Releasing Butterfly

Our monarch came out beautifully and we decided to release her in our rose bush. The boys loved it! She didn't stay around our place though, and flew up, up and away as soon as we let her go. It's so much fun to watch a caterpillar become a butterfly!

Volcano!

My oldest son had this volcano kit given to him on his birthday so we thought it would be fun to do on this hot, stormy week! His brothers had a ball gathering around and watching him *explode* it over and over!! We have also made volcanoes from water bottles before too. Just mix the vinegar with some red food coloring and add it to the baking soda- stand back and watch the reaction! Such fun!

Caterpillar

This is our newest 'pet'- Chris the Caterpillar. We found him a few weeks ago on some milkweed around the lake and brought him home to watch him become a Monarch. We haven't done this for 2 years, so the boys are all very excited! My middle son, at 6, is especially concerned about the caterpillar and makes sure he is well cared for and is anxious to collect the milkweed and check on him.

Chris grew very rapidly! I waited to take his picture until after he was much bigger. We could barely see him when we first found him. He has now gone into his chrysalis and we are patiently waiting for him to emerge as a monarch!

"Tree of Life: The World of the African Baobab"

This was a great picture book about the African Baobab tree. It's written by Barbara Bash (who is also the author of "Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus") and is packed full of information. I love these books that focus on one particular tree and show the entire life cycle of the tree and how it can affect the land, animals, and humans and how God in His infinite wisdom has created everything in such perfect harmony! A great read when you can't be *out* in nature!

Poetry Notebook

This year my oldest son will be keeping a poetry notebook. I am doing this to encourage his love of the creativity of poetry, to give him something meaningful to copy, and to have something to look back on fondly and remember this time in his education.

He will be reading from three poets this year- a different one each term- and we will take turns reciting one poem each day. Then on Friday's he will pick his favorite poem of the week and copy it in his nicest handwriting and he may also wish to make a drawing to go along with it, which we will collect in a simple folder. This will be the poem he will then work on memorizing for the next week and will be able to recite it on the following Friday. At the end of the year (next spring) he will have a notebook full of 36 handwritten poems - and possibly illustrations- and will be able to recite from memory many of them!

**This will be more meaningful than just having the copies off the internet and my son will love to have the visual accomplishment of his work.

New Beginnings!

We are marking the end of a school year/beginning of the next here this week. It is going to be a big change for *MOM* since I am starting my middle son on Year 1 and my oldest will be doing his Year 3...and of course, we have baby brother at 3 1/2, who will cause major disarray in the meantime!!LOL!

I am going to post our curriculums on the side bar if anyone is interested in our plan for the year. I am very optimistic that it will be a challenging and exciting year for us and I am so ready to get started!!! We will get our first break in 6 weeks for a family reunion and then we will be able to finish our first term by the end of summer. It is very important (and necessary) for us to be able to take the month of December off and just gear up for the holidays and enjoy our family! That is one big factor of keeping us on track.

Nature finds

Some butterflies viewed this week at the Botanical gardens. What a perfect week for nature and enjoying God's world!!!