Botany for First Graders

I had the opportunity to visit Pumpkin’s class earlier this week and talk about PLANTS!!!! It was an amazing 30 minutes! Yay!!!!  

First off, I started talking about me and what I know. I told the class that I am a botanist, which means that I went to school and learned all about plants. Sure plants do not move, they do not talk, and they can kind of seem boring. But if you take the time to watch plants and play with plants, they can teach you amazing things! My brain is full of a lot of amazing fact that I have learned from reading books. I talked about the Jack O’Lantern Mushroom and how their gills glow in the dark. I told them about trees going dormant (or sleeping) in the winter and waking back up in the spring. I reminded them that just like them I am always learning something new.  

I started off with plant anatomy, but put the spin of relating it themselves to help them understand the plant parts better. We pretended to be trees. I had the kids stand up and stretch. Then I asked, “What do your feet do for you?” They help you stand up. They help you keep your balance. They keep you from falling over. “What part of the tree would be like your feet?” Roots! Roots are similar to our feet. Roots help to keep plants from falling over. Roots help the plants stay in one place. And roots have tiny straws in them that help them drink water to pull up to the tips of their branches. “What do your legs do for you?” They help you stand straight and tall. They keep you from being a blob on the floor. “What part of the tree would be like your legs?” The trunk or stem. The trunk gives the tree support and keeps it standing tall. Trunks and stems are also full of tiny straws that help to move the water up and the food down. Since by this point, I had several blobs on the floor I asked the children to sit back down in their chairs. “If we stretch our arms above our heads, what part of the tree would be our arms?” Branches. The branches help to hold the leaves up so the can get sunlight. If the branches slumped to the ground the tree would have trouble making food. “How can our mouth be similar to a tree?” We use our mouth to eat food to be healthy and strong. “What part of the tree would be like our mouth?” The leaves. The leaves make food for the tree using the sunlight, air, and water. The green color in the leaves is where the food is made. When the leaves stop making food in the fall the green color fades away and we see the yellows, reds, and oranges that are hidden during the rest of the year. Once the food is made the tiny straws in the plant take it to feed the rest of the plant. “Have you ever noticed that our hair and eyes look different from our friends?” That is what makes us unique, so everyone is different. Plants are kind of like that, flowers and seeds look different from plant to plant.  Just like our eyes and hair look different from person to person. 

 The next part of the lesson was about the plant parts that we eat. I asked “Do any of you eat plants?” Most of the kids said “No.” Ha ha ha – If they only knew!!!!! Of course now they do know! So I reached into my bag and pulled out a carrot that had the green feathery leaves on top. “This carrot is a plant.” We talked about carrots being roots. Then we listed a few other plants we eat that are roots- onions, beets, radishes, and potatoes to name a few. I pulled out a stalk of celery next. “What part of the plant is this?” After a few guess, we found out that it is the stem of a plant that we eat. Another stem that we eat is rhubarb. I pulled broccoli out of the bag. This definitely stumped them. But we finally figured out that we were eating the flower. Other flowers that we can eat are cauliflower and pumpkin blossoms. Some people even eat violet blossoms. I pulled living lettuce out of my bag next. What part of the plant could this be? Well leaves, of course. I asked the kids what other leaves we may eat and got spinach, kale, and romaine in reply. Last but not least we need a seed, so I pulled out an ear of corn. Yep! This put the kids over the edge. Most of the kids just could not believe that when they ate corn on the cob that they were eating seeds. Other examples of seeds include peas, beans, strawberries (little dots on the sides), sunflower seeds, and much more. If you dry out corn, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds then plant them in the soil you will most likely grow corn, a sunflower or a pumpkin. I enjoyed this part of the time with the kids the most. It is so funny to watch the reaction of kids when they realize that they actually eat plants. They are so use to their food that they just take it for granted and do not realize where that food comes from. 

I read the kids the story “I Am a Seed” by Jean Marzollo. The story is about a pumpkin seed and a marigold seed and how they change. The fun part of the story is that the pumpkin seed does not know what is going to be so it thinks that it will be a marigold like its friend. It is a really cute story about how seeds grow and how plants grow and make new seeds. Then we talked for a tad bit about seeds. They had just planted bean seeds the day before and the teacher had the class tell me about it. I told the class the special part about seeds. They have a baby, a bottle, and a blanket. The baby is the embryo (the baby plant). The bottle is the food that is stored inside the seed. It has just enough to help the seed get started until the leaves sprout out. And of course the blanket is the seed coat that protects the seed until it is read to emerge (sort of like a chicken egg shell). 

