Life of a Homeschooling Mom

George

2008-07-23T09:05:00.010-05:00

With all the animals we have, I thought I'd start blogging about each of them, sort of as an introduction (...and to show just how insane I am!). I will also try to outline their care a bit, so you have an idea just how busy things are here just caring for the animals. We happened to get a new member of the family on Sunday, so I thought I'd pick him to blog about first. Meet George!

George is a Russian Tortoise. I would estimate him to be around 5 years old, but these little guys can live to be 50-60 years old, so he's just a baby. Despite the fact that we have had him less than a week, he has already settled in and we have become quite attached to him. We bought him for Tucker for his help in loading all that hay. He originally was going to get a Nintendo DS, but decided he wanted a tortoise instead. Is he my kid or what?!

Geroge's favorite activity seems to be exploring the yard and eating everything he comes across. After being kept in a 20-gal tank, he now has a 55-gal opaque container to get lost in. You see, turtles and tortoises should be kept in opaque containers because they don't understand the concept of glass and will continually try to go through it. It's very stressful on them! The storage containers take care of this. He still tries to get out, but instead of just blindly walking in place, he is actively looking up and trying to climb out. He only does this from time to time, and spends most of his time eating and digging. It's cute because when he climbs on the side, it looks like he is begging for someone to take him out.

We have about 6-inches of Bed-A-Beast and playsand mixed together for him to dig in. We also put a bunch of hay at one end, which he loves to nap under. They say tortoises like to munch on hay, but so far he just plays in it. As with our other reptiles, we have a warm side and a cool side, so he has a choice of temperatures. The warm side gets up to 75-80 with a basking rock that gets hotter. The cool side gets down in the 60's at night, but gets up in the 70's during the day.

It's fairly humid in his container now, but that's because the Bed-A-Beast is still evaporating the water out (you have to soak the brick in water to loosen up the coconut fibers). I want to get the humidity down a bit because Russian tortoises are found in arid regions of Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, Northern and Eastern Iran, North Western China and the Soviet territory Kazakhstan. They are most commonly found in sand and clay deserts with sparse grasses and bushes. Russian tortoises are rarely found in dense grassy areas or cultivated fields. Well, George is now enjoying "dense grassy areas and cultivated fields", so I want to keep his tank more in line with what his hardy ancestors have to deal with. It will be a reality check for him, because he really seems to enjoy our "dense grassy areas and cultivated fields" .

For a small tortoise, George can really book it when he wants to. He cruses around the yard, with the kids trotting behind him. If you don't watch him, it would be very easy for him to disappear in the tall grass. He is very good at burrowing through things! Here's a picture I took of him moving:

The blurring really gives you an idea how fast he is going! Well, for a tortoise, anyway. Still no match for a hare, but we all know how that story ends.

Russian tortoises are not allowed to eat any fruit, other than an occasional apple as a treat. It gives them the runs (I know, ewww!) and is not something they would normally eat in the wild. Some of George's favorite greens include dandelion leaves, plantain (plantago major the weed, not bananas), clover, and violet leaves.

We have an old sand box in the yard set up for George to get his daily dose of sun in. He likes it, but definitely prefers to have free run of the yard.

Well, that's about all I can think of to add about George. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments area!

Sites with more information about Russina Tortoises:

The Russian Tortoise

Russian or Horsfield's Tortoise

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet

The Not So Itsy, Bitsy Spider

2008-07-21T06:41:00.009-05:00

Ain't she a beauty?! I found this huge spider crawling up the side of our house the other morning. My first reaction was to scream and run--very far away. Instead, I ran in the house and got my camera, then slowly crept out trying to summon up the courage to get close enough for a good picture. The longer I stood there getting pictures, the braver I got. It was a bit chilly that morning and she wasn't moving fast, so I stepped right up to get some macro pictures. It was then that I noticed the babies.

She's a species of wolf spider (Family Lycosidae) and they, along with nursery-web and fishing spiders, are good mamas. First they carry the egg sac around under their abdomens, holding it in place with a bit of web. When the babies emerge, they cling to their mama until they are big enough to catch their own prey (their first meal often being one of their siblings). I think they are very fascinating!

Sorry the pictures are a bit dark. The sun hadn't quite come up and when it did, the spider ran under the house where it's nice and dark. If you look closely in the picture above (click on it to enlarge it), you can see an older, brown-colored baby up by her right front leg. It either emerged before the others or, more likely, it came from another spider and is eating the babies. There's also another light gray-colored baby above and to the left of that one. They would climb up and down her legs, but she never once made a move to get away from them.

A pencil next to her to show size comparison.

Here are some wolf spider links to learn more about these cool arachnids:

Wolf Spider With Cubs

Wiki Wolf Spider Info

Wolf Spiders

Spiderzrule

Hay is for Horses!

2008-07-18T08:57:00.005-05:00

Every year, we go through this big hassle trying to get enough hay over the winter for our horses. Everyone seems to be using the big round bales now, but we have no way to handle those big bales. Southern States has hay, but charges an extra dollar or two per bale, which adds up to quite a bit over time. We finally found a place close to our farm to get square bales from. It's maybe five miles up the road and it's really nice hay. Nice hay = happy horses.

