Moths...Challenge 23

Following closely on the heels of our butterfly challenge we completed the moth challenge.  I am a little late posting about what we learned.


After leaving the porchlight on for a little while one night we went outside to find lots of moths flying around.  We took the net outside and worked together to capture them.

Bo standing on the step ladder capturing a moth

When we came inside there was a moth on the ceiling in the boys bedroom and they got on the top bunk and added that one to our collection.  We placed a piece of pear in the container for food and left the moths inside overnight.  We studied them the next day.

We had trouble identifying the moths that we had caught, but we did learn some interesting facts about them.

Moths fly at night.

Moths rest with their wings open.

Moths make cocoons. 

Special Gifts This September...

an early morning walk...before school time...enjoying the beauty of God's creation...and the company of one another

daddy off of work for a long weekend...working together in the garden...taking a break with watermelons straight from the vine

daddy and boys...working together to build a playhouse from bamboo

School Day Picture

Here's Bo today before we started our school time. He's standing by the tree we planted for him when he was just three months old. The tree has really grown a lot and so has he. I forgot to take a picture on our very first day of school this year, but this is close since we have only been back to school here for a couple of weeks. He's such an eager learner and a joy to teach. We are continuing with an Ambleside Year 0 for now and we are planning to begin Year 1 in January.

By the way...

Our little ones are allowed to wear hats in school...

and bring their Bows and Arrows

and use army men as counters for math

and have school time on the jungle gym;-)

Patience...Will I Ever Embrace It?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such things there is no law.

There are some days that patience eludes me.  Last week I had a few of those days when it seemed like everything was falling apart.  There were no major catastrophes, but the little annoyances of the day started mounting one on top of the other and I felt like I was drowning.

brothers...usually buddies...suddenly lots of problems with each other and every activity they began...ended in tears

little bitty...toddling about...climbing on the table...sneaking in the laundry room...finding the cat food...brothers screaming..."Mom, she's bothering what we are working on"...not once but several times

trying to sketch together...the pressure of monitoring everyone...so that no little one draws on anothers paper

LouLou...suddenly terribly hurt and unable to walk...at the least request of mine...this is beginning to be an everyday occurrence...I must deal with this very soon.

brother...closing van door on little bitty's ankle..."Mom, I didn't know her foot was in the way, I thought the seat was caught in the door"...baby crying...ankle blackening

Little bitty...eating crayons for the 1000th time

nap time woes...for the third day in a row.

As I thought about the days that had begun to try me as a mother, I began to think about my perspective.  These days come and suddenly I am letting my frustrations show through to four little disciples and the man that I love.  I wince as I reflect on my response to these situations.  Spirit living calls for more than I sometimes give.  My response is a choice...I must choose to give Christ control  in all situations and refuse to let my situations control me.

Why?

Because I am mothering four little ones.  How can I teach them gentleness when I am frustrated and angry with my responses?  How can I teach them forgiveness if I remind them of all the things that has gone wrong today?  How can I teach them to consider one another when I am only considering myself?

Because at the end of the day when the little ones are asleep and all is quiet...the floors are scattered with toys...the sink is full of dishes...and I am tired...tears well up as I think of the day when I will long for one more moment of this sweet craziness.  I really don't want to ruin the time I have with them with frustrated responses and careless words.  I want to embrace each day and live...cherishing our moments...the easy ones...and the hard ones

Sketch Tuesday

Here's our last two Sketch Tuesday drawings...

The first challenge was to sketch something alive in the garden.  This watermelon provided the perfect subject for little hands.

The next challenge was to sketch something that is alive in the zoo.

I let the boys choose an animal from the animal bucket to sketch.

Bo chose the lion and Boo chose the elephant.

Butterflies...Challenge 22

We had a lot of fun with the challenge on butterflies.  The little ones love catching and observing all kinds of critters.  When I noticed we were starting the insect challenges, I knew the littles would be excited.  We began the challenge by taking a walk to our overgrown garden.  I thought this would be a perfect place to spot some butterflies.  Sure, enough we noticed a couple of butterflies right away.  Our zinnias still have a few blooms and  butterflies can be found there regularly.

After observing a couple of butterflies, we sat in the shade of a tree near the garden and read Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons.

It was getting late and the butterflies had gone so we decided to continue the challenge the next day.  While the sun was shining bright the next day we used the net to capture a specimen to study up close.

Bo quickly caught a butterfly and we put it in Boo's new bug box that he had gotten for his birthday.  The littles came in and drew a picture of the butterfly in their nature notebooks.  Bo also drew the life cycle of a butterfly in his notebook. After finishing our drawings, we let the butterfly go and we can't wait to study moths for the next challenge.

We saw a...
 Eastern tiger swallowtail
black swallowtail
gulf fritillary
Cloudless Sulphur (I think)
I'm not sure what kind of butterfly is on the sunflower stem in the picture above.

Reflecting on His Gifts...

boy shoes...tossed on the floor...right in the walkway...but I so love the little feet that slip them on each day



careless little man...cleaning up after himself...pushing it behind the entertainment center...instead of where it belongs...mama talks about diligence...a few days later I notice little man cleaning it up all on his own..."I've been thinking about what I did momma...and today I cleaned it up."...my heart swells with pride



boys napping away...momma and her girls sneak out to LouLou's outside play kitchen...a few moments just to play with my girls...


Legos...all over the floor...evidence of little ones creativity...can I leave my creation one more day...

bamboo gathered from a neighbor...little ones working diligently to build a tepee...a ladder...sawing...hammering...working together to accomplish a goal...

big brothers...who adore little sisters...watching out for them...protecting them...always trying to put a smile on there faces