 I wrapped up my thirty minutes with the kids with a take home project. Pumpkin and I had prepared a craft bag for every classmate and the teacher to make a 3-D flower of their own.  Pumpkin got to hand a bag out to all of his classmates to take home, so they could tell their parents about plants and what they learned.
 

 3-D Flower Instructions  

1) Color the stem (craft stick) with a crayon. 
2) Cut out the two green leaves. 
3) Glue the flower (cupcake liner) to the top part of the stem so it faces up. 
4) Glue the leaves to the middle of the stem. 
5) Glue the seeds to the center of the flower. 
6) Glue the brown roots (yarn) to the bottom of the stem. 
7) Let dry.

Positive Discipline

I finally finished reading the book Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen, Ed.D. over the weekend.  It took me a few months not because it was not a good book, but because I kept get distracted by life and other fictional books that were waiting in the wings for me to read.  I read a chapter at a time and tried to digest the information.  I will let the information settle for a bit, then I plan to re-read the book to catch things that I missed before.  I definitely recommend reading this book to my friends and family. 

I am hoping to get hubby to read the book soon.  I may have to do a reading trade.  Hubby has been wanting me to read Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey for quite a while, so that may have to be our trade.

So what is Positive Discipline?  It is the concept of using encouragement to create positive behavior in children.  “The primary goal of Positive Discipline is to enable both adults and children to experience more joy, harmony, cooperation, shared responsibility, mutual respect, and love in their life and relationships (p. 289).”  It is an interest concept that I am working on meddling into our family’s daily dynamics.  This book provides basic concepts that are like a tool box.  You can mix and match tools until you find something that works to accomplish the task at hand.

The book helped me to discover the niches that my children play in both birth order and personalities.  Thereby, helped me to determine how those characteristics can be used to help create a more positive environment for them to feel like they belong.  This book also focused on adults and how their personalities play into parenthood with strengths and weaknesses.  Suggestions for areas for adults to work on to improve the parent child relationship are also given.  A family is a TEAM effort and there is no I in team, so all members of the family need to work together to create a loving and encouraging environment.

One concept that I have been using for a few months are curiosity questions.  Curiosity questions are used to help the child explore the consequences of their choices without a lecture from an adult.  This concept helps the child to focus on solutions rather than punishment for a problem.  It helps them to take ownership of the problem or the set routine.  For example: “Princess, we need to go to the car.  What do we need to do before we go to the car?”  “Put shoes on.”  Then like magic the shoes go on instead of constant arguing and delaying tactics.  Or “Pumpkin, how would you feel if someone called you a name?  How do you think Princess feels?  What could we do different next time?”

We tried our first family meeting last night.  Pumpkin and Princess seemed pretty receptive to the idea once we got started.  We talked about what a weekly family meeting is: agenda (a list of issues that family members feel need to be addressed and solved by the family as a team), compliments (everyone needs to come with a compliment about each person at the meeting), problem solving (working as a team to help find solutions to problems on the agenda), planning a fun family activity for the future (family outing or movie night), and ending with a fun activity (like a game).  We ended the meeting by creating an evening picture routine chart for both Pumpkin and Princess.  Pumpkin’s chart is: play time, dinner time, clean up, homework, brush teeth, bath, pick out clothes for tomorrow, story time, then bed time.  Princess’s chart is: play time, dinner time, clean up, pick out clothes for tomorrow, brush teeth, bath, story time, and then bed time.  Next week we will create morning routine charts.

I do have to say that homework time seemed to go more smoothly tonight, only 45 minutes instead of 2 hours.  Pumpkin has math, spelling/phonics, reading, and memory work every evening.  First grade is quite a change from kindergarten.  Princess walked up to me this morning and told me that she wanted me to put “Pumpkin is bothering me all the time and hurting me.  Can you help me fix the problem?” on the agenda list to talk about at the next weekly meeting.  Quite cute!  I hope this helps with a few of the issues we have been having lately.  Pumpkin and Princess both love each other, but they are the typical brother and sister at times with the teasing and horseplay. 

