May. 22, 2007
8 chicks and another tooth...
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Odd title, I know. That's just the way things are around here! DD#1 lost another tooth yesterday. She is so happy about that. Also, her big day was Sunday and I no longer have two 5-year-olds. She is 6 years old now! Pictures to follow. Our final chick count is 8. Not bad for a first attempt at incubating eggs. The extension agent should be by to pick them up this afternoon or tomorrow morning. I have totally loved this study, but it is time for them to go. Chickens are fantastic, but they are not designed to live in your house! Have I mentioned that they poop a lot?  We will miss their fuzzy little faces, and if the opportunity arises to do this again I will.#1 son is off to Michigan tomorrow morning. His team flies out first thing and the activities begin in the evening. They are excited and have done lots of prep work for this competition. I'll let you know how it turns out. That's the Tuesday morning update. Back to life now! |
May. 18, 2007
More pics of the chicks
Here are just a couple more pictures of the baby chicks. We're up to 6 now, by the way. This first picture is the one #2 named Fred. Pretty photogenic little guy: Here are the first four recovering from their big morning: Yes, that bottom one is sleeping in the food dish. Chickens aren't the most intelligent of God's creatures! They come out pecking at each other, too. Sibling rivalry among hatchlings. Go figure. More pictures will follow. You guys are going to be sick of chicks before we're through!On a side note, guess what we had for lunch yesterday? Yep - chicken. I was fine until I thought about it. Kind of weird to be listening to chicks peep, watching them hatch, and then eating them all at the same time. Hamburger, anyone??? |
May. 17, 2007
The New Arrivals
We have been very busy around here! It's time to post another chicken update from down on the farm. We have been having so much fun anticipating the new chicks, and today we saw the rewards of our patient waiting. One egg began rocking back and forth two days ago, so I knew hatching time was drawing near. Yesterday the activity increased, and in the afternoon this is what we saw: Three eggs had cracks like this in them, and by bedtime one of the looked like this: I hated to leave them and go upstairs, but sleep finally drew me to bed. One interesting tidbit: You can hear the chicks peeping while they are still in their shells! I drove my oldest son crazy all day because I kept picking up the eggs, talking to them, and listening to them peep back at me. It was so incredible! Back to the story...This morning we awoke, and what did we see?   Two little guys were looking out at us and were peeping quite insistently to be let out! We were very excited, but the best was yet to come. One egg was almost ready to hatch and we were able to watch it push its way out of the egg. Members of our homeschool group were popping by all day to visit the new chicks, and at one point there were four families here. Incredibly, another chick decided to hatch while everyone was here and we all got to watch the process.  The children were fascinated, and we moms were cheering the little one on. This evening while we were out, another chick hatched out, and there are currently 5 more eggs showing signs of hatching. We have the potential of ending up with 10 chicks from 12 eggs. Pretty good odds for novices like us! As the old saying goes, I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, so I'll say we have 5 chicks. Watch for updates tomorrow, though, as our little flock grows! |
May. 5, 2007
I'm expecting...
baby chicks! We candled the eggs last night, and it looks like there are 11 viable ones. Sharky Dog and I borrowed a very bright light from my dad and set it up so only a small stream of light came out. If you hold the eggs up to the light in just the right manner you can kind of "see" inside them. It is totally cool to a science nerd like me! We were thrilled to see actual movement within several of the eggs. God's design is so awesome - life is developing right inside those eggs! No 'random chance' about those processes .Well, enjoy your weekend everyone. I'll go back to turning those eggs now... |
Apr. 29, 2007
Sunday News Update
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Big happenings around here this weekend. The fun started on Friday with the arrival of our eggs! We had 18 people here for the big event, and here is the result:  This is the incubator we were loaned by the county (with the lid off). I was assured that we would get an incubator with an automatic turner, but that one failed to materialized. Guess who the new automatic turner is? You've got it - ME! I'm going to become very bonded to these eggs over the next 21 days. I know #2 will be taking his 'turn' with the eggs, too. I hope we get at least a few chicks out of this dozen. I'll let you know. Here is the next big event that happened here this weekend:  Yes, DD#1 lost her first tooth this morning. We have been wiggling this thing for over a week, and this morning it just popped right out while I was drying her off after a bath. The towel caught her mouth just right and out it came. Fortunately there were no tears - it was a very celebrated event! She has been wiggling her tooth for everyone, and I mean everyone, since it began to get loose. The shoppers in Publix, the mailman, all the neighbors, of course grandparents and other family members, and others I've left off will be relieved to hear the news that it is finally out. By the way, the one next to the hole is loose now. Stay tuned... Big news item #3 is actually a very large item:  #2 now holds the record for bass in our pond. He caught this 24 incher this afternoon. It weighed in at a whopping 4 1/2 pounds! He garnered the attention of some young men who happened to be fishing nearby who wanted to know what this kid was fishing with! My large-hearted young man actually gave the guys two of the jelly worms he was using. I'm so proud of his generous heart - no fishing secrets here! That's our busy weekend. Hope all of you had a great weekend, too! |
Apr. 26, 2007
The Chickens are Coming!
