Nature Blog

Just to let our friends know... we started an online nature journal today, come to visit and leave a comment! We need a better name than 'Promise Christian Academy's Nature Journal' so we welcome ideas!

The Great Deluge....

We recently conducted a science experiment that was loads of fun. How did all the levels of earth pile up and stack up? Why aren't the levels layered consistently throughout the world? How did such large deposits of sediment land in a dessert? For an ice age to occur there had to be moisture as well as a cold climate... where did the water come from? An animal would have to be suddenly covered for a fossil to form..or the bones would have been able to decay... how does a big dinosaur get covered with earth all of a sudden? We looked at both the theory of evolution as well as the theory of creation (which goes along with a great deluge). We are Christians... we believe the Bible and that God's Word is true... we have no doubts that there was a flood... It is just nice to see that science and facts really point toward our beliefs. I get excited thinking about what little tid bit of truth God is going to allow the science world to 'discover' next that points toward Him! Here is a little slide show of our project.... we layered the earth, nice and neatly... big rocks first and we got lighter as we went.... our 'trees' (sticks) were not rooted when we put them in. Then comes a great deluge (Daniel with the water pitcher).... then a turbulent storm (Shaking the jar)... after some time things began to settle and our little trees took root! There are layers (mixed up from before, but layers none the less) and the leaves are taking their time to settle. We are going to wait as long as Noah did to officially end this project... until then it has a home on our science center shelf so we can view it daily.

Our First Camping Adventure!

Our dear friend Lora invited us for a campout at her home. So we packed the van to the limit and took off! Our plan was to let the children cook there own meals and do their own cleaning... which they did... for the most part; And to have a science lesson in the morning with Lora about the interesting plant life on her land (which we did, but inside around the kitchen table in the air conditioner). Our neighbor, Ms. Lossie (who jumped out of a perfectly good airplane on her 76th AND 78th birthdays) decided to join us because she had never camped out before.

I put together tinfoil bag meals for Sunday night, plus we baked apples and made a blueberry dump cake over the fire ... and what is a camp out with out s'mores and hot dogs on a stick??? All the food was delicious! I found out that I have quite a knack for tinfoil meals and plan to get together with Lora or Iris for some more experiments in that area.

Around the camp fire that night I read "The Cat Who Walked By Himself" a 'Just So' story by Rudyard Kipling.

Earlier Mr. Randall, Lora's dear hubby. took the kids on a trailer ride through the dark woods... so fun! Over night had some drama... but just enough to make good stories to tell later! The only really bad thing was that Lora's precious grand baby Hayden was up sick (in the house, of course!) with a high temperature. She is headed for the doctor's office about right now. Everything was fun enough to be talking of our next trip.... yeah! We hope to have some camping fun at Maggie's new house... our next trip will be after the mosquitoes are gone and it is right nippy outside... we will just make a bigger fire!
Thank-You Lora!!!!!

Nature in Action

Yes, cats are creatures of nature. Designed by God in His infinite wisdom. It may seem cruel to us, the instinct to hunt and capture... but it is really just the circle of life. This bird, however, lived to see the next day. You see, our Pepper just thrills in the HUNT. And then plays with her capture. This smart bird found a place behind the milk can on the front porch (survival instinct) where Pepper could not reach her. When Pepper lost interest, she flew away. Yes, this is the same cat that came walking through the house with a baby bearded dragon in her jaw... this particular dragon is our biggest, healthiest one now. Pepper is just the 'most wild' cat we have, a reminder of our Creator and His unfathomable design of life. Our other cats are too much like people! You might wonder how I was able to take such a shot? Well, I was on the front porch enjoying my quiet time, and things got not so quiet! I heard a lot of squawking and bushes rattling and looked to see birds flapping and fussing and here comes Pepper running straight to me with her prize! So much for quiet! And yes, Pepper has a bell on her collar, but she is so stealth like that she can pounce with out even a ring-a-ling... I have thought of putting two or three on her collar! Sometimes the birds do not survive her playfulness :0(

Silly Tomato, You Can't Dance!

Isn't this the most beautiful tomato you have ever seen? Our dear neighbor, Ms. Lossie, grew these this year. We grow cherry tomatoes and, usually, so does she. But her husband, Mr. Kenneth, specially requested that she try to grow big juicy ones so he could have delicious tomato sandwhiches. She came over a few days ago just beaming with pride to give us one of the 'first fruits' of her labor. This is it. And Big Boy, did it taste good! Our little cherry tomatoes are still green. We didn't plant them, they volunteered from last year. Because of the dry weather, they are taking their time. We will have them for salads long after her big reds are gone.
I know the title to this blog doesn't make sense. I just have fond memories of singing the Veggie-Tale silly song (when Larry wears the sombrero and teases Bob about not being able to dance) with my sister Judy.. who is now in heaven... "It's so hard to run with this sombrero on my head!" You have to hear it to 'get' it...
***thought after reading this blog again... I never imagined I would use the word tomato (there I go again) that many times in such a short time period! He He

Baby Bearded Dragons

Here is one of our baby bearded dragons. This is shortly after they arrived. He is only about 2 months old here. I believe this one is Eragon. The others are speedy, who is not fast enough to get the crickets before hefty Eragon, and Stumpy.... oh, sorry, it's Shorty. Shorty's tail is chopped off and I can't resist calling him Stumpy! They will be moving with Maggie when she moves into her new home, but I am sure they will come and visit often. With the three cats, and hopefully a new fish tank soon, we have enough school mascots!

