New Pet...yet another one!

Embree wanted to introduce her new pet (and her new haircut!). Enjoy.

The Lesson

Brice has begun to really enjoy playing with trains. You know, the kind they set up at bookstores in the children’s section so homeschooling mom’s like me have plenty of uninterrupted time to make unintended purchases? Anyway, Reeves had a set of trains when he was younger, but they’ve long been packed away in the attic and his train table has been used as a surface for each Lego creation of the day. Today, without asking his opinion, I loaded all of his Legos into a huge shallow plastic bin that he can slip in and out from under his bed. Then I moved the train table into Brice’s room and set up the trains. I simply told all the kids, “I think it’s time to get the trains out for Brice…he’d love that.” Reeves helped me load his Legos into their new home, helped me move the table, helped me set up the track, and has been playing with Brice now for about two hours. Never, never did he ask why, or ask what did he get for giving up something he uses on a daily basis. He just did it and he’s enjoying it, and he’s teaching his little brother how to be a beautiful human being. Today’s lesson was for me…sometimes a simple act by a child can stop you in your tracks and make you ask yourself, “Can I possibly live up to that?”

Nature Study: Golden Rod & Wooly Worm

This week's nature study was the Golden Rod (Solidago altissima) , one of our favorite fall flowers and the KY state flower. We drove to the nature trail at Great Crossing park and walked a little ways until we found a stand of them ready for study. Golden Rod are composite flowers, meaning each spray of gold holds hundreds of individual flowers. We studied the taxonomy of the plant kingdom earlier in the day and put our new knowledge to good use when we discovered that while the golden rod spread seeds on the wind, they reproduce by rhizomes on the roots as well. This makes a patch of golden rod clones of one another. Cool!

We always get a little more than we bargain for...we ran across a huge lichen we've yet to identify...any ideas?

Of course we played a bit!!

And we came across a Wooly Worm!! Growing up where the annual town event is The Wooly Worm Festival, I didn't think much about it at first. However, this appears to be the first time the kids have run across a "wooly bear." They all enjoyed having him crawl up and down their arms. We brought him home to see if we could coax him into a pupa and watch the metamorphisis to moth...but after a little research, we discovered that the Wooly Worms buries itself in the ground over the winter and emerges as the Isabella Tiger Moth in the spring. The cold is a must to jumpstart the transformation, so he'll have to go back out into the garden. Maybe we'll meet him flying around the front porch light in April!

We found a cool lychen

Fall at the Farm (Oct. 5 & 6)

The leaves were gone on many of the maples, and just beginning to turn on other types of trees. My guess is that this coming weekend will be gorgeous. It was still nice to be in the mountains, in the rain and fog. We built a fire and stayed close to the homestead all day. We were visited by a young Jack Russell Terrier who was obviously on the move. He'd been shot through the front right paw, but it appeared to have exited the back of his foot and was healing ok. We took him to animal control near the farm so they could post his picture and see if he'd been micro-chipped. We called back after leaving to come back to KY. He had no chip. We'll give his owners a bit longer to find him, then Todd's promised Embree we'll find him a home. He's precious...anyone need a new dog? I have a feeling home will be Georgetown if he isn't careful!! Happy fall everyone!!

ZZZZZZZZZZZ

During our latest visit to the farm Embree decided that Brice should sleep with her. It was his first slumber party!! He went to sleep patting her on the shouldar. Reeves didn't seem to mind having his bed ALL TO HIMSELF!!

Sweet Boy

Just wanted to share this picture of our sweet boy!

Wild Kitties

We've found a treasure trove of wild kittens in the privet hedge behind KMart. It's now a nightly must to see them. This is one reason Embree has so many pet items in her purse. She's prepared for anything!! There are two kittens that actually run out whenever they hear us pull up. Embree has touched them a few times, though they are skittish. One night we saw a pack of 5 big raccoons just hangin' with the cats and sharing their food (someone from the Humane Society s feeding them). I think the goal is to eventually catch a couple and take them to be spayed, then release them back. Embree's in heaven when we are there!

Nature Study: Tree Scavenger Hunt

We walked to campus on a tree scavenger hunt...the kids enjoyed finding everything on thier lists, plus a few extras!

A tree with needles

Lots of large acorns

A leaf larger than Reeves' head!

A tree with smooth bark

A leaf larger than Embree's hand

Needles

A tree with fruit

Rough bark

A leaf smaller than Embree's hand

As part of our ongoing nature study we visited the Arboretum in Lexington. It’s the Kentucky state garden on the UK campus. It’s a little bit of the middle of nowhere in the middle of the city. A fun hike.

Reeves was fascinated with the Straw Flowers, Embree journaled the entire time, and Brice slept...until it was time eat Ben & Jerry's for our study of Vermont!!

Catch up

OK…in the next little bit I’m going to try to catch up on blog posts that have been waiting around for a few weeks. Hope you really are interested in our comings and goings because they are on the way!!

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Have a great week!