I'll keep you posted.

Fun in the Mud

2009-06-14T20:07:00.003-05:00

Something or somebody has been walking in my garden!!!!!

Ok, it was really my kiddos. We have had a lot of rain this weekend. I mean A LOT. Since Friday, we have had 3.5 inches according to our rain guage. That is a lot for us. Most of it fell this morning around 7AM. Our back yard was a lake. Friday afternoon we were having tornado warnings at around 5PM. We are tired of rain.

So today, after church, I went out to survey the damage to my garden. All of my corn was blown over. I set out to put it back up by straightening and packing it with mud. Then I tied them with rope for extra stability until it all dries out. My corn is planted 3 -5 stalks per hill with peas or beans and squash planted around them. That is called the "Three Sisters" garden. It was done by the Native Americans, so I thought I'd try it. Now it is very humid outside and I am wading mud and water up past my ankles trying not to fall over. My kids, on the other hand, are out there in the unplanted part having a ball. Then they went over into the "lake" part of the yard and waded the water. They had a blast!

This is the last third of my garden that I haven't gotten planted yet. I don't think this qualifies as tilling. LOL

Of course, he had to fall down in it.

We Have Lungs!!!

2009-06-10T07:31:00.003-05:00

This morning we awoke to this: a frog sitting on a rock. That means he now has lungs. He sat there for a while. I have to clean the tank and wipe down the walls today so I can get better side view pictures. It is so exciting to see God's handiwork changing right before my eyes just as He designed it to. Awesome.

We Have Arms!!!!!!

2009-06-09T18:52:00.005-05:00

Tonight I found a tadpole that has arms. This is so exciting!!!! He looks like a real frog doesn't he. One down, about 15 more to go. Click to make the pix larger.

Something Fishy

2009-06-08T19:20:00.012-05:00

I wrote about my fish some time ago, but I haven't updated in a while. At that time, I had gotten a blue Betta. He was beautiful, but he died. He was diseased when I got him. Poor guy. He is now fertilizing our apple tree. Well, we couldn't be without a Betta. They are really beautiful fish. So, we picked out a red one and named him Red Ribbons.

Isn't he gorgeous. He is such a docile fish. If you know anything about Bettas, you know that they are particular about their tankmates. He can be the only one with long fins. That means only one male Betta per tank; otherwise, they would fight till the death. That also goes for any other fish with long fins. Right now his tankmates include:

3 Bloodfin Tetras. The are schooling fish and always seem to be shivering in fear. Ha.

2 albino Corey cats. I think the look like Wilford Brimley (you know, the guy how now advertises for Liberty Medical). I think it's the "moustache". In fact, I call them Wilford and Brimley. LOL Bobbi calls them Sniff and Schelley. They are scavengers and eat everything that falls to the aquarium floor. Sometimes they nibble on algae. At night, I drop a couple of pieces of shrimp pellets in for them since they are most active at night.

There are also three Otocinculus Catfish, Otto for short. This one is the runt of the litter. He has 2 bigger brothers one of which is spotted. We call him Spot, of course. They eat the algae off of the glass and other decorations. I think I would need a dozen to keep up with the algae in my tank. Spot is the most active in the day. The others are a bit scared to come out in the day.

Lately, I have noticed that Red has seemed a bit lonely. All the other fish had buddies, except for him. He would just sit on the bottom most of the day. So, I got him a friend. A female Betta we named Sugar Cookies, Sugar for short. She is much smaller and doesn't have long fins like Red, but she is all Betta. She is pink with red markings. It looks to us like she is wearing red lipstick.

It was obvious that Red was very intrigued with her. No more moping under a plant at the bottom of the tank for him. As soon as I put her in, he became very territorial. He chased the poor Tetras for days with his gill covers flared out. That is a sight to see. Then he would chase Sugar. She may be small, but she is a good swimmer and fast to. Then after a week, she was coming out of the castle when Red slowly swam down to her. Well, in true Betta form, she flared her gill covers at him and gently chased him away. The tide has turned. Hmmh. Never a dull moment. Today was even more different. Red hasn't come out of the castle yet, not even to eat. You should know that fish can go for days without eating. In fact it is good for them sometimes. Then mid-morning, I saw Sugar go in the castle with Red. He didn't chase her away and she was in there a while and maybe more than once. Maybe he is building a bubble nest. They do that when they are happy and want to have babies. I guess I'll just have to wait to find out.

Red hiding inside the castle. Mostly he stays in the top.

We also have other aquatic animal in our house. A couple of weeks ago, one of our Botany coop students brought us some tadpoles. Apparantly 10 thousand had hatched on their pool cover and they wanted to share with everyone. Some of ours died, but many lived and are growing well. They now have legs and some will probably have arms very soon.

This one isn't the biggest, but boy he sure looks like a frog now.

Tonight, Tyler put in a piece of algae pellet. Shortly we returned to find a feeding frenzy. If you can click this pix (for some reason you can't always do that), you can better see the little arm buds on the second one from the right. It won't be long before he has arms breaking through. That is exciting stuff.

I don't know what we will do with them once they are frogs. In fact, we don't even know what kind of frogs they are. I do know what we will not do with them. We will not be keeping them. Uh, NO!!! They are just a science experiment, nothing else. As is said, the brown stuff in the tank is an algae pellet. We also feed them bloodworms and fish food. I'll keep you posted on their development

How Does Your Garden Grow

2009-06-07T13:16:00.002-05:00

I love being outside in my garden and yard. This year my garden has really taken off and I don't even have it all planted. I have a hard time getting anything done in it because I spend all my time taking pictures of God's handiwork. It is so awesome to see what will grow from a single seed. Last night I went aroud the garden and my yard with my camera snapping pictures. This slideshow is what I found.

I also have another project in the works. (One of many) I found this old kids swing in a trash pile. My husband carried it home for me. I am going to painting it green and am going to hang our bench swing on it. The bench swing was on the back porch until we screened it in. Then I will use cattle fencing to create an arch over the entire swing. On this I will plant some vines. What a great place to sit and enjoy the garden. I'll keep you posted.

These are two of the legs of the swing I have already given a coat of paint.

Nature Center

2009-06-03T10:54:00.009-05:00

Last week, the kids and I went on a nature walk at a local nature center. It is amazing what all you can see if you just look.

My silly boy leading the way. He has two speeds: fast and faster.

This blue dragonfly was just beautiful sitting on the lilly leaf. Notice the duckweek all around it. Most people think duckweek is algae or moss, but it is a real plant with roots and leaves.

This one was just resting on a limb.

This goose family was out for a swim. There were lots of geese there that day. In fact, some trails were closed due to nesting geese.

This gosling was showing off his swimming/hunting skills for us.

Isn't he cute!!!!

Mr. Turtle came up to say hello.

Honeysuckle was in full bloom. I need some of this for our hummingbird garden we just planted. I'll post pictures of that when it is further along.

I'm not sure what this flower is, but it sure is interesting.

I found this interesting sight on the bottom of some leaves. I can only assume they are egg cases from some insect.

Isn't this bark interesting. I think it was a birch, but I am not sure.

This beautiful catkin was just sitting there waiting for me to take his picture. What is interesting is that we had just finished discussing what a catkin is in our Botany coop class. It is simply the male flower of a tree. Most are not quite as beautiful as this one.
Catkin?

We had a great time this day. We will go back soon to see the summer blooming flowers. I can't wait to see how much the goslings have grown.

Apologia Notebooking Journal Giveaway

2009-05-20T14:22:00.003-05:00

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available. You can see samples on the Apologia website here:
These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.
Each of the notebooking journals include:
A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
Review Questions
Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.
See the sample pages here:

Botany: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=128

and

Astronomy: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=127

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest: www.jeanniesjournal.com
The contest ends on in one week on May 29th! That way I'll have the weekend to send them before I go to the Illinois conference.
So blog away!

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available. You can see samples on the Apologia website here:
These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.
Each of the notebooking journals include:
A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
Review Questions
Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.
See the sample pages here:

Botany: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=128

and
Astronomy: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=127

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest:
www.jeanniesjournal.com

The contest ends on in one week on May 29th! That way I'll have the weekend to send them before I go to the Illinois conference.
So blog away!

