A Cheap and Educational Day Trip...

Campbell's Covered Bridge


I don't have a lot of free time lately to blog because we've been busy hitting the school books. But, I have managed to squeeze in some time to share a recent day trip that three of the kids and I made. ( a little wading and splashing was involved by the way).

We visited the last covered bridge in the state of South Carolina. I was amazed at how open and friendly the area around the bridge was so we got out and rambled a bit. (did I mention their was wading and splashing involved? Oh yeah, I did that already)



....Kind of makes you think about all of the wagons and cars that travelled across this boarded floor....


You wouldn't want to meet an oncoming wagon or car back in those days when going through this tunnel....


This little guy was hiding in the "fake" well nearby. I wasn't sure what he was in the light but was delighted to check my camera after I snapped the photo to find out he was an amphibian and NOT a reptile. Thank goodness for small miracles!

Overall, it was a nice day trip and we got to actually see and "touch" a piece of fleeting history. That was nice (Oh, and did I mention, it was a cheap trip- and there was wading and splashing involved?)

More Yard Critters and a Marble Treasure

Mr. Dragonfly

Somehow or another, we went from the dead of winter to early summer. What happened to spring? I'm not complaining too much since it's not blazing hot, but some days, it's in the mid 80's already! Anyway, with the warmer weather, we find ourselves outdoors a little more than we had been. Roly Poly girl is still young enough to find nature amazingly interesting so I find myself taking full advantage of these little learning opportunities.

Yes, Roly Poly girl was at it again. She had to lift up the mat in front of the basement door to find her little crustacean friends hiding below.

Mr. Bumble Bee

This little guy strikes fear in one of my kiddos heart the minute she sees (or hears) him. Why, I don't know for sure but I would suspect it is due to the fact that my daughter managed to step (yes, I said step) into a yellow jacket nest when she was a very little girl. She feels the way I do about snakes (you know, a good snake is a dead snake) but her little saying would be; a good bee is a dead bee. Maybe we both will get over our little fears one of these days...

Mr. HoneyBee- Stay away from Monsanto Corn!!!!

Speaking of bees, I was thrilled to see Mr. HoneyBee. You just don't see these guys much when someone has planted that evil, genetically modified corn in the area. You might want to get educated on "Frankencorn" if you haven't heard about it already. You can start at Mother Earth News Magazine's site and read their recent article or head on over to one of a gazillion web sites dedicated to let the public know what Monsanto is doing to our food supply.

Ok, I'm off of my pure food high horse now- back to the program......

We have an over abundance of robins in our backyard. That's not a problem. They supply us with hours of endless amusement. The other woodland creatures in our backyard (the squirrel family) do not approve of the flock of robins so, they are constantly waging war on the birds. It is quite hilarious to see either birds jumping straight up into the air after a squirrel sneaks up behind them, or squirrels running around confused after being dive bombed. It's a win- win for us- hey, it's free entertainment!

Stay tuned, I've been trying to get a photo of the squirrel family but they are photo shy. One of these days I'll try to share the squirrel family with you. Their three babies are sooo cute so it will be worth it to see them.

A Roly Poly Girl treasure.....

With the general population of children in the neighborhood being male, there are a lot of boy-related games that are taking place at any given time somewhere around the house. One of those boy-related activities is marble shooting. No, not the old fashioned kind of marble shooting- the sling shot kind of marble shooting.

What's so good about boys shooting marbles in slingshots? Well, little girls enjoy spending hours looking for marbles that boys shot out of slingshots. Before it's over, the girls have more marbles than the boys!

Roly Poly Girl and I like to leisurely walk around in the backyard and nearby gravel to look for long lost marbles. (It's like treasure hunting...) On this particular day that I snapped this photo, we found 3 of them. The best time to go marble hunting is in mid day, the day after a rain storm. Once, we found 4 at once- that's a good haul if I do say so myself!

Photos of a freak hail storm....

View through the storm door- we couldn't open it due to the hail falling diagonally and hitting the glass.

It all started with the intense lightening striking and then it got really dark all of the sudden. Typical for summer but this is early spring. It wasn't long before we heard slight taps on the windows which quickly turned into pounding.

Most of it was about marble size with an occasional bigger one close to quarter size.

Not only did it hail, the rain poured and poured. This is what the back yard looked like after it was all over.


Quite a bit of the white stuff built up pretty quickly. Amazing. I guess you can figure what we will be studying tomorrow in school.....

Molly, McGee, and 18,000+ People's Obsession

Molly
Photo courtesy of Sportsmans Paradise Online

McGee
Photo courtesy of Sportsmans Paradise Online

Who is Molly? Who is McGee? Why are 18,000 people obsessed?

Well, a fellow Etsy team member passed a link to a live web cam that is currently showing the inside view of a barn owl nesting box. Mom, Molly, is inside with 2 owlets already hatched and more to come. Hence the obsession. It is very educational, soothing, and truly interesting to watch the daily comings and goings of this really neat owl family.

