Review of 2014 ~ Inspirational Quotes

Like the year of 2011, I had to make two albums for our picture memories. 

Front and back of the first photo book

Front and back of second photo book

 (Wow, I just realized I used a very similar, but NOT my favorite picture as the front.  I just noticed it, because Elizabeth is not smiling, and in my favorite, she's giving a big smile).

Winter

We had so much fun during the snows!  Nathan and William made homemade sleds.

Spring

I was really pleased with the book theme I chose, because I loved the inspirational quotes I could place on the pages of my choosing, and there were some pretty cute butterfly embellishments.

It really is a JOY to give to others and to be rewarded with their reflected joy.  My children have learned that joy of giving with joy.  That boy pictured above is so thoughtful of others.  :-)

We really did enjoy watching a young frog transition through its life cycle (even death, sadly).

We enjoyed many walks all together as a family, and we checked on the neighbors' horses and fed them while they were gone.  We saw a few rough green snakes, which I absolutely loved, because they're beautiful and interesting.  It was so much fun to see them crawl and climb among the branches when we put them in trees. 

Summer

We got to see quite a few amazing sights in nature this year, and the kids and I spent a lot of time outside.  I spent a lot of time outside reading, in addition to our walks.  I read and read and read and read, and then I did a lot of deep meditation, too.  It was a spring and summer full of deep learning and reflection for me.  The kids got to simply enjoy a great summer.

Choosing positive actions (like the "singing" mentioned in the quote on the right page above) actually work to bring positive feelings. 

We learned about many different kinds of mushrooms and other fungi.  It was fascinating.   Some of them are so beautiful.

We enjoyed a family trip to Chicago.  It was our first time visiting that city, besides being in the airport.  It was also a learning experience as we visited the Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum, and the Adler Planetarium.  

Fall

Save for our loss of our beloved chickens, we enjoyed a wonderful fall.  During the year of 2014, I personally started appreciating my life at a much higher level and starting taking things a lot less for granted. 
 

We can't keep our sunshine to ourselves!  :-)  We want to share it with others.

Even though the boys gave me opposition on the day I took their fall pictures, I was content with what I got.  :-)  

Things don't always go smoothly in life, but we must choose happiness, contentedness.  If we are to be happy, we must choose to focus on all the positive things in our lives, rather than all the negative.  The negative things, the negative people...they will bring us down if we make that our focus.  There's also no shortage of people we can reach out to and help in the world, and improving the lives of others also builds our own happiness.

I'm striving to enjoy my children to the fullest every day they are with me for this life journey.  They are so precious.

Winter

Walking life's journey in LOVE makes sense.  We are all much happier and healthier when we live our our lives in love toward others, when we all live in cooperation, as opposed to war, theft, etc.  That is why when we "have really lived" when we have done things "in a spirit of love."  Hate does not promote life, even in the person doing the hating.  They'll self-destruct, poisoning themselves with their toxic-in-excess endogenous hormones.

We enjoyed our walks in December. We even took a picnic one day.  It was so nice to spend that time with my sweet babies.

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge." -Thomas Carter

A loving heart seeks out knowledge in order to choose the most loving, beneficial ways of living and interacting with fellow earthlings.  Those who don't care, who don't make any effort to grow in knowledge and act accordingly with wisdom, are not acting in love.  In their ignorance, they are likely to commit unloving acts toward themselves or others.  In addition, those who prohibit knowledge are not acting in love.  When knowledge is prohibited or controlled, we end up with something like the Dark Ages. 

2014 was a year full of growing in knowledge, appreciation of life, and an increased love toward fellow earthlings. 

Coming soon in my posts for January through April 2015:  our participation in university scientific research studies (Harvard University and University of Arkansas), new magazine subscription, educational plans for the next year, some awesome new nature photos, and more.

Until next time...

Outdoor Discoveries, Trusten's Reading and Writing Prep

I'd saved where I'd worked on my last post, and the way I'd left it gave me trouble with adding more, so I just published it, and now I'm starting a new post.

Some other highlights of the last few months:

A Slight Flood...

