It is always so good to be here!  Today is the final day that my kids and I are getting all of our county fair projects done--can you say a prayer or two for us?  It's a bit crazy around here!

I hope you enjoyed our bird story.  The sweet little guy/gal has flown away, with prayers that it has gone with it's own kind and is being a bird at last.  I read quite a bit about imprinting, and was worried-but the Lord gently reminded me that He cares for that little bird.

A few days back, I got out a mirror and showed "Sherwood" that he was indeed a bird, and not a human.  It was so funny how he seemed to really see himself!  He cocked his head from side to side, studying what he was seeing.  Then Tuesday morning, when I went out and sat down in my favorite spot outside to read, he appeared --actually, he swooped in and landed on my lap.  After a few minutes I looked away, and back down, and he had given me the gift of a beetle, undigested.  (How, um, lovely!)  I got up to go clean up a little spot on my dress and set him up in the tree.  When I came back out he was gone.  We haven't seen him since, but are sure he is off doing what birds do.

I tried so hard to get advice from experts, but to no avail.  Several friends were very upset with me for even doing anything to help the little guy.  I know, there are pros and cons.  First, it is illegal to keep wild birds---but we never had him in a cage or penned up.  He enjoyed sleeping in our greenhouse at night, and when he was really tiny, he was in a box.  The kids dug up every earthworm from here to China and he had a very well rounded diet of those, plus mealworms, and he learned to find his own food rather quickly!  There are lots of sour cherry trees bearing right now in our neighborhood and he found those too, and feasted with his own kind.

After searching online for what to do with him, I found so many different opinions.  Since he was already removed from his parents care we decided to step in.  My kids learned so much, and just loved that little guy!  I had a time of uncertainty, but experience won out.  This is a memory they will always cherish!

If you haven't ever read Jean Craighead George's book, "A Tarantula in My Purse," check it out.  If the name scares you, just read the chapter called "The Robin in the Teacup."  You will be blessed!

Have a great day!

Nancy

We have had a wonderful experience over the last couple of weeks.  Sadly, a fledgling robin was removed from it's mother's watchful eye and care.  But happily, a surrogate (or two) stepped up to take care of the orphan.  With a mixture of fear and awe and hesitancy, we took on the task of care and feeding of a feathered friend.  Oh, we had many people tell us all the dangers etc., but we decided that we were committed to take this critter under our wing, so to speak.  Do you think "it" looks happy?

 In this photo, my daughter is working on a jigsaw puzzle while "Fuzzball-beep-Gretyl-Sherwood" is sitting on her head.  (We couldn't decide on a name, but for the most part I've just been calling it Angel."

After researching Turdus Migratorius, we found out that they can eat up to 70 earthworms a day.  Their parent birdies feed them about every 20 minutes while they are fledging.  So where did we get that many earthworms?  In our garden and under the compost pile, of course!

We called our local wildlife rehab organization but they don't take birds who aren't injured or sick.  The advice is of course, put it back where you found it.  But this little guy (or gal, not sure yet) was moved several t imes by some curious children (not mine) and the parents didn't come back to it after a day or so.  We decided to take matters into our own hands, like I said, with much fear and trepidation.

My youngest daughter has become it's surrogate mom.  She has spent HOURS cutting up earthworms for this lovely bird.  The bird adores her.  It has slept in our greenhouse several nights, and is now sleeping just like a birdie, outside in our neighbor's cherry tree.  We have enjoyed watching it fending for itself, although we have been supplementing it with meal worms and turning over rocks in the yard for it. 

The kids have even weighed it several times; so far it's holding out at about 2 ounces!

One of our neighbors had a surprise when he was out in his yard working and the dear little thing flew over and landed on his shoulder.  Has it lost it's fear of humans?  Yes, but I think there are many lessons in all of this. 

Finding Joy in God's Creation

Perseverance (it takes a lot of digging to feed hungry baby birds)

Trust (in your ability to know what to do)

Faith (that the Lord will help you, and that after the bird learns his independence he will remember you and  come back and visit...)