Survivor Babylon

2009-05-14T07:58:00.003-05:00

When you think children's musical, you might have images of 3 or 4 kids dressed up for a nativity play. Or tons of missed lines and fearful participants. Well, last night, my kids and about 80 others participated in our children's choir's spring musical. It was a very professional production with only one missed line and no missed cues. These kids were brilliant and they pulled it off in just 15 weeks of meeting only on Wednesday night. The musical was called Survivor Babylon (the story of Shadrach, Meshac and Abednago) and was a spin off of the TV show Survivor. The only rule in this "game", though, was that everyone must bow to the King's new golden statue. If you don't you'll be done, and I do mean "well done". The King fancies himself a hip hop rapper, but that is questionable. In fact, the King was played by our very own pastor. He's a great guy with a heart for the kids. He must have to show up wearing gold pants to a sanctuary filled to the brim with people. Everyone did an awesome job and they all had a good time. Oh, and yes, Jesus showed up in the fire to save the Hebrew children. He always does. He either saves us from the fire (my personal favorite), through the fire (Hebrew children) or by the fire. In fact, Jesus himself came to Earth to save us "by the fire" when he died for our sins on the cross. Have you accepted his free gift of salvation? Do you know where you will spend eternity when you die?

My Little Gymnast

2009-05-10T20:11:00.006-05:00

Tyler competed in his second gymnastics Fun Meet. He has really improved since December. Both sets of Grannys and Papas came to watch. They do not compete against each other. They are really graded on how they do that day. Then they are given ribbons accordingly. Each gymnast also receives a trophy. The more years you have competed, the higher level you will be on. Therefore, your trophy will be larger. Tyler loves the trophy part. Who wouldn't? Floor work

Bars

Rings

More Bar work

The ribbons The Trophy

Don't Mock Me

2009-05-04T19:23:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago, we found a nest that contained 4 little Mockingbird eggs. It was at the end of our porch in a bush. We watched the eggs forever. Then one day we found this.

Aren't they cute with their little fuzz?

A few days later they were larger and stronger. They even had little voices.

A few days later they had grown lots and real freathers had started to grow.

Then the rain came. They were so much bigger and wet. Poor Mama bird was working her self silly trying to keep up with the feeding demands of 4 growing birds. She was always flying in and out with food and boy was she having a bad hair day. She would land on a chair right in front of Tyler's bedroom window before going into the nest. She was one wet bird. I felt sorry for her.

Today, Tyler was opening the front door to take a letter to the mailbox and what did we see? A baby Mockingbird. It was scared and so were we. I grabbed my camera and felt like I might need a helmet with Mama and Daddy bird hovering over.

This little fellow found his way into the back yard. He was very good at hopping.

I found this one on my neighbor's driveway. He was scared to death. Poor fellow. Oh, the trouble that comes with being a star.

He did good at posing with the kids. I was afraid for them to get too close. I didn't want to have to bandage any wounds caused by bird beaks.

Isn't he cute?!!!!!

This one was also in the backyard.

These two were hiding in the corner.

I'm sure this one was saying, "Mom, the humans are too close."

Today, Mama Mockingbird was sporting a cute ruffled skirt. She wanted to look great for the debut of her chicks.

So, all that is left is an empty nest. I have empty nest syndrome, again.

(Well, there is always kildeer nest number two in the back yard. Stay tuned.)

Chocolicious.

2009-04-28T20:05:00.002-05:00

Today we went on a field trip to Dinstuhl's chocolate factory. I was in chocolate heaven!!!! What a job to have. First we saw a slide show about the origins of chocolate and how it has been used in history. Then we toured the factory. We first had samples. Yum. Then we saw several people making various candies. One paricular cream candy took 3 people to make it. The first guy put the bottom chocolate on the cream center and sent it on down the line. It was then pulled through a chocolate waterfall and shaken to remove any excess chocolate. We all agreed that you couldn't have too much chocolate, but they disagreed. The lady in the middle put the squiggle on top of the candy and then it was cooled as it was sent to the final lady. She inspected each piece and put it into boxes. Another lady was in charge of making chocolate in molds. She was taking duckies out of molds. They were solid chocolate. Then we were shown all the various packaging. They can make anything out of chocolate. All you have to do is ask. Finally, we shopped for chocolate to take home. Bobbi picked out a chocolate record. Yes, she knew what a record was. Tyler chose the chocolate policeman set that included chocolate handcuffs. Then, as if that wasn't enough, before we left, they gave each child and each parent another chocolate gift. They were super nice people. I love chocolate!!! Sigh.

Silent Sunday

2009-04-26T12:52:00.000-05:00

Another Gift From God!!!

2009-04-23T19:21:00.004-05:00

Well, I checked on our Mockingbird nest today. It is in a bush just off our front porch. My mouth dropped open when 4 little yellow beaks opened to me. Aren't they sweet?!!! Of course they aren't as cute as Kildeer, but they are cute in their own way, all fuzzy and hungry. I was a bit worried that Mama Mockingbird would come back at any minute and peck me on the head. I had to open the bush a bit to see inside. God is a master of creating awesome creatures. New life. I love to whistle at the Mockingbirds. Sometimes I get a conversation going. I don't know what I'm saying, but I just keep on whistling. LOL I'll keep you updated on these little guys (or gals).

Nature Walk

2009-04-23T12:46:00.004-05:00

You don't realize how much wildlife is right in your own "backyard" until you go outside and look for it. We did just that today and it was only a couple of miles up the road. Check out what we found. Enjoy. Catkin

Bumblebee

One Goose Family

Another goose family

Red winged blackbird.

Ladybug

Turtle

Mama Goose on the nest.

Worm

Yes, this is a snake. He was more scared of us than we were of him. How do I know that? Well, I stood there and took his picture and he was the first to slither off.

Wild Strawberry

Turtle on a log

Empty Nest Syndrome

2009-04-16T17:37:00.007-05:00

Well, the baby birds are gone. They ran around our back yard most of the day. The fourth eggs did hatch, so there are now 4 little chicks. You can tell the youngest. He isn't quite as advanced as his siblings, but he does just fine. Mama bird wasn't as accomodating today. She and daddy bird were in training mode with their babies, so I was the enemy to fear. I did get pretty close later this afternoon.

Mama bird trying to distract me. Ha. I don't think so.

Here is the whole family out for a walk. I numbered the babies. They blend in so well.

After lunch we went back out and I couldn't find them. Then I saw Mama bird. She was in my garden, so I went to her. I couldn't find the babies. Where did they go? Then I spotted one in plain view. Then I spotted another in the tall grass. Where were the other 2? Something moved to my right. It was number 3. She was pretty close. Now, where is number 3. It must be the baby. After a few more minutes she moved to and there she was, right beside me. Sweet, sweet, sweet. Then the race was on. Mama bird squaked out orders and they obeyed, sort of. One little guy apparantly wanted his picture taken, so he stayed near me. That was a no no. Mama bird threw caution to the wind and flew to him. She squaked some more then stepped on his head. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that. You know, I sometimes feel like doing that to my little chick. This afternoon the all slipped through a hole in the fence and into our neighbors yard. I'll miss them. LOL Enjoy the pictures!!!!

We Have Chicks!!!!!

2009-04-15T15:34:00.003-05:00

Today we noticed that the Kildeer chicks have hatched. I had to run and get my camera. Boy are they cute. Mama Bird and I have this understanding. I just talk real nice to her and she lets me take pictures of her babies. My "babies" were outside running wild but they didn't seem to bother her.

Isn't he just the cutest little thing!!!!!

There are three of them that have hatched so far. 2 are pretty advanced but one must have just been hatched because he couldn't walk well and his feathers weren't as nice yet. There is still one egg left. I fully expect it to hatch by tomorrow.

It is amazing that God created these little birds to be ready to go within hours of hatching. They look like little adult birds only cuter. I would love to have picked one up and petted it. However, I have seen Mama and Daddy bird's beaks and I didn't want to push.

Mama bird just sits there on her little ones keeping them warm. They take turns poking their heads out. Once all three got out and were running crazy. She had to call in daddy bird as reinforcement. She managed to get them all back under her. They are such obedient little birds. When I was taking pictures of the babies, Daddy bird got a bit worried. Never mind that I had been sitting there talking with mama bird for a good 20 minutes. He started squaking and squaking. I told mama bird to tell him it was ok. Well, she let out 2 or 3 little peeps to him and he quit. I can't wait until tomorrow to see them all running crazy all over the yard. I hope I catch them before they are gone.