Jade and Liv at top, then all three below after the water greatly increased

Nature Discoveries...

Butterflies loving my lilac bush

Jade with a tiger swallowtail butterfly, a salamander, inspecting caterpillar nest, climbing deer stand

More butterflies in our yard; Nathan holding a grass snake rescued from the cats

Some of Jaden's Latest Projects...

Jaden took apart the iron that stopped working.  He always enjoys taking apart things, trying to diagnose the problem(s), and keeping things he thinks he might can use for other applications.  He also sets aside recyclable things and adds them to our stuff to take to be recycled.

We read about ancient Egypt and clay-and-straw bricks.  He loves working with clay and so enjoyed making another clay and grass brick, but he left it in an unwise location, so on two separate occasions Trust and Liv (different one each time) messed with his brick.  I took a picture of it the way it was before it was completely ruined.  As for the hole in the center, that was intentional by Jaden, because he said he wanted a brick that he could fill with mortar. 

I was very pleased that he finished making a compost box for me.  He's so sweet!  He used materials Nathan let him have, left over from his own projects.  Some of that is just paneling that was left over from when Nathan put new paneling up in parts of the house.  Considering, I think Jade did a great job!  He started to paint it, but he said that Nathan told him he was afraid he wouldn't have enough paint left to finish painting the storage building if he painted the compost box.  Jade also hauled it himself beyond the yard to where I normally throw out scraps.

Trusten's Prep to Read and Write...

 Trusten has started the books preparing him for Explode the Code.  I used Explode the Code with William and loved it, but he did not do the Get Ready, Get Set, and Go books (A, B, and C) that I bought for Trusten.  Trusten is on the first book, book A, right now.  It works on phonics and letter-writing.

Well, believe it or not, Trusten doesn't always make faces like the one above.  As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure why it looks as if he's angry in that picture, because he seemed content.  He'd just finished making the 'f' sound and saying the name of the picture he is pictured circling.  Sometimes, though, he really does get mad about his work.  He does a good job sounding things out, circling the right pictures, etc., but he is frustrated about writing most letters.  


No Child Left Behind...

Olivia naturally wants to do what the boys are doing.  She has scribbled countless times in Jaden's workbooks he's left lying open unattended. When it's time for Trusten to do his work, I  normally give her a piece of paper and a pencil so that she can free-scribble, but on this day she wanted to cut.

Well, I'll probably leave my catch-up updating at this.  I'll try better to keep up with it now.  

Until next time...

Butterflies & Caterpillars

Caterpillars and butterflies (and moths) have always been a big deal in our household.  I love butterflies, and all my kids have loved both caterpillars and the adult moths and butterflies.  I have so many pictures of Jaden William with caterpillars over the last several years of his life, and I've started collecting quite a few of Trusten and Liv with the crawling creatures.

For years I've wanted to get Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and I just haven't.  I finally did, though, and the kids loved it.

I also showed the kids Youtube videos of the metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies and included a couple of videos with cute little songs about the magnificent creatures.

I used to make a lot of play dough creations for William when he was the ages of Trust and Liv.  We had so much fun.  I've recently started playing with play dough with Trusten and Olivia.  I make creations for them while they play with some by themselves.  Last week we had a session where I focused solely on making caterpillars and butterflies.  They used my butterfly cookie cutter to cut our butterflies, and they free played.

Trusten making balls as I had shown him how

Liv picking up her newly-cookie-cutter-cut butterfly

Trusten showing off his own caterpillar creation

My caterpillar

My butterfly (yes, with the lines from my hands, but they're like veins in butterfly wings!)

Liv using cookie cutter to make a green butterfly

Also during the week I made all of them a fruit snack that looked like the caterpillar in the Eric Carle book.

Not the prettiest caterpillar, but the kids love when I make fun snacks

Then I transformed my fruit, seed, and grain bar recipe into butterfly cookies by taking the dough and rolling it out thinner and using my butterfly cookie cutter.  That dough with all the stuff in it doesn't cut out cleanly, but we could still tell they were butterflies, and the kids loved them.

