The Praying Mantises Have Hatched!

Wow! That was quick! I just posted yesterday that I expected the mantis egg sacks to hatch any day now...I didn't expect it to be the very next day. Here are a few of the pictures of them thus far. It appears that only one sack has hatched. You can tell in the second picture that some "strings" or "threads" are hanging. This apparently is from when they first come out of the sack and hang until they have "dried" out.

We have about 100 or more praying mantis babies right now. Today, we released some wingless flies into their cage. We haven't seen them catch one, yet, but the pet store assured us that these will feed them well. Once we get some warmer weather, we may consider letting some of them go near our garden so we don't have as many to feed. I don't think many would survive if we do it right now.

Our buggy adventure is just beginning. We now have wingless flies and praying mantis babies. The things we endure for our children! I keep telling myself : This, too, shall pass. This, too, shall pass. They are cool to watch, but they bug me. I keep worrying they'll escape. I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight.

T is enjoying himself and really learning quite a bit. It has been a great motivator for him to learn even more about insects and their life cycles. This all coordinates very well with his recent enrollment is the 4-H entomology program and the activites he is doing in his science book.

I'll try to post more pictures as they grow.

Going Batty!

The latest Young Adventurers program was on the topic of bats. Miss Cyndi did a fantastic job of dispelling the myths surrounding bats and educating the kids about their unique traits. She made some great models to help the kids visualize the largest and smallest bat species. We then watched and discussed a very informative video on bats. Afterwards, we took a short walk and saw some of the places where bats had recently spent the night, as evidence from their bat droppings. The kids then did a follow-up craft of a bat with movable wings which they could take home to remind them of what they had learned.

After the program, the kids had an adventure of their own in the dry creek bed. It is one of their favorite places in the park.

Drumline Community Performance

Our lovely babysitter, Chelsea, invited us to attend the community performance for her winter drumline at the highschool. It was a great opportunity for all the kids to see and hear the different percussion instruments and learn what a Vangaurd looks like when it performs. Between 8-10 other local highschools came and performed in a variety of different styles and showed off their musical and theatrical talents. There was even a local adult special needs group who performed a rendition of Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" that they had worked on for the past three months. This is one of those things that only comes around once a year, and I am glad we were able to attend it!
"Thriller" Vangaurd dance performance with batons and sword throwing.
Much darker and "futuristic/out of this world" themed performance.

This group did a "Sword in the Stone" themed song complete with a castle and Renaissance costumes.

Chelsea's group performed a really energetic song that had a theme entitled "Keeping Time". They went on to win fifth in the state the following day! Congrats, Chelsea! Great job and we appreciate all your hard work!

March Science Clubs

Our Science clubs were fantastic this month. First we were so fortunate to have a friend of ours share with us his knowledge of botany. He is a professor at a local community college and it was really an honor to get his input on the importance of diversifying our diets and our gardens. I have since bought many different kinds of hierloom seeds and am currently trying to grow some new and unusual plants.

We were also very fortunate to have the Silly Safari guy come and show us some of their adorable critters. Many of my kiddos were lucky enough (or unlucky depending upon what animal they helped with) to join him on stage.

C with the baby tortoise.

A baby armadillo.

A great horned owl.

Tree frog.

T with the baby crocodile.

R happy to help with the very large snake! This about killed me to watch. I hate snakes!!! Better her than me!

Fun at the Forestry

We were blessed to attend another Young Adventurers at our State Forest this month. This time we learned more about insects and how they survive the winter. We then went on a hands-on field trip/experiment to try to find some of their winter hiding places. We found some under the ground, inside old decaying logs, under some bark, and even wrapped up in a leaf. The kids just loved this activity because it combined two of their favorite activities: digging and getting dirty! We are so grateful to Miss Cindi at the Nature Center. She is truly a gem!

Long, Long Time, No Post!

This is definitely the longest I've gone without updating the blog. I've been trying to focus on staying home more and staying on top of the housework, as well as, school work. It has been easier said than done. I apologize for anyone I've disappointed with such a long delay in my posts. (JOE! that means you!) I will attempt to post some of our highlights over the past few months.

Grandpa come over to visit for R's birthday and posed for a photo with one of her gifts.

A picture of our home-made Advent wreath.

D with B, and R. He is almost 4 mo. old in this photo which was taken back on 11/30/11.

B was in her first play called The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever. She joined the other three oldest kids in this production at our local theatre. They did 10 performances and were excellent in all of them. So very proud of how well they did!

Here is a cute photo of D in his Christmas outfit and Santa hat. This was a week or two before Christmas.

That is E grinning. Did you notice that the Wise Men from our Little People Nativity scene are riding on his John Deere tractor in the background? That is not quite historically accurate, but I don't think he cares.

The kids with some of their home school friends after a free play called "Madeleine's Christmas".

We then went to a history museum to see an exhibit on the Civil War, called My Brother, My Enemy. They also had some hands-on activities for home schoolers. This was the highlight of the day! The kids got to try-on some of the helmets and armor.

All Saints Day Festivities

We had a wonderful time celebrating All Saints Day at the local parish with two other large homeschooling families. The kids all dressed up like a saint, we attended morning Mass, and then went over to a class room for some activities. We were very fortunate that Grammy and Paw-paw were even able to come with us.
All the kids did a great job sharing some information about the saint they were pretending to be. At the end of the morning we prayed the litany of the saint while taking a walk through the cemetery. We also shared some delicious snacks and candy. I think all the kids really enjoyed themselves...and they looked so cute!

Johnny Appleseed Fun

The local state park has been really welcoming to homeschoolers. They even have a "Young Adventurers" activity program specifically for the homeschooling community in our area to teach some lessons on science and history. They recently had a program on Johnny Appleseed. The naturalist discussed John Chapman's life and the importance of his contributions to our state, agriculture, and the first pioneers. I found the lesson very informative and interesting. It was a great follow-up to our library research we did as a part of our state history unit. The kids did apple carving as a fun follow-up activity to the lesson. These are a few pictures documenting our afternoon. The kids really enjoyed the great fall weather and the hike we took afterward, as well.

State Park Adventures

We've been studying tree identification lately. The local state park has a path where it has identified some of the native trees. Our latest field trip took us along this path for a relaxing hike.

We are also studying ornithology for our Science Club, so we decided to visit the nature center where they have a very nice exhibit of native bird species' feather. We also viewed some birds in action at the bird feeders and on our nature hike. We were able to see some wild turkeys about 20 feet from us, thanks to a wild life viewing blind set up along the trail.

It was a really nice day and the kids had a great time exploring the park's wildlife and native habitat. They even got to pet the oxen at the pioneer village. I think that made their day. These are the kind of days that make home schooling worth all the trouble!