My Not-So-Little Boy

I can’t believe I let Ty’s birthday sneak by without mentioning it here on the blog.  Yes, Ty celebrated his 11th birthday a couple of weeks ago. 

That’s just a little too close to the teenage years if you ask me!

You may remember that I have a tradition of taking the monkeys’ pictures at their exact time of their birth each year.  This year Ty had his two best friends over for some birthday fun, so I had them all get together for the annual picture. 

Ty has know these two his whole life.  They are a great bunch of kids, and they all get along so well.  I am thankful God has provided Ty with Christian friends to grow up with.

Now for a picture of just Ty.  He’s such a handsome guy, on the inside and out!  (If you’d like to see birthday pics from years past you can check those out here.)

You won’t meet another boy with a heart as tender as Ty’s.  Sure he’s not perfect, just ask his sister.  He could worry the horns off a billy goat, as my grandmother used to say.  But Ty is the most kind, honest, polite, considerate little boy I’ve ever met.  And most importantly he loves the Lord!  God has been working on Ty’s heart a lot this past year.  It’s been a difficult journey at some points, but it’s been a joy to watch Ty mature spiritually.  I’m excited to see how God will continue to grow and use Ty for His purposes.

What about Ty’s birthday party?

Well, some time last winter, the Tool Man and I decided it might be easier nice to combine Ty’s and Lucy’s birthday parties.  So this year, half way between the two birthdays, we will be throwing a Star Wars/Minnie Mouse party for both monkeys.

The big party is only one week away, so we will be super busy cleaning, crafting, and cooking over the next several days.  I am beginning to question whether a combined party was actually the easiest route.  It’s kind of tricky melding two separate themes into one congruous celebration, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.  Stay tuned for lots of party pics!

A Walk on the Wild Side

Sometimes I get tired of being the bad guy around here.  And by “bad guy” I mean the person who is always making the monkeys be quiet, do their school work, mind their manners, and tidy their rooms.  Let’s face it, when it’s time to have fun, I’m usually not the person the kids come running to.  That’s ok.  I understand that “having fun” is not necessarily at the top of my job description.

But once in a while I enjoy surprising the monkeys with a little pleasure, like treating them to a trip to our local zoo.  Boy were they excited to go!

Truth be told, our local zoo is not the greatest zoo ever.  The landscaping needed some tlc.  Several cages were vacant.  Quite a few exhibits were closed.  But a subpar zoo is better than no zoo at all, right?

Of all the animals we saw on our zoo excursion, I have to say that birds were my favorite, particularly the bald eagles and this guy.  Have you ever seen such beauty in all your life!  His tail was magnificent, and he knew it.  I guess there is some truth to the old adage, “Proud as a peacock.”  I’ve been wanting a peacock of my own for quite some time, and seeing this gorgeous guy reminded me why.

Lucy, who is quite used to being around poultry, was eager to get to know this gaggle.

A landscaper working nearby warned Lucy that the geese may turn on her and try to attack, but these geese were quite docile compared to the ones in our own backyard.  Our birds honk and hiss and chase when the kids get near them.

As usual, Tacy was so well behaved.  She was content to ride quietly in her stroller as we made our way around the facilities, silently observing the animals at each exhibit.

I think Tacy enjoyed our field trip, but she never expressed much interest in anything.  She’d watch the animals through the fences with about as much expression as one who was watching a can of beans.

The exhibit that got the kids most excited was the reptile house.  Lucy squealed like a pig upon seeing the first snake up close.  Ty had a blast trying to locate the snakes and lizards in their tanks.  Some of those critters were great hiders, unlike the two beasts below.

There were quite a few tortoises who lived at the zoo, and the kids liked watching them creep around on their toes.  Lucy quickly spotted a baby tortoise, and before I knew it, she had her arm shoved through the fence, up to her armpit, petting its back.  I am happy to report that Lucy returned home with all 10 fingers. 

A portion of the zoo was dedicated to animals of the Louisiana Purchase.  Here the kids discovered a teepee replica.  (Or is it a wigwam?? I never know the difference.)  Ty quickly hopped in for a photo op, but Lucy was little wary.

What zoo trip would be complete without a couple of hungry, hungry hippos?  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that if the hippos decided to charge that a measly fence and shrubbery could hold them back.

I’m so glad I decided to treat my monkeys to a day of leisure!   We all enjoyed our “free” day, as the kids like to call it.  I think it would benefit us all if I incorporated a few more of these “free” days into our schedule.  The monkeys have already decided where they would like to visit next… the safari park.  Lucy is dying to get up close and personal with a zebra.

