General Update--Fun in July

I have two more blog posts to do--one on new plant ids and another on our Missouri study--but first a general update on the four children, and pictures will be last:

Jaden:  The only regular workbook work he's doing right now is math, because he's still only on "Grade 3" level.  I only intend to take him through all the basic arthimetic and basic algebra and geometry, and beyond that, if he's interested in more math (which I seriously doubt), he can enroll in online classes.  If in the end he can do everything I can do in math, then he'll make it just fine.  If he somehow transforms into a math genius, then he can choose to take it to the next level.  Getting him to do his math and advance in it is a true task. Some of it he's very good at, though, thankfully.

He used some of his saved up money to buy an iPod.  He's downloaded many apps, including several games, but some of the games are educational (and interactive so that we and other friends and family members can play with him).  He has also downloaded things like a level, a dictionary, a language translator, and other educational and useful tools.  He is able to send iMessages and use Facetime, which thrills him to end.    This has also led to working more seriously on teaching him discipline, especially when it comes to the topic of the previous paragraph (and his household/outside duties).

He and I have started at the beginning of the bible again, and we just finished Genesis yesterday and started on Exodus today.  Trust and Liv kind of hang around while we read (outside).  I still read a chapter of Proverbs to all of them, but I haven't been strictly doing it daily, though I should again.  The younger two have mostly been getting bible stories and activities done with them on Sabbath, though as far as spiritual training and scripture-quoting goes, that is done every day, all throughout the day, and I am always using events that happen as opportunities to teach them spiritually.

Jaden loves chickens and is so happy that we have some again.  His latest big plan is to build or buy an incubator for eggs.  The inexpensive ones he found on Amazon are cheap junk, so he has watched some Youtube videos on how he can make his own better-constructed one and still keep the price down:  Incubator Playlist

He's still writing his friend Young in Kenya and recently sent some pictures of himself with one of our chickens and awaiting his newest letter that is in transit.

Jade is also making extra money by taking the fan blowers from the furnaces to the front yard where our neighbor Kenneth picks them up.  Kenneth sells them, and Jade earns a portion of the profit.  This is in addition to what his daddy pays him for scrapping out the copper and other metal.  His weekly allowance has also been raised, because he's got a new job:  spraying out the chicken house daily and giving them fresh water, as well as collecting the eggs.

Trusten:  He's a little rhymer if I've ever met one.  He goes around making up rhymes, and he's very quick-witted.  He also has been one of those to easily remember movie lines or lyrics to songs, and he likes to throw them into his conversation, and at other times he likes to change song lyrics up a bit.  He gets this from his daddy.  I'm trying to incorporate more rhyming books and games into his learning.  With some of his birthday and other money he's been given recently by family members I got him a couple really cool books that just came in last week.  I'm especially excited about the one that shows how a made up street changed through 12,000 years of time.  It's called A Street Through Time by Dr. Anne Millard and illustrated by Steve Noon.  It starts out by telling the story of a street and then starts with the stone age hungers at 10,000 B.C., then the first farmers, Iron Age, Roman times, and on and on until we get to the "The Street Today." 

This will be good for Jaden and the others, too, but I think it will be a great thing now for Trusten.  The other book is called All Around the World by Geraldine Cosneau, and it has "8 fold-out scenes with over 400 resuable stickers!  Plus 24 huge animals to draw!"  It's got the African savannah, the Sahara Desert, the Amazon rainforest, the tropical sea, the Arctic, and more.  He'll get to learn about different kinds of animals that live in different places.

I signed him up temporarily for Clever Island, which is an online educational game community at which Jaden was a member for years. I'm not sure I'll keep the subscription, though.

He's doing well (on most days) with his reading lessons with the Learn-to-Read Bible.  Some days he jokes around and acts goofy too much and won't take it seriously enough, and I get frustrated.

I'm planning to buy him Inchimals which are a set of 12 wooden animal rods in differing lengths that will help him learn to measure, add, etc.