I will slowly work on integrating concepts into our family dynamics.  We will be learning as a family, one concept at a time.  Rome was not built in a day, and family dynamics do not change in a day.  So slow and steady, we will work on encouraging our children to be the best individual that they can be. 

Vacation Days

This week has flown by and I only have one day left before returning to work.  Honestly, it would be nice to stay home with the kiddos.  I will miss morning time leisurely snuggles.  I will miss taking Pumpkin to and from school.  The kids have seem to have less behavior issues since they have spent time home with me.  Although, Princess has apparently started the tantrum stage.  She was crying and sulking in our bedroom earlier because Pumpkin was mopping the kitchen floor, not her.  But Pumpkin was mopping the kitchen floor because he had decided to make apple juice on the kitchen floor.  He gathered a large bowl, about six apples and the potato smasher for his unsupervised experiment.  It was not too successful and the floor was quite sticky. So we had to clean the floor. 

Anyway, during this vacation we checked quite a few things off our to-do-list: 

We took a drive north of our town, down an old rocky road to watch part of the meteor shower Sunday evening.  Since we were in the middle of no where, we were standing in the middle of the road watching the sky.  We saw the Milky Way (which we cannot see from out house), the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, the crescent moon, and a handful of shooting stars.  We let the kids lay on the hood of the car to watch the stars.  As we saw headlights in the distance, we scrambled into our car to be better protected.  A very old, old car drove by (maybe something from the 1920s or 1930s), then "Aaauuugah! Aaauuugah!"  Hubby and I burst into laughter!  Then the little car chugged off over a hill and we continued star gazing for a while longer.

On Monday the kids and I visited the children's museum.  The kids had a lot of fun.  

On Tuesday we went to the state fair.  Boy was it expensive.  A bottle of water was $3.00, that is absurd.  We did get to partake in some fair favorites: elephant ear, funnel cake, and lemon shake-up.  Yum!  Both kids got to milk a cow and we saw the Butter Cow.

On Wednesday, Pumpkin started the first grade.  We met his teacher on Monday.  Pumpkin and I went over the class expectations at least once a day every day this week since the meeting.  For example, one expectation is to be respectful of the teacher.  So I asked Pumpkin how he could be respectful and he said listen.  He was so nervous on Tuesday night that we prayed for him and his teacher and that has seemed to help.  So much so that he asked for the same thing the next night.  What a sweetie!   Anyway, I was so happy that first half day when he came out of the school to be picked up that he was not the child holding the teacher's hand.  Yay!  Oh, Wednesday afternoon and night we cleaned Pumpkin's room.  It is a miracle, I can see the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Thursday, Princess and I ran a few errands and she got a new pair of shoes.  We played with chalk outside and swung on the swing.  She passed out in the hallway about an hour before we were to pick Pumpkin up from school.

On Friday, Princess spent the day with great grandma and I completed a few volunteer hours as required by the school.  It was an enlightening experience and gave me some ideas that I can utilize when I return to work.

Today we visited the library and then went on our regular routine to the grocery store.  Princess wanted some Fancy Nancy books and I found a few Elephant and Piggie books for Pumpkin.  He was too busy playing with the train set to look for books today.  We even picked up a few Halloween and Christmas books too.

This week I have read the following books: 1) Daughter of Jerusalem by Joan Wolf.  It was really good and was a fictionalize journey of Mary of Magdalena that utilized facts from the Bible.  It really made me think about the miracle, awe, and uncertainty of the times when Jesus lived. I discovered Joan Wolf about a month ago and am impressed by her biblical fiction.  2) Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen Ed.D.  I only have three chapters left of the book.  It has some very interesting concepts and focuses on encouraging children not discouraging them.  I have applied a few of the concepts on the children and they do seem successful.  I have been reading this book for a while.  But once I decided to take notes restarting from the beginning, it has gone a lot smoother.  I have been reading one chapter a day during vacation.  3) A Reluctant Queen by Joan Wolf.  I just started this afternoon.  It is the fictional story of Esther based on the facts of the Bible.  It is definitely interested reading about the women of the Bible and getting a glimpse of what their lives may have been like.

Well things will start to get back to normal on Monday.  Pumpkin will be in school and hanging with great grandma before and after school.  Princess will start at her new daycare that has a preschool curriculum.  Daddy will be working and I will be working.  It has been nice to be on vacation and my batteries are recharged a touch.