Right now there are two babies in there with another one due to hatch today. Daddy McGee will be very busy in the days to come, bringing home dinner.

Be sure to visit Sportsmans Paradise Online to get acquainted with this every growing owl family.

(Oh, and by the way, if you are squeamish, don't say I didn't warn you that you might just see some interesting things going on at mealtimes.)

American Responsibility

Definitions that every American needs to know as found on Webster's online dictionary website: (Don't take my word for it, click on the links to see for yourself)

1. Socialism-"any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods"

2. Republic- "a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law"

3. Democracy- " the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges"

4. Communism- " a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production"


Quotes of famous Americans: (as found on USHistorysite.com)

Benjamin Franklin- "All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse. "

Thomas Jefferson- "That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves." "The Constitution is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please."

George Washington- "If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."

Abraham Lincoln- "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. "

Food for thought, I would say.....

and yes, this is one of those blog posts with a message to my fellow Americans...

On Going Projects....

Quick! Point to the nearest chili bean! Phew, you made it.

Lately, I've been looking for opportunities to have as many "projects" that the kids can work on in school that they can handle. One such project was one that my 7th grader asked to do. She had found the project in her science book and it kind of went a long with the "wild" garden that is growing on my kitchen counters at this very moment.

The project involved painting 3 seeds with fingernail polish and leaving 3 seeds alone. All were put into jars of water and observed the next morning to see what the fingernail polish had done. Well, the lesson learned was that the seed needed water to penetrate into it, in order to start the germination process. Lesson learned and the girls had lots of fun painting kidney beans with fingernail polish.



A local Walmart store finally bit the bullet and began to close it's fabric department over the past few weeks. They didn't sell enough of the stuff to justify the fabric department's existence. (Could have been the fact that, at anytime of the day, no one was there to actually "cut" the fabric for you and the guy in automotive had no idea how to do it?) Anyway, I picked up 4 yards of homespun (shown in the photo above) for $0.56 a yard! What am I going to do with it? Well, I'm in need of some new cloth napkins for the kitchen. I should be able to make enough to keep us swimming in napkins for a long time. If you are interested in making your own cloth napkins, you can see this old post for a "how to".

As far as other projects, I'm desperately trying to figure out some kind of sewn item that would be good for men. Making things for women are easy- it's men that are the problem for me. Any ideas?

St. Patrick's Day and Our Homeschool Experience

What? Are you confused? What's this guy doing in this St. Patrick's Day post, pointing at a pile of snakes?

Why, that's ole' St. Patrick himself! One of the things that he is known for, is for banishing snakes from Ireland. What does that have to do with St. Patrick's Day? Well, in our American culture, we have sort of "changed" the meaning of St. Patrick's Day.

Being a homeschool family, we spent the greater part of this morning researching what St. Patrick's Day really is and what all of the traditional symbols of St. Patrick's Day really mean.

We learned that in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday, celebrating the date that St. Patrick died. He was known for driving the snakes out of Ireland (possibly meaning the driving out of Druid ceremonies that involved snakes). Most importantly, he spread the word of God and converted many non believers.

We also learned that many in Ireland feel that the color green is unlucky. American's have kind of introduced the drinking of beer as part of the holiday. Oh, and last but not least, the shamrock does indeed, have Irish backgrounds. St. Patrick himself taught that the shamrock represented the Trinity (Father, Son, and The Holy Ghost). So, how about that.

Our learning didn't stop at searching the web. The two younger kids wrote St. Patrick's Day stories (both about leprechauns) and I gave the older kids a fun sheet so they wouldn't feel left out. Later, we searched different locations (including the place where St. Patrick was born- Scotland, by the way) and Dublin Ireland using the street maps so we could get a bird's eye view of the real places. So, basically, it's like we traveled over the ocean and actually "saw" what we were studying with our own eyes (without having to leave the comforts of home!!). If I had thought ahead, we could have thrown some home economics in the mix and fixed some traditional Irish meals today but this mama wasn't that prepared....

Well, we traveled to Ireland and Scotland, wrote some stories, learned some history, AND managed to get our regular school work done. What a St. Patrick's Day we had!

6 x 3 = Lego creation

This is a typical sight on our kitchen table nowadays. To be honest, this is quite neat and tidy compared to most days. Do you see those nice green multiplication table cards there? What I'm working on right now is how to pour the numbers from those cards into Go Cart Boy's head. So far, he has the zero's and one's down. It's the two's and three's that are wreaking havoc in my kitchen.

So what's a mother to do when the two's and three's aren't sticking? They are just blowing Go Cart Boy's mind. Well, I thought hard and came up with a plan. "Hmmm, Go Cart Boy likes Lego's, Go Cart Boy hates multiplication tables. Wonder what would happen if I combined the two?"