The guy cut and baled the hay, then left it in the field for us to get, which saves us a few cents a bale. Scott and I brought in 300 bales in two days and, for the first time, had some extra help in the form of our oldest son, Tucker. We just finished getting our last load yesterday evening, and I must say that Tucker really made things easier on us. Usually it's just Scott and I lugging those hay bales, but with Tucker, we were able to work a lot faster. I stacked the bales in piles in the field, while Scott tossed them up to Tucker to stack on the truck and trailer. Wow, in a couple years when Dylan gets older, I'll just stay home and let them get the hay!

Scott getting ready to secure the hay

Tucker using those big muscles to stack the hay

One cool kid!

Yay! Last load out!

Subway Okays Homeschoolers

2008-07-18T08:49:00.004-05:00

WorldNetDaily reported yesterday that homeschoolers can now participate in the "Every Sandwich Tells a Story" contest. Subway also sent out a letter of apology:

"We sincerely apologize to anyone who feels excluded by our current essay contest. Our intention was to provide an opportunity for traditional schools, many of which we know have trouble affording athletic equipment, to win equipment. Our intent was certainly not to exclude homeschool children from the opportunity to win prizes and benefit from better access to fitness equipment."

Yay!!! You have until August 31st to enter. Here is a link once again to the contest: http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/kids/contest.aspx

Every Sandwich Tells a Story!

2008-05-25T12:40:00.016-05:00

...well, it does unless you are homeschooled.

Subway has a contest up and running now called Every Sandwich Tells a Story. The rules are simple (and this is directly quoted from the site):

Have your child write a story that has a beginning, middle, and end. Or have fun writing the story together!

Be creative! Let your imagination cook up a story that is as delicious to read as a Subway sandwich is to eat. If possible, include a few details that describe "Random Acts of Fitness (e.g. eating right, exercising, playing sports, living a healthy lifestyle).

Story starters for the contest are:

The Mysterious Meatball - When the invitation to the Meatball came in the mail...

Turkey Doesn't Live Here Anymore - There was a loud knock on the door, but when Salami Sam opened it...

The Race to Red Onion Ranch - Everyone gathered in the center of town for the start of the race except...

Nothing Better - The smell of fresh baked bread coming from the store was so good that...

Grand prizes include athletic equipment for your child's school ($5000 value); Scholastic gift basket (apparently good spelling is optional as they have it spelled "bastket" on the site); $100 Subway gift card; and story is published on http://www.subwaykids.com/ and in Scholastic's Parent & Child magazine. There will also be six runners-up who will get a Scholastic gift basket and $50 Subway gift cards.

Sounds like a great opportunity for any child, doesn't it? I know as a homeschooling parent, I am always looking for ways to encourage my children to write and I am sure parents with kids in public/private school feels the same way. And not only does the prize benefit the child, but he/she can perform a community service by being able to donate $5000 worth of athletic equipment to a school (possibly even a community park, youth group or maybe even an actual homeschool group...you get the idea).

But now for the fine print (and take note of the very humorous misspelling of "United" as it is posted on the Subway website):

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Contest is open only to legal residents of the Untied States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.

I guess I can see why they might have excluded homeschoolers. After all, where would a homeschooler donate $5000 worth of athletic equipment? What use would a homeschooler have for a basket (or should I say bastket?) of Scholastic books? Why on earth would a homeschooled child want to see his story published on both a website and in a magazine?

Based on the fine print in this essay contest, though, I can definitely say that homeschoolers have no use for a Subway gift card. Certainly not those in the Untied States, anyway.

Subway sandwich contest: Homeschoolers not wanted

Subway Petition

Contact info:

Subway Headquarters
325 Bic Drive Milford, Connecticut 06461-3059
203-877-4281

Tom Seddon CEO, SFAFT
800-888-4848 x1370 seddon_t@subway.com

There's a feedback form:
http://www.subway.com/Applications/CustService/frmCustomerService.aspx

You can contact scholastic at:
P&CConnects@scholastic.com or CConnects@scholastic.com

Happy Spring!

2008-05-08T08:32:00.007-05:00

Yay! After a long and bleak winter, I am finally starting to feel more like myself again. It seems that from the month of January on I go into hibernation mode and tend to neglect many of the "extra" things I normally enjoy doing. I do not have seasonal affective disorder or anything like that. I do manage to keep up with the necessary things like laundry, dishes, etc. I also still enjoy going out and socializing. I just need an extra push to get me out the door! I think everyone suffers from this to some extent during the winter and I am equally sure much of it is due to lack of sunlight. It just never fails to take me by surprise when spring rolls around and I immediately feel energized and ready to do things...such as updating my blog.

We went fishing a couple weeks ago at a wildlife management area that is just over the hill from our farm. We go there frequently throughout the spring, summer and fall (sometimes even taking our canoe), so I thought it would be fun to post pictures of it from season to season. Here is how it looked a couple weeks ago:

And of course I have to include a couple pictures of the kids...first Sydney:

And then the boys...Tucker (back) and Dylan (front):

Bipolar Kids or Bad Parents?