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My inner farmer is singing again as I anxiously await tomorrow's visit from the extension agent . As previously stated, I do not live in the country, only my heart does. We have no chicken coop, no rabbit hutch, and no goat pen. Our livestock experience is limited to the annual pilgrimage to Green Meadows Farm where my children can interact with animals (for a price, of course). Well, tomorrow I will get as close to raising chickens as my current station in life will allow. I learned of a program through our county that allows classrooms to watch the incubation process of chicken eggs. We are calling it our embryology study. Doesn't that sound official? A representative from the county extension service is coming to our house and will be bringing a dozen eggs and an incubator with her! She will do a brief presentation for us and then set up the incubator. In two weeks she'll come back and candle the eggs. My kids are excited about that part - we'll get to kind of peek into the developing eggs to see if there is a viable embryo in each one. Cool stuff. Then, about another week later we should have some tiny chicks hatch! Several of our homeschooling friends are bringing their families over for the demo, and I've promised to call them when we hear any cheeping in the future! (I laughed reading JenIg's post about her eggs cheeping for some time before actually hatching. You never know what's going to happen!) Oh, and for those of you wondering what we are going to do with the chicks after they hatch, the agent will come pick them up and take them to live on a farm somewhere around here. My children are NOT going to like that part. I'm sure I'll post some pictures of tomorrow's activity. I've got a spot all ready for the incubator and am ready to begin! |
Apr. 18, 2007
Look out World!
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Our oldest came home from church one day last fall and said that he had been invited to participate on an Odyssey of the Mind team with a friend. He was involved with OM 10 years ago, and I knew a little about the program, so Sharky and I said yes. He has great Christian coaches, and is on a team with good kids. They practiced once a week for several months. Last month was the regional competition, and D's team won the right to advance to the state competition. Great for them, we thought, and the team swirled into action for another month of fine-tuning their performance. This Saturday was the big day - state competition in Orlando. We loaded up the family truckster and headed off for the big city. It was an all day affair, with the team competing both in the morning and afternoon. I took a break in the afternoon and drove the girls home to stay with a sitter for the big awards ceremony that night, while the others hung out in O-town with the team. That evening, the team, parents, and coaches all assembled in the arena to await the beginning of the ceremony. I don't know how many thousand people were in there, but they were all yelling and screaming at the same time :-) Boy, was I glad that the girls were safe and sound in their beds at home! It was a little overwhelming, but lots of fun for us oldies. The tension grew as the various awards were given out. Finally they were down to the top two places in my son's division. They didn't place second, which meant they were either out of the competition completely or they had won... The announcer got as far as the first word of the name of our local area and our team exploded with joy! They had won the state competition in first place and will now advance to the World Finals in Michigan! It was a fantastic day of celebrating and being together as a family. Now the team will spend another month tweaking their skit and getting the props in order for the big day in May.  |
Apr. 13, 2007
Class Dismissed
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Some lessons turn out better than you could have ever planned them. This morning was an example of that at our house. I brought out some Cuisenaire Rods for the first time and told the girls to play with them. I said things like, "Let's see what you can make with these." After a while I asked them what they thought each block stood for. I, of course, was in math mode and wanted my little geniuses to figure out that each cube stood for a number, etc... The part that made the public school teacher in me cringe and the mama want to burst with pride was when my just-turned-five year old gave me her idea of what each block stood for. She was very excited as she told me, " Mommy! The red is for the blood of Jesus. The yellow is Jesus, white is our clean heart, green is for hope, dark green is new life, orange is for praise, black is for sin and the blue is for the tomb. " She paused for brown, but then came up with the representation of brown standing for the wooden cross. She had to think about purple, but then remembered that it is a royal color and stands for Jesus our King. Okay, lesson learned by Mom! They listen when you tell them these things, whether it is a jelly bean Easter story or math blocks. What goes in will eventually come out one way or another! My other 5 year old eventually lined up her blocks in ascending order. At first I thought that at least one of the girls was getting the math part of the lesson, (which I know does not really matter at this point!). No, this was the stairway that the princess carried Moses up when she found him in the river. Then she went on the tell the "baby Moses" story. This inspired the other daughter, who made her own representation of the whole baby part of Moses' story WITH CUISENAIRE RODS! There are definitely some artistic genes in her blood. Now she has decided to make her own bible using the rods and telling the corresponding stories. Is that cool or what? I love homeschooling! |
Apr. 2, 2007
Home again...