Resurrection Day Fun

2009-04-12T18:53:00.005-05:00

Today was a pretty good day, except for the rain and the cooler temperature. It could have been worse, though. We started the day with church. Everyone got dressed up in their Sunday best.
Then off to Sunday school. I teach 3rd grade girl and we have been working on a Ressurrection lapbook for the past 5 weeks. I hoped to finish it today, but due to circumstances, we will finish next week. Then off to church service. My brother joined us today. That was a blessing. After church we were off to have lunch with my parents and my aunt and uncle. We ate out, as did many other people. It was fun, but I would have rather had my homemade soup back home in the fridge. Yum.
Next was a special treat. We went to see my grandmother. She is in her 80s and in a nursing home. I was shocked that she remembered who I was. It has been a while since we have been there, and her mind isn't what it used to be. Of course, I took my camera. There were 4 generations present.From left to right are my daughter, Bobbi, me, Grandma, my dad and Tyler, my son.

We didn't stay long. Grandma had been to a church service and probably lunch and she was tired. My mom and Bobbi smiling for the camera.

The kids decided to mess with their Uncle Randy (my brother) while we waited. They think he is just the coolest.

He really is just one of them.LOLLast, but not least, the driver for the day was my wonderful hubby. Thanks, sweetie.

Burning Down the House

2009-04-09T13:45:00.002-05:00

We had a scary moment this morning. No, our house did not burn down, but...

We were having school upstairs this morning and Bobbi asked if she could bake her clay creations in the toaster oven. I don't know what I was thinking, but I said sure. She did everything just right. She set the timer to what she usually sets it to, but then she left it and no one thought about it again. The timer did its thing and the oven went off. However, later (much later), I passed near the stairs and smelled something. It was not a wood burning smell, but more of an electrical smoke smell. I followed my nose. I felt just like our cat. Upon arriving downstairs and in the kitchen I knew for sure something was burning, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. I sniffed my way around. The whole house had smoke in it by now. For a split second I thought I might have to call 911. Maybe the attic was on fire and the smoke was seeping into the house. I thought about running back to the attic when I turned to see the toaster oven billowing smoke from the front. I knew what it was. The creations were crispy critters. I saw them before they went in. They were quite lovely. One was a Christmas tree. Another was a candy cane. There was a bell and a small football also. The others I can't remember. I opened every door we have to help the smoke exit. It was very smokey. I turned on fans. Then I put the creations on the porch. I think it is safe to say they won't be bothered. It has been a few hours since the incident and the house still smells of this horrible smoke. Lysol doesn't even cut it. I'll leave the windows open and see if that helps. I don't know what went wrong. Maybe the clay was too thin to be cooked for that long. I don't know. We will watch the creations cook from now on.

Bee All You Can Bee!!!!

2009-04-09T08:19:00.004-05:00

Science says that a honeybee can't fly. It's wings are too small and its body is to heavy. However, the bee doesn't know that, so it just does what God wants it to do and flies from flower to flower. We should be like the bee. We shouldn't worry about what others(or ourselves) say and just do whatever God designed us to do.

This week we visited Peace Bee Farm in Proctor. It was an awesome trip. I love insects! Bees are fascinating to me. They are one of God's wonderful creatures that make life better and possible for us. They pollinate flowers which results in the fruit we eat and they make yummy honey for us to eat. If you love honey, you might not want to learn exactly what it is and how the bees make it. Just let that be a secret of the bees.

On our field trip, our homeschool group met with beekeeper Richard Underhill. He is a bee expert. The kids, and adults, asked lots of questions and he answered all of them. We got to see the "hives" or boxes where the bees live. It was cold that day, but the bees were out. Mr. Underhill said that bees only fly when it is about 50 degrees out, so he knew the temperature by the actions of the bees. There was a large group of bees on the ground. They aren't usually on the ground so they might have found this particular soil full of nutrients they needed. Next, we looked at a display bee box. It was way to cold to open up a real box. Bees are cold natured and they keep the hive at 95 degrees year round. Opening the box would have cooled the hive. The display box was very interesting and had pictures in it that looked like what you'd see if you opened a real box. The kids took turns trying on beekeeper equipment. They all looked so cute in their beekeepers hat.

Then we went into the processing building. There we were showed how they uncap the honey and get it out of the frames. The wax is saved and melted into candles. The honey is bottled and sold. Each child was given a straw with honey in it to try. They loved this. Finally, Mr. Underhill took us to some special bee boxes that are used to raise new queen bees. Everyone had a good time and many took home bottles of honey and candles as well. We all know so much more about bees now. We will build upon that knowledge when we discuss bees again in our summer Botany coop.

A Royal Race Winner

2009-04-03T19:45:00.004-05:00

Tyler participated in his first Royal Ambassadors (RA) Royal Racer race. Our church starts RAs at first grade and this was Tyler's first race. He participated in a glider race earlier this year, but he didn't win. It was our first time and we didn't know much about it. This time, though, we did our research. Tyler painted his car and weights were put in to help increase the speed. The cars can weigh up to 5 ounces. His weighed 4.6. That is pretty close using the crude measuring device we had. There were lots of boys at this race. Races were run according to grade, then the winner of each grade race raced again to determing the overall winner. Tyler placed 2nd in his grade level. The boy who beat him won the overall. It was a super fast car. Tyler was so excited to get his red ribbon. We were pretty proud of him. This year was a learning year for us, so watch out next year.

Awesome God!! Look what He gave us today

2009-03-24T13:58:00.004-05:00

Every year for umpteen years we have had Kildeer nests in our back yard. It doesn't matter where we live, the birds are always there.

They are migratory birds. I'm not sure when they leave our area, but I know they return in January. Early in the morning until late at night these "party birds" are out there squaking and running around. If you haven't heard one, they have a high pitched almost whistle voice that is very annoying when you are trying to sleep. They are actually beautiful birds with some awesome markings.

God knew exactly what these birds needed when he gave them their color. They make nexts on the ground usually by moving in some small pebbles and stones to camoflague the next. Their eggs are light brown with dark brown flecks all over.

If you come anywhere near a Kildeer nest, these birds go into action. First, they start squaking and fan thier wings and tail feathers out so they appear to be hurt.

To an unsuspecting predator, the bird seems easy prey, so they will follow with mouth watering. When the predator is far enough away the bird is miraculously healed and flys away laughing. The predator is at a loss for the bird or the eggs. If you see such a bird and try to find it's nest, you will probably not be lucky. Those eggs blend in so well they are almost impossible to see. Even if you have been to the nest before and know exactly where it is, you may still have trouble relocating it.

Well, yesterday it was beautiful weather so the kids and I went outside to work in the garden. We have a mammoth playset area with dark brown rubber mulch in it. There are some patches of over grown Bermuda grass that is still dormant. My daughter was about to enter the play area when Mama bird let out a screech. Both bird and girl were frightened. (Probably more girl than bird) I knew where the nest was now. I had caught her before she could fly. I looked and couldn't find it. Later, I had forgotten all about Mama bird when I found her nest. She wasn't happy to see me at all. I backed off after I saw she had already laid 4 little eggs. How sweet. Now if the cat doesn't get them before they hatch. I'll keep you informed on the babies if/when they get here. They are the cutest little things. The come out looking like minature adults, but much cuter. See the long pointy beak and those glaring red eyes. I couldn't help wondering what kind of damage that beak could do to a skull. She was very gracious to let me get so close to her to get her pix. Maybe she thought she was going to be asstar, and, well, she is (at least on my blog).