2007-11-20T11:18:00.000-05:00

Below is a very interesting article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that was recently posted on a homeschool list I subscribe to.

My older son was always very, um....shall we say, high-spirited when he was a toddler/preschooler and could have easily been diagnosed with ADHD or some such disorder. While I don't necessarily agree with the whole 'bad parenting' angle this article takes in every case, I can certainly see where this would be true in many cases. You see it every day at the grocery store. You know, the kid in the checkout line who repeatedly begs and pleads for a candy bar until mom finally caves in with an..."Ok dear, but just this once!". Often the mom rolls her eyes at others behind her as if it is somehow the kid's fault for being so belligerent, when she is really training her kid that if he just begs a few more times, she will eventually give in to his/her demands. While I am sure the others in line appreciate the kid no longer screaming, it will not take care of the problem on future shopping visits. I can definitely sympathise with the mom here because of her concern for the others in line (as parents we have all been in that situation!), but the overall outcome would be so much better if she ignored the kid's whining. It wouldn't happen overnight, but eventually the kid realizes that mom is a hardass and learn whining isn't the best approach.

I also think a lot of them are just high-energy, kinetic kids being forced to conform to what is expected from them. In many cases, especially if they are to go to public school, this means having them medicated so they can keep up with the rest of the class (or at least pay attention and appear to be keeping up). My son definitely fit this category when he was younger. Whatever activity he participated in, he had to be right in the thick of things...definitely very hands-on with everything (still is for that matter, but has MUCH more self control). He was never really one to want things when we went shopping, but instead wanted to touch and feel anything within his reach. He would often have tantrums when he was unable to have his way, such as not being able to hold the $200 vase tottering on the edge of a shelf, but he did eventually learn that he couldn't pick just anything up on a whim. Ironically, many of these ADHD traits he had have lead to the many leadership qualities he has now.

Anyway, on to the article!

Bipolar Kids or Bad Parents?
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Sunday, November 18, 2007
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07322/834548-109.stm

At the urging of parents, doctors are medicating far too many kids who just need a better upbringing, according to Dr. Elizabeth J. Roberts who is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the author of "Should You Medicate Your Child's Mind?"

On Dec. 13, 2006, 4-year-old Rebecca Riley died, drowning in her own lung secretions. Her death was the direct result of psychiatric medications which had been prescribed to her for a presumed diagnosis of bipolar disorder -- a diagnosis first given to her when she was only 2 years old.

In September 2007, researchers at Columbia University reported that there had been a 40-fold increase in the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder from 1994 to 2003 -- an increase which has shown no signs of slowing.

Worse than the current frenzy to diagnose children with bipolar disorder is the practice of medicating kids as young as 2 with the kinds of psychiatric medications that were once prescribed only to psychotic adults. The shocking reality is that the use of these potent anti-psychotic drugs in children increased more than 500 percent between 1993 and 2002.

This dramatic rise in childhood bipolar disorder has spurred a raging debate in the mental health field. Some psychiatrists insist that this incredible increase is entirely due to the identification of mentally ill children who had been previously overlooked.

Yet a 4,000 percent increase in childhood mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, is simply implausible and difficult to justify based solely on improved diagnostic techniques. To the contrary, in the 30-plus years that I have been treating, educating and caring for children -- half of that time as a child psychiatrist -- I have found that the approach to diagnostics in psychiatry clearly has deteriorated over time, not improved.

There was a time when doctors insisted on hours of evaluation with a child and his parents before venturing a psychiatric diagnosis or prescribing a medication. Today many of my colleagues brag that they can complete an initial assessment of a child and write a prescription in less than 20 minutes. Many parents have told me it took a previous doctor less than five minutes to diagnose and medicate their child.

How, then, is it possible that in 2007 doctors are now able to identify hundreds of thousands of previously missed cases of bipolar disorder in children by reducing the time they spend with patients from multiple hours to just a few minutes?

On the other hand, there simply is no possible way that the number of children who actually have bipolar disorder has increased from approximately 20,000 to 800,000 in a nine-year period. Yet the arguments of skeptics are being dismissed by academics in psychiatry. Research psychiatrists appear to be more invested in defending their research conclusions -- funded by pharmaceutical companies -- than engaging in a meaningful discussion to examine these preposterous demographics.

What I find more astounding than the claim that there are 800,000 American children with bipolar disorder is the fact that there are that many children whose conduct is so aberrant that their parents are seeking psychiatric treatment for them.

The symptoms, which are regarded as evidence of bipolar disorder, usually are what most people recognize as ordinary belligerence. Children who have anger outbursts, who refuse to go to bed, who are moody and self-centered under the current standard of care in child psychiatry are being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. To most rational human beings, these behaviors describe an ill-mannered, immature and poorly disciplined child. Nonetheless, the temper tantrums of belligerent children are increasingly being characterized by doctors as the mood swings of bipolar disorder.

The over-indulgent parenting practices of the past 20 years have created a generation of dysfunctional children who are becoming increasingly more entitled, defiant and oppositional. In a poll by Associated Press-Ipsos, 93 percent of people surveyed said that today's parents are not doing a good job when it comes to teaching their kids to behave. According to Dan Kindlon, a Harvard psychologist, 50 percent of the parents he interviewed described themselves as more permissive than their parents had been.

