Scenes from the last week....

Homeschooling is officially done for the year BUT we've been busy with having friends over to play, swimming, walks together, catching frogs, worms, caterpillars.....skipping, watching thunder storms, painting bat caves, climbing on old trains, making Mothers Day gifts, planting sunflowers, playing at the playground, reading, shopping for herself and budgeting for gifts, ordering for herself in restaurants.....

Bendy!!

Instead of ordering butterfly eggs this year, we decided to just hunt for caterpillars and raise them from caterpillars. Next year we will order the eggs again. Abigail and Sam have found one caterpillar so far and we aren't sure what kind this one is, so after a lot of researching in books and online we've given up trying to find out, and hope to find out if and when it turns into a butterfly or moth!!!

We found this GREAT website though:

insects.about.com/od/keepingliveinsects/ss/rearingcats_2.htm

which includes information on how to look after a caterpillar if you aren't sure what kind it is!!! they have named this one 'Bendy' and he is living in a huge old pickle jar. We have several books on butterflies, bugs, caterpillars etc etc - as well as some story books about them, so we've been enjoying those too - as well as some activity sheets and things that we found online, so Bendy has turned into an all-round project for us!

We'll take more pictures if he survives long term and grows and develops! He's been surviving for about 4 days now so all is good :) PHEW!!!!

On the move....with more Day Lillies.....

Lloyd has been busy digging out the front flower bed that was right in front of the house, as this week the front steps will be built and we want grassed lawn on both sides of the front steps instead of plants. Last year we started this process by giving away a lot of the day lillies and moving what we couldn't give away. They spread sooooo FAST!! So this year Lloyd has moved a lot of them (another EIGHT groups of them) down to the pond where he has planted them in amongst the bushes that grow along the top edge. We also have a lot of them in my main flower garden by the big rock. They are very pretty when they flower, and the Hummingbirds do love them, but they take over, and their roots go CRAZY!!!

Well Bertha the Tractor has been busy today anyway, and had to be careful as I didn't want my Honeysuckle's roots damaged!!!

Third time lucky...

...we finally caught a frog to look at today....and then after catching one and letting him go, we all of a sudden were able to get LOTS.....they were suddenly EVERYWHERE...hopping through the grass and swimming through the weeds at the edge of the pond and all of a sudden not shy at ALL! :)

They've been BUSY too and we have a lot of frog spawn now too, so we will be keeping an eye on that over the next few weeks and watching it develop in to tadpoles and baby frogs :) So cool!

.......I think I'll go an' eat worms....

New life on the acreage...

Sam

Stormy skies...

The storm coming in last Wednesday afternoon, when the children cuddled up on the porch, all excited to watch :)

Bendy....

You can find out more about Bendy, and follow his journey, on our homeschooling blog!!

Recent ATC's I've made....

The first ATC was one for a swap called 'Stamped in bleach'...I loved this technique so much that I've been playing around with it ever since!!! I love the aged effect it makes :)

The next two ATC's were for a chocolate ATC swap - we had to eat two chocolate bars and then make ATC's from them and then describe the chocolate bars to the other person and let them know if we'd recommend the chocolate to them!!

the last two ATC's were for a collage artist swap - we had to make ATC's based on the art of a famous collage artist! I picked my favourite collage artisit - Kelly Rae Roberts!!! Don't laugh at my attempt to copy her work lol!!! OMG I can NOT draw faces hahahahahaha!!! I tried my best lol ;) I really enjoyed trying to do her style though and I am LOVING collage and getting messy with paints and trying new things :) LOVE it!!!! :)

STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!! and my word of the year is:

COURAGE!!!!! :)

Call the Kettle Black...

We headed over to Call The Kettle Black this morning, to pick up a few things for the kitchen....while I was there I picked up some jars - I have to head to their downtown store for more of the glass ones, but I did grab the last one they had! I want a lot of these for all my baking supplies and things like granola etc etc.

I just HAD to get the jar with the bee on it :) LOVED it :)

Grow op 2009.....

Developments with our grow op. this year.......things are going well and should be all set to be transplanted into the garden in a few weeks. The garden has been rotatilled all ready and is all composted ready. Our strawberries outside are doing well and we have new strawberries growing ready inside too that should do well NEXT year...they are just babies this year. We have two kinds of pumpkins growing, peppers, melons, I also have Lupins and Echinacea, apple trees, a type of Clematis that we already have growing at the side of the house, tomatoes, Sweet peas, sun flowers......I can't remember what else we have growing. We also have several other things ready to go straight into the ground in a week or so. I love my wide windowsills - they're perfect!! I WILL be glad when the plants all go outside though ;)

It must be almost Summer!!!!

Sam decided it was time to paint his toe nails ;)