Plant Project Update and Miscellaneous

We've been busy with the plant project! So far we have eight different plants (including one wildflower with leaf) in our plant binder. We are scanning the leaves, and it's working out really well. I'm impressed with the print quality. And it's been fun to learn more about the local plants. I'm learning things I didn't even know. It's great! :-) Will is also getting more cutting and pasting practice, as he's not done just a whole lot of this over the past few years. So, this is good for him in many ways. The latest neat thing I learned is that gin comes from the Dutch word genever, which means "juniper." Apparently, juniper berries are what is used in flavoring the alcoholic gin. I had no idea! I love etymology, anyway, so this was nice. Will thought it was interesting that black walnut bark can make a good tooth paste, and he wants to make a tooth brush. "Momma, how do you make a tooth brush in the wild?" :-) You know, we've actually had the tooth brush discussion not too long ago. He was telling me just a couple weeks or so ago how his daddy had once told him that the Native Indian-Americans splintered bone (or maybe it was wood) and brushed their teeth.

Anyway, we're in the book of Jeremiah in the bible and of course still reading Proverbs, as always. We haven't been doing Rocket Readers books every day. I actually had not finished his plant science book with him, but we'd stopped. This week, we have been finishing that up. Today will be the last day, and then Sunday he'll do his quiz and unit test. We'll be starting back up all the book work in mid-September. Anyway, maybe we'll get back to a RR book each day next week. I read a story book to the boys nearly every day. I also sometimes look at books with Trusten to work on his learning his colors and such. I think he knows orange and maybe brown. Sometimes, he says everything is red or green. He is really funny, though. I'll ask him what color such and such thing is, and he'll say, "Ummm, red?"

Will and Trust both are continuing to enjoy the Reading Rainbow videos. Some they've already watched two or three times. I usually let them watch some sort of video each day. We only keep educational and/or biblical videos for them to watch, so it's beneficial for them, and it also allows me to get some things done.

I'm learning to decorate. LOL It's so not one of my strengths, but I'm getting the house the way I like it, and it's nearly done. I'll be very satisfied. I'm almost finished with the girl's bedroom. I've chosen to decorate with a Sunbonnet Sue theme.

We went swimming this Sunday at Roaring River. That was enjoyable for all of us. I hope we can go a few more times before the summer is up. It's fun, it's good exercise, especially for me during my pregnancy, and it is also giving Will more practice to learn how to swim. He told me he was really missing his swimming lessons.

Oh, and now Will wants a guitar and wants to learn how to play so badly. I had originally planned to get him into some sort of music instrument lessons this fall, but I recently changed my mind to wait until next fall, but THEN he starts going on about how much he wants a guitar and wants to know how to play. So, I don't really know...

I guess that's about all I have to say right now. I'm still doing my Solanaceae abstinence experiment (TSAP), and Tuesday when I went grocery shopping this week, I was very tempted to call it off. I had a hard time that day. There was so much I wanted to eat that was forbidden. I'll make it, though. I haven't finished The Firstborn Advantage, yet, because I haven't been able to read everyday, but I think I'll finish it soon. And as for Nathan, he's still talking about doing other things and eventually getting out of HVAC, although right now he just wants to get where, "[He] runs the business, rather than the business running [him]". I think he really needs to make use of that contractor's license he got. There's not very many people that have those. Now, he's wanting to start selling something else, a product in which he believes. He just has to figure out what that might be. I and many others have told him for years that he's an excellent sales person...totally opposite of me, because I'm a terrible sales person. Anyway, I think he's finally believing it. He's really great with people, and he gives the pros and cons...honest about things, and yet he's charming. He's been educating himself more on guns lately. I got him the newly released Gun Digest and preordered the next Shooter's Bible. He used to read those things all the time as a teen, but he's just now getting back big into that.

Well, I guess that sums it up for all of us...well enough, anyway.