The permissive parents of spoiled children seek refuge from blame by using the excuse that their child's angry outbursts are the result of a chemical imbalance. Since a psychiatric condition is completely beyond a parent's control, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder is the perfect alibi. Once a child has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a parent feels absolved of guilt or responsibility for the child's misbehavior and therefore, the parents' discipline practices cannot be called into question.

Parents looking for a psychiatric explanation for their child's misbehavior will find an abundance of support in the media and on the Web for the conclusion that their child's temper tantrums are due to a psychiatric disease rather than the result of bad parenting. Psychiatrists, for their part, are more than willing to accept, without question, the assessment offered by a parent. Doctors have found it easier and less contentious to comply with a parent's wish to have their child diagnosed with a psychiatric condition than to confront the parent with the notion that their own weak parenting is the root cause of the child's aberrant behavior.

Using the diagnosis of bipolar disorder, doctors then justify the sedation of these children with powerful psychiatric drugs. Even though some children treated with anti-psychotics may be temporarily sedated, their belligerent attitude continues unchanged. Of the many children I treat every year who had been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder, not one of them stopped throwing tantrums after being treated with psychiatric medications. Yet doctors continue to misdiagnose and overmedicate children to appease frustrated parents in spite of the many serious, permanent or even lethal side effects.

Tragically, as in the death of Rebecca Riley, her parents administered the multiple medications prescribed by their psychiatrist for Rebecca's "bipolar disorder" until the meds killed her. A few weeks ago, in an interview on 60 Minutes, Rebecca's mother told Katie Couric that she now believes that her four-year-old daughter had been misdiagnosed, had never been bipolar, and that Rebecca was simply mischievous.

When it comes to misdiagnosing and overmedicating children, doctors have an unwitting, though not unwilling, accomplice -- the parent. Ultimately, it is the parent who is the gatekeeper for their child's health-care delivery. It is the parent who pursues psychiatric treatment for their child, fills the prescriptions and administers the medications. Parents have a duty to protect their children from the folly of this disastrous approach to childhood behavior problems.
Instead of grooming, feeding and educating the next generation of Americans to be the fittest, brightest, most competent contributors on the planet, we have indulged, placated and spoiled our children into dysfunctional misfits. We are teaching our children to use a psychiatric diagnosis to excuse their antisocial behaviors. This will inevitably lead to a greater reliance on psychiatric medications, which unfortunately do not endow an individual with improved self-control or maturity.

Under the guise of treating childhood bipolar disorder, the spoiling of American children not only undermines their healthy social development, but it also puts them at great risk for the serious medical complications inherent in the use of psychiatric medications, including death.

Seneca Rocks

2007-11-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to make a trip to Cabins, WV (10 miles down the road from Seneca Rocks) with a group of fellow homeschool moms over the weekend. We stayed in a really nice cabin and had a great time. The leaves were just past peak color, but there were still enough left on the trees to make the scenery take on gorgeous pastel tones. I think that part of the state would be beautiful any time of the year, though.

I took my mountain bike and even managed to get a couple rides in. The terrain is very rough around there, so even a small ride was a lot of hard work. It is possible we walked our bikes more then we rode them, but either way it was fun.

A couple of us hiked up to the top of Seneca Rocks on the last day we were there. The view up there was incredible! I regret I did not bring my camera because it was completely full and had no room for more pictures. We definitely plan to go back, so will be sure to get pictures from the summit then.

No pictures of the kids here because they were back at home with their dad. This trip was for moms only!

View from front of cabin (that's the North Fork River)

20th Annual WVU Pumpkin Drop

2007-10-29T16:26:00.000-05:00

The WVU student section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) hosts the annual pumpkin drop and raises money for the Ronald McDonald House from the entry fees. Originally eggs were dropped, but now it is pumpkins who make the 11-story fall.

You have to design a container/device/contraption of some kind to hold a pumpkin that will hopefully keep said pumpkin in one piece. The ultimate goal is to have your pumpkin survive the fall AND come closest to the target (a hand-drawn Jack-o-lantern painted on a white tarp). This year we worked on the project with several other homeschooled kids in the area (Monongalia Area Homeschoolers). My kids and I did two other drops in previous years and ended up with a smashed pumpkin both times.

We were the first ones in line (thanks to one of the homeschool moms in town who arrived early), which was great because it poured down rain the entire time we were there. And let me tell you, it was cold and miserable. I am not a duck. Our pumpkin survived it's fall, but ended up too far away from the target to qualify for any prizes. We didn't care about that because we were just happy the pumpkin made it. The kids are already planning next year's design hoping to get the pumpkin closer to the target.

The building the pumpkins were dropped from (that's the launch board way at the top)

Sydney in her froggy raincoat

Dylan trying to keep dry

Tucker (red pullover) with his friends getting ready to take pumpkin up

The aftermath of the first few pumpkins...we left early, so couldn't get a picture after all pumpkins had been dropped

A Bunch of Hot Air

2007-10-10T13:17:00.000-05:00

What a busy month we have had already! The annual Mountaineer Balloon Festival was this past weekend. Friday was kid's day, with free admission and free rides for the kids (only $5 for me to get in).