Kim

I Did It

2009-03-12T14:25:00.005-05:00

It finally happened!!! Tyler read his first book all by himself and he did it pretty fluently. OK, it didn't just happen. He worked hard to get to this point. Reading has yet to be his strong point. I owe this progress to our new curriculum, Spell to Write and Read. You may have heard about it if you read one of my previous blogs. Tyler had to first learn cursive in order to write in his log book. His printing was awful, but the cursive is pretty good. We started that in July and by somewhere near October he could write in his log book in cursive. It took a long time because he is only 6 and a boy and those 2 factors alone should say enough. While he was learning to write, he was also learning his phonograms. There are 77 in all to learn. They are like magic cards that unlock spelling first with almost no exceptions to the rules. That in turn unlocks the reading. So far he has learned 120 words and we are spending the last few weeks of school reviewing the few that he had trouble with. I have also been having him read from the log book lists and timing him. The words were marked with the spelling markings that SWR uses. That is so helpful to see the phonograms. For example we would underline /oy/ in the word boy because it is a multi letter phonogram and /sh/ in the word ship for the same reason. That way when he sees it he will know to say /sh/ instead of /s/h/ individually. He has also learned the 5 reasons words have silent final E. Do you know them? I sure didn't. When he sees one marked he knows how to read it. We did it that way for a while, but then I took the markings away and wrote sentences with the words. He did well seeing the phonograms and sounding them out. Each time he read them he got faster. Today I pulled out the book No! No! Word Bird. It had words in it with the same patterns that he has been working with. I was shocked when he read the entire 31 pages. He was so proud and so was I. Not only can he spell the words and knows why they are spelled the way they are, but he can read the words. We will continue to read our lists and sentences I make from them. In a few weeks I will have him attempt another more difficult book written by Wanda Sanseri, the writer of SWR. It uses all 120 words he has learned so far and a few more. I really think he will be able to do it. It won't be long until he can read anything he wants

New Elementary Anatomy/Physiology Course

2009-02-27T07:32:00.004-06:00

For those of you looking for the absolute best elementary science courses, Apologia has them. They are the Young Explorer series written by Jeannie Fulbright. We have gone through 2 of them so far and will start our 3rd in May. They are just awesome and teach science in a way that is exciting and easy to do. Jeannie has written each book prayerfully and each one is from a young earth creationist point of view. Recently Jeannie announced that a new book would be out soon, Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. Below is her description of the course as posted on the Elementary Apologia Yahoo group. I also recently posted a story about the beginnings of this book. If you haven't read it, here is the link: http://ghomeschool.blogspot.com/search/label/anatomy

God created humans in His image, and endowed us with a desire to learn about Him, about our world, and about ourselves. Studying God’s most marvelous and chief creation with Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology will give you and your students insight into God’s nature, imparting a greater appreciation of His amazing and miraculous handiwork. Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is the sixth bookin the Young Explorer Series. Using the Charlotte Mason methodology, this elementary-level science curriculum gives students an introduction to the fascinating design of the human body. After briefly reviewing the history of the man’s attempts to understand the human body, students are taught about the highly complex, all-important cell. The book then discusses the main systems of the human body, discussing in detail the Skeletal, Muscular, Digestive, Respiratory, and Circulatory Systems as well as several others. The book culminates by tying it all together with the study ofGrowth and Development. Procreation is addressed in terms of DNA and genes.Throughout the book, students will have a wonderful time as they explore and learn with activities, projects and demonstrations that illustrate the concepts learned. They will dissect a chicken wing to learn about bones and ligaments, create a camera box to learn about vision, find their own arteries, veins and capillaries, build a stethoscope, investigate the genetics of inheritance, test their muscle strength, explore the five senses and much, much more.Throughout the course, students will enjoy adding illustrations of organs to their human body poster. They will also complete engaging and fun notebooking assignments to reinforce what they’ve learned.Throughout this fascinating field of study, you and your students will know that we are indeed, “Fearfully and wonderfully made,”

Jeannie

Snow Day!!!

2009-01-28T20:00:00.001-06:00

Something Fishy

2009-01-03T18:26:00.005-06:00

For Christmas, my friend gave me a fish tank. She had gotten a newer, bigger one, so I got her smaller one. I was pretty excited. I had had fish before, but I had never been able to keep them. I never knew how. Well, now I do, thanks to my friend. I have learned so much. First we got 2 albino catfish. They are cute and very active. They are always searching for food.

At the same time we also got 4 tiny little neon Tetras. They were also cool. There colors were amazing. However, they all died. Two got sucked to the filter intake and 2 just died. I think the last one died from a broken heart. He lost all his friends. So today, after checking all the chemical stuff in the tank and finding it fine, we got 5 new fish. We replaced the tiny Tetras with some bigger Bloodfin Tetras. They are white with red on their fins, ie bloodfin. They are very active also. They have no trouble with the filter intake. The picture below doesn't do them justice. It is hard to take a picture of fast moving fish from outside the tank.

Then we got one of my favorites, a Betta. Several months ago we rescued one from one of those tiny bowls at Wally World. He was red and we called him Red. He was beautiful, but we killed him due to ignorance. He is now fertilizing our apple tree. We loved Red and he was a beautiful fish, so we got another one. This one is blue. We call him Blue Ribbons. He looks like blue ribbons in the water when he swims. He is so cute, for a fish. He seems happy. I hope he makes a bubble nest soon. Red always made a bubble nest. That meant he was happy.

We will see how long we can keep these fish. I am very much a novice, but I have been researching and am learning. I'll keep you posted.

Kim

Christmas Fashion Show

2008-12-27T18:32:00.001-06:00

Our Jesse Tree

2008-12-26T16:56:00.003-06:00

Well, Christmas is over now and it is time to take down the decorations (at least it is at our house). As I was taking down the tree, I decided to take a picture of our other tree, our Jesse Tree. What is a Jesse Tree? There are several different answers to that, but the one I like the most is that it is based on Isaiah 11:1 - "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots" and is a way of teaching the Old Testament background for the Messiah, and showing how all of God's promises have been fulfilled. The Advent season is a wonderful time to reaffirm God's faithfulness, and the lessons of the Jesse tree help do so. I wanted each ornament on our tree to point to Jesus. That is a hard lesson. Some were rather easy, but some required much more thought and prayer. In the end it was a beautiful tree. My daughter loved the tree more than the regular tree. Each night(or every few nights, as the schedule permits) we would put on an ornament (or ornaments) and read out of the Bible and a bible story book. The story book took a long story and made it very short while keeping the main idea. We usually only read selected verses from the Bible, but sometimes the entire story came from it exclusively. This is a tradition we will keep and each year we will learn more and understand more as God opens our mind to his wisdom. Our list of ornaments came from http://ourjessetree.blogspot.com/ This lady has completely laid out the entire calendar with pictures of her ornaments. They are great ornaments, but you won't get them all in one year. It will take years of collecting to get them and that is great. It keeps our minds on the real reason for Christmas, Christ. Several ornaments you can make and we did. I did change one of her ornaments this year. Next year I might change more. I am seriously considering purchasing the devotional book from http://www.jesse-trees.com/devotional-book.html They also sell ornament kits, but they are pricey. I like the idea of making/collecting our own over the years. We printed out our own on cardstock as we needed them and just hung them with a hook. You can google Jesse tree ornaments and get lots of picture ideas.

Gymnastics Funmeet

2008-12-07T15:50:00.001-06:00

Gymnastics Funmeet

2008-12-07T13:07:00.002-06:00

Tyler "competed" in his first ever Gymnastics funmeet. He did quite well for to have only taken lesson for 3 months. There were 4 categories. He got a ribbon in each and a trophy at the end. We are so proud of him!!!

Singing Sweeties!!!!

2008-12-05T08:00:00.007-06:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Well, my friend, Amanda, is a genius!!!!! She took her video camera to Bible Study this week and captured the above video of our kids singing. They did awesome, even when the cd skipped. Thanks, Amanda, for sharing with us. Enjoy!!

When Chances Come Again

2008-12-01T12:44:00.003-06:00

Here is a poem that my pastor read at our Sunday service. It speaks for itself. Now is the time to tell others about Him, Jesus. It is Christmas so we have a reason to be speaking about Christ. Strike up an conversation while standing in one of those long lines and see where it leads. Maybe it will lead to new life for the person.

"When Chances Come Again" by Willo Lou Clark

If you had been a lowly shepherd who heard the angels sing,
would you have left your sheep alone to find the baby King?

If you had been the innkeeper- pressed and hurried since the dawn,
would you have done the best you could or told them to move on?

If you had been a wiseman- due respect and courtly graces,
would you have left it all behind to search for Him in unknown places?

We cannot know what we'd have done if we had been there then.
We only know what we do now when chances come again!

Nature Walk

2008-11-26T18:25:00.003-06:00

Today was a beautiful day! We took the opportunity to go on a nature walk not far from our house. The trees have very few leaves and we could see the outline of their branches. We took our nature journals and sketched some of God's handiwork.

It was a lot of fun. I then took the opportunity to take some picture of the kids. We all had such a good time.

Maybe next time we will take some paper and do some rubbing on the tree bark. Many of the trees are labeled so it would be great to learn how to identify a tree in the winter with no leaves. Some are pretty easy, but some are quite difficult.