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

The Far East

Recently in our history studies, the monkeys and I have been learning about ancient China.  Like I told Ty, I honestly don’t remember ever studying Chinese history in 18 years of formal schooling, so all of the information we read about China this week was new to me too.  Surprisingly, my kids were very interested in these lessons.  There certainly was a lot of new information for us to take in.  We discussed everything from silk trade routes to human sacrifice.  Yikes!

Of particular interest to the monkeys was our lesson on the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Juang Ti, and his massive army of terracotta warriors – once again, a topic I’ve never before studied.

Ty had a terrific idea for an activity to go along with this lesson.  He suggested that he and Lucy try making their own versions of clay warriors using Play-Doh.  Great idea, Ty!  So while I read the material to them, the monkeys sculpted away.

Lucy found the task of warrior making to be quite difficult and soon gave up in favor of sculpting easier subjects.  Ty, on the other hand, embraced the challenge and took a lot of pride in recreating his figures.  To help him get a better understanding of how the real clay warriors were constructed, I found an informative PBS video online that addressed the difficulties involved in making the nearly 8,000, life-sized terracotta soldiers. 

Although Ty’s version was on a much smaller scale than the originals, he worked diligently to construct his figure using techniques similar to those of the ancient artisans.  Ty really is a creative soul.  He kept telling me over and over how much he enjoyed making things with his hands.

In addition to the sculpting activity, I found another art project that was better suited to Lucy’s skills – print making.

First the monkeys traced a line drawing of a warrior onto craft foam, making an impression in the foam.

Then they applied a thin layer of acrylic paint to the foam and pressed the foam onto a sheet of construction paper.

Voila! A beautiful warrior print.

I love the way Lucy layered her prints using different colors.  It made her warriors look like they were standing in rows.

What a fun a week of history!  We’re almost through our entire textbook now.  Only 12 more lessons to go!  This week I ordered Volume 2 of the Mystery of History for us to begin next school year.  The monkeys have enjoyed Volume 1 so much.  Sure, they are not going to remember every detail we’ve covered, but they certainly have been exposed to a plethora of ancient information.  Hopefully it will serve as a good foundation for learning to come.

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

Dr. Jekyll and Miss Hyde

Hello, all.  So glad you decided to stop by for a minute today!  I have an extra special treat prepared just for you….

Science!

Without a doubt, the monkeys’ favorite school subject here at Arrow Academy is science.  Ty and Lucy really seem to enjoy learning about the world around them.  In case you’re out of the loop, we’ve been studying human anatomy and physiology this school year.  We’ve covered everything from cells to smells and hearts to f……  well, I guess I won’t go there.

Anyway, last month our science lessons focused on the immune and lymphatic systems.  We learned all about pathogens and diseases and how our wonderful Creator designed our bodies with a powerful army of defenders to protect us from germs.  Ty and Lucy both found the study of white blood cells to be particularly interesting.

To help the monkeys better understand the microscopic world of germs around them, I decided to order some petri dishes and attempt to grow bacterial colonies.

After discussing options of where to collect bacteria, the monkeys and I decided to take some samples from human and dog mouths.

I don’t know why Lucy found the idea of swabbing to be so repulsive.  She was even weirded out by the idea of me swabbing her teeth.

We took four samples in all:  one from Lucy, one from Ty, one from our Chihuahua, Coco, and one from our Jack Russell, Dee Dee.  Then Ty carefully spread the samples onto the sterile agar plates.  In lieu of an incubator, we placed our dishes on top of the freezer where the temperature was a balmy 80 degrees.  Then we waited.

What do y’all think we found a couple of days later?

Nasties!  That’s what.

Ew, Yuck, and Gross!

Nothing like finding out your kids’ mouths are just as nasty as your dogs’ mouths.  (Note to self:  add Listerine to the shopping list.)

As you can see, there might have been some error in collecting Ty’s sample.  Although his dish was just as gross as the others, it was definitely much different in nature.

I think the monkeys thoroughly enjoyed their little science experiment.  I do hope this hands-on experience will help them retain some of the information we talked about. 

It’s one thing to read about germs and grossies in a textbook, but to grow them yourself and see them with your own two eyes is a different story.  If nothing else, maybe this experiment will inspire the monkeys to be a little more meticulous when it comes to teeth brushing!

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