What We Did... (May 2015)

We've started full-time school again (as of August 24), and I want to get back to more regular posts and sharing about what the kids are doing school-wise this year, so I'm going to quickly move through some of our fun times and learning experiences from May through August.  I'll try my best to get all the posts up within a week, but you all know how it often goes...  I've had my pictures sorted in folders for May and June for a long time, as it is.  Anyway, let's get this started. 

A Trip Back Home

I had William pick up this yellow-spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) that I spotted in Nathan's tractor track after he drove away and resumed work at his dad's.  Thankfully it seemed ok, and William relocated it.

I got to snuggle my adorable younger of two nieces, Laney, when the kids and I went to visit my sister and her family.

I was so happy to get to spend a few hours with one of my best friends.  She came to my parents' house this time, and we took a walk together down to the river and then later sat outside and talked by my parents' pond.  I did get to see my other best friend from back home, too, but it was a quick visit for twenty to thirty minutes, sitting in my vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  I didn't get a picture this time. :-(

Nathan and the boys (he and Trusten pictured above) fished in my parent's pond.  They didn't keep anything. 


Another Trip
 

During one long drive, Trust and Liv wanted to play a movie.  So fun to catch these reactions!  They were so into the movie that they didn't even know I was snapping pictures.  I think William must have, though, because he's clearly hidden.  I think he ducked.  

Artwork 

Here Olivia is showing me a picture she made for me with markers. Trusten was waiting for her.

The girls splashed on beautiful colors after I poured paint onto a couple paper plates for them.

Everything Else...

I honestly admit I'm not sure of this moth species...yet.  Yes!  I always say "...yet!"  Sometimes years pass before I figure out some species, but I'm always determined to know.  This small white moth was hanging out on our master bathroom wall one night.

Yes!  I finished another semester of school, myself.  This was for introduction to music appreciation (or something like that). My third perfect score in a row since I've restarted college. A 1,408 points out of a possible 1,395 (because I did bonus).  Next semester I'm going to try to take two courses.

My sweet Trusten's eyes were bothering him so much.  I wasn't sure whether it was due to a new tic, and he was straining them too much, or whether he had developed myopia.  I took him to an optometrist to have his eyes examined.  Perfect vision!  So glad!  The doctor wanted him to try out some drops and thought he might have allergies, since Trusten rubbed his eyes (because they bothered him).  I told the doctor that I was relatively sure since his vision was fine, that he just had a new tic.  Thankfully it didn't take long before that tic cycled out. They're always replaced by new ones, both motor and vocal. 

Below is pictured William on his iPad and Elizabeth, sitting in the hall outside the exam room.

I finally got around to getting the girls' pictures butted up to the boys' comparison pics!  I love these babies! :-)  From top, l to r, then bottom, l to r: William, Trusten, Olivia, and Elizabeth.  They were all eleven months, except Elizabeth, who was around nine and a half months.

Here's Elizabeth with a cricket that she's about to take outside.  Oh, does she ever love critters!!!

Until next time...

Sabbath and New Month Blessings

Never mind that this Sabbath is about to end (will before I finish this post), I hope my readers will enjoy the pictures, anyway.  And as for my new month "What We've Been..." post will hopefully be posted tomorrow. 

I have taken a lot of pictures (yeah, so what else is new?), but I can't post them all.  Here are some:

Sabbath, April 13, 2013

Honeybee on dandelion (these are safe on our property)

Bee (believed to be a sort of sweat bee) on dandelion

An informative link on various kinds of bees and wasps and how to tell bees from flies (because there are many flies who are bee mimics):  MO Bee Guide (pdf)

The following—a snowberry clearwing—is a day-flying moth!  I'm so thrilled to have identified this amazing creature!  I've wanted to identify it for a good while.  Last year I took some good shots of one around my lilac bush, and I have not been able to figure out what it is.  It looks like some sort of bee.  I searched flies, all sorts of things.  Well, I finally used the right search terms to figure out that it's a kind of moth.  They are so neat-looking and fun to watch!  It is featured in my a Golden Guide: Butterflies and Moths book, but I never noticed it and didn't think to look for the creature among butterflies and moths, and there is the fact that those guides lack real pictures.

Snowberry clearwing in henbit and dead nettle patch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snowberry clearwing among the henbit

 

 

A variety of spicebush swallowtail among the henbit

The spicebush swallowtail

One more picture of the spicebush swallowtail

Red admiral butterfly on dandelion

Bumblebee on dandelion

Will you believe I found nesting gorillas in my yard?

There was a cute sweetie in my yard, too!

A Few Things Since Then

Red-bellied woodpecker and male cardinal

This is the same woodpecker I had said in a recent post was a yellow-bellied sapsucker (but have since edited).  They are sometimes difficult to properly identify when high in a tree, but now I know for sure it is the lovely red-bellied woodpecker.  There are others with similar markings, too, but these two are the most-seen (by me, anyway) in this area.

Male and female cardinals; red-bellied woodpecker

Red-bellied woodpecker

Those birds were all absolutely beautiful and just right there for me first thing in the morning.  I took the pictures before I even ate breakfast.  It was such a blessing, though.  

Gray squirrel (the "fox" colored variety), but NOT a "red squirrel" as some call them, which is a European species

The creek that borders our yard.  William walked down the creek bed and took this picture.

A couple of the lovely bouquets my sweet babies have picked for me (the bigger of the vases in the top picture was a gift for a friend from Jaden William, as he got several of those large vases as one of his latest free finds at the recycling center, and so I claimed a couple, and the others we're giving away as gifts with flowers).  There are two shades of wild sweet Williams (phlox), purple iris, lilac, and buttercup.

Sabbath, May 11, 2013

Groundhog!  The left picture is one Jaden William took with his iPod, before he and Nathan caught it in one of William's traps.  Nathan flushed it into the trap, and he was so happy about getting to hold it and pet it, because you see, he's been wanting to catch one for years.  When I say years, I mean ever since we moved up here nearly nine years ago.  I've seen that man run after one, and that was hilarious.  He is glad now that he didn't catch it, though (as they can be vicious when caught!).  He did pin one down in Bella Vista maybe a couple years ago, with a stick, and sort of got to touch it, but it was nothing like his experience today. 

Nathan took about five minutes to create a snare thing, like a dog catcher uses (he's got thick insulated wire ran through PVC and a handle on his end of the PVC pipe used to adjust the loop on the other end).  We all got to pet the young groundhog.

A couple of my yellow iris flowers on our back hill. 

One of the kids had picked the yellow irises a couple days ago and put in this vase.  I just added the large clump of everything else, things I collected during my ride on the 4-wheeler, including some wonderful-smelling wild sweet Williams (oops on the escaping flowers).

It was a wonderful Sabbath day!  We were well-rested, received good spiritual food (and physical food as well), and we enjoyed the outdoors on this weekly memorial of Creation. 

Until next time...