Those are just a few that came to mind.   Has this been a homeschool lesson?  You bet!  But not just a lesson in ornithology.  This has been a life lesson that has been such a blessing to us.  We know we probably won't have another experience like this one.  God uses little animals and birds to teach us so much about His love for us!

Isn't this the cutest thing you ever laid eyes on?

Blessings,

Nancy

Our sweet little bunny, "Lightning" died today. Here is a link to a cute photo of him and his brother "Thunder" taken a couple years ago.  Lightning is the bunny on the right.

Please say a prayer for my kids who are really pretty upset about this.  Me too.

Nancy

Meet Betsy and Benjamin; the latest additions to our furry family!

Isn't he a keeper!  This is part of a new enterprise my daughter is taking on.  She is starting to raise some baby bunnies.  She is also hoping to get some angora bunnies to raise for their fur....for spinning, of course!

And this is a photo of one of my daughter's hand spun~hand dyed~crocheted purses.  Right now we have a couple of them up for auction, check my sidebar, or go to homeschoolbuy.com and look in the homesteading section!  She is quite creative and talented and these make great one-of-a-kind gifts!  This particular one isn't on the auction site, but it is for sale.  She has about 50 of them right now, not all hand spun yarn but equally lovely.  Just let me know if you are interested! 

 Here is another one:

And this one is on the auction site right now: if you look very closely, you can see the tiny blue metallic threads in this one.  It is black wool, hand cleaned, carded, spun and crocheted. 

Hope you enjoyed those photos! 

 Here is one more that will hopefully make you chuckle;

This is Midi, after a busy day of canoeing.  Belive me, I did NOT get in the canoe with the dog, but those who were brave enough lived to tell about it.  She was SO tired that she was panting and I thought this was such a funny photo of her.

Blessings!

Nancy

If ONLY this is the worst thing to come out of our trip to the polls!!!

Did you all see this?  A stunning blog entry from a lovely lady!  Well, it was an inspiration to me, and so......

If you go over to my son's blog, you will see what we did today.  Yum, yum!  A feast for the eyes, and the tummy!

Well, we went out to do our civic duty and vote....and when we came home about 1/2 hour later, half of them were gone!  (No, not the kids, I am talking about the "things" that Jill posted about and those same "things" on my sons blog.....)

Needless to say, Little Lady Midnight is one very unhappy dog tonight.  She has been banished to the deck and will probably be out there (where she belongs ANYWAY) for a few more hours.  Here is a lovely pic of the obviously mis-pedigreed pooch.  This was taken right before she licked my camera lens.

(Doesn't that just hurt your eyes???)

Anyway, she must have thought she was a caterpillar or something, eating all those "things!"  They were so pretty up there on the table, and when we came back from the polls, exactly HALF of them had vanished.  Nary a crumb to be found; just a really guilty looking dog......plus you could see where her toe nails made little scratches in the table top.

So, would YOU eat the half that is left?

A homeschooling Mom's worst dilemma!

Homeschooling is a Dogs Life!

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz

Homeschooling Is Life! 2006

Hi!  It has been a long time since I blogged.....gee, a week maybe?  I was so busy reading all the educational moment blogs that I forgot to blog myself!  Did you read any of them?  There are some great bloggers out there having so much fun :)

We had our end of the season potluck at the farm this weekend, and it was bittersweet for me.  It's been a long haul, but an experience we won't soon forget.  While we were there, I saw a butterfly in one of the greenhouses, trapped there.  So I went in and took some photos and released it.  Here it is on my hand:

Yesterday was my daughter's 10th birthday and we had a little picnic out in the Garden of the Gods for her.  It was a perfect day and we were so blessed that the cold weather disappeared so we could have an outing with friends. 

While we were there I saw this:

It was pretty scary!  No snakes for me, I will stick with the butterflies~

Have a blessed week!!

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz

Homeschooling Is Life! 2006

You folks from Tennessee are always bragg'in on how beautiful it is out there, but I can't say that I am convinced.  I know, I have seen photos and some are sure purdy!  :) Someday I will get over there to check out those hills myself!