Homeschool Open House

2008-11-25T08:00:00.002-06:00

My new friend, Tammy, over at Lattes and Lollipops is having a homeschool open house today, so go on over and check out her blog. From there you can add your link and check out the blogs of other homeschoolers to see what goes on in their lives. Go on, Check it out. But, before you leave, scroll on down and check out what we have been up to.

Total Eclipse

2008-11-23T20:41:00.004-06:00

We have recently began studying astronomy using Apologia's elementary book. It is just wonderful. Our latest experiment/demonstration was to create an eclipse. We are studying the sun. So we got out our globe. It is really just a ball that looks like a globe. It has been a great edition to our classroom for just a few bucks. Then we got our our moon globe and a flashlight (sun). We figured out that it works better in a completely dark room. We hung the moon on a string and passed it between the sun and the earth. Voila, an eclipse. It was amazing also to see the shadow the earth cast onto the wall/door behind it. I suppose the earth could be part of an eclipse on another planet, maybe? I guess so, if the orbits lined up just right. The kids loved it, possible because they got to play in the dark.

Science Display and Recitation

2008-11-21T19:21:00.010-06:00

This month at our homeschool group we had a Science display. Everyone was encouraged to tell about what they had been studying in science. We could do it in anyway we chose. Some did experiments. Some did recitations of things they had memorized, like thier bones. Some did Bible science. It was really neat to see what others are learning. We spent the summer reading through Apologia's Swimming Creatures of the 5th day (Zoo II) and then going to Sea World. So, we wanted to use that as our subject. However, that is just too much to get together in a month. I looked for a pre-made lapbook, but after thinking about it, I decided the whole book was just a bit too ambitious. Then I stumbled across a sample at Live and Learn Press. It was just over the chapter on Whales. Well, that, I decided, was just the perfect amount. Plus, it would give me a chance to try out their lapbook series. I love Live and Learn Press' lapbooks. They have a series that has been created to go with the elementary Apologia series and it very thorough. I will definately use them again. But, I digress. Whales, hmm, we loved Shamu and have the video of the show. We could show that and make the lapbook and make a backboard of pictures. That is what we did.

The kids memorized a few lines to tell about the backboard. They did so good.

We can't wait until next years display, but right now we need to begin working on our Geography Fair display that is due in March. We will be studying Ancient Rome.

Harvest Candy Corn

2008-11-21T19:04:00.004-06:00

I love candy corn!! I eat it this time of year until I make myself sick. So, when I learned that I could make it myself, I had to try it. I found the recipe at Recipezaar.com

I tried a batch myself and made some gigantic candy corn. They were delish. My kiddos then wanted to try to make them, so we made another batch. We made the three traditional colors of orange, yellow and plain white. Then we rolled each color into a rope and smashed them together. Then we used a butter knife to cut out triangle like the corn.

We took it to our homeschool group's harvest party and it was a hit.

Melting Chocolate

2008-11-21T13:39:00.003-06:00

Is the sun, at 93,ooo,ooo miles away hot enough to melt frozen chocolate on a cold day of 34 degrees? That was our question. We are just getting started on the elementary Apologia Astronomy book. Chapter 2 is all about the sun and one of the experiments was melting chocolate. How could I deny my kids (and myself) this sweet treat?!! LOL So, with magnifying glasses in hand, we found a spot and hunkered down in the blowing, icy wind. Burrrr!!!

Tyler's magnifying glass focused the sun's light much better. Bobbi's didn't focus much smaller than a nickel and I wasn't sure it would work well. After a few minutes, Tyler checked his chocolate. It was melted and he got it all over his fingers, so why not just eat it.

Yum!!!

Bobbi, on the other hand, was still trying to focus her light beam. After a bit, she checked her chocolate. Turns out it was melted in a spot the size of a nickel.

After a few more seconds, she decided to check her chocolate. Turns out it was melted in a spot the size of the nickel.

Oh, well, experiment over. We must dispose of everything..... by eating it that is. De-lish!!

So, our conclusion is that the sun must be really powerful and hot to melt frozen chocolate on a freezing cold day. We have done the same experiment before except we burned holes in newspaper. Chocolate is much better!!!

RA Glider Race

2008-11-21T12:56:00.006-06:00

My first grader is a RA (Royal Ambassador) at our church this year. He loves it. He has some awesome teachers. Last night they had their annual glider races.

Each boy is given a glider to assemble and decorate with their dad.

Then they take it to church and race it. They race for distance and speed down a fishing line strung from one end of the room to another.

Several boys participated. Tyler didn't win anything, but he loved the experience. Next year will be even better because we will be better prepared.

New Apologia Elementary Science Book!

2008-11-07T07:34:00.004-06:00

I don't know how many of you use the elementary Apologia science books, but we do and we love them. Jeannie Fulbright is a gifted author and the books are filled with wonderful pictures and projects and experiments to do. They are not watered down, but they are on a child's level. They are also Christ centered, which we love. I am a science teacher, but I was not taught this way. So, the Exploring Creation series is perfect for me to use. I also subscribe to the Elementary Apologia Yahoo group and that is where I found this. Jeannie, herself, posts here and she just announced her newest, upcoming book. Read her post below and you will be amazed at how God is working to get this book out there.

(from Jeannie)
Hi Everyone!I wanted you to be the first to know the news. The Anatomy book is scheduled to be published sometime this summer. Allow me to tell you the story: I felt compelled to pray that God would bring me a co-author for the Anatomy book that was a physician. I did not wish to reinvent the wheel by doing all the research for Anatomy when I could have someone else, who already knew the intricacies of Anatomy, write the technical aspect of the book. I, then, could simply take the data and weave it into a living book, adding in analogies and the commentary and formatting that typify my science series. However, I wanted not only a physician, but a Christian physician. Not only that, I wanted a Christian physician that understood and followed a young earth model of origins. That's not asking too much, is it? Oh! I also had another requirement. This Christian physician that held to and understood the teachings of a young earth model also needed to be NOT WORKING so that he could write this book with me.One thing I've learned in my walk with God is that we should regularly being praying for things that ONLY God can do. This was something that only God could do.Well, I began praying. I called one of my best friends in Oregon who is a major prayer warrior to enlist her in the prayer battle. Within moments, God began to work His miracle. My friend mentioned that she had a good friendthat is a Christian, Young Earth, pediatrician, HOMESCHOOL MOM! "Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" Ephesians 3:20 Glory to God! This person, Brooke, has high school aged children and has taught Anatomy in great depth to them over the years. She has done many projects, experiments and activities associated with Anatomy. She is an EXPERT not only in Anatomy, but in teaching Anatomy to children. Even more amazing is that this person had been praying the week before and she felt God nudging her that she would be glorifying Him by teaching science to homeschoolers. Further, Brooke has time to write because her children are older, and she's not working as a doctor right now. Is anything impossible with God? So, I received the first lesson from Brooke this weekend and am almost finished with the rewrite and formatting. Thus, the progress will be rapid.We are projecting a summer publication date.Isn't God good?
Warmly,
Jeannie

Tagged

2008-11-06T07:23:00.002-06:00

I have been tagged by http://gigglesgrinsandgrades.blogspot.com/.... and I consider it an honor.
The rules are.....
Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six people at the end of your post. Let each person know he or she has been tagged. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. So, here goes:

1. I love basketball and would love to play on a team again.
2. I can't stand for my house to be cluttered for very long and will cut school short just to get it back into some reasonable order.
3. I am rather photosensitive and have a fear of the shorter winter days with so many clouds blocking God's wonderful sun. (Glad I have the Son to get me through).
4. I am so addicted to reading my daily digest for the Spell to Write and Read Yahoo group. (it is very edumacational, LOL)
5. I have spoken at 2 of our states homeschool conventions.
6. I love photography.

Now I have to tag some other folks so consider yourself tagged:

http://countrygirlathome.blogspot.com/
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/SeekingJESUSnTeachingKIDS/
http://creasycrew.blogspot.com/

OK, so I know that isn't 6, but it will have to do.

Halloween?