Before we went to the festival, though, we joined up with other Monongalia Area Homeschoolers for United Way Youth Day of Caring, sorting clothes and food at the local Christian Help Center. While our family is not religious, this group does a lot for the community by helping the poor, homeless and elderly with basic needs (food, clothing shelter). They also have a Christmas toy drive and help people whose homes have been destroyed by fire.

Sorting food in pantry

The younger kids sorted and bagged food in the pantry. The older kids helped to sort through kids clothing, putting them into various piles based on size and type. They had to pick out any stained clothes which are recycled. I wish my boys put as much care into their clothes at home as they did in the clothes they sorted out there!

Tucker (right) and a friend sorting clothes

At the balloon festival, it was so hot (very unusual this time of year) that we avoided the rides for the most part. There was lots to do, including shows put on by the Carnegie Science Center and Ogleby Good Zoo. There were two big tents set up with several race cars on display and cars would rev up from time to time. The Raptor Center had several birds on display, including a small screech owl the volunteer allowed the kids to touch. There was also an entomology exhibit with local insects and bugs (some of which the kids could touch, including a tarantula!).

While at the festival, the boys got to try paintball. Dylan decided not to go in the arena after finding out the paintball pellets hurt when they hit you, so he did the target shooting instead. Tucker opted for the arena and got hit once right at the end, getting a painful-looking welt on his shoulder (but a big grin on his face despite it...and he wanted to go back in again!).

OUCH!

Beauty and the (really cute) Beasts

2007-09-28T12:44:00.000-05:00

Sydney got to go to a friend's house on Sunday with my mom (aka Grams). This friend happened to have two four month old Labrador puppies, unbeknownst to my daughter. I must add here that Sydney absolutely LOVES dogs and wants to pet every one she sees, even though we have four of our own. Needless to say, she and the puppies got along great and completely wore each other out. I had to include the small video my mom made when they first let the puppies out of the house.

Cost of two Labrador puppies - $100
Cost of gas to make round trip to visit them - $50
Look on girl's face when she sees the puppies - Priceless!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Links

2007-09-25T22:33:00.000-05:00

I have saved hundreds of educational links over the years, but here are some of the ones we use the most:

Nature/Science
Encyclopedia of Life (under construction, but will be up sometime in 2008)
eNature: America's Wildlife Resource
What's That Bug? (this is one we use almost daily)
Steve Spangler's Science Secrets
Voices in the Sea (some great whale videos)
HowStuffWorks.com
Human Anatomy Online
The Yuckiest Site on the Internet

History
EyeWitness to History
Bio4Kids.com
The Civil War Homepage
Kids Dig Reed

Math
Number and Operations (Virtual manipulatives related to the NCTM Number & Operations standard for grades 3 - 5)
Math Advantage
BBC Education - Maths
Visual Math Learning
Teaching Treasures
Math Worksheet Site

General/Misc
Smithsonian Education (includes both history and science)
A to Z Home's Cool (I use this site a lot)
iKnowthat.com
Starfall.com (primarily for 1st grade)
Discovery Education

Worksheets/Printouts
LearningPage.com
edHelper.com
Jan Brett Alphabet
Enchanted Learning

Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival

2007-09-24T21:04:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, the kids and I met up with three other homeschool moms and their kids at the Renaissance Festival in Pittsburgh (just over an hour's drive from our farm). We went to the festival a couple years ago, but were unable to go last year because the owners of the property sold it. The new owners have kept it pretty much the same, but better in many ways. It seemed like everything was laid out better and there were more shows to see.

Some of the activities we did included:

shooting bows and arrows at hay bales and a couple of sorry-looking, arrow-infested foam deer
shooting ping pong balls with faux crossbows at holes made in a sheet of particle board (I don't remember what the target was supposed to be)
the strong man mallet game (you know, where you hit the target with a mallet to make the bell ding at the top)
throwing leather balls at milk jugs
riding several human-powered rides (see pictures below)
watching jousting event
visiting the many arts and crafts stalls
watching a glass blowing demonstration
getting to see a dragon egg hatch
a really good magician act which ended with him swallowing a long balloon and then popping it, much to the delight of the kids. They talked about how he did that long after the show ended
a really funny pair of comedians called Puke & Snot (the kids loved the tame, but PG nature of this show)
carillon bells which could be heard throughout the day wherever you happened to be
it was also Celtic week so, much to our delight (our being us moms, lol), there were lots of men in kilts running around playing bagpipes

The overwhelming favorite activity was the jousting event. The kids loved cheering for the knights and watching them sword fight at the end. It looked real enough that Dylan asked me (with a big grin on his face, I might add) if the guy really died at the end. He knew deep inside that it was all an act, but it was such a good show he swore the guy really did get hit in the eye with a dagger. Many of the kids even said they saw an eye pop out, but this was just their wonderfully active imaginations kicking in.

Glass blowing demonstration

One of the human-powered rides

This was Sydney's favorite ride because of all the spinning (that's her...blondie on the left)

Dylan testing his strength

Sir Tucker

Pirate Day...Arrrrrrrrr!

