Butterflies

Spring goeth all in white
Crowned with milk-white may:
In fleecy flocks of light
O'er heaven the white clouds stray.

White butterflies in the air;
White daisies prank the ground;
The cherry and the hoary pear
Scatter their snow around.

~Robert Bridges

This week we studied butterflies.  

We read many books from the library.  We read about life cycles.  

We read about which plants attract caterpillars and which attract butterflies.

As always I think I am learning more than the kids!

On painting day we made coffee filter butterflies.

First, we used watercolors to paint our coffee filters.

Once they dried we added pipe cleaners to make a body.

Very cute!

The boys colored pictures of what they had learned about life cycles, anatomy, and symmetry.

To surprise the kiddos I ordered painted lady larve from insect lore.  

It takes a couple of weeks but, soon we will be the proud owners of painted lady butterflies.

Here's what they look like so far.

We watch them every day for changes.  

as of now they have molted two times and are getting pretty big.

We spent time talking about the migration of the Monarch.  This is one of the most unusual migrations on Earth.  Scientists still do not understand many aspects of this flight.  I usually do not allow T.V.  In this case I wanted them to see how it looked when millions of Monarchs arrive in the mountains of Mexico at the same time.  So, I allowed a show it was very good.  Nova is one of my favorite programs. 

On craft day we made butterfly nets!  

All the kids loved them.

We got the directions from a cute crafty website called skip to my lou.  

Of course we went on a lot of hunts to try and find them.  

It is still a little early for the butterflies.  They found box elder bugs though.

We also tried to identify plants in the wild they would consume.  

We found milkweed!

Still no eggs or caterpillars:(

We decided to make our own butterfly garden.

We already had some of the plants in place that attract butterflies.  

This time we did some research and added more from Axdahls.

While wearing a butterfly headband no less.

We planted patunias, zinnia, and cosmos.
We already had purple coneflower, blackeyed susan, aster, and many more.

Hopefully the butterflies will grace us all summer.


Hopefully, butterflies will grace all of your gardens as well.



Until next week
~blessings

Turtles

This week we talked about turtles.

First, we took it easy.  For my sanity I guess.  Monday was my last day at my second job.  I had been working two jobs outside the home for the last couple of months.  I was very burnt out.  Monday was my last day of a stretch of fourteen continuous days.  I am so elated to just have one job and be able to concentrate on my kids again.

So, Tuesday we went to the park...

and we got ice cream.

We relaxed, planted flowers, and played in our yard.

 Then, we started our week on turtles.

We of course needed to find a turtle to really examine them so, we went on a hunt.

We got on our bikes, scooters, and strollers and we were off to turtle pond.

That's what we call it because there are so many turtles there.  

Except for this particular day.

We found lots of birds nesting and fishing.
Not as many turtles as we were used to. 

Then, we spotted a huge snapping turtle just below the surface.

We did not want to take that guy home.

We left feeling sad.  

Matthew really had his heart set on a new pet for the afternoon.

just then on our ride home he saw one crossing our path!!

It was amazing they were so happy.

We played with him all day.  

We read stories about all different kinds of turtles.  

The boys did turtle drawings.

Wesley's sea turtle

Matthew's turtle

For baking day we made rhubarb bread.  Yummy!

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try.
I got it from all recipes.

Rhubarb Bread

• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or sliced frozen rhubarb
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar and oil. Add egg, mix well. Beat in buttermilk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into brown sugar mixture just until combined. Fold in the rhubarb and nuts. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans.
1. For topping, in a bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and butter until crumbly; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Cut with a serrated knife. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We kept the turtle for a day 

then, we marked him with nail polish to see 

if we would ever find him again.

The boys watched him swim away (quickly!)

They also befriended a neighborhood cat named Solomon during the release.

Next week is about butterflies!

until then,

~blessings

Bees

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

From morning's first light 

Till the coming of night,

He's singing and toiling 

The summer day through.

Oh! we may get weary,

And think work is dreary;

'Tis harder by far 

To have nothing to do.

This week we talked about bees.  

How do I love thee let me count the ways....

1. I love bees.

2. I love bees.

3. I love bees.

They are so fascinating.  I developed a deeper appreciation for them after my husband and I saw an outstanding documentary about them and their plight.  If you ever have the chance check it out.

Queen of the Sun. 

For baking we attempted to make honey candy.  I boiled down honey for 10 minutes and it became very sticky, but I had no success turning it into candy.  so, we just ate honey and talked about how it is made from flowers and love. 

We drank jasmine flower tea with our honey too.