Baby Dragonfly

We had tadpoles again this summer. We set them up in on old aquarium on the back porch and feed them "pond scum" from the area we catch them. We put screen on top so our cat Pepper won't try to fish for them. We place a rock in the water that is just higher than the water level, the rock has a smooth flat surface on top. This gives the new froggies a place to sit a spell. We release the froggies at the beaver dam under the railroad track just up the street. We usually have about twenty or thirty tadpoles. (We will have to find a new aquarium for next year because our has been cracked when we move it to clean out the lizard poo.) Anyway, we think there were dragonfly eggs floating on the water this year because we saw baby dragonflies around the tank. But we are not sure. I did an internet search looking for photos of dragonfly eggs and found no photos, just that they are "in or near water". Does anyone know what they look like? If they weren't dragon fly eggs, they were some sort of eggs! Well, the baby dragonfly was beautiful. Here is the best picture we have of it. The kids were more excited about this little thing than the tadpoles!

Little House Sketches

Daniel's beautiful birdie and horses....
After reading chapter four in Little House on the Prairie the children sketched the Ingall's family horses hitched to their posts. Then they chose on of the many prairie animals that Laura saw on her prairie adventure. The little bird they chose to sketch is a dickcissel. They enjoyed the part in the chapter when Laura and Mary were trying to catch a gopher for their Ma. I am sure Ma was glad they never caught one!

Maggie's beautiful horses.....

Amelia's beautiful birdie.....

Shop Class

The children are blessed to have a "Papa Full of Knowledge". He is a Mr. Fix It and has a humongous shop full of stuff, well, debatable junk. But don't say that in hear shot of Papa! I, as teacher and principle of our fine school, decided that it was time to make use of this fountain of knowledge and wisdom that springs from my own Dad. We have made an oath to spend time, hopefully once a week, with my parents. The kids will be truly blessed with time well spent with their grandparents, and hopefully be passed some of the wells of wisdom that they have accumulated through out their fruitful lives. (Granny is looking forward to sewing and cooking lessons with the girls, too!) The first class was "Shop", of course. Bike shop to be exact. With Papa's help, they bought some tools to get started. Then they spent time learning the mechanics of the bike and how to change tires and attach chains, among other secrets. They were surprised to hear that their mother, as a girl, had a bike shop! They enjoyed the time with Papa and have worked on their bikes a few times, at home, since then. A nice two wheel bike just right for Alex with training wheels was fixed up, as well as one to practice on without training wheels and a little larger. There was plenty plundering done in Papa's big shop. Alex practically was lost in there. He likes to sit on the motorcycles and lawn mowers. The next Papa project is supposed to be working on CB radios for the children. It would be nice if they could learn about amateur radio communications and talk to Home Schooled children in Alaska! With a Papa Full of Knowledge and a shop full of.... ahem.... stuff, the possibilities are endless.

Driving Lessons for Alex

When winding up our Nature Walk at the Woodard's Homestead, we decided to let Alex have a driving lesson in the golf cart. He sat upon Ms. Lora's lap and timidly, at first, began to steer while she worked the pedals. You could just feel the waves of excitement coming through his little self! A little silliness helped to calm him. Soon he began to really concentrate on the matter at hand. We skimmed by a prized apple tree and a bush, but he was "getting" the handling of the wheel quickly. His little toes tried to press the peddles, but they could not quite reach. I am thankful for that! He had enough to concentrate on, you see, I was bouncing beside him trying to take photos with out sliding out of the contraption! Now came the time for sheer excitement. He was relaxed enough now in his duties as navigator to really enjoy the adventure. We puffed up and flew down the hill a few times making a very amusing ride. I love his look of determination. He has this same look when he is determined to do his duties at home. Once I see this look, I know he will stay on task until the job is done. All in all, his first lesson was successful. He told Ms. Lora that he would be ready to drive "all by himself" next time. Somehow I doubt that will happen!

Nature Walk

Wednesday morning, June 13, I took the children to the Woodard Homestead for a nature walk. As we drove in the lane, we noticed the flock of geese primping and strutting around the big pond. We tiptoed quietly and stole some sketches of them and listened to their queer noises. Next we visited Adam, Eve and Boaz... the goats! We were all taken with the sweet face and stature of Eve. Boaz was quite comical with his overly round belly, we wondered how he didn't tip over! There were triplet ducks dwelling with the goats. One, in particular, was a sight to behold with a royal plume atop her head! After a good visit, we ventured into the woods and found a lively creek with all sorts of creatures abiding there. We saw teeny tiny frogs, minnows and tadpoles. The crawdads evaded us this time, though we tried to rouse them by splashing through the water. We collected a good amount of tadpoles and scum for them to forage through and set them up a nice comfy home on the back porch so we can observe their transitions to fabulous frogs. When they are grown, we escort them to the Beaver Dam just up the road. After we sat and sketched some more, we headed to the little pond to try and catch a turtle. We like to "borrow" one from the pond for a few months, just to get to know them better, and return them in good fashion to their home. However, it was not meant to be this time. They were feeding just beyond our reach in the little pond. We did enjoy watching him and the fish eat their lunch, though.

The first art work was done by Maggie. The second by Alex.