2008-10-30T17:19:00.002-05:00

As you noticed, the title has a question mark after it. The question is, “Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?” This subject has been a burden on my heart for a while and I feel that God would want me to share what I have learned. So, let’s think about holidays for a moment. Lets start near my birthday in May and think about Memorial Day. What do we celebrate? We celebrate all of those who God gave us that have fought and died for this wonderful country God has given us. What about Independence Day. Well we celebrate and give thanks to God who allowed us to be free from our mother country of England. This freedom was needed because we needed religious freedom. Thank you God. Then there is Thanksgiving. We should all give thanks to God for another day of life and health and for all the things, big and small, He has so freely given to us that we surely do not deserve. Then there is Christmas. It should celebrate the glorious birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Then there is New Years Eve when we get together and thank God for another year and ask him to bless our new year. Oh and then there is the most important holiday of all, Easter. We celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus so that we can have the salvation that we do not deserve but cannot earn on our own. Now let’s look at Halloween. It is a religious holiday. Really. It is just not a Christian holiday. It celebrates Satan. Everything about it points to Satan. Costumes? Oh yeah. To scare away evil spirits ancient Celtic people dressed up in animal skins and danced around a bonfire. Others would put out food on this day to appease the evil spirits. Others carved turnips and pumpkins and put a candle in them to keep evil spirits away. The roots of this holiday are almost entirely pagan; from the colors to black cats, to going door to door, it is all pagan. And it is still celebrated by those who worship the Enemy of this world today. So where is Jesus in all of this? I can’t see him. As Christians we are called to walk in the Light of Jesus. You can’t mix the light and the dark. The Bible says, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Eph. 5:11)
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light." (Rom. 13:12)
I’ll admit that, as a kid, I whole heartedly celebrated Halloween. I love candy and dressing up. Even as an adult and as a Christian adult, I still celebrated it. But then I learned about the true origins of it. Satan is very sly, cunning even. He masquerades as an angel of light and he loves to see Christians celebrating Halloween, his holiday. Most Christians, “see no harm in it.” I didn’t either, until I learned the truth about it. How can I tell people of the love of Jesus and expect them to see me as a messenger of God’s word and then celebrate a Satanic holiday like Halloween. I can’t; not even one part of it. Why, because when I do, I totally lose my testimony. I can no longer expect people to see me as set apart from the world when I am doing as Satan desires. There are 364 other days for the kids to dress up. Halloween isn’t one of those. I don’t even put out fall decorations until after Halloween because I don’t want anyone to think it might be Halloween decorations. We don’t wear jack-o-lanterns or spiders or heaven forbid, witches on our clothes. We don’t even wear orange during October for the same reason. We are to be set apart.
Even my church celebrates Halloween. Oh, they call it Fall festival, or Trunk-or- treat, but it is the same. And while I know their intentions are good, the testimony of all those involved and the church itself is lost that night. There is not a child or adult that attends that will not go back to school or work and say they went to a Halloween thing at church. (It also doesn’t matter if your child was dressed as Jesus himself, it will still happen. The church is full of people who don’t know Christ and it is also filled with people who are backslidden Christians. Those folks will bring their children dressed as Satan or some other follower of him.) If you dress up and pass out candy or attend a “festival” you are celebrating just as the followers of Satan do. The church celebrates a satanic holiday. (My family doesn’t attend or donate to the event) We will have the “festival” on Friday and celebrate Satan and then go out on Sunday afternoon and tell people they need Jesus. Turn from sin and self and turn to Jesus. Oh, how did you like the satanic celebration Friday night? I just don’t get it. One friend asked me what I thought about her letting her kids dress up at home and just go to a relative’s and get candy. (She was sincerely searching for the truth and I love her for that) And I told her that her children do not live in a bubble and they will come in contact with the world. When the world asks what they do on Halloween, her children will tell them and their testimony will be gone. Our testimony is so hard to build, but so easy to lose. We must protect it at all times. So I urge you to research the origins of this holiday. Find the truth for yourself. Use the internet or if you need a book to explain it to your children I suggest a book called “Mommy, why don’t we celebrate Halloween.” It tells the origins and why Christians shouldn’t celebrate on a kid’s level. (However, it is a good read for an adult to) Ultimately it is your choice. God never makes us do right. That is up to us. He gave us fee will. My hope is to simply help Christians see the harm in this holiday. Here are some more verses you might meditate on:

Deut 18:10 Don't you dare sacrifice your son or daughter in the fire. Don't practice divination, sorcery, fortune telling, witchery,
Deut 18:11 casting spells, holding séances, or channeling with the dead."

"1Cor 10:21 And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next.
1Cor 10:22 Besides, the Master won't put up with it. He wants us--all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?"

" 2Kings 21:5 And he built shrines to the cosmic powers and placed them in both courtyards of The Temple of GOD.
2Kings 21:6 He burned his own son in a sacrificial offering. He practiced black magic and fortune telling. He held séances and consulted spirits from the underworld. Much evil--in GOD's judgment, a career in evil. And GOD was angry."

Cocoa Beach NASA

2008-10-28T12:29:00.001-05:00

Our Vacation 2008

2008-10-28T12:23:00.002-05:00

Earlier this month my family went to rainy Florida. I know it is the Sunshine state, but it wasn't while we were there. It rained every day. We got one pretty good day with only a couple of hours of light rain. We had fun. On the way down we stopped quite often to stretch our legs and let the kids play. We spent the night in Panama City. The next morning we spent a couple of hours on Mexico beach. It is only about 30 minutes up the road and it is beautiful. The sand was white and fine. There were very few people there. The beach had lots of shells and cute little baby birds. Tyler loved chasing the birds. I wan't to go back there real soon.

The next day we went to Sea World. It was beautiful and sunny for a while, then the bottom dropped out. It rained until the park closed. We were sooooo unprepared: no umbrella, no raincoats, no anything. We were drowned rats. The kids didn't mind because they had been playing in the water for an hour and were already soaked. Mom and Dad weren't as happy. Our shoes didn't dry out until after we were home 3 days later. The second day at SeaWorld was awesome. We started the day feeding Sting Rays. I fell in love!!!! They are soooo sweet. The just suck the fish out of your had. It is like getting a kiss. Then you could pet them. They are so soft. They swam around this tank and would come up to the side and flap their "wings" at you and stick their heads out as to say, "feed me, please."
The dolphins were just as awesome. We got to feed them also and pet them. Sweet. Then there is the Shamu show. What an emotional experience. The people who work with them are truly amazing! Shamu is HUGE! We have been studying ocean creatures for months and this trip was the icing on the cake. We have even decided to do a lapbook on whales for our science project at our homeschool group.

The last day we were there we went to Cocoa Beach. It was very cloudy. In fact you could watch the rain coming down the beach, but we stayed until it go to us. Then we went to the Kennedy Space Center. The beach was not as nice as the Gulf side of Florida. The sand isn't as pretty and there were no shells. The waves were wild that day due to the upcoming storm. The kids enjoyed splashing in them. Once a huge wave took them by suprise and down they went. Bobbi came up with seashells an sand in her cast. The both thought it was the coolest ride yet. I think they would have stayed even in the rain. The KSC was nice, but we were just way too tired to enjoy it. We took a bus tour and saw the Space Shuttle on the launching pad. However, it was raining so much we could barely see it. The next day we drove 13 hours straight to get home. We were all exhausted. Tyler ended us sleeping in a precarius way. Check out the slide show to see how I found him just an hour before we made it home. We can't wait until next year. We are going to go to the beach and just veg out for a few day. Check out the slide shows. They are in reverse order b/c I am still new to this blogging thing, but I am learning.

2008-10-28T07:38:00.001-05:00

2008-10-28T07:37:00.001-05:00

A New Cast, Finally!!!

2008-10-02T12:06:00.004-05:00

Today Bobbi FINALLY got a new cast. She has worn the first one (this time) for 2 days shy of 6 weeks. PU!!

Today we went back to Campbell Clinic to see Dr. Sawyer. He is just the nicest doctor. His nurse is named Kim and we love her to.

First, they cut the cast off. That machine is very loud, but safe.

Crack the cast open and then cut the cotton inside to remove it.

I haven't seen that little arm in almost 6 weeks! It is a bit smaller and stinkier than the other. Her hand was covered with dead, scaley skin. We got most of that off.

Can you see the bow in her arm has a slight bow in it. Dr. Sawyer said it had about a 5 degree bow in it, but that kids will straighten out about a half to one inch per month. So, in about 6 months, she will have no more bow.

After seeing the doctor, we went to get a new short arm waterproof cast. Yeah!!!! First Bobbi gets a "sock" put over her arm with a thumb hole in it. Then it is wrapped in cotton. Next a layer of white cast material goes on

Then, on goes the the color, pink of course.

