Creepy Critters

Aahhh!  Spring.

Definitely my favorite time of year!  I love the blooming flowers, the budding leaves, the green grass, and most of all, the rising temperatures. (Although it’s been unseasonably warm here since January.)

My monkeys are enjoying the spring weather too.  Ty, for one, has been taking advantage of the weather and doing a lot of fishing in the creek behind our house.  He’s baited up several drop hooks, and the Tool Man helped him set out a trotline.  Armed with a bucket of goldfish for bait, Ty’s hoping to catch the granddaddy of all catfish.  (I’d just be happy with a mess of white perch.)

Although he has caught only a handful of catfish, one weighing in around 20 pounds, Ty has hooked quite a menagerie of other aquatic creatures.  Not the least of which was this slimy critter – a fresh-water eel!

 
YUCK! 

This was the first time the kids and I had seen an eel in person, and let me tell you, we were totally grossed out.  It was the creepiest thing I had seen in quite a while for sure.

As Ty was posing for these pictures, that eel tied itself into a knot.  How strange is that!

This eel is isn’t the only odd thing Ty has caught this spring.  He’s also hooked 2 more eels, two turtles, one white perch, and two gar measuring around 4 feet long!  And Ty wonders why I’m not a fan of swimming in the creek.

Happy spring,
Lindsey

Life on the Farm

*Note:  I originally wrote this post waaaay back in April of this year.  However, when I tried to publish it online, I received an error message and have been unable to post anything in the last 4 months.  Thankfully, I finally fixed my technical issues today, so I am officially back in the blogging business!  So even though this post is terribly out of date, I decided to go ahead and share it with y’all anyway.*

Hey, y’all.  Remember me?  I know it’s been months since I lasted posted anything on this blog, and I feel just awful about that.  I could spend a lot of time apologizing and giving excuses and filling you in on the last 4 months, but I won’t.  Let’s just talk about the present, shall we?

Thanks to the arrival of my favorite season, spring, our family has been spending a lot of time out of doors lately.  We have all been enjoying the warmer temperatures and longer days.  I just don’t know how people who live “up north” deal with all the cold.  I need heat!

So what have we been busying ourselves doing?  Well, like all good country folk, we’ve been hard at work gardening and farming.  And by “we” I mean mostly the Tool Man and occasionally the monkeys and rarely me.

The last couple of years we have taken a break from gardening.  The Tool Man was just too busy to keep it up.  But with a new job and schedule this year, he was eager to dig in once again and exercise his green thumbs.  In an effort not to overwork ourselves, we decided to keep our garden small and simple.  We planted six short rows of our favorite vegetables – one row of potatoes, one row of tomatoes, one row of squash, one row of peppers (for pepper jelly and salsa!), one row of zucchini, and one row of snap beans.

When it’s time to hoe or weed, the monkeys magically disappear, but when it’s planting time they are super excited to work in the garden.  They love digging their fingers (and toes) into the soft dirt. 

Even little Tacy Mae was eager to get some dirt between her tiny toes.

You might can tell from our wardrobes that these pictures were taken a couple of months ago.  It’s just taken me that long to write this post.  Our garden actually looks nothing like these pictures any more.  It’s now lush and green with huge squash plants and head-high snap bean vines.  We’ve also harvested our potatoes and have planted a couple of watermelons and cantaloupes.

We’ve had several new animal additions to our farm this year.  I’ve been begging the Tool Man for a goat for years now, and he finally gave in.  Back in January we bought this little pygmy goat when he was just 2 weeks old.  My super creative monkeys decided to name him “Goatie.”  How original is that?!  We just love Goatie.  I guess you could say he is a free-range goat.  He can push through his gate, so he comes and goes as he pleases.  Honestly, it’s a bit like having another dog running around the yard.

Of course we have several new feathered faces strutting around our yard this spring.  In addition to a dozen more chicks, our coop now houses 1 turkey, 2 rouen ducks, and 3 geese.  Whew!  That’s a lot of birds, but we sure do love having them around. 

The only negative to having all the birds is that the ducks and geese were wreaking havoc on our garden.  They mowed down an entire row of peppers and zucchinis, so we were forced to build a fence around our garden to keep out our feathered friends.

Thanks for hanging in there during my absence.  Hopefully I will get back into a regular blogging schedule soon.  I do miss sharing memories with y’all.

Lindsey

Fun with Chickens

Hello, y’all.  After a four-day weekend at a flea market and a water park (it’s a weird combination, I know) we are home again and getting back to our routine.  School continues to run smoothly for us this year, and we are right on schedule in our 9th week.  Wow! Has it really been nine weeks already?  I feel like the year is flying by.