He's got one or two more days worth of work to do before he's finished with his first of the Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code books.  I've not been making him do them very often lately, but we do a reading session almost daily.

Olivia:  I can tell Liv is learning to be a mother.  Even when she does not have a baby doll with her, she makes do with an invisible one.  The three main things she says and does?  Kisses and asks whether I want to kiss or pet her baby, says her baby is drinking her milk, and that her baby is sleeping.  She has been going alone with me on first day each week to get our groceries.  The boys do something with Nathan, and I nurse Elizabeth before I leave, and she sleeps part of the time we're gone.  Liv absolutely loves that she goes with me by herself and "not the boys." 

She definitely understands the concept of two, maybe more.  If I ask her to get two cloths for the baby, she'll bring me back two cloths, but if I ask her to get a cloth, she'll bring back one.

She plays on my iPad sometimes.  She plays National Wildlife Federation's "What Did Snakey Eat?" to practice shapes (where a child must choose between three objects after seeing the shape in the snake's belly) and some princess and pony memory card game.  She loves horses and ponies!

She helps me with Elizabeth, doing little tasks like fetching things for me or taking dirty clothes to the laundry basket or just snuggling with us and playing with her.

Elizabeth:  She may very well be the sweetest baby I've had.  She's laid back, and I think she may be a deep thinker (as deep as a child at that age can get, I guess).  She smiles a lot and laughs. She's almost to the point of sitting well unsupported.  She has been rolling more and moves forward and of course in circles.  There seems to be nothing at all wrong with her neck anymore, and her head is much better.  I'm still taking her to the chiropractor, and we have started using an energy technique of placing a hand on the front left side of her head and cupping another hand on the back right side that leaves space between the head and hand and then just using energy (without pressure) to realign things. I think I will buy another door jumper (gave the last one away), because I think that activity will be good for her (and fun).  She's not putting a lot of weight on her feet yet, but I'm not worried at all, because she's at the same point Liv was at the same age (seven months).

Okay, now for a slough of pictures that highlight some of the fun we've had this month, and I probably won't post my other things until tomorrow.

From l to r: Trusten (5y), Jaden (9y) and Elizabeth (7m), and Olivia (2.75y)

L: Two squash from our garden that grew together; R: Two tomatoes from our friends' garden that grew together

Jade making "snow" with just a blue scoop's worth of white powder and some water in a beaker

Our friends' earth bag home bedroom

Bottles for decor and lighting

My babies snuggling with Elizabeth and then posing for me again

While making their breakfast (apple cinnamon muffins on that day), Trust and Liv check out Jade's iPod on the kitchen table

Trust and Liv floating down Roaring River

L: Liv with arock; R: Jade looking for who-knows-what

Kids with a couple of the chickens

Elizabeth and Olivia playing on our bed. Liz nearly toppled over onto Liv, and so Liv pushed her back

A possum Nathan caught one night, which Jaden William also inspected

Sabbath afternoon fun in Roaring River

Showing off their grasses during a walk (which is always more than just walking)

Pictures I took of myself and Liz

A caterpillar in its chrysalis climbing up the tree (Trusten's discovery) and a leaf-looking wing from a [missing from the scene] insect (Jaden's discovery)

Stay tuned for more soon.  Until next time...

Dangerous Plants and Animals; New Chickens

We've been doing a lot of reading all together: bible, nature magazines, children's storybooks, rhymes, Mystery of History, science books, etc.  Trusten is doing really well learning how to read with the Rocket Reader's Learn-to-Read Bible, which I also used when teaching Jaden William how to read. He's doing well with most of his workbook work, too.  Jade's still doing workbook work now, too, but the main focus is math.  He's still not finished with the Grade 3 math workbooks, though he's done something like 40+ pages in his Grade 4 grammar.