Twisting around the thumb. Maybe now we can play the piano again. We go back in two weeks and hopefully we will come home with a brace.

Cartesian Diver

2008-09-21T19:39:00.004-05:00

This week we did an experiment that went with our Apologia science. It showed the way a nautilus and an octopus would move in the water. Submarines also use this to move up and down in the water. First, we took a small water bottle and filled it to the top. Then we took a water dropper and filled it as full as we could and it still float in a cup of water. Then we put the dropper in the bottle and closed the lid tightly. When we squeezed the bottle the dropper(diver, nautilus, sub..) sank to the bottom of the bottom.

Dropper at the top.

Squeeze. It is sinking.

All the way at the bottom.

This is because when you put pressure on the bottle, you also put pressure on the water inside and the dropper fills with more water making it heavier and it sinks. When we let go of the bottle the water came out of the dropper and it floated. Pretty cool.

Usually you see this experiment labeled as a Cartesian diver. It was pretty simple to do and the kids loved it. Apologia is great!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

2008-09-19T18:57:00.007-05:00

Today is Bobbi's birthday. She is nine. Wednesday was Tyler's. He is six. Time sure does fly. So last night we had a small family supper and opened presents. They were so suprised when Granny gave each of them a Nintendo DS. Neither one has put it down since. (That will stop in a week or two. There has to be limits.)

They each gave the other a gift and then we had them hide their eyes so we could bring out their gifts from us (Mom & Dad). Granny manned the camera.

They were in total shock.

We had to go try them out right away.

Tyler still needs a bit of practice on his. It is an 18 inch and he is about a 17 inch. However, when he feels comfortable on it he will be able to keep up with the rest of us when we go on bike rides.

Now, I know what you are thinking, especially if you have read my other posts or know my family. You are wondering what we were thinking buying a STUNT bike(see the pegs on the wheels) for a girl with a broken arm. Did I mention it was her 3rd broken arm(same arm). She can't even ride it for at least 4 more weeks. Poor thing. She doesn't seem unhappy about it does she? Naw. Mom rode it for her. LOL!!! Plus all of her broken arms have been from her falling down. Just simply falling wrong, so why not have fun doing it. Maybe, (hopefully) this will be her last broken arm. They will have a friend party next weekend.

God's Glorious Creation

2008-09-12T07:40:00.004-05:00

Last night, Rosemary Stripey (the caterpillar) became an official chrysalis!! She is much more beautiful than I thought she would be. She is green, which I think is a much more rare color. Usually they are brown. It is amazing to look at the pictures from yesterday's post and know that she didn't move, but turned into this. It is even more amazing to know that she will eventually turn into a beautiful black Swallowtail butterfly. Only God can do something like that. She didn't have "ears" as a caterpillar, but not she has these ear-like points on top of her.

You can look closely at her and still see her old skin is the chrysalis in places. You can still see the strings that are holding her to the box. Truly amazing

Can you see her old skin in this picture? Look at the bottom of her.

Rosemary Stripey Caterpillar

2008-09-11T17:24:00.004-05:00

As of Tuesday, we have a new caterpillar pet. It is the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly. A friend at our homeschool group found several on her parsley and decided to share them. We were thrilled to get one. Bobbi and Tyler have named her Rosemary Stripey (we couldn't decide, so we combined names). We only had her for a day before she started to wander. Caterpillars do that before they begin to pupate. They also empty out their digestive tract. (Yuck!) She wandered around and around the little box she is in before deciding on a spot to stick to. I tried to get her to attach to a stick, but she wasn't interested.

They attach themselves with what looks like spider's web. There is a bunch on her bottom side and then there is a small string coming from her to the wall of the box. If you look close, you can see it. It is white.

There is also one on the other side, but it didn't photograph well. How she did this, I don't know. If you look close in the first picture you can see that none of her "legs" are on the wall, just her abdomen(tail) and her head. We are waiting for her to molt one last time. When she does this it will be her pupa or chrysalis. I don't think it is very pretty, but we will wait and see. It really doesn't matter because when she comes out she will be a beautiful Black Swallowtail Butterfly. I must plant lots of parsley next year. I planted carrots this year, but they didn't do well. I want to plant a butterfly/moth garden that will support not only the adult, but also the larva. How cool would that be. I'll keep you posted.

New Cast?

2008-09-04T13:38:00.002-05:00

We went back to the Dr. today. Bobbi had an x-ray taken and the doctor said everythng looked good. All of her tests came back normal also, so all these broken arms are just dumb luck. Does anyone have a suit of armor I can borrow for her when we get these casts off? LOL She didn't get a new cast today. The one she had on was fitting very good, so he wants to leave it. However, they did cut it down a bit and put a different color on it. We go back in two weeks. I don't know what kind of cast she will get, but they will remove this one before they x-ray this time. Her poor little arm will get to breathe for a bit, and I do mean little. Her arm will be quite a bit smaller due to lack of use.

Lost Tooth

2008-09-03T20:02:00.002-05:00

Bobbi has had this loose tooth for a while. Her adult tooth has already grown in in front of it. It had been loose for a while, but not anymore. Tonight she pulled it herself!!! Yeah go Bobbi. Other teeth have come out in Oreos, creamcicles and fudge bars. She swallowed 2, one of which I "looked for". Yuck.

Living Room Beach Trip???

2008-09-03T19:04:00.004-05:00

Since Tropical Storm Fay postponed our trip to the beach, we decided to do a little conchology(study of shells) in the living room. It looks like sand doesn't it? We just finished the chapter in our Apology book on Mollusks and needed some reinforcement. We needed to add to our ocean box also. So, the kids spread out all of our shells on the floor and picke out their favorites. They found all kinds of bivalves, a Moon Snail shell, a Cowry, a Wentletrap, some Slipper Shells and a limpet to name a few. If we ever get to go to the beach, maybe we can add to this.

Conchologists at work.

One of Tyler's finds.

One of Bobbi's finds.

Bobbi's final collection.

Tyler's final collection.

Astronomy Field Trip

2008-09-03T18:58:00.003-05:00

Future anthropologists digging up dinosaur bones?

Picking up things like a Mars rover would.

Riding on a sea turtle.

Yesterday we went on a field trip to our local planetarium. The kids really liked it. It was specifically for homeschool children. They got to sit in the planetarium and look up at the stars as a cowboy told about the stars. It was pretty cool. Then they got to go to a special room with lots of hands on things to play with. They loved it.

Frog Stories

2008-08-29T19:43:00.004-05:00

This summer has been very rich in animal at our home. We have had all sorts of "pets". First there was Crusty the crayfish. We found him in our yard and kept him for a couple of weeks before his demise. I'm sure he was on his way out when we found him since we don't live that close to water. He probably was really hungry to. Then there was Clammy, the clam. We found him at a pond up the road. There are always bivalve shells around the pond; most are empty, a meal for some animal. However Clammy was alive and had his foot out when we found him. Tyler fell in love with him and had to take him home, so we did. It was a great visual for our summer Apologia study of Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. We could see his siphon tubes and the way he could move. We also adopted a baby bird that had fallen out of the nest. It was way too young, and died the second night. It was interesting to watch him eat. You could actually see the food going down his throat. We brought home 3 baby frogs from the pond. They were cute but totally confused as to why they were in this plastic habitat. We only kept them one night. Their relative spent a night just this week. I don't get into feeding frogs, but I do hope to get tadpoles next year and raise them until they are frogs. We waited too late this year. We tried, but all we got were a bowl full of minnows, another "pet". Then there were the hornworm. They were my favorite. We have 3 other cocoons right now that we dug up recently. I don't know what they will turn into, but I can't wait to see. I hope to catch a Woolly Bear catipillar this fall also. We overwintered one last year and he was beautiful when he came out. Oh yeah, we also have several skinks (lizards) living in the garage and around the house. They are cute on the outside, but I don't want another one in my house.
Just the other day, my daughter and I were in the garden when I saw a frog sitting under a new corn stalk. I had to run get my camera. "Don't move," I said. She didn't and I got a great picture of him. I got really close and he didn't move. Bobbi said she thought he was dead, but I thought he looked alive. He didn't blink and I couldn't see his sides moving when he breathed. She decided to bop him on the nose with her popcicle stick. Still nothing even after 2 bops. Then she went behind him and bopped him on the back side. Still nothing. Well maybe he just died. We moved the grass strand that was on him for a better picture. Then I got low to look. Ah ha! He is alive. The little pretender. I could see his throat moving. Hmmh. I went to get Tyler. He loves frogs. He wanted to pick him up. I said fine, but if he jumps he is fast and will be gone quick. First he just petted him. Then he tried to pick the frog up. Well the frog had had enough. Jump, jump, jump and he was gone. I think he was a leopard frog. Boy are they fast.