Super delicious with sweetened cream cheese (Trust likes jelly or plain)

For young, but slightly-older children than Trusten is, here is a good worksheet resource for The Very Hungry Caterpillar:  Activities and Lesson Plan for The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Until next time...

Some Things We've Done...

My next blog entry I plan to post soon, and it will detail new things we're about to do (and some of what we've already started but won't discuss in this entry), new school books we got, etc.  But for now, some of the things we've done since the last entry....

Some Book Work Done...

Over the last month Jaden did spelling lessons and math word problems.  He finished the Gr. 2 math word problems and has started on the Gr. 3.  Trusten did alphabet flash cards but no longer needs to do those. 

Things We've Read...

 
We started getting our Weekly Readers in.  Trusten's came nearly a month sooner, so he's enjoyed four issues, whereas Jaden has just had one.  We've enjoyed our Ranger Rick and Your Big Backyard magazines, as always.  The former one expired, though, so we didn't get a September issue.  Trusten has enjoyed my reading little children's books to him much more over the past few months.  His favorites lately are the Little Golden books:  The Little Red Hen; The Happy Man and His Dump Truck; I Love You Daddy!; and I Love You Mommy!  We have several Little Golden books.  The first two I named above were two of Jaden William's favorites when he was that age and younger.  Just as I had William fill in the blanks at the end of some sentences, I have Trusten do so.  He can just about read The Little Red Hen by himself (he actually does sit down with it by himself and reads it by memory).  He fills in more than I expect him to.  He gets ahead of me.  It's fun. 

Jaden went through all of his graphic novels about inventors that he got for his birthday in just a month and a half, along with most of his six Hardy Boys books.  I think he's working on the last one or two.  He usually reads two books at a time, because he keeps a book in the Suburban for rides, and then he reads with his Light Wedge in bed at night.  I'm so glad he loves to read, though!  :-)  He likes to talk about the nonfiction ones, too.  He'll ask whether I know such and such thing.  As for fiction, I try my best to introduce him to only kosher reads, and even afterward I ask questions about what he's reading. 

Things We've Louped...

A leaf-resembling katydid that got in the house

Luna moth, Polyphemus moth, four swallowtail butterflies, and stalactite or stalagmite

The butterflies and moths were really fun to loupe.  It ended up getting so hot and so dry for so long that the butterflies and moths started dying.  :-(  It was so sad, but we took advantage of it and collected them to study.  Now, thankfully, there are many flying around again.  The tongue of one of the butterflies was positioned nicely, and the hair on the moths was awesome!  Seeing the eyespots under a loupe was also a treat.   I wish I could have gotten the picture to show up better.  That other thing is a stalactite or stalagmite that Nathan's friend Dave found when they went into our neighbor's cave.  Looking at the katydid under the loupe brought out all the more how much it was designed to look like a leaf. 

Some Plants We've Identified...

Oak leaves, pokeberry, yarrow, and others

Some cutting and pasting still needs to be done on a few of these.  Jaden will do that.  I need to read about these things and add to the index cards, and then they will find a place in our plant binder. 

Some Things Jaden Has Done...

Constructing his homemade sawing table as Trusten watches

He's hoping to find gold

Jaden has been busy with outdoor activities, as usual.  He kept telling me he needed a saw.  I didn't want him to buy one.  He already has enough tools that are dangerous enough, I think.  He finally talked his daddy into letting him buy one.  Not only that, Nathan bought the thing!  So then Jaden set to work building himself a sawing table so that he can lay his boards to saw over it.  That denim thing with the duct tape on it that he's sporting?  Why, that's the makeshift tool pouch he made for himself.  He got the denim out of the rag bag. 

He was excited one night last week, telling me excitedly that he had an idea of something to make.  He wouldn't tell me what it was.  He said I had to wait until morning to find out.  He told me that he needed to go outside for a few minutes first thing in the morning to get some materials, so I told him that was fine.  The next morning, he zoomed outside.  Not long afterward he showed me his finished work.  He had taken sticks, a thick and sturdy ponytail holder, and a big pink bobby pin to construct a round goal on a stand, and then he showed me that it was for a game.  He had also collected a small rock, and he demonstrated his invention by throwing the rock through the hoop/goal.  I was impressed.  I sure wish I had taken a picture of it right away.  He took the thing to my parents' house when I made a quick trip down there to attend my sister's baby shower, and he left it there for my mother.  He assured me that he'd be making a new one soon, so I'll be sure to take a picture of it and share it. 

