Why Do the Leaves Turn in Autumn?

"Momma, why do the leaves change colors in the fall?"

This has been an oft-asked question during the past couple of weeks by four-year-old Trusten.  So, I decided to pull out some stapled-together papers I've kept for four years with the article from Science Made Simple.  When Jaden William was the same age, he also asked this same question.  When I finished reading it, and we discussed it, we went on our nature walk to collect leaves--both green and changed--for the accompanying science experiment.

During Our Walk...

Right at the beginning of our walk, Trusten and Liv hugged each other.  They do that often.  Afterward, Liv found herself a Juniper branch, as she's recently become very fond of those branches; and Trusten found some sort of dry pod on a plant and asked me about it.  I don't, as of yet, know what it is that he'd found.  I didn't see the plant off which he picked it, either.

Here's an updated shot of the northern border of our property:

We got green leaves from an oak and a cherry. 

Jade picking cherry leaves to add to the collection bag

Whereas Liv normally picks up rocks, leaves, and other treasures on our walks, she usually quickly discards them...not so with the Juniper branch.  She loves those things!  She drug that branch nearly the whole walk from the house, until I picked her up to carry her for awhile, as she was tagging behind.  When we went back by the branch, though, she picked it back up and carried it halfway back to the house.

Some lovely pictures:

Liv likes to be picked up to trees or anything else high.  She'll tell one of us, "Jump real high" to let us know she wants to be picked up so she can reach something.  I decided to include her in the leaf harvesting.

On our way back to the house we saw a different sort of caterpillar.  I don't think I've seen this particular kind before.  I've not made the time to id it yet.

The Experiment....

Our supplies: Jars, bag of leaves, isopropyl alcohol, paper plate, and knife

Trusten chopping leaves as Liv watches

After the boys chopped the leaves, Jaden put them in jars, and I covered them with alcohol and put them in some shallow hot water.  I used the bathtub.

Red-leafed oak, orange-leafed oak, yellow-leafed oak, green-leafed oak, and green-leafed cherry

They had to be swirled, and the hot water changed:

Then I dipped strips of coffee filters--labeled--into the alcohol in each jar and then taped the dry end to the outside of the jars:

The two leaves that still were chlorophyll-filled (green) leaked out the most color, which demonstrated the teaching in the lesson that trees took the chlorophyll to store during the winter, and the various other colors were pigments already in the leaves (like carotene in orange leaves).

I took the dipped ends and placed them on the outside

I'd forgotten about this project so had not mentioned it in my last blog post.  The other things are yet to come.

Until next time...

Candlemaking and Penpalship

Candlemaking

Jaden recently decided he wanted to try his hand at candlemaking.  I'm not sure what gave him the idea.  He's always coming up with new ideas, and this just happens to be one of the latest.  As mentioned in a previous post, he bought everything himself with money he'd saved from his allowance, money he's earned elsewhere, gift money, etc.  He's good about saving money. 

Here are his materials, including many of his jars with which he started:

He also got a book to help him learn:

He's learned some from his mistakes, too.  He's definitely in the beginner's stage, but he's done everything all by himself, so I think he's doing a pretty good job thus far.  He's sold a few already.  If you're interested in one, he'd like to know.  He's made votive candles and larger candles. 

He's still working on judging the proper measurements.  He didn't put enough wax in two candles (a light green and a dark green one), so he added more wax later, deciding to make the one into a two-color candle, and the green one is a three-tone green:

So far he has only bought blue and green dyes and only strawberry flavoring (perhaps not so matching with the colors, but that was what he wanted to do). 

Since our house is under construction and the stove not available for his use, he was given permission to use the wood stove.  He melts his wax in a double boiler, bought used off Ebay:

A Penpal

Jaden also has a pen pal now, the youngest child of a dear brother and sister in Christ I've known for over a year from Kenya.  His name is Young, and he just recently turned nine years of age, so he's almost a year older than Jaden William.  Jaden replied and sent his first letter two days ago.

Some other fun pictures…


Jade's newest addition to his bird nest collection:

Jaden, Olivia, and Trusten with their dump trucks.  Trusten has his in man position, as he likes to pretend his truck is a Transformer:

Olivia showing me her pick of wild onions:

Coming soon:  a review on some things we've been reading, a fun study with caterpillars for Trust and Liv, and a study and experiment on tornadoes due to Trusten's interest.

Until next time...

Feast of Tabernacles and 8th Day

  Feast of Tabernacles 2011

 Our Tabernacle :-)

Our original plan for Tabernacles this year was to stay in a cabin in Branson with our friends (and my brethren) who are soon-moving up here from Texas.  It was to be a good time of fellowship and getting to know my friend Jessica even more.  I also planned to go to services on the holy days with a congregation I found online that seemed unlike the bigger ones that are so tainted with man-worship and such other sins.  Many things happened to change those plans, though. Truly we are NOT in control of everything, and truly this is a TEMPORARY life full of trials.  You just never know what is going to happen and when.  

