Fun in the Mud

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!!!

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!!!!!!

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

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

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

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.

l

Apologia Notebooking Journal Giveaway

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

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?