He always has new ideas of inventions and things to build.  He gets that from his daddy.  :-)

The other picture is of him out roaming the yard with our metal detector.  His goal?  To find some gold.  He also wants to find out how to make gold.  You read correctly.  He wants to figure out the chemical way to manufacture his own gold.  He is so funny, but he's ambitious.  Gotta love him!

Well, that's it for now.  I am already planning my next post, so look for it soon.

Until next time...

End of Swimming Lessons, Butterfly Delights

Swimming Lessons

The boys did well during their two sessions of swimming lessons.  Jaden William was in Learn-to-Swim level 2, and Trusten was in Preschool Aquatics level 1-2.

William started out the first time with only one other child in his group, and she was too advanced for that level, so after a couple days he had the instructor all to himself, which I thought was great.  They actually started a private lessons option this year, but it cost more.  William basically got private lessons for the regular price.  He got much better at skills.  He only had a few marks on his evaluation paper for things to work on.  The second time around, he improved even more and passed on almost every skill.  He had a different instructor the second time around, though he had her last year for level 1.  I'm hoping he'll only have to take level 2 one more time next year and then pass.

William swimming back to the wall

William jumping from the diving board on his last day

Trusten did very well, too, and his teacher said that she graded him as a level 2-3 the second time around, while everyone else in the group was a 1-2, because Trusten did so well.  I'll enroll him in Learn to Swim level 1 next summer.

Trusten with his instructor

And what was Olivia doing while the boys were swimming? 

Liv and a little boy who'd been running around, showing off for her

Liv with her new sunglasses with which I surprised her (she'd been taking mine)

 

 

 

 

Liv waved to Jaden, and afterward she'd waved to Trusten

Butterfly Garden

Some wretched little beast (maybe one of our cats) has continued to dig in our butterfly garden, but I still have a few plants in it that I water.  We've enjoyed many butterflies this year, and they love the garden, even when most things have not bloomed. 

Black swallowtail

A Question Mark, perhaps, or other anglewing or maybe a tortoiseshell

Easter tiger swallowtail and several Black swallowtails

Beautiful, sweetly-scented Dianthus

Liv smelling the dianthus

Liv letting Trusten smell the flower

More Butterflies

The following pictures were taken in the yard and in our first pasture:

Female Pipevine Swallowtail

Coming in for a landing on some wildflowers

Female Pipevine Swallowtail

Bubble Fun

Trust and Liv enjoying some bubble fun a month ago:

 
Feeding the Geese

The boys like to feed the ducks and geese at Lake Atalanta when their swimming lessons are over.  Their swimming lessons are at the Lake Atalanta swimming pool.  Trusten, unfortunately, had been very ugly right before it was time to feed the geese, during which time they were dressing from their swim clothes into their regular clothes.  He hit William for William's goodwill toward him and screamed at both of us, so he missed out, which I thought was really sad.  :-(  Jaden William really enjoyed feeding them our bread hills that we'd saved:
 

We've read the scriptures and some other books, and we've read a little from the boys' magazines, but we must catch up on the latter, to which I'm looking forward.  I love them every bit as much as they do!  We've got work on the plant project to do, and we've got to get back to math, spelling, and writing practice for William.  I took some alphabet flash cards out to test how well Trusten knew his letters, and he got all of them but five or six on the first try.  That's better than I thought he knew them. 

Here lately, I've been busy doing projects around the house and other things.  The boys have enjoyed seeing frogs, snakes, and various insects...doing boy things!  Oh, and I've mentioned wanting something for compost rather than just throwing out our scraps into the weeds.  He's been working on somewhat of a box.  Not sure whether it will work, but he so enjoys building things! 

That's it for now. 

Until next time...