Liv loves playing with her baby sister, and is usually nice when she's doing that.  It's when she's doing something else that she often becomes naughty:

Nice mode turns naughty later in the day

Muddy yet again, as she doesn't seem to understand that "jumping in the sprinkler" means just that

We had many run-ins with dangerous creatures—both plant and animal—since my last post.  Here are a few:

Deadly black widow spider

Poison ivy rash, which poor Liv experienced body-wide (but is fine now)

Deadly water hemlock

Water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) grows abundantly around here, and I took special time out to teach the kids about this plant one day, because they like to pick it for my bouquets (which is fine; it's pretty), and Liv wanted to eat some on that particular day.  I told her to NEVER eat that, because it would kill her.  That was back before it all (almost) seeded.  I searched diligently to find a little today to photograph.  Down in the shade I found a bit.  It's important to be able to tell this and Queen Anne's lace (otherwise known as "wild carrot") apart, because they look very similar at a glance when the water hemlock is fuller of the little white flowers than the picture above shows, like seen in this picture.

 Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota) has an edible taproot.  The root is a wild carrot. The flowers are also edible, but the leaves are toxic and can even cause skin irritation.  Here is some Queen Anne's lace from our yard:

Note the frilly leaves underneath the flowers at bottom left and the difference in the leaves at bottom right when compared to water hemlock

I dug up one of the Queen Anne's lace plants today, and sure enough the root smelled just like a carrot (I've wondered for a long time).  We also tasted it.  It was too hard to eat raw, though.  I read and learned, though, that the plant is a biennial, and it flowers during the second year during which time also the root is very hard.  Apparently the roots are better to eat toward the end of the first year.  Calorically speaking, I think you'd burn more energy digging one up around here in the Ozarks than you'd get by eating it.  The rocky soil makes it quite a task.  They are said to be especially abundant in Missouri, though (where we are) and are thought to be an invasive species that is a nuisance to many.  Well, I don't quite see it the same way as those folks.  I imagine they are the same type to buy the damned Monsanto's Round-up toxin to spray on their dandelions and other lovely edibles.  I think Queen Anne's lace is pretty, and it gets an extra mark of approval for being a wild food source.

L: Jaden holding my freshly-dug-up plant; R: the white carrot after I washed it

Jaden William turned nine, and we went to the Dixie Stampede for his birthday.  I thought it was neat how it worked out, because we'd just watched Dancing with Wolves the night before, and they are both themed around the War for Southern Independence and have a lot of horse riding.  We had fun, and he loves his gifts, too.  Nathan bought him a nice watch (that he got about a month early), and I got him some books and a science kit that has 70 or more science experiments.  He has been having so much fun making things in the test tubes.

About to open gifts before going to the show (where pictures are not allowed) and enjoying some black cherry cream soda

Some other random pictures:

Can you say squash jungle?!  Our garden is doing well, and we finally got more chickens!!!!!!!

One of Jaden's latest caterpillar finds, perhaps for a Polyphemus moth, which I've posted before, but I've also posted a caterpillar before that we believed to be the larva of the same, but it had reddish dots, but that doesn't mean this isn't the same, as I've seen variations in many species

My sweet baby girl, Elizabeth, at six months of age, learning to sit and having fun with Momma (me!)

Until next time...

May Fun: Pentecost, Birthday, Plants, and More

A lot happened in the Roman month of May.  Some highlights:

Nathan replaced the flooring in our living room and rearranged the furniture, so now I have most of my bookcases (except for the one on the desk) all on one wall, and the seating in relation to the tv (which we only use for dvds and games) is better.  We love it!  I can finally use my little table now I bought about seven months ago.  I was planning to use it for our microscope and my sewing machine, but the latter went back into my closet, because it's too much of a temptation for Liv (which means I can further drag out my excuse for not sewing), but at least we can easily use the microscope.