Our laundry room, part of our kitchen, part of our master bathroom, and part of our master bedroom closet had to be torn apart due to an unknown water leak.  We had black mold, too.  Everything is torn out and mold remediation done, and now my husband and our friend Casey is working on building it all back.  We are living in only part of our house.  Nathan and I have not slept in our own bedroom, as the bed and floor are covered with our clothes and other things from our closet.  The kitchen floor is covered with things that had to be taken out of cabinets, as cabinets had to be removed from the wall.  Storage bins from the closet are in the living room.  I've been without a kitchen (but not a refrigerator) and washer and dryer, so we've had to eat mostly non-cooked food things, including cold cereal for breakfasts instead of the usual muffins or other delicious breakfasts I make and sandwiches.  I have been able to use our toaster oven.  I've also had to go do our laundry at a laundromat.  SOON I've been told I will be able to use my kitchen again and do our laundry here.  I very much look forward to it.  

It's interesting that all this was discovered shortly before Tabernacles and that our plans were radically changed.  During the Feast of Tabernacles Christians stay in temporary dwellings, and this year we lived (and still are living) in temporary conditions in our own home.  It's really given me a lot on which to meditate.  It has caused me all the more to look forward to that time when God's Kingdom reigns on this earth...a new world/age, but even moreso I look forward to the time after that 1,000 year reign of Christ and we the saints, to the time not foreshadowed by the Feast of Tabernacles and the weekly Sabbath day, but to the time which the 8th Day foreshadows:  ETERNITY on the NEW EARTH with the NEW HEAVEN.

As I mentioned briefly before, Jaden decided to get into candlemaking, so he spent quite a bit of his money he'd saved on candle-making materials.  I'll talk more about it in my next post (I promise), but we agreed to let him start using the wood-stove (we've had a few freezing nights) to melt his wax.  So, he made his first candles during the feast week (not during the holy days, of course).

Those who know me well know that I use analogies heavily in life, both drawing them myself to get a better understanding of things and painting them to teach others--both adults who read my books, articles and who listen to me talk and my children.  I use anything I can in everyday life to teach my children about the Truth.   So you shouldn't be surprised that I used Jaden's timing of starting his candle-making to teach them a lesson.

 I told the children that candles, the sunlight, the moonlight (reflected from the sun), and other lights are all temporary.  Even the earth's day star--the sun--that will shine in the next world/age on this earth when Salvation the Lord and the risen firstfruits reign over humankind, animals, plants, and minerals would eventually burn out, die, if given enough time.  The sun is a created star that is going through its limited life cycle.  BUT, I reminded them that on the NEW EARTH in eternity, which the 8th Day foreshadows, God will be our eternal Light.

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light:  and they shall reign for ever and ever (Revelation 22:5).

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:  for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof (Revelation 21:23).

I love moon pictures!  I also just love the colors of the trees in the fall.  The Ozarks are beautiful right now, and the weather has been wonderful.  Here's a closer-up picture of the moon on that gorgeous day:

Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession? (Song of Solomon 6:10).

The children and I colored coloring pages from the 2008 FOT and 8th Day coloring book produced by the Christian Biblical Church of God*.  We rarely ever color around here.  It's about time I start teaching Trusten and Liv to color and stay in the lines, anyway.  Jaden and I worked on coloring the entire 2007 FOT coloring book back during the FOT of 2007, but it was so long!  I loved pages of that coloring book, though, because it had scenes and scripture verses of children playing with wild animals and current carnivorous beasts grazing along with herbivorous beasts.  I decided to do something different this year, so I picked the one on the Ten Commandments.  I printed sheets for the Ten Commandments, where each commandment had a "bad example" page and a "good example" page, plus a few other pages, including a word search for Jaden.  I read to them, talked to them, and we colored all in the tent during some of the day of the feast.

Jaden William, Olivia, and Trusten

Liv

Trusten coloring a page

Liv scribbling on a coloring page

 I had a picture of Jaden with one of his finished coloring pages, but my batteries went dead in the camera, and just about always the last picture taken does not keep.  So that is sad.  I may take a picture of him later and add it to this post.  

A sample of the good and bad examples, shown here the third commandment:

Bad Example

Good Example

I also discussed some news with Jade.  Very briefly, there was a story of a woman with her adult daughter and another man as accomplices keeping four mentally retarded adults and ten children down in a nasty basement for a long period of time.  They were cashing the social security checks on the adults.  At the time Nathan and I read the article, it was unknown who the children were.  At least some of the captives were abused in awful ways, and they were malnourished.  The worst thing is that the woman who did this evil had starved a man to death back in the 80s and had served a few years (eight, I think) in prison, only to be let out to do her evil again!  How many times have I seen this happen?  If a person is truly repentant, mercy should be shown.  If not, why are such people not put to death?  Prison has rarely helped anyone imprisoned, and it certainly doesn't help the citizenry who is paying for their upkeep!  I reminded the boys of how sad this world is and that in the world to come--when God's Kingdom reigns--this kind of thing shall not be tolerated.  Death penalty in the fire immediately.  And I assured both the boys that evil people like this who did not repent would not be on the new earth with eternal life in spirit bodies.  