Wow. What a trip we had! Some of the details are here but I've got the pictures! We had a fabulous week with our friends and a safe drive home, which was questionable given the sheer number of people traveling to Florida for Spring Break. What are all you people coming here for? Sunshine? Blue water? Tropical breezes? Oh yeah, okay, come on down  I'll share my state with you. Back to the trip... Did you know that Atlanta set new records for the amount of pollen in the air last week? My van is living proof. It is a lovely shade of yellow, as are #2's shoes. But I truly am NOT complaining. It was worth every sneeze to visit my dear friend and her family. And the dogwoods, wisteria, and other blooming plants and trees were all exploding with color. I couldn't have timed the visit better. Here is the much awaited picture of our crew in hair nets:  Notice one of my girls trying to flee from the photo op. Booknhome held on tight! The nets are a bonus given to you for touring the Mayfield Dairy. I blogged about that in a prior entry. We also sampled some yummy ice cream after the tour. Our next stop was at Bass Pro Shop, where #2 scaled a huge rock climbing wall.  This wall was enormous - much taller than the walls at our local climbing gym! Three of booknhome's boys climbed, as well, with one of her sons making right up to the top! An impressive feat, to say the least.Here I am in one of my many mom roles - the living step stool.  Don't laugh, I'm sure you've done this, too. Maybe not so your precious little girly-girl can attempt to shoot a raccoon, but you've done it! That store can turn anyone into a rabid hunter/fisherman/lumberjack. |
Mar. 29, 2007
We have arrived!
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After a brief delay, our vacation has begun! I don't have any way to post pictures yet, but I will do that when we get home. Today was a busy day with a visit to the Mayfield Dairy and Bass Pro Shop. What more could you want for a group of busy children to do? This Bass Pro Shop even has a rock climbing wall inside. I love that store- it is so over the top! #2 made it most of the way up the wall . He was so full of determination that it was inspiring! And the dairy? They sell ice cream there. Need I say more? You get a huge scoop for just $1 and it was so yummy. Everyone enjoyed that part. The tour was so interesting, too. We got to see them making plastic milk jugs, which might not sound too great but it was fascinating. The kids loved watching the jugs travel along the automated track, and we adults could have watched for lots longer than we were allowed to. Very, very cool. I'll post more when we get home. Check out this site for more details coming soon! |
Mar. 22, 2007
4
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4 healthy family members 4 more days until we leave for vacation We are very excited to see our good friends and are anxiously counting down the days. Now if we could just all get well.. Easier said than done. #3 is starting back around with the cough/sneezing stuff. She must not realize that you are only allowed to get sick ONCE when germs are going around. Twice is just not permitted Sharky Dog finally went to the Dr. today and is now on antibiotics. We're praying that those work quickly - he has been out of commission for 9 days! I hate to go out of town and leave him if he is still not well. On another note, the boys and I had the opportunity to go to a ball game last night. That was an unexpected treat. Some friends called and had extra tickets to use a sky box (think small scale here) and the kids were thrilled. We were getting into the vacation theme early, as the teams playing were the ATLANTA Braves and the WASHINGTON Nationals. (There's a clue in there somewhere...) One more prayer request: Our friends have a new addition who just couldn't wait to get here and joined us all a little early. Please pray that baby Josiah continues to grow and gain strength so he can come home to his eager family. |
Mar. 18, 2007
So sick of sick people!