Trusten's birthday was toward the end of the month; he turned five years of age.  His birthday trip this year was a visit to the Promised Land Animal Park in Eagle Rock, MO.  We've been there twice, but the last time we went was when I was pregnant with him, and Jade was not quite four.  We love going there!  It was a lovely day when we went, and all the friendly, free-ranging animals reminded me of my Father God's soon-coming Kingdom to this earth, at which time His children--headed by Salvation the Firstborn--will reign over the earth, turning it back into a paradise garden from the wilderness it has become, and humankind that lives during that time will enjoy a much better world than this one, when even the animals will live in harmony and will only eat plants.

Deer coming to our windows to be fed and pet

Emu--these are always so funny, but Trust and Liv were scared, and Liv fled to the front floorboard

Male zebra to left was not happy in fenced enclosure alone; farther down were pregnant mares and babies, which explains why the male was by himself. 

L: Alpaca; R: Elk

The cutest in our very own vehicle.  I sat in the back beside her so Trusten and Liv could sit in the front to see better

I got Trusten some practical things for his birthday--some original Smencils and colored Smencils (scented pencils) for his book work and some books, as well as some floam-like stuff that I forget what is called (alternative to Play-Doh).  He got several cards and other gifts from friends and family.  He got a gardening set from his Gamma Pat (my mil) so he can do his very own gardening.

My precious boy with a couple of his gifts

Trusten ready to do some gardening

We also celebrated Pentecost.  We ate our traditional (for us) feast of brisket and sides and homemade punch.  Mmmm.  The children listened to their holy day lesson, Nathan and I listened to a sermon, and we enjoyed the outdoors.  The children also received their biblically-themed Pentecost gifts.  Jaden William and Olivia were both very excited about and thankful for their gifts, but Trusten was very ugly and unthankful for his and then hit Jade after Jade innocently asked why he didn't like his gift.  Needless to say, Trusten got in trouble and had his gift taken away (to be returned soon).  Jaden got a new bible and a bible word search.  Trust and Liv got different bible story sticker books.

Will, Trust, and Liv with their Pentecost gifts

We're in the process of identifying more local plants, but the only one I've actually written on the card about so far, recently, is the wild oats:

Wild oats top right picture

I posted on this blog recently a picture of an unknown wild grass, although I had told the children several times over the last few years that it looks like wild oats.  Ironically enough, that's one of their common names (also wood oats, spangle grass, and others), Latin name Chasmanthium latifolium.  Info copied from eattheweeds.com:

IDENTIFICATION: A perennial, clump-forming grass, wide leaves, nodding clusters of flat, oat-like seed heads, two to five feet,   clump spread two or more feet, leaves are about one inch to eight inches long, flat, terminating in a sharp point. Leaves has distinct cross veining. Flowers flat clusters, spikelets, to two inches long, one wide, spikelets hang on thread-like stems in loose, open panicles above the leaves. Leaves and flower heads turn tan in autumn, reddish-bronze winter.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Winnowed grain as cereal or ground to make flour.

  We're about to read through Eat the Weed's edible flower pages and identify all the local flowers we can eat (besides the ones we already know, like dandelion which the kids love). 

The kids are all doing well in their workbook work.  Here are a few more pictures of some of the things they've been doing:

Boys cracking pecans; they were delicious but went quickly w/o my getting very many--lol

Jade dressed up as an Arab

Learning about the states with a fun sticker book

Jade with one of his recent caterpillar finds (maybe a swallowtail variety, but I cannot positively id it as of yet)

Groundhog at the edge of our yard

Until next time....

 

Currencies, Plants, Swans and Friendship

In addition to his interest in precious metals and in metals in general, Jaden has been interested in finding older coins that have silver in them and looking for flaws, knowing if he found any that some silly person out there would actually buy them for hefty prices.  He also sent some U.S. currency to his friend Young (in Kenya), along with some seashells and coral that he'd collected from our trip to the VIs, and he got back some currency from Young last week.  We used a currency converter so that he could understand how their currency compares to ours.  The fifty Kenyan shillings note pictured below currently equals about 59 or 60 US cents.