Another news story was about exotic and dangerous animals let loose in Ohio by the owner who commit suicide releasing them.  There were animals such as lions, tigers, cheetahs, bears, wolves, giraffes, and camels.  We talked of how dangerous a situation such a thing is in this world, but in the world to come such animals would roam freely and interact kindly with us.  I also talked about how it would be like a garden paradise everywhere and nice forests--no crazy wilderness with bad plants and animals.  Food would be abundant and delicious, and every person and animal would live in harmony.  I explained how the animals were killed to prevent harm being done to people, though I also shared my frustration with the people's carelessness.  Those animals could have been shot with tranquilizing darts...and should have.  Some of them were very rare.  People will not be so foolish about things the world to come.

Well, that sums it up.  We ended up having some semi-good meals on the holy days.  Things weren't as planned, but during this commanded Thanksgiving feast of God, I was able to remain thankful through it all, knowing I still have very good things compared to many less fortunate in the world, including spiritual brethren in various places.  It can be difficult to realize that when things are going poorly compared to which that we are accustomed, but I have many beloved in various places who are much less fortunate, and I don't think they'd say I have had things go too badly.  God speed that day when we are all together, and all our burdens are behind us.

Hope God's people who are reading this also had a blessed feast week.  Father's blessings be upon you.

Until next time...

*I do not agree or accept all teachings of the Christian Biblical Church of God or that of Fred Coulter or any other incorporated "Church of God" or their exalted leaders.

 

Some Fall Pictures

The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles was on the Roman date of October 13 this year.  I'll talk more about that in my next post, but I'd like to share some pictures of pre-Tabernacles. 

Nathan has built a storage building.  He only lacks a door now, I think.  It's painted nicely.  I'll have to post a finished picture soon.  Jaden William has watched and helped a bit, too.

There are some pictures of some walks down our road.  We've been walking regularly again, now that it is cooled off some. 

There are various caterpillar pictures.

Then there are a few pictures taken when the children and I had to go stay with my parents a few days, because we had an unknowing leak that was finally discovered, so our house received water damage and mold.  Nathan is busy rebuilding now.

A Day of Building...

Nathan working on a storage building for us

Liv in Trusten's shirt (was Jade's that I had made for him and will be hers next year) and a hat...silly girl

Jade sweeping trash out of storage building

Friend Casey and Nathan working on the roof

Jaden sweeping beside Liv, as she insisted on sitting there

Trusten playing in the yard, near the fire pit

During a walk...

My three sweet babies

Hanging bird nest, perhaps of a pair of Orioles

Hanging bird nest

Jade insisted on collecting the nest, saying the birds are finished with it

A nice addition to his collection, the first hanging nest we've ever seen

A Caterpillar...

Probably the larva of a Spice bush butterfly

During Our Trip...

Trust and Liv during movie time

Jade working on his grammar lesson

Looking up to smile for the camera

Trust playing with a money jar while Liv sits on her active pony

He must LOVE playing with that jar

But Liv loves her pony even more

Or maybe she just likes when I take pictures of her

Children at the boat ramp (White River) down the road from my parents' house

Liv and I in front of the river...almost all my pictures are facing in the sun :-(

More Caterpillars, a Spider, a Millipede, and a Snake...

Black and Yellow Argiope spider; the ones that put a zigzag (not shown here) in their webs

Trusten with a Sycamore Tussock Moth caterpillar on a piece of Sycamore bark

Trusten enjoying his caterpillar

Liv watching a caterpillar crawling

Liv likes to pet the soft fuzzy backs of the Sycamore Tussock moth caterpillars

I found this on my camera; Jade had taken this picture of a large and lovely millipede one morning

Jade's latest snake capture in a shoebox, non-venomous, but unsure of its identity at this time

Close-up of the snake

During Another Walk...

A rock that caught my eye that Jade agreed to tumble for me

A centipede burrowing back in the dirt

Beautiful fall foilage

Liv was jealous of the trees and wanted her picture taken

My sweet blessings--Will, Trust, and Liv

Here's one of Trusten's faces...and check out Liv's expression

Jaden William had an itch, and Liv's few seconds of standing still were up

Trust...imitating some wild animal he saw nearby, perhaps?

Fall view of road

Neighbor's horses in beautiful fall surroundings

Had to zoom in on that tree...just gorgeous

Goldenrod...I think

Sassafras trees...some red, some yellow

Calico Asters

Wish I knew what this is...very pretty

The land up on the right with the yellow-leafed trees is our property

Part of our property

And Yet Another Caterpillar...
 

Jade with a new caterpillar find

What we believe is the larva of a Polyphemus moth, but possibly a Luna moth

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Until next time...