Broke The Mold

Have you ever heard the saying "God broke the mold when he made you."?  I certainly hope that is true.  I seem to be a walking catastrophe at times and hope that others do not have my uniqueness. Being unique is a good thing at times, but other times it is just not fun.  Certain parts of my uniqueness I just refer to as being very special or unusually blessed.  So what about my mold is different?

I am a giant . . . . now I know that I am not really a giant but that is how children and some adults see me.  I hear "Whoa, you're tall!" a lot from children.  Being 6'1" is not always easy.  Sure you can reach the top shelf at the grocery store.  Sure you can see over a crowd.  Sure you can be 9 months pregnant and only look like you are 3 months.  I like sitting in those super tall chair that you can sometimes find at restaurants so my legs dangle.  I like to sit in the back pew at church, so I can have some leg room.  But being tall comes with its own disadvantages, too.  My name is not "Jolly Green Giant".  My name is not "Big Bird."  I don't answer to "Hey, you up there."  Shopping for clothes is terrible. . . I have to special order my long sleeved shirts and my long pants and jeans (36" inseam).  Shoes . . . ha ha ha ha . . . I am wearing mens size 11, which would be about a 12 or 13 in womens.  I whack my head a lot in this world designed for shorter people.  The first two used cars that I owned I had to contort my legs and knees, cramming them at an angle under the steering wheel just so I could drive it down the road.  Glad I have a Mailbu now, plenty of leg room!  There is so many more disadvantages to being tall, but that is enough for now.  

I could be a bubble girl . . . . Oh, so many of my friends tease me that I should be inside a plastic bubble.  The older I get the more allergies I seem to develop.  My biggest allergy is to capsicum (peppers).  So that would include green peppers, red peppers, sausage, pepperoni, chili, salsa, paprika (which is in EVERYTHING), etc. . . .   It is one of those triple header allergies- food, airborne and skin reactions.  But according to the tests at the allergy doctor's office it is just an intolerance so it won't kill me, instead I get hives, feel like I have the stomach flu, loose my voice, get a headache, and I want to curl up in a ball and not move.  Oh the newest reaction to the list. . . . my cheeks and ears turn bright red.  But don't worry it won't kill me, it just will make me EXTREMELY miserable.  Within the last 18 months, I have discovered that I am allergic to SLS (sodium laureth sulfate) a foaming agent which was in my shampoo and toothpaste; peeling, blistering skin is always so joyful to deal with.  Like I said I am special.  I have discovered that Burt's Bee Balm has an amazing shampoo that is SLS free and Sensodyne Pronamel toothpaste is SLS free.  Oh my gosh, Tom's of Maine mouthwash is SLS free and is amazing!  Now you might be laughing at this point, go ahead.  I laugh quite often about all of my strange allergies.  I have a whole list more of allergies, but I'll stop at the big ones.

I have four eyes . . . . Yep, I wear glasses.  I have tried contacts, but I must have been allergic to the cleaning solution.  Glasses are a pain when it rains, when you go inside after being out in the cold they fog up, and you always have to clean them.  It would be cool if someone invented wipers to clean your glasses with, so much easier.  Something cool about wearing glasses, if I have a headache I can take the glasses off and the world blurs around me which can lessen the throbbing pain.  Nice!  Strange fact- the eye doctor has to leave the lights on for my eye exam because the difference in light changes my prescription.  I am nearsighted with astigmatisms, so my daughter comes by it naturally (although her vision is worse than mine).  Even though I got teased about wearing glasses growing up, it is nice to wear them now.  My daughter loves to wear her glasses because she gets to be like mommy and that I would not trade for anything.