Ten Kenyan shillings coin, five shillings coin, fifty shillings note, and Kenyan postage stamps (coffee and ground nuts, as they call what we call peanuts)

One of the things we read about in a recent issue of Ranger Rick magazine was whooper swans.  The pictures of the cygnets (baby swans) reminded me immediately of the story of The Ugly Duckling, the story of which is included in one of My Fun With Reading books that I’ve had since I was a little girl.  I remember reading it to Jaden William at least once several years ago but have not read it to the other children.  So after reading about the swans, I read that story to them, too, which ended in a good moral lesson.

L: Cynets in Ranger Rick; R: The cygnet in The Ugly Duckling

It was heartbreaking to read about how the the "ugly duckling" was treated by his supposed mother, siblings, and others on the pond.  So the "duckling" swam away on his own.  He saw some swans one day:

After this he was lonely for many months, getting lost in the woods, being found by a farmer, staying in a shed with corn, and then leaving in the spring and finally coming upon a pond again:

He realized, when he saw his reflection, that he had become a beautiful swan, and he thought back to how the little ducklings had said he was so ugly.  He was not only accepted by the fellow swans in the pond, but he was thought to be the prettiest one of all:

In the end, the "Ugly Duckling" didn't even care how beautiful he appeared on the outside, but he was happy that he had friend who liked him for who he was.  The End. 

When I went out to pull grass and weeds out of the garden, I took updated pictures of some of our plants.  The cucumbers have grown, and everything else has come up.  I didn’t take any pictures of the bibb lettuce, though.  I think I may have accidentally pulled some before I realized what I was doing.  The rain had also washed out many of our squash plants, but some of them germinated elsewhere.  I think we lost half our corn or more.  Anyway, things seem to be fine so far among all the Ozark rocks.

Cucumbers in the upper left (before the surrounding grass was pulled); squash in upper right, pumpkin in lower left; tomato in center; corn in lower right

Jade found some sort of insect larva or a parasite (hoping not the latter) underneath a board that was left lying in the backyard.  It was amongst the many pill bugs (aka roly-polies).  We’re not sure what it is...yet, anyway.

What is this?? 

There are some things I can now say I know what are.  I identified a few more plants (all  lovely wildflowers) last week, some of which I’ve been unsuccessful for years to identify.  I’ll post the info I collect on each of them this week, on next week’s post.  This will be the fourth year since I started our plant binder to identify and collect information on local plants, but the last two years I have not been very serious about it.  We’ve not spent enough time or interest on it, sadly.  This year my interest has been significantly renewed.  I was greatly inspired in many ways recently by reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  In addition to renewing a more serious interest in our plant project, it’s also renewed an interest in traditional archery, so much so that I am going to sell a gun I have to buy a long bow and some arrows.  Nathan has already been looking at bows for me.  My interest has also seemed to spark renewed interest by both him and Jaden, too.  I’m so excited!  I’m really looking forward to shooting again.  I believe it’s not only a great skill to have, but I think it will be a great outlet to release stress. 

Wildflowers are pictured below.  Stay tuned to learn more about them next week.

Left still unididentified; upper right is Fire pink (Silene virginica); not for certain yet on lower right

Left is yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima)-; upper right is black medic (Medicago lupulina), lower right is Venus' looking glass (Triodanis perfoliata)

Jade took these of me with Liv and Liz

Liv with Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

L: Some bloomed spiderwort; UR: Venus' looking glass; LR: Rough-fruited cinquefoil (Potentilla recta)

Spit and spittle bug in wild grasses (which I hope to finally properly identify this year; looks edible)

Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgar); ox-eye daisies; daisy fleabane (Erigeron strigosus)

All these I knew prior:  blackberry (Rubus fruticosus), Deptford pink (Dianthus armeria), and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

Butterflies and dragonfly

Until next time...