2007-09-21T07:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA all week. I have no idea why...I guess I was busy, though really no busier then usual. I think we are settled into our routine now and it has become, shall we say, routine.

Today was the pirate-themed day, I mentioned about in my last blog, at the learning co-op we go to every Thursday. The kids and I dressed up like pirates and they had various pirate activities set up. We even learned a couple pirate songs, one of which I am posting below for fun:

A Children's Pirate Shanty

By Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers (can be sung to the tune of Monty Python's "I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK" - or make up your own!) International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Chorus
I'm a pirate! That I be!

I sail me ship upon the sea!

I stay up late - till half past three!

And that's a peg below me knee!

Yo Ho, my friends I have a tale

Of treasure, plunder, sea and sail

My story's bigger than a whale

It gets so deep, ye'll have to bail.

Chorus

I'm a pirate! That I be!

I sail me ship upon the sea!

I stay up late - till half past three!

And that's a peg below me knee!

I like to fish, I like to fight

I like to stay up half the night

When I say "starboard" ye go right!

Me ma, she says, "Ye look a fright!"

Chorus

I'm a pirate! That I be!

I sail me ship upon the sea!

I stay up late - till half past three!

And that's a peg below me knee!

I've got no hand but that's me hook!

I pillage stuff but I'm no crook.

Me booty's in this chest I took.

They'll write about me in a book!

Chorus

I'm a pirate! That I be!

I sail me ship upon the sea!

I stay up late - till half past three!

And that's a peg below me knee!

And that's all there is to this song.

I hope it hasn't been too long.

A pirate's life might just be wrong
So grow up nice and big and strong!

Chorus

I'm a pirate! That I be!

I sail me ship upon the sea!

I stay up late - till half past three!

And that's a peg below me knee!

Spray-Dye Shirts and the Snapping Turtle Who Went for a Swim

2007-09-13T16:20:00.000-05:00

We decided to try attending this homeschool learning co-op today that meets every Thursday in the next town over. Several homeschoolers from our group are members and I have been wanting to go for a couple years now, but our schedule hasn't allowed it until this year. While we were there, the kids got to tie dye t-shirts (my daughter dyed a dress) outside in the neatest way. Instead of tying knots and dipping the shirts in dye, the dye was in spray bottles. The kids really had fun spraying their shirts with the colors they picked out and they could put the colors wherever they wanted them. The shirts (and dress) turned out great!

Today was mainly a planning session and the kids were split up into groups to decide what activities they wanted to do for the year. They also got to play with a big parachute and run around in the adjoining park. There was an area set up inside for dress-up play (complete with various costumes and cast-off clothes), which my daughter did just about the entire time we were there. Next week they will be having a pirate theme, so I want to track down some pirate activities to suggest to the group.

While we were there, some of the kids there noticed a common snapping turtle swimming around in the Wave Tech pool, which is right next to the building the co-op meets in. I took several pictures of it because it was one of the biggest snapping turtles I have seen around here. We were initially afraid he was stuck in the pool, but he did eventually come out and try to squeeze through the fence. He is really hard to see in the pictures I took of him swimming in the pool, so I just posted a couple of the ones I took of him walking around. I have no idea how he got in there, but hope he figures a way back out soon!

Common snapping turtle websites:
Common Snapping Turtle - Wikipedia
Snapping Turtle Page
Common Snapping Turtle, Cheldyra serpentina

These Sticks are Made for Walking

2007-09-12T13:24:00.000-05:00

My daughter found a Northern walking stick earlier today. He had fun crawling around on her (ok, he was frantically trying to climb his way to freedom while she had fun holding him) while I tried to get pictures and then we released him in the woods behind our house.

Walking stick websites:

What's That Bug: Phasmids (BTW, this is a wonderful website which we use a lot for identifying insects we find around the farm)
Gordon's Phasmida Page
Lithe Lumber

Meet Myrtle

2007-09-11T13:31:00.000-05:00

Last summer we found an Eastern box turtle beside the creek that runs through our property. She had been severely injured by something (I suspect a fox, coyote, dog or possibly a raccoon) and was obviously in shock because she hardly reacted when I picked her up. One of her hind legs had been chewed off and the back part of her shell had places that had been chewed on as well.

I honestly thought she was going to die based on the condition we found her in. My kids wanted to bring her inside, but I explained to them that she was a wild turtle and would be very unhappy in a tank. We came back to the house and chopped up some berries and tofu to see if she would eat something. We also found some earthworms and snails to add to the mix. She immediately gobbled up the food we left, so we continued to bring food out to her 2-3 times a day. Often she would be out waiting for us and became quite tame, even taking food from our hands.

Eventually her injuries healed and she began going off for days at a time, showing up less and less for the food we still left out for her. I was really worried that since she was missing a hind leg she was going to have problems digging down in the dirt when it came time for her to hybernate. Because of this, we almost brought her inside, but once again I decided that she would be happier and better off in the wild.