But no boring talk about schoolwork today.  Nope, today I have nothing but the cutest pictures of Tacy Mae to share with y’all.  Last week, Tacy turned the big “2,” so I decided to get out my camera and take a few pictures of the birthday girl. 

With the cool, fall temperatures we’ve been having lately (if you can call 85 degrees “cool”) the monkeys have been spending lots of time outdoors, riding scooters, wandering in the woods, and playing with the dogs.  Tacy’s favorite thing to do outside is to follow our chickens around and feed them their favorite treat of dried worms.

This is the first year we’ve had any white chickens – Leghorns, to be exact.  Honestly, they are not my favorite.  They look a little too “commercial” for my taste.  Not to mention they are pretty flighty and they lay boring, white eggs.  But at least they lay, right?

I know this next picture is not the greatest, but I love the way Tacy’s hair is flying about.  It sort of looks like a chicken comb in this picture.  Tacy has the softest, most wispy hair.  I’m trying my hardest to let her bangs grow out, but it’s killing me!  I can’t stand to see her hair down in her eyes, and she refuses to leave a barrette in for any length of time.  I keep threatening to pull out my scissors and start whacking.

When she’s not chasing chickens, Tacy loves to swing.  And for goodness sakes, don’t put her in a baby swing!  Big girl swings only, please!

Recently, Tacy has begun posing for the camera.  Check out her cheesy grin.

Sometimes the best pictures are the ones they aren’t aware you’re taking.

To keep Tacy from dumping out an entire bag of chicken treats (those things are expensive, by the way) I gave Tacy a bucket with just a few worms.

Tacy is getting to be quite the little boss.  You can see below how she’s got that finger pointed, trying to tell the chickens what to do.  I’ve heard that Tacy rules the roost in the church nursery too (pun intended).

Happy birthday, you little mischievous monkey!  Mama loves you.

Lindsey

Shoo Fly

Ahhh, summer!

It’s the closest I get to “time off.”

I am often asked if we take a summer break from homeschooling.  Yes, we take a break, but the reason may not be what you think.

Our summer break is more for my own sanity than for the kid’s pleasure.  I do believe I’d go crazy if we did school twelve months a year.   My brain desperately needs the time to recuperate, recharge, and relax.  Taking a summer vacation also gives me the chance to tackle various projects around the house like:  cleaning out closets, organizing clutter, purging the ever-increasing mountain of toys, making jelly, completing craft projects, sewing for the girls, and planning birthday parties.

I also have the tough job of keeping the monkeys occupied throughout the summer.  While I could think of hundreds of household chores to keep them busy, the monkeys are none too thrilled with the thought of doing housework all summer.  I can’t say that I blame them, but I do make them do their fair share.  A few chores that the monkeys help with include: laundry, pet care, mopping, wiping down bathrooms, watering plants, and dusting.  Their leisure time is spent sleeping late, swimming, playing Wii, riding four-wheelers, digging in a dirt pile, building with Legos, and aggravating each other.

Occasionally I try to sneak in a little education during the summer.  A while back I told y’all that I am trying to incorporate nature study into our academic work.  (See this post.)  While I am not planning any formal nature studies for the kids this summer, I would like to send them out to observe and explore creation from time to time.  And I’ve noticed that sometimes, if you keep your eyes and ears open, opportunities for nature studies knock on your door.

Literally.

A few weeks ago there was a very strange looking critter clinging to the back door of our house.  I’d never seen an insect with such a long, slender tail.  It was the perfect specimen for a nature study!

Being insect ignorant, I had to use Google to help me identify this creature as a mayfly.  Once I had a name for this bug, I did a little reading online, so I would have some information to share with the monkeys.  I even found a couple of short, informative videos about mayflies for the monkeys to watch.

The monkeys thought the mayfly was a neat looking critter.  They eagerly got out their nature journals and started sketching with their watercolor pencils.  What was particularly cool is that this mayfly molted on our door leaving an empty exoskeleton for the monkeys to examine.

Lucy especially loves nature journaling.  She never tires of adding pictures to her notebook, sketching everything from sunsets to pinecones.  I’m very encouraged by her enthusiasm for nature study.

During our brief study we all learned that mayflies are pretty amazing critters.  A few interesting facts:

• Mayflies live the majority of their lives (up to 3 years)underwater as nymphs (immature insects).
• Once the mayfly develops into an adult, it leaves the water for the land.
• Enormous swarms of mayflies emerging from the waters of the Mississippi River have actually been detected by weather radar.  Wow, that’s a lot of bugs!
• The adult mayfly typically lives only 1-2 days.  There are some species of adult mayflies that live only live 5 minutes!
• Adult mayflies exist only to reproduce, hence they do not have functioning mouths.