The result: 6x3=18 and whatever this is. Hey, it worked and I doubt he will ever forget what 6 x 3 is. (and for those of you that are really astute, the other 4 Lego's are hanging off the back side of the contraption)

Maverick's Basement made Bird House

Our old oldest son (whom I will call Maverick- not his real name) started a neat little project today. This is where it all began......


Ok, technically, it all began at The Home Depot. That is where I spied this pattern for a birdhouse. Hey, when you homeschool, your eyes are always on the lookout for a learning experience for your kids.


From time to time, I stepped down to the basement to see what was going on. (By the way, those red free publication boxes that are in every single one of these pictures are for sale- cheap- I want them out of the basement!)


Way to go Maverick! I was so proud of how fast he put this little jewel together and what a great job he did. I told him to beware. The next time I went to The Home Depot, there was no telling what pattern I might pick up next time. I don't think he was worried. He discovered that he liked working with wood today. Hooray!

School is in full swing- Finally!

I am so thrilled that school has been going wonderfully. I'm almost afraid to say it out loud. That first sentence is something that I don't say often each year. This year, I've tried some different things and so far, they are working. We all are still sitting at the kitchen table but I have staggered subjects some so that no two people are working on the same subject. Kind of doesn't make sense but I have found that when I'm working with one person, the other is constantly trying to get my attention so that they can get done and move on to the next subject before the other person can. I fixed that now so there is no, "unspoken" race to finish one subject and move on. Hey, little things make big differences!

Kindergarten is going well and Roly Poly girl is happy.


See how fast Roly Poly girl moves that pencil? Naaaah, just kidding- too little light, blurry picture. I just thought it was funny and had to share. (By the way, K-5 kiddos were allowed to wear pajamas on their first day of school too- how's that for fun?)


This is what you get when your husband catches you running off a clock template from the internet so that you can make your own cheap clock for 3rd grade math.

Scott, said, "Wait, don't waste paper, we have a clock in the basement that (Go Cart Boy) he can use instead." It didn't have all of the numbers but Scott fixed that. (hee hee). Roly Poly Girl decorated it too. I'm sure Go Cart Boy appreciates all of the work that went into it. (hee hee) Hey, whatever works. He can practice telling time and that is all that matters.

Stay tuned for further homeschool adventures.....

The Hammerhead Worm (Don't look if you are squeamish)

A Homeschool moment in time......

One day this week, during a brief break in the rain, we spotted something creepy- crawling up foundation of the house. I had seen these things dried up in the driveway before and I had thought that they were "snake worms". Ewww, the mention of "snake" sends shivers up my spine. Anyway, this creepy guy (or gal?) was inching it's way up and I noticed it had a flat head. Ewwwwwww.

I can't believe I'm blogging about this.

Anyway, I looked on the internet and quickly found out that this guy is called a Hammerhead worm and he is bad news to earthworms (which are good news to farmers and gardeners). I found this neat article on these guys so if you are interested, just click on over here to find out more.

Apparently, they devour earthworms (rather slowly and painfully by the way) and if you chop them up, each little piece multiplies into a totally new hammerhead worm. Blechhhh. Top get rid of him, you have to "dissolve" him. Hmmmmmm, that kind of creeps me out too. What to do.....?.....

By the way, Roly Polley Girl calls him a "pop" worm. She says they pop...?.... Even she didn't like him or he would have been named "Bob" like most other critters.

There you have it, the hammerhead worm or land planarian. A new critter found in my neck of the woods. I hope I don't see him again either.

Either way you look at it, we all learned something new today, how about you?

A Quick Blogging Break

It's that time of the year. You know, the time when you put a piggy bank on top of a bunch of books in front of a yellow wall and take a blogging break.





Had you there didn't I? Don't you just love clip art? You can find the most appropriate pictures in it sometimes. Anyway, the point of this post was to let anyone out there know that I'm disappearing for a few days and in my absence, I will be patiently writing notes until I have blisters on my fingers.

You see, I'm doing something that I haven't done before. Instead of writing my lesson plans week by week like I've always done with our homeschooling, I'm getting the entire year down on paper all at once! How is that for super organizing. Well, it is for me anyway.

I have a plan and I'm determined to stick with it. Blogging will deter me from that plan so I'll return later in the week. Have a good one!

A Short Botany Lesson- Poison Ivy versus Virginia Creeper

Does this picture strike fear in you?

Well, it shouldn't. It's Virginia Creeper. Some people think, at first glance, that it is the infamous Poison Oak. Officially it's called Parthenocissus quinquefolia. It is not advisable that you rub it's leaves all over you as it can cause a rash in some people and it's berries are poisonous. The good thing is, it's not poison oak as poison oak doesn't grow in my area of the country.