If it is going to happening to anyone, it WILL happen to me . . . . I just have this wonderful magnetism for the strange and unusual.  Did you know that only about 30% of women have to have a c-section? Yep, this was me twice.  Have you ever walked into the edge of a screen door with your face as it is mid-way through closing?  Happened to me.  Have you woke up in the middle of the night with a mouse sitting on your shoulder?  Happened to me in high school.  Have you had a pheasant almost fly through the open passenger window of your car?  Yep.  Have you been surrounded by a flock of wild baby turkeys with an angry momma turkey standing right in front of you?  Why, yes I have.  Have you had one of those automatic check-outs at the store that calls for the attendant after every single action you take?  Oh yes!!!  Have you had your turn signals on your car short-out?  Yep, twice!  Have you had the head gasket blow on your car on Christmas Eve spewing antifreeze from the tail pipe?  Yep.  Have you had a baby pee in your ear?  Ha ha ha!  This one was actually my husband.  We learned that valuable lesson of covering Pumpkin with a wet wipe when we changed his diaper that day. Are you laughing yet????  That is what I do when something weird happens.  I figure you can either laugh or cry, so why not laugh!

Life is really what you make of it, but I am still hoping that the mold was broken when I was born. We have a lot of blessings in our life, but everyone often has challenges that lay hidden too.  So if someone if having a bad day, give them the benefit of the doubt because you never know how much they are going through unless you travel a mile in their shoes.  I know that I cannot shrink my legs, that my allergies will run amuck, that I have goofy eyes, and that the weird and unexplainable WILL happen to me . . . . but that is what makes me unique.  That is what makes me who I am. . . . Me.  And who better to be than yourself?   What weird quarks do you have?

Random Thoughts

We have been busy the past week.

Winter Sunrise

We got a second digital camera, so I've been playing with the new toy.  I'm super excited about the 30x zoom!  So hopefully in the next few months, I'll get a decent shot of the blue heron that hangs out in our backyard.  Now that we have two cameras it will be easier to teach hubby how to improve his picture taking technique and how to use all of the buttons and settings.

Wolf Moon

Deer In The Yard

We are teaching Pumpkin the value of money.  Not in the typical sense mind you, but more out of necessity of learning a hard lesson.  Pumpkin accidentally broke something, so now he needs to work off the money that it will take to replace the broken object.  So far Pumpkin has learned how to use the upright sweeper, learned how to mop the kitchen, and now knows how to clean a toilet.  I was of course with him every step of the way and sometimes had to re-clean behind him.  But to learn the lesson, and hopefully not repeat the incident, he needs to do it himself.  I have not been very successful in getting him to accomplish anything today, but we will work on picking up and vacuuming the sun room tomorrow.  At least the kitchen floor is gleaming.  

Learning To Vacuum

Learning To Mop

Oh, I finally got around to having a haircut.  I typically get it cut once a year in August, but ended up not getting around to it until now.  I decided a few weeks ago while watching Les Miserables at the movie theater with hubby that it needed to be cut.  Every time hubby tried to put his arm around my shoulder, he would yank my hair. Ouch!

Before (At Work)

 

After (At Home)

Just For Fun

Cleaning is still going very  S  L  O  W!  I have gotten through about half of the kitchen cabinets.  I have cleaned the window ledge.  The top of the refrigerator and the "catch it all" table still beckon me. 

We are getting ready for the kids birthdays.  Princess's is in six days and Pumpkin's is in nine days.  The kids have colored lunch sacks for the birthday party goody bags.  I have got the bags filled with goodies- juice pouch, gummies, and assorted treasures.  We have our cake mixes for both Saturday's party and taking cupcakes to Kindergarten next Tuesday.  Pumpkin wanted Scooby-Doo and Princess wanted Rapunzel, so we have some small party plates of both.  I also found plastic rings for both themes online, so each cupcake will be decorated with a ring (like the store bought cupcakes).

We had pork chop pizza for supper tonight.  Yummy!!!!!!  In high school dad taught me how to doctor up pizzas.  It is really simple to do . . . .

Pork Chop Pizza

Ingredients:
Take and Bake Cheese Pizza
Leftover pork chops, chopped
green olives stuffed with garlic, sliced
mushrooms, sliced
shredded cheese
salt
pepper
garlic salt
Italian seasoning
fresh shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Warm up the oven according to pizza's instructions.  Pile toppings on top.  Season to taste.  Bake in oven until crust is browned and cheese is melted (check pizza's instructions).

Enjoy your week!!!!

The Last Leg

I have been contemplating this evening. . . 

Two things really. . . 

One- my watch that my mom gave me over 16 years ago is on its last leg . . . 

~ I remember circling the picture of the watch in a local store's annual Christmas catalog.

~ I remember that my mom gave me the watch as a Christmas present in high school.