We went on a bee hunt to see what we could find....

 We found some near the flowers.

We found one on the dandelions

We found hundreds on this maple tree.

We crafted a bee hive out of paper mache

around a balloon.

Then, we wet felted bees to play with the hive.

For painting and coloring day we took yellow paint. 

Then we pressed our thumbs in the paint and onto the paper.

After it dried we added details with our beeswax crayons.

We read a lot of bee information.

We read a wonderful fairy tale too.  

The Queen Bee, by the brothers Grimm

We could have spent a whole month on bees there is so much to learn.  

We had a good time learning what little we could so far.

Until next week

~blessings

Spring Plants

This week we studied some of our newly emerging spring plants.

We took many walks to see what we could find.  Dandelions, tulips, and daffodils were everywhere.
We also found beautiful spring violets.

For one of our projects this week we pressed the flowers in a heavy book.
Then we glued them on to card stock,  covered them with clear contact paper and we turned these beauties into mothers day gifts....

We went out on another plant adventure and Matthew clearly found and identified stinging nettle.

So, we got our gloves and collected it for some delicious tea.

The boys made pictures of stinging nettle while we enjoyed our tea.



We wanted to hone our herbal plant skills so, we played Wildcraft.

It is one of the their favorite games.
Through out the game you learn all about wild herbs and their medicinal properties.
It has given all of us herbal knowledge.


Over the weekend we also went to Shepards harvest.
This is an animal fiber fair they have near our home.  Here are some of the highlights...

The boys checking out the wool after it was sheared from the sheep.

They learned how to weave on a loom.

Exploring different fibers

Happy Mother's day all you mamas.


Until next week...
~blessings

Rain

April showers bring

May flowers!

This was a great week to talk about rain.  

It rained almost every day.  I told many stories about rain.

Most of which we got from the library.  

I also told a story with cut outs I made out of construction paper

This was a sweet story to explain the life of a water droplet.

We finished our story by talking about our local aquifer.

We are going to try this living water for ourselves when we can get over there.

Baking day we baked a loaf of bread.  

The recipe is from the Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book .  

We have been more successful with this bread recipe.

We also talked about May Day! 

Sunday is May 1st so, we must prepare.

We talked about maypoles and watched maypole dances.

Every year we attend the huge May day parade put on by 

In the heart of the beast. 

They are a paper maiche puppet company and it is spectacular.

This year we made paper baskets by folding card stock.

Then, we painted them.

They turned out really nice and I think the kids want to 

keep them instead of giving them away filled with flowers.

Dandelions... I love this story and gives an
appreciation for our most prolific flower

THE LEGEND OF THE DANDELION

C. S. B. Adapted from an old legend. THE Angel of the flowers came down to earth once—long, long ago—and she wandered here and there, in field, and forest, and garden, to find the flower she loved the most. As she hurried on her search, she came upon a gay tulip, all orange and red, standing stiff and proud in a garden, and the Angel said to the tulip: "Where should you like most of all to live?"
"I should like to live on a castle lawn in the velvety grass," said the tulip, "where my colors would show against the gray castle walls. I should like to have the princess touch me, and tell me how beautiful I am."
But the Angel turned away with sad eyes from the proud tulip, and spoke to the rose.
"Where should you like most to stay?" she asked the rose.
"I should like to climb the castle walls," said the rose, "for I am fragile, and delicate, and not able to climb of myself. I need help and shelter."
The Angel of the flowers turned sadly away from [196] the rose, and hurried on until she came to the violet growing in the forest, and she said to the violet: "Where should you like most of all to live?"
"Here, in the woods, where I am hidden from every one," said the violet. "The brook cools my feet, and the trees keep the warm sun from spoiling my beautiful color." But the Angel turned away from the violet and went on until she came to the sturdy, yellow dandelion growing in the meadow grass.
"And where should you like most of all to live?" asked the Angel of the dandelion.
"Oh," cried the dandelion, "I want to live wherever the happy children may find me when they run by to school, or romp and play in the fields. I want to live by the roadside, and in the meadows, and push up between the stones in the city yards, and make every one glad because of my bright colors."
"You are the flower I love the most," said the Angel of the flowers, as she laid her hand upon the dandelion's curly, yellow head. "You shall blossom everywhere from spring till fall, and be the children's flower."
That is why the dandelion comes so early and pushes her head up everywhere—by hedge, and field, and hut, and wall; and has such a long, sweet life.





Rain, rain, go away...
We need more sunshine in May!
and more flowers.

Happy May day everyone!!

until next week...
~blessings