This is Poison Ivy.

Unfortunately, this does grow in my part of the country and this little patch is in my backyard. Poison Ivy can cause rash and blisters and is difficult to get rid of (both the vines and the rash that is). In my opinion this little nuisance is almost as bad as fire ants- almost. Fortunately, you can squish fire ants. If you squished a poison ivy plant, the oil from the plant would stay on you and develop into that nasty rash I was talking about. You can even touch your shoes or clothing that came in contact with the plant and a rash will develop. The bottom line is, stay away from it- consider yourself warned.

Make sure and click on the links provided and you can read more about these two plants. Sorry that I couldn't think of something funny to say about poison ivy. It's just not funny especially when it is all over the back side of your son's knees and spreading frontward....Arghhhhh

Homeschooler Wants to "Lick" Goldfish.......

I think he just read my son's English assignment

Homeschooling moms out there, you will appreciate this one if you have had at least one apple in your basket do something similar.

I have this younger son that likes to do things to the beat of his own drum. Mind you, that drum has to always be drumming something funny-something that gets him attention basically.

J #3 as I sometimes refer to my 2nd grader, (Seriously, you don't really think that I call my children by numbers do you)?- (at least not in public) was left alone to finish a very small assignment from his English workbook. His assignment was to simply write three sentences about the picture on the page. The picture just happened to be a small, round, glass bowl filled with three goldfish.

I got preoccupied with something else and figured that I would check his work the next day- after all, it was just three sentences- right? He couldn't have had that much trouble with it could he?

I was totally caught off guard this morning when I opened his book and read the three simple little sentences that my 2nd grader scrawled across the page as quickly as he could that day. Here they are as follows:

1. I ate my fish.
2. I cooked my fish.
3. I lick my fish.

I have nothing else to say.

What Does A Frisbee, A Pecan, A Lot of SweetGum Seeds, and A Dandelion Bloom Have in Common?

A four year old's treasures

Life gets way too hectic sometimes. This afternoon however, I took some time to slow down and discover something that my four year old already knew. You see, she knows that there are beautiful treasures all around us. We just have to slow down and look. I forget that sometimes. I think that God uses our little ones to remind us of the beauty around us when we forget.

This afternoon in particular, my little one (don't tell her I called her a little one- she would be "powerful" angry at being called "little") and I ventured outside. It was quite chilly and this winter, I have seemed to grow into a sort of house hermit so it took some urging to get me to grab a coat and go out the door.

I watched her play her make believe games (you know, the princess types of games in particular- the one's most four year old girls play) and she soon wanted me to join in. It was at this point in time that we started throwing a Frisbee around.

Suddenly, "Look, it's a Katamari seed" my little one cried. (Now those of you that are familiar with video games are probably cracking up at this point- careful that you don't spew your drink onto your computer). If you don't know what Katamari is, you can see it here.

The video game, "I Love Katamari" makes no sense to me either but in this case, it was a familiar in a little one's world.

The Frisbee quickly turned into a vessel to hold precious "Katamari" seeds (or sweet gum balls as we call them in the south). One "Katamari" led to another and before I knew it, she had an entire Frisbee full. Upon careful inspection, she had even noticed a single blooming dandelion blossom, a rogue pecan, and some shriveled up weird pieces of tree bark. Any home school mom would beam with pride, as I did at that moment. She was discovering her world and learning to look closer at things. We need more moments like that.

Where those sweet gum "Katamari" seeds came from, I will never know as there are no sweet gum trees anywhere near our house, but I am grateful for them. A little one expanded her world and reminded me that there is more outside than just cold air - simply because of some stray "Katamari" seeds.

Raffi's Boo Boo Repair

This is "Raffi"

Raffi is a favorite critter of a small boy at our house. He came from some claw machine somewhere back in time. The exact location, none of us can remember. Who knew that one day, Raffi would count as "home school".

Last night, Raffi was brought to my sewing table with the hopes that I could repair him fairly quickly. He had a triangle shaped "boo boo" somewhere on his hip. The small boy at my house (that is well known in these parts, for his impatience), grew tired of the wait and decided that he needed a needle. "Why are you looking for needles?" I asked. "I'm going to fix Raffi" the boy replied.

This is the beauty of home school folks! Now, we do follow a set curriculum but as life deals it's little questions, we can stop what we are doing and investigate. Well, today, investigation just happened to be in the eyes of an eight year old boy, to be the day to learn to repair a "boo boo" on a stuffed animal. I am a firm believer that boys and men should be able to sew on a button and repair little rips. This doesn't make them "sissy", it just means they are well prepared for little sewing disasters that may occur in life. It's not like I'm making them sit down at the sewing machine and sew a frilly apron or something....

A spectacular "first" sewing job

Well, here it is, that little 8 year old boy's first sewing job. I say, it is a super first try.

(And it counts as school too.)