A few weeks ago we were coming home from a trip to town, when we saw a box turtle crossing the road, right at the beginning of our property. We see this a lot, so I pulled over and got out to move it. Of course, any time I move a _____ (insert name of critter...turtle in this case) from the road, the kids have to get out of their seats and come out to hold said creature. Being on a quiet country lane, we get to do this quite often in the summer as snakes, turtles, toads and frogs come out on the road to warm up. As soon as I picked this turtle up, I wondered if it was our turtle. I looked her over and sure enough, it was Myrtle! She started to hide back in her shell, but then changed her mind (maybe remembered us?) and did the mid-air turtle crawl. She still had scars on her shell, but they were completely healed over and her hind leg, though now just a stump, looked great.

The pictures I have posted here are ones I took when we first found her last summer. It must have felt good to soak her injuries in the creek because that's where we would find for the first few days. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me to get pictures of her when we found her crossing the road this summer.

This last picture (below) I took last week of a male Eastern box turtle out in our yard by the creek. Oddly enough, when I picked him up (good way to check the turtle's weight), he kept that front leg sticking out. I happened to notice a fresh injury along the bottom side of his shell, so it's possible he was unable to tuck that leg in. He was very healthy, good size and weight, and had no trouble moving that leg, so I put him back down where I found him and haven't seen him since. Ain't he a beauty, though?!

Here are some box turtle links:
Eastern Box Turtle
Box Turtle Fact Sheet
Box Turtle, Wikipedia
Eastern Box Turtle

This Old Farmhouse

2007-09-09T11:26:00.000-05:00

We didn't build the original farmhouse on our property, but we are doing so much work to it that it probably would have been easier for us to tear the place down and start over again from scratch. The original house, however, is very solid and built from hand cut oak beams. Many of the nails we have come across have been hand cut as well (we suspect maybe they were homemade, but they are definitely not machine cut).

My husband is a licensed general contractor, so has been doing all the remodeling himself. With the house being so solidly build, he decided we could live in it and add on to the existing structure as needed. Having three young kids around made it hard to do much work on the house other then to make it livable. Our first winter there (when I was pregnant with my oldest son, Tucker) we could see daylight between the cracks on the wall. The house used to be heated with small gas heaters until we put a forced air furnace in. The combination of ineffective heat combined with the cracks in the wall allowed ice to build up inside on the walls on cold nights. While we did not have an outhouse, the sewage all emptied into the creek that runs through the property. Yuck! So putting in a septic tank was one of the first things we did before moving in.

The upstairs had lights, but no electric outlets, so we initially had to live in the downstairs part of the house. The downstairs consisted of two main rooms (we used as bedroom and living room) and two rooms on the back addition (we used as kitchen and laundry room). Even with just the two of us and Tucker as a baby, it was really crowded. The bathroom was a creepy, closet-sized room under the steps that barely had enough room to move around in. You could almost take a shower and sit on the toilet at the same time!

Thankfully my mom moved to Indianapolis for a period of time, so we were able to temporarily move into her house and get the upstairs "livable" and a new temporary kitchen put in (where our old living room was). When we first moved back (right after Sydney was born), we all shared one big bedroom and used the other upstairs room as a living room. The following year we finished our temporary living room downstairs and were able to make the upstairs room into a bedroom for the boys. So now we only have Sydney's bed in one corner of our room, but everyone will have their own room as soon as the two additions are finished. Yay!

Despite all it's headaches, being over 100 years old the house has allowed us many fascinating discoveries. When we tore the walls down inside, we found old newspapers that were being used as insulation. The wood floors in front of the old chimneys have several burn marks where sparks escaped the wood stoves that used to be used to heat the house. The built-in shelves in each room had to be bashed out with a heavy mallet because they were so solidly hammered into place and the hardwood used to build them with refused to budge otherwise. The glass in the original windows were warped with age and would rattle whenever the wind would blow.

Unfortunately I do not have any digital pictures to post of the house when we first moved in. All I have now are pictures of the construction we have going on now. (Sorry no pictures of my daughter. She is way too young to be trusted around sharp digging tools, so she took on the important job of site forewoman and was sitting up where I was taking the pictures.)

(That is NOT a dead body under that tarp...honest! And I know it looks suspiciously like we are running a chain gang here, but the boys both coincidentally wore green shirts.)

Little House on the Lake

2007-09-08T11:35:00.000-05:00

We have friends, fellow homeschoolers, who live on a lake up in the mountains. Well, they don't actually live on the lake...they are beside it, but I'm sure you figured that out. Anyway, several times a year, they invite all the area homeschoolers over for the afternoon. This is something my kids always look forward to and they literally count down the minutes once they hear we will be going there. I must say that I look forward to it as well because I actually get a chance to speak with real, honest-to-goodness adults with very few interruptions from the kids. Then again, I think the kids like it because they get few interruptions from the adults!

The lake this family lives on is actually more of a modified farm pond, which consists of about 36 inches of water and a foot of smelly, slimy mud. Yes, kid heaven! I have pictures of my kids kayaking (such as the one I posted above) and it looks like they are in deep water, so it's rather surprising to see them hop out of their boats way out on the lake in only chest-deep water. They are in the process of dredging the lake, but the mud keeps moving in faster then they can push it out. After two years of dredging, they have a couple deep-ish channels but most of the water is still rather shallow.