I tell you, the more we do nature studies, the more I like them!  The monkeys definitely enjoy them too.  It almost makes me want to get started on our new school year, so we can dive deeper into outdoor learning.

Almost.

For now I think I’ll be content to enjoy the rest of my summer.

Lindsey

Back to Nature

I’ve been doing something recently that is very out of character for me…  Reading!

It’s no secret that I don’t like to read.  (Gasp!)

I find it incredibly boring.

I’d much rather be doing something creative with my hands.  But lately, I’ve discovered the works of Miss Charlotte Mason, and I am fascinated with her philosophy of education, in particular, her thoughts on homeschooling.

Miss Mason was an educator who lived around the turn of the 20th century, and wrote extensively about educating children in the home.  I must say I am loving her ideas.  Her methodology is far too broad a topic for me to discuss here, but there is plenty of information to be found online regarding the Charlotte Mason (CM) method should you desire to find out more.

It is my hope to incorporate as many CM practices into our homeschool in the coming year as possible.  In fact, I’ve been so inspired by CM’s writings that, even though the monkeys are practically finished with their work for this year, I’ve already begun implementing some of CM’s suggestions into our daily routine.

For instance, we’ve begun to learn Latin, we’ve ventured into the world of Shakespeare, and we’ve devoted a small part of each week to the study of famous artists.  I’ve also managed to squeeze in some classical music and lighthearted poetry here and there.

Today I wanted to highlight another one of Miss Mason’s ideas that we’ve started using in (or rather out of) our classroom.

Nature Study!

CM believed that children should spend a lot of time out of doors.  And by “a lot” I mean 4-6 hours a day!  Can I get an “Amen”?  Sign me up!

In Charlotte’s opinion children should be allowed multiple hours a day for ripping, romping, playing, breathing fresh air, soaking up sunshine, and making discoveries.  She believed that children should be encouraged to explore the marvels of Creation on their own.  The mother should play a very unobtrusive role in the children’s study of nature.  She should casually direct the children’s attention towards a specific area of interest, like a cluster of dandelions or a bird’s nest, maybe posing a question here or there are, but never boring the children with a lecture or lesson.  The children should be allowed to make discoveries on their own, unhindered by proper “lessons.”  Then they should come back and report to mom or record in a nature journal whatever observations they made during their explorations.

Done correctly, a thorough study of nature benefits the children on multiple levels.  It hones their observation skills, it nurtures their love for their Creator, and it helps them appreciate the value of life.  Not to mention the fact that a well rounded nature study encompasses a multitude of academic subjects including geography, geology, math, composition, poetry, and, of course, the sciences, just to name a few.  With so many benefits, it’s easy to see why I was eager to add nature study to our weekly routine.

I had only one question.

Where do we start?

There’s just so much to see.  Birds, trees, weeds, insects, water, weather, flowers…  Nature is BIG, and I needed to help my kids focus.  The answer came to me while I was driving down the interstate the other day.

You know something’s up when you can hear the loud roar of insects over the sound of 70 mph traffic.  Deep in the recesses of my mind I remembered something about a periodical cicada that made it’s appearance every few years.  Could that be the buzzing sound I was hearing?  Turns out it was.  A little internet research revealed that a brood of 13-year cicadas just emerged in Louisiana and Mississippi.  What a perfect topic for our nature study!

I knew these insects were present at our home because of the roar of the bugs in our yard.  So I sent the kids outside to see what clues they could find.   Within minutes I heard squeals of delight outside.  “Mama, come see!  Come see!”

The monkeys had discovered plenty of cicada signs.  Below is a picture of just one of the hundreds of holes that they found in our front yard.  The cicadas, which have spent the past 13 years feeding on roots, emerged last week by tunneling up to the surface and popping out of these holes like some kind of six-legged gophers. 

The monkeys also found gobs of tiny exoskeletons littering the yard. 

Ty even found a few loose cicada wings.

Of course, there were plenty of live, adult cicadas to be found.  We collected a couple of them and sketched them in our nature journals, noting the unique characteristics of insects:  the 3 body sections, 6 legs, compound eyes, antennae, jointed legs, etc.

How about those red eyes!  The monkeys were really intrigued by those ruby red peepers.

Even little Tacy got in on the exploring.  I love to see her learning with the big kids!