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That title doesn't sound very gracious, does it? I am sitting in my living room looking out at a perfectly beautiful, chamber-of-commerce spring day, and hearing sick people sniff and snuff around me. Compassion is not my most developed spiritual gift when it comes to my family being sick. I just want to shout "Enough already! Everyone get well NOW!" I guess I could shout that, but it wouldn't really do much good :-) We started this last Friday, visited the Dr. on Sunday with the youngest being sick, I was icky, and all have fallen like dominoes since then. DH is down for the count now. Sigh. At least the windows are open and I'm blowing all of the germs far, far away! On another note, we did have a yummy supper. It seemed like a good night for soup, so I made a favorite that my buddy gave me the recipe for: taco soup. We love it, and it is easy. So my belly is happy, even if I'm a bit crabby. News from 'the farm' The kids are enjoying strawberries from their garden, and even Pedro the dragon got to sample homegrown lettuce. Spoiled reptile I love watching things grow - even the carrots have now sprouted. Our sunflowers are almost up to 2 inches tall now. Can't wait until they are taller than I am!Pics from the ranch are really coming. Hang in there. I've been busy buying tissues and sprite, so have pity on me (maybe your compassion will rub off on me!) Happy Sunday evening to one and all! (Please pass the Lysol) |
Mar. 12, 2007
Who knew?
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My family went on a fabulous field trip today. I stayed home with the youngest, as she and I are fighting the flu. (not the stomach kind, PTL!) I'll post pictures of the trip later, but they did learn one tidbit of information that was kind of unsettling. First let me say that the trip was to a working cattle ranch here in Florida. Second, did you know that cow hoof byproducts are in marshmallows? Ewwwwwww. I think I knew, somewhere deep in the back of my brain, that gelatin contains collagen that is somehow derived from cow hoofs. Kind of gross. And of course, gelatin is in marshmallows. Will it stop me from eating smores? Ha! No way. Sidebar - as I was looking up the ingredients of marshmallows I came across a website that demonstrated how to make your own marshmallows. Really? Yes. Okay, I do bake bread from wheat we grind here at home, but making your own marshmallows? What is the point? Maybe to get rid of the gross cow hooves, you say. No, the first ingredient in the recipe was Knox gelatin. Go figure! Obviously the person who was making their own marshmallows was not a homeschooling mom! |
Mar. 7, 2007
Wow
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The odds are sure better than this at my house. We have 3 bathrooms for only 4 students! I am so grateful to have the freedom to keep my children home where they are loved, treasured, and are allowed to use the bathroom! |
Mar. 6, 2007
Garden Pictures
Are you ready to be underwhelmed? I mentioned that this was a small container garden, but a few people wanted to see pictures anyway. So here they are, in all their glory: The girls and I planted 5 tray containers. AB, hereafter to be known as #2 (at his insistence!) planted these 3 trays and I did the pots behind them.Since planting these original plants we have added carrots (planted as seeds, not starter plants), and just for fun I'm trying to grow a border of sunflowers around the pool enclosure. Time will tell if those take or not. Happy Tuesday everyone! |
Mar. 6, 2007
Butterfly surgeon?
 We all know that as parents we wear many hats. We are chefs, teachers, maids, peacemakers, - you've seen the lists. One title I didn't expect to add was "butterfly surgeon". We have been watching the butterfly life cycle take place in our home, and yesterday was the day when 4 of the 5 butterflies emerged from their chrysalids. The first one out got tangled in the shell of the chrysalis as it tried to come out. It was heartbreaking to watch, but we didn't want to interfere. Finally my husband decided that this wasn't really nature after all, so we could get involved. (Hey, we're nature lovers, what can I say?) So AB brought me the tweezers and I pulled away as much of the tangled mess as I could. The surgery wasn't a complete success, but the little guy is still alive this morning. We'll see how well he recovers from the trauma. |
Mar. 2, 2007
I love living in Florida!