Any clothes and/or swim suits worn in this water end up with a semi-permanent swampy smell and turn a permanent, slightly dingy color. You also must wash things the very moment you get home or they smell downright awful and often become destined for the garbage. We have a creek going through our property and plenty of mud and dirt to go with it, but I guess our mud just isn't 'muddy' enough. No, my kids prefer the exotic lure of strange mud...the mud being muddier on the other side definitely holds true for these mud connoisseurs. Is it no wonder my kids are so excited to go over there?

(Those are fake tattoos on my daughter's arm...NOT leeches! lol)

Time Flies!

2007-09-07T12:03:00.000-05:00

It's been a crazy summer, so for the next few days I will post some stories and pictures to get everyone caught up.

My daughter, Sydney, found a baby praying mantis at some point over the summer. She has always had an affinity for insects of any kind...this includes spiders and any number of creepy crawly bugs. I managed to get a picture of her holding it right before she released it:

Fledglings

2007-05-14T22:14:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post pictures of the baby song sparrows one last time. They usually leave the nest right after they fledge. Once they do that they are very hard to find because they hide all over the place in the grass. Look how much they have grown in only a couple days. They can barely fit in the nest now!

Song Sparrow Nest

2007-05-12T16:30:00.000-05:00

A pair of song sparrows built a nest in our old Christmas tree (which is in a brush pile to be burned at a later date) this spring. The eggs hatched sometime last week and I managed to get pictures of the babies on Monday of this week:

I went to check on them today and almost got a picture of mom on the nest feeding them, but she got scared and hopped back into the brush pile when I pulled the camera out. I want a telephoto lense for my camera someday! Anyway, I did get another picture of the babies so you can see how much they have grown in less then a week (and even managed to remember to turn on my macro setting this time...check out those pinfeathers!):

The needles in the tree are drying out fast now that the weather is getting hot (as you can see in the pictures), so the poor things have lost all their shade as the needles have fallen off. After I took this picture I covered them with some branches from a grape vine and they were much cooler.

One more nest...yay!!!

Oh neat! Look what I just found this evening:

Another song sparrow nest! It was getting dark, so the eggs are a bit out of focus, but I wanted to get a picture before they hatched. Song sparrows often nest on the ground (as this one did), so I always keep the upper part of the yard in it's "natural" state (i.e. I don't mow it) and I hike around frequently looking for nests. When I do find one I mark it so no one accidentally steps on it. I also keep the grass around the creek high in case a duck or Canadian goose decides to nest there. Being in the country, we can keep our grass however we want!

Oh Yeah...This Is Why I Homeschool!

2007-05-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

Attacks On Teachers Up
CNN's Deborah Feyerick looks at vicious classroom attacks on teachers, a growing trend in Philadelphia. (Shame on these teachers for actually expecting their students to listen to them!)

Mom Starts Fight On School Bus
WTSP's Preston Rudie reports on a video showing a woman encouraging her daughter to fight on a school bus. (Momma mia!)

New Conflicts Disclosed in Reading First Program
Officials who gave states advice on which teaching materials to buy under a federal reading program had deep financial ties to publishers, according to a congressional report Wednesday. (But they had the students' best interests in mind...honest!)

Teacher Denies Student Bathroom Break During Test
A sixth-grader who was denied permission to use the restroom while taking a state achievement test this week had an accident in class. Bathroom breaks are permitted during the tests... (I am sure he was not stigmatized by his peers after this.)

Student Suspended for "Relieving Himself" In Class
School officials on Monday suspended a 14-year-old boy who said he had to urinate in a bottle after his science teacher refused to let him use the restroom. The teacher was being transferred to another school. (Um...are we seeing a trend here? As a homeschooler though, I have to admire the kid's ingenuity!)

Some Georgia School Districts to Offer Bible Classes
The state school board approved curriculum in March for teaching the Bible in Georgia's high schools. (Does this mean a child would fail if they weren't Christian and refused to take part in the classes?)

What the Heck is That???

2007-05-08T22:33:00.000-05:00

This is the fort my kids built! Well, the engineering department is having problems developing a roof that supports the weight of a five year old, so it is a work in progress...

Excuse Me, Does Your Leech Bite?

2007-05-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

We have always noticed leeches in the creek that goes through our back yard, but never one as big as the one my boys found today. He was not a cooperative leech and there was no way I was going to hold him, but I did manage to get a some pictures before he slithered away. He really blended in with his surroundings and was hard to see in most of the pictures, but here is one of him right before he slipped back into the creek (there is some sand and a piece of grass on his back):

The Blob!!!

I wish I had been brave enough to hold him so you could see just how big he was. Scrunched up like he is in the picture he would fill up the palm of my hand, but he could stretch out until he was a good seven inches long (*shudders*). Here he looks like a slug, but when he stretched out he looked more like an eel. I tried to find out what type of leech he was, but I didn't have any luck. If I ever do find out I will be sure to post it here!

I did manage to find some great websites about these strange creatures:

Leeches (Australia Museum)

Leeches!

Worm World: Larry Leech (They have a picture of one that is kind of pretty!)