I think the monkeys are hooked on nature study.  I know I am.  It’s such a relaxed way to learn.  I’m looking forward to more learning fun as we explore God’s creation together.  Thanks for the tip, Charlotte!

Lindsey

Long Time, No Blog

Surprise!  It’s me again.

I know. I know.  It’s been so terribly long since you last heard a word from me.  Poor dears! You must be crushed!  I have the best excuse ever, though. 

My computer died.

Yep, it kicked the bucket.

Bought the farm.

Winged it’s flight to worlds unknown.

You get the idea.

Actually it was only the tangible computer that keeled over, not the brains of the machine.  The hard drive is still perfectly healthy, along with all of the priceless information stored on it.  So while I’m in the midst of transferring everything from my old hard drive to a wonderful, new machine, I thought I’d take a moment to let y’all know I haven’t abandoned blogging.

So what’s a girl like me to do when her computer is down and out?

Get outside and enjoy spring, that’s what!  Y’all know how much I’ve been looking forward to spring, and I’m so happy that it’s finally here!  For weeks I’ve been itching to get out in this winter-weary yard of mine and spruce it up a bit.  Thanks to the longer days and the warmer temperatures, the Tool Man and I have been able to tackle quite a bit of outdoor work around here.

The biggest chore we’ve completed so far has been to get our pool (a.k.a. Redneck Oasis) up and running.  The water is still far too chilly to go for a swim, (just ask Lucy who wouldn’t take my word for it) but at least it’s all set up, cleaned up, and ready to go.

In addition to prepping the pool, the Tool Man and I have spent some time giving our flower beds a face lift.  We’ve pruned shrubs, pulled weeds, relocated plants, and added some new flowers here and there.

Since we don’t have time to tend to a real vegetable garden, I decided to add a couple of tomatoes and jalapeno plants to my backyard bed.  I’ve also got a little collection of herbs growing:  rosemary, basil, lavender, and sage.

The sage bush was planted last year and is still going strong.  I believe it’s doubled in size in the last month alone!

It’s leaves are so big and beautiful; just the other day I plucked a few and added them to a chicken salad.  Yummy!  I don’t know about you, but the smell of sage always makes me think of Thanksgiving dressing.

The rosemary was planted last year as well.  I’m channeling my inner Martha Stewart and desperately trying to train the rosemary into topiary form – crossing my fingers I’m doing to correctly.

I’ve successfully grown a rosemary bush before but never once tried to prune it.  It grew to a monstrous size – at least 3 feet tall and twice as wide!  I finally had enough of the beast and got scissor happy with it last summer.  Now the poor plant looks like it’s been beaten with an ugly stick!  It’s gnarled, woody trunk grows at a wonky “60-ish” degree angle and bushes into an awful upside-down, squished pyramid shape.  I’m only keeping it around until my new plant is well established.  Fresh rosemary from an ugly plant is better than no rosemary at all, right?

I have more spring fun to talk about, but I ‘m not going to put all my eggs in one basket (pun intended.)  I apologize again for the recent blogging drought.  Hopefully, I’ll get all my computer woes ironed out soon.  Thanks for being patient!

Happy spring!

Lindsey

Snow Day–Part II

Can y’all believe we had not one, but two snow days last week??  Well, technically, I guess the first one was more of a sleet day, but on day two we had really for real snow!

My monkeys had just as much fun playing in the snow as they did in the ice the day before.

Lucy especially enjoyed all the white fluff.  She was less than one year old the last time we had any significant snow, and she has been dying to make a snow angel for years.  At last her wish came true!

She left tiny snow angels scattered all around our yard.

Of course the monkeys had to build a snowman.   Actually, Ty did most of the work himself.  Lucy had a hard time getting the snow to stick together, so she quickly lost interest.

Have you ever seen anyone give a snowman a haircut??

Leave it to Ty, the creative genius, to use grapes for eyes and buttons.  Oops!  Looks like this snowman lost an eye before I snapped the picture.

The Tool Man entertained himself by capturing all the fun on camera with his drone.

You know that no snow day would be complete without a good natured snowball fight.  Even I, the serious, sensible mom, hurled a snowball or two.  Although, I quickly surrendered after I caught one with my teeth!  I mean it.  I literally caught a snowball in my mouth.  (If you’re wondering, the Tool Man is the one who threw it at me.)

Lucy discovered that, in a pinch, a garbage can lid makes a pretty good sled.

If you’re wondering where Tacy was during all this snowy fun, she was warm and toasty in her crib enjoying a long winter nap.  Hmmm.  Sounds like a great way to pass the afternoon if you ask me!

Lindsey