in pursuit of wild things

Last weekend we worked in the yard. We’ve had some very nice springtime weather. The kids and I have slacked at school work a little bit but the hot and humid days of summer will arrive soon enough and we’ll hit the books harder at that time. My husband mulched the yard with Oldest’s help and planted new flowers and peppers. I raked off the garden bed and planted spinach and carrot seeds. The rest of the crew played in the bubbles and tended to the bunnies. All of us love to gather clover, dandelion leaves and rabbit tobacco and feed the rabbits. It just makes my day when the bunnies run to me for their goodies. Monty and Polly were supposed to be pets for the kids but I enjoy going to see them each morning and petting them (even though I seem to have a slight allergy to the little critters). I have to be careful and wash my hands after petting and holding them or my eyes get all scratchy and turn red.

Sunday was Mother’s Day. During the Prelude at church the younger children played the handbells. Littlest talked about it all week. He was ready to play his bell…or not. He was just too distracted and ended up with “the sillies”.  Once the Prelude was over I gladly hauled him back to the nursery. I’ll be so sad and so will the rest of the congregation (they just don’t know it yet!) when he is too old for the nursery. Our youth ministers also put together a lovely Mother’s Day video of our children singing and saying “Happy Mother’s Day”.  All of the children were so sweet except for Littlest (of course, right?). He is in the video saying, “I don’t want to say it!” Later, I did get a nice grilled steak and roasted vegetables for dinner from my husband.

This year is a cicada year. The past few nights our yard has filled with periodical cicada. They have laid dormant under the ground for thirteen years! They live off the sap from tree roots while underground. Wednesday night our yard was crawling with cicadas. They crawled to the oak tree  and then as high into the branches as they could get before their outer shells hardened. They broke

out of their shells a couple of hours later and were all white. Within minutes their wings unfolded and their color changed to blackish brown a little while later. We put one in the butterfly habitat to watch it change. The kids figured out how old they would be the next time the thirteen year cicadas return. There are lots of pictures in the gallery if you are interested (unit study anyone?) You can find some information here , here and here. We may not have completed a whole lot of book work this week but we totally nailed nature study! Over the weekend Sparkles found one of the early cicada shells. She hooked it onto her shirt and then ran to the boys screaming for them to help her get the bug off! They tripped over each other trying to back away from her once they saw the size of the “bug”. I wish I had the camera ready for that! Once the boys recovered and Sparkles quit laughing we looked at the shell with he computer microscope.

Monday was our only day of school this week. I made no plans for the rest of the week because I knew my mother was coming in for a visit. She just didn’t tell us which day she was going to arrive. We just got in the basics on Monday and I graded everything that had piled up over the past week. The kids also had an art project over the days of Creation in their Bible Road Trip curriculum. I prepped a watercolor page for Littlest but he did not want to paint. He was too focused on cutting and pasting.  I was feeling stressed over my mother’s impending visit so I did the art too. I thought it would help me relax. I enjoyed thinking about the days of creation and trying to put those thoughts into art.

Tuesday morning we joined up with a few homeschoolers for a field trip. We played  mini-golf (I think that is the name of it?) and then walked around the animal trail. The game was fun to play with the kids. Littlest would only hit his ball once and then pick it up and run it to the hole. He would set the ball next to the hole, push it in with the club and do a little victory dance. The animal trail was really neat. The owner said he thought he owned about twenty-two peacocks including one white peacock we should look for. The peacocks were everywhere and I am not sure that I would enjoy living near them since their call is so loud. Littlest thought their song sounded like “help”. Middle Boy got all poetic with the birds. He said, “Hello Mister Peacock, you have a nice Mohawk.” He is always spouting off silly rhymes! Oldest liked talking to the ducks, he told them we were from Aflac (an insurance company with a duck mascot incase you didn’t know). I’m pretty sure he thought he was out of earshot when he engaged the ducks in conversation. I liked watching the baby goats, they are so cute. They remind me of my own kids with the constant scuffling and head banging! I also liked the covered bridge labeled London Bridge. I wondered how far away Claire from Angelicscaliwags lives from London Bridge…

My mother finally decided to show up while we were on our field trip…naturally. She was sitting on the porch when we got home. Instant tension headache…

Articles I enjoyed this week:

I’m not the only one who enjoys Beautiful Feet Books! Marci The Homeschool Scientist shares her thoughts on her blog. That is me in the background wearing the gray sweater at the convention in her picture. I’ve enjoyed her blog for years! I remember thinking that she looked so familiar…but everyone did the last day of the convention.

I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face. Then I read it to the kids until they were rolling in the floor. Best customer service ever!

The scary stuff I am facing now…from Year Round Homeschooling Why do they have to grow up?!

I’m still learning about education the Charlotte Mason way…from The Unplugged Family

Linking up with: Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Oldest helping with mulching

oak tree flower bed

peppermint tea time

kids art

my art

look what i made

husband’s birthday cookie

Elkhorn Creek

on a nature walk

Buffalo Trace in the mist

tasting the foods of India

poem I copied into my art ignored journal

piano practice after a day at camp

lego creation of me as ClickList employee and my husband with a mug and tools

Boots

lotus

with their t-shirts

lunch out with Daddy

a moment of writer’s block

Monty and Polly in the basil

before shedding outer skin

paddleboarding

rafting