~ I wear my watch every day (I have the tan line to prove it). 

~ I wore the watch when I went to college.

~ I wore the watch when I met my husband.

~ I wore the watch as I walked to my grad classes the morning of 9/11.

~ I wore the watch to my brother's wedding.

~ I wore the watch when I got married.

~ I wore the watch when my dad was diagnosed with cancer.

~ I wore the watch the day my dear country church closed its doors.

~ I wore the watch when we were timing how often to feed the kids as babies. 

~ I wore the watch to my sister's wedding.

~ I wore the watch when my mom was diagnosed with cancer.

~ I was wearing the watch when my grandpa died.

~ I was wearing the watch when my mom died.

~ My watch has a lot of sentimental value and has seen me through a lot of life's events.

~ I took it to the jeweler today since it has been trouble keeping time, sadly it is not the battery.

~ I really do not want it to go kaput. 

~ The thought of looking for a replacement is sad.

Two- someone I knew was having an awful rough day and he said "It won't matter 100 years from now." . . .

It gets one to thinking how the things that seem big to us are really insignificant. I do believe that God has everything planned out, but the little details will not matter down the road.  What wisdom is found in those words.  It goes hand in hand with the saying "Don't sweat the small stuff."  I guess sometimes that is easy to forget.  Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the here and now instead of looking at the large picture.  May be I should remind myself more often, "It won't matter 100 years from now."

Well better turn in for the evening.  Hopefully tomorrow's thoughts will be brighter.

      

Remembrance

Memorial Day is a time of remembrance.  It is a time to remember our fallen heroes.  It is a time to remember those whom have gone before.  It is a time to teach our children about their heritage.  It is a time to show our respect.

Today we visited three local cemeteries and decorated seven graves of loved ones that have gone before.  My mom, my maternal grandpa, my paternal grandpa, my paternal uncle, hubby's maternal grandma, and hubby's paternal grandma and grandpa.

Princess and Grandma decorating maternal grandpa's grave.

Grandpa was an industrial arts teacher.  

Grandpa loved his rose garden.

Grandpa created beautiful stained glass windows.

Grandpa passed 22 months ago. 

Mom's grave.

Mom loved flowers and her garden.

Mom loved spending time with her grandchildren.  

Mom passed away 21 months ago.

Pumpkin refusing to have his picture taken.

Princess checking out my paternal grandpa's grave.

Grandpa served in World War II.

Grandpa serviced large appliances.

 Grandpa passed away when I was five.

My uncle's grave.

He was eleven.

Below you will find the poem In Flanders Fields.  My Sunday School teacher served in World War II and every Memorial Day Sunday she would read these verses for the church congregation.  She past away while I was in graduate school, but she and her fellow heroes are not forgotten.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.  Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

John McCrae, 1872-1918

Reading Frenzy

In the last few weeks, I have read three really interested books by Leisha Kelly.  Like other great books I have read in the past few years, I just happened along the series at the local library.  By some miracle of chance the book I picked up was the first in the series, although at the time I did not know it.  The books are Julia’s Hope, Emma’s Gift, and Katie’s Dream and they follow the fictional life of the Wortham family during the Great Depression. 

The first book (Julia’s Hope) starts with the Wortham family traveling from Pennsylvania where they have lost everything to Mt Vernon, Illinois in hopes of finding family and a new life.  Just like in life, things do not always turn out as expected and the family lands in the rural outskirts of a town called Dearing, Illinois.  They live off the land, forage for food, and strengthen their faith with an unlikely angel on earth Emma.  This book definitely encompasses the value that it is better to give than receive.  Unexpected friendships are formed and blessings are around every corner.  Oh, to live in a world where others did good, because it was the neighborly thing to do!  I definitely was not ready for the story to be over and was so happy to find out that there were more books about this fictional family.

The second book (Emma’s Gift) continues about seven months down the road.  It was a shocker to me, but this book deals with death of one whom lived a long life and one whom’s life ended way to soon.  This book follows the Wortham’s and the neighboring family through their journey of grief and adaptation to unexpected changes in life.  You have a choice you can continue to live and make the best of things or you can sink into the depths of despair and maybe not escape.  I really could relate to the characters of this book.  My grandpa had lived a long life when he past in August 2010, but my mom had so many more years left to live when she past in September 2010.  Life is not always fair, but we have to live with the cards we are dealt and make the best of it that we can.