If you look closely, just behind his eye, you can see his tympanic membrane, otherwise known as his "ear".

I

Munchy Hatched!!!!!

2008-08-28T18:12:00.006-05:00

Today has been the most exciting day!!! This morning while doing school I was just sitting with Bobbi when I thought, "When is this pupa going to hatch." The pupa, of course, is Munchy, and he has been this way for 3+ weeks. I was pondering what was wrong when I heard a scratching sound, like paper crunching. I looked over and what did I see but Munchy coming out of his cocoon. I called the kids to come see. He just crawled out and up on the side of the net. He was/is beautiful and HUGE. He is probably 3 inches long or longer. His cocoon was like thin tissue paper where he broke out. I was amazed and excited. I ran to find the camera. What a science class we had. We watched him over the next few minutes while his wings went from tiny to huge. Little by little he pumped them up until they were longer than his body. He is still upstairs in his net and hasn't moved since he came out. I have left the lights on so he will not want to fly just yet. We will let him go tonight.

Munchy's cocoon after hatching

Just hatched. Look how small his wings are. There are six yellow bands/dots on his abdomen. That is how he got his name: Manduca sexta.

Check out how big his wings are just a few minutes later.

What big eyes you have. His eye is the black thing there by his antenna. I don't know what that shiny ball is on his head. If anyone knows, please tell me. Just below that ball is his coiled up proboscis or tongue.

Hand some isn't he?! His wings are ginormous!! (is that a word?)

I had to cut the bug net to get a good picture. I don't really advise getting one of these. They net is too hard to see through. Next time, I will make one myself out of a box and some clear plastic for a window.

This is just before we let him go. Tyler touched him and he spread his wings. Beautiful.

Check out this site for more on raising Manduca: http://insected.arizona.edu/manduca/Rear_reargbox.html

X-rays

2008-08-26T13:02:00.003-05:00

Here are Bobbi's x-rays from Saturday night. Awesome, huh. We went to the Dr. today because she has had constant tingling in her fingers. He said it is probably because they stretched the nerves when they set her arm. Everything is just fine. They drew blood today to check calcium levels and her parathyroid levels. Thursday we go to get a DEXA(bone) scan. This should tell us if this is all just accident or something more.

Another Thought

2008-08-24T19:27:00.004-05:00

Another thought hit me later. I realized how precious life really is. I try to remind myself of that quite often, especially when I get upset with my kids. I try to picture life without them, the feeling I would feel and my desire to have them back. That really brings me back to reality. You never know when you day or life will change. It can happen in an instant. We certainly didn't plan yesterday, nor did we desire it. However, it did happen. It could have been worse. I am just thankful that God is in control. My sweet girl had a hard time last night wondering why God continues to allow this to happen to her. I explained that nothing that happens to us is a suprise to God. He sifts everything through His hands first. Why things happen, we don't always know, but if we have faith in Him we will be better able to see what His will is for us. I told Bobbi that maybe someday she will be able to give comfort to someone else who is going through what she is going through right now. Only time will tell what God has up His sleeve for us. We must just be patient and watch. So the next time you get upset with your kiddos just picture what life would be like if they were gone. It will be a sobering moment for you.

3 Times a Charm

2008-08-24T15:18:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a loooooonnnnggg day! First of all we were supposed to be driving to Florida for vacation, but TS Fay changed all of that. Thanks Fay. So we did yard work. Now that was a great exchange, vacation for yard work. It was almost lunch time (really it was after my lunch time and I was hungry). Granny and PaPa had been there helping me dig up some bushes, but were leaving and we were in the back yard. Papa was on the driveway with the kids. About that time, our day took a massive detour that we are all feeling still today. Bobbi came screaming around the house with Tyler in tow. She was crying, saying that she fell and hurt her arm. I told her to let me see it. Well, Dr. Mom made a diagnosis in less than a second: it is Broken. I was calm, as usual. I don't know why I am able to stay calm at time like that. Only God can give you something like that. Granny wanted to find her a chair. I said she could sit in the van because she was going to be travelling to the ER. I put her in the van, and went inside. I grabbed her Teddy bears,(can't go anywhere with tears without them), turned off lights, locked doors and grabbed my camera. Yes, I said my camera. I learned last time to always take my camera to the ER. What? Did you say last time? Yes, this is her third time for breaking this arm, but I will talk about that later. We were sitting in the ER in about 20 minutes. God gave us pretty clear driving. Within 15 minutes we were in a room, but then time pretty much stood still. Bobbi got her IV which is the second most painful thing of the day not including the fall itself. Then she got pain medicine. Wow what a change. She was a trooper in all of this, but what a difference pain medicine makes. She went from painful glum to chattery happy. She reminded me of the little girl in the cell phone commercial who never stops talking. I didn't mind, though. Then little brother came in and gave her a Barbie doll from Granny. More happiness. She named Barbie Julliane. Then we were off to X-ray. She got to ride in a wheel chair which was fun, but then they had to move her arm to position it. Owwww. No amount of pain meds can combat that. That was the most painful moment. What was mom doing while the x-ray was going on? Well, Mom was hungry because it is now 2PM and I haven't eaten since say 8AM. Granny brought some peanut butter crackers, but I hated eating in front of my baby since she couldn't eat until it was all over. I did eat 2 crackers in the room, but still felt weak. So while I was behind that shield, I was cramming my face with crackers. LOL I had to eat fast. They only took 2 shots of her arm. Shortly after we returned to her room, the nurses were all called into a staff meeting. I couldn't believe it either. It took about 45 minutes of our time for the meeting. You see the Dr. could have been setting the arm, but he had no nurses. Bummer. Finally it was time to set her arm. Last time I stayed in the room and watched, but this time I was still so weak that I only stayed until she was fully asleep. They were also pretty adamant that I leave or at least sit outside the door. I chose to go to the waiting room and have some real food. My husband, Mike, came back to stay outside the door. The whole procedure only took 15 minutes and then she was awake. Groggy, but awake. She then had a "pretty" white cast; the only color choice for the ER. She was dizzy, but OK. They brought her a cherry popcicle which she loved. Her nurse, Amanda, brought her a little pink stuffed pig which we named, Amanda. It was fitting since later we went home to barbecue. LoL In order to go home she had to keep something on her stomach and be able to walk. An hour later she was still dizzy and didn't want to stand up. She tried, but it felt funny to her so she gave up. I told her she could go home if she would show the nursed she could walk. "Ok," she said. And up she went. We were discharged and went home to eat supper. We were all famished, especially Bobbi. She usually sleeps in a loft bed, but for the next 8 weeks she will sleep on a futon matteress under her bed. She has to keep her arm elevated for a few nights so it won't swell. I think she rolled over some time this morning and her arm was probably hanging down because she came to my room saying that her fingers were tingiling and her arm was itching. After getting her arm elevated again and blowing cool air down the cast, she was fine. This was the worst break yet. Both bones broke completely and sat on top of the bones they were supposed to be connected to. How did she do it? She fell while riding her scooter.

I said this was the 3rd time. The first time was when she was 4 1/2 years old. She tripped over something and fell in the house. Only one bone was barely broken. In fact we didn't believe it was broken until the next morning when it was still hurting. The second time was just a year and a half ago. She jumped over something on the trampoline and landed on her arm. This was a bigger break; both bones were broken, but still attached. They told us at that time that if she broke it again, it would probably require surgery. Praise God that it didn't. So 8 long weeks of cast for my sweet girl. Today she is a bit sad because she can see all of the things she can't do like play video games, have a birthday party at Crossfire, ride rides on vacation in October. So, pray for her.

2008-08-22T15:50:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday was my mother's birthday. I won't tell you which one because she might read this post and I might get a spanking. She says she can still do that to me. Ha Ha Ha Anyway, the kids and I decided to make cookies. Actually Tyler and I got the idea after doing his grammar for the day. The picture we analyzed for nouns had a family making cookies. Well, I could almost taste the cookies and it was black and white picture. So, we make Granny some chocolate chip cookies. They were yummy and the kids loved making them.