This is what my children did today:  Tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 68, so I know we will lose some heat from the pool, but it was fabulous to see them swimming again! For those who care, it was about 80 degrees both in the air and in the water. Did I mention that I love Florida? And solar heating? Yesterday we planted a container garden. The girls planted strawberries and tomatoes, Adventure Boy planted banana peppers, strawberries, and basil, and I planted some lettuce, broccoli, and cucumbers. We will be able to make a fantastic salad if things grow as expected. I actually have a reputation for killing plants, so I'm going to try to let the children keep these alive. We live in a rather restrictive neighborhood and my neighbor is now calling us farmers. Pretty sad when a few containers qualify as a farm! Oh, to have acreage and livestock like JenIg We are going to do a chick-hatching project in late April and you can be sure I will post about that then. My inner farm-girl will have to be satisfied one way or another! |
Mar. 1, 2007
The things kids say
 Our neighborhood is involved in a crime watch program. That means that if we see suspicious activity we notify each other and the police. Kind of a formal way to acknowledge the way people used to treat each other all the time! We have signs posted in the neighborhood to notify people of the program. Well, these signs have the outline of a criminal enclosed in a circle with a line drawn through it. Think of the "no smoking" signs - same thing. So here is my conversation with DD#2 in the car yesterday: DD " Mommy, does that sign mean that if there is a bad guy in the road that we shouldn't stop for him but should run over him?" Me (with as straight a face as possible) "No, honey, that just means that we look out for each other and we will call the police if we see a bad guy." DD Long, thoughtful pause, and then, "Mommy, if you saw a bad guy would you run over him anyway?" Me, "No, I don't think we should run over anyone. We would let the police catch him." Sharky Dog said he wasn't sure how he would have answered that last one. Glad I was the one she asked or we might have a little vigilante on our hands! |
Feb. 16, 2007
Brrr...
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I know, everyone up north has been dealing with lots and lots of snow, so I don't expect much sympathy. However, it is COLD here! As a Floridian you know it is cold when you have to cover up the tropical plants and the weatherman tells you to bring your pets indoors for the night! I'm spoiled, I know. Our big event last weekend was celebrating another birthday. My baby girl is now 5 years old! I cannot believe that she is really 5. Time has flown with this little angel. She has requested that I stop calling her the baby now, and I guess it is only fair to let her grow up. It sure is hard on this mama, though! In other news, the boys have qualified to compete at the state level bowling tournament coming up in April. They belong to a homeschool league and bowl once a week. They are really enjoying bowling and we are proud of their progress. DH and son #1 are on their way to a ski weekend in NC right now. The timing couldn't be better since it is supposed to snow on Saturday and Sunday! Pray for their safe travel if you think of it throughout the weekend. Thanks! There's the update to my sorely neglected blog. Happy Weekend! |
Feb. 3, 2007
It has arrived!
 We are absolutely LOVING our new stereoscope. It came right as we were finishing up dinner one evening and we immediately unpacked the box and started inspecting everything within sight! This is a picture of the girls and Sharky Dog looking at the tail of one of their kitties. I'll just say that it's a good thing those toys are machine washable! Sharky Dog told me I was going to have to get a new phrase - I must have said, " EWWWWWWWW" about 100 times that first night. There is a good reason we don't have 10x or 30x vision capabilities with our bare eyes! It is absolutely amazing to see the details on items. Among other things, Adventure Boy showed us all the details on a penny. Did you know that Abe Lincoln is actually in the Lincoln Memorial on the back? Look closely and you can see a little blur. Well, through the scope you can see that it really is Abraham Lincoln! So neat. AB also put some live minnows into a baggie and viewed them through the lens. (We practice all forms of catch and release around here!) And if you have dry skin because of the cold weather, just imagine looking at it 30 times its normal size. Made me run for the bottle of lotion! We have only just begun to explore the world of the tiny and I can't wait to see what is next. We have yet to pack up the scope and put it away. Just the opposite has happened - it has earned the place of honor right next to the family computer. That way we can just turn on the light and view anything that comes up during the day. It's an awesome addition to our home! |