The third book (Katie’s Dream) picks up the Wortham family another seven months down the road.  It is about inner strength and doing what is right even if the world around you is telling you that you are wrong.  Sometimes it is much easier to go with the flow.  Sometimes it is much easier to believe gossip.  But if we hold our ground, the trials and tribulations will make us stronger along the way.  This book is full of hope and determination and it was hard for me to set this book down.

I looked up the author on the internet and there are seven total books of this series.  I am saddened to discover that the author and her son past away in a car accident last year.  She leaves a wonderful legacy behind with her thought provoking fictional works.  I look forward to reading the remaining books: Til Morning Is Nigh, Rorey’s Secret, Rachel’s Prayer, and Sarah’s Promise.

Strawberry Shake Botanical Lesson

I had a strawberry shake with my supper tonight.  Boy, it sure was good!  It even had chunks of real strawberries and occasionally the straw would get blocked.  This always brings to mind a spring time botanical lesson.  

Trees are very interesting organisms.  They breath, they grow, they make food, and they multiple.  This time of the year trees are coming back to life after their long winters nap.  Have you ever thought about the mechanics behind the bud?  

Before the bud grows and flowers the sap has to start moving in the tree.  Warm days and cool nights start this process along its way.  But how does the sap move throughout the tree?  By tiny straws found in the vascular cambium.  

The vascular cambium is the special growing part of the tree that is sandwiched between the bark and the wood of the tree.  Two types of tubes are found in the vascular cabium- xylem and phloem.  Xylem carries the water and nutrients from the roots upward to the limbs of the tree and phloem carries the food from the limbs down to the roots for storage.  But, in the spring time when the sap starts following both tubes carry the sap upwards during the day and down into the ground during the night.   

The sap moving upward provides food to the buds, which causes them to grow, leaf out and sometimes flower.  

But to get back to the strawberry milkshake.  Have you ever had a strawberry stuck in the straw and no matter how hard you try that strawberry will just not move through the straw?  

That is what happens to the xylem and phloem tubes in the trees when they get older.  When the xylem tube get blocked, those tubes turn into wood.  When phloem tubes get blocked, they turn into bark.  And that is just part of the story of how a tree grows. 

Lessons From Butterflies

Butterflies are amazing invertebrates!

 

Most live only a few weeks, but some . . . 

like the Monarch Butterflies can live up to 6 months.

Common Buckeye

Butterflies live pretty care free lives.  

They drink nectar and flutter from here to there.

They have two antenna with knobs on the end.

They have four wings which they use to fly. 

They are fun to chase with a camera.

Children also delight in a good butterfly chase.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

They have six graceful legs.

 They start their lives as caterpillars.

They can be different sizes and different colors.

They can be still or quite often jumpy.

They have an amazing tongue called a proboscis.

They taste with their feet.

They are unpredictable and typically beautiful.

Yes, butterflies are quite amazing!

Pumpkin & The Nature Treasure Hunt

This evening we had a mommy-son evening.  So I decided that it would be fun to do a “Nature Treasure Hunt” in our yard.  We used the scavenger hunt suggestions from the Nature Rocks website.

 Pumpkin- The Nature Treasure Hunter

1)     Find something round. . . .

 We found a seed. Where did it come from?  A hickory tree.

2) Jump like a frog, growl like a bear and flap your wings like a bird.

 I’m a big bear!!!

3) What is the smoothest thing you can find?

 Turtle shells & rocks

4) Discover evidence that an animal has been here.

 Broken up turtle nest

Red Tail Hawk feather

5) Find something the smells good . . . or bad!

Shagbark Hickory log- smells "yucky"

6) Listen for a bird.  What else can you hear?

 We heard geese, cicadas, crickets, mallard ducks and a saw

7) Find a place where an animal would be happy.

 Pond- ducks & turtles

8) How many different colors can you find?

 Red Tail Hawk feather on old concrete bench

White, brown, gray, blue, and black

Red cedar & dry grass

Green and brown

Monarch butterfly on Ironweed

Purple, orange, black, white and green

9) Find something that moves.

 Watching the turtles

10) Dig into the ground with your hands or flip over a rock or log.  What can you find? Don’t forget to put it back!

 We found soil & animal holes in the flower bed