But today, we took a trip up into the Rocky Mountains, and it was bea-u-ti-ful!  The leaves were a'turnin, and the varmints were out in force.  Just in  time for bow-hunting season!  (we saw a few of 'em out there, we think)  Anyway, we don't bow-hunt (yet) but we might have to because by the time rifle season gets here it is SO cold.  And all the leaves have fallen, and it is pretty near brown all over.....but still, there is no place like Colorado, no matter what the season it is.  Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring, silly! I wasn't talking about hunting seasons.....heh heh.

Take a look at this:

I did not mess with the color at all on this one!! 

 Pure, natural Colorado Color.

And as we came around a bend, I saw these antlers back in the trees.  There were actually three of them, but one was just out of the photo on the left.  Three bucks just hanging out together.....really weird.  A little male bonding going on out in the woods?  Hmm....sounds like the hunters and the hunted are pretty predictable.....shhhh!  Don't tell you-know-who that I said such a thing!                                                                                                 

What a glorious day! 

Have a blessed Sunday,

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz

 Homeschooling Is Life! 2006

 And I am probably not supposed to be reading this book---I might get it messy with my paws.  But as long as nobody tells on me, I am in the clear. Shhhhhhh!

Wow~This is a great read!  But now you've done it.  You are interrupting me, and I am getting a little miffed!  Can't you see?  I am TRYING to read in peace!

Ok, I guess I better be nice.  I will be happy to let you read this one, as soon as I am done.  Now, just don't tell on me ok?  I only stopped to write a blog since I was in here in the office looking for that mouse they keep mentioning.  I haven't found it yet.....maybe they are just pulling my leg.....

Well, back to my book.  Remember, don't tell on me!  You didn't see a thing, ok?

Purrrrrrr.....................

Bandita

I just thought I would post another flower....with another bee (or something) in it.  I haven't positively identified it yet, if anyone wants to give it a shot! 

Get out the insect field guide, Mom and put those kiddoes to work!  I mean school, I mean.....home education......fun???

Blessings!!

Nancy

Look at this!  Isn't this great?  Can you see it's tongue....I mean proboscis.  Hm, better check my spelling on that.  I took this last Summer, and I can't WAIT for this Summer to get here.....or should I say, I can't wait for this Summer's FLOWERS to get here.  I think this was either a West Coast or a Painted Lady, which landed on an echinacea flower.  It is So cute!  I have lots of other photos of butterflies and other critters, I just need more space in order to post them.

Speaking of creepy crawlies and such, You have GOT to see the latest issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  I got mine already, nanny nanny boo boo. 

My dear and crazy friend Dr. Heather Allen has a great article about entomology, and all about their pets, er, well, that's what they call them.  I got to meet the tarantula that lives in her kitchen.  She has a super duper family and we love them dearly.

And Jill Novak, she has a great article about drawing critters of the bugly kind.  I love Jill, she is a great artist and writer!  And lets see, there are a couple of other bug unit studies, one by Mary Beth Whalen, about bees.  I don't want to tell you about all of them.......I am leaving out some good ones here....you just have to get it for yourself and see!!!!

Get down to the dollar shop for some bug nets and stuff, or make your own.  A pole, an old wire hanger and some nylon net make a perfect butterfly net.  Pick up some rocks and see what is underneath!  Watch how fast the ants move their eggs down under when you take a rock off of their colony.  Wow, they work SO fast!

Get your kids out sketching some critters, and if you can't find anything, just get some photos for them to work from.  Really!  They will do just fine.  If you want to identify some of the butterflies that you are seeing, go to the USGS, and you will find it there.  Or the North American Butterfly Association also has some great resources.  Butterflies Through Binoculars by Jeffrey Glassberg is one of my favorite field guides.

Happy Hunting!

Nancy

 Go check out this post!  It's not even "Easter" yet and somebody left a pretty little egg on Jodi's deck.  She can't seem to I.D. the little, er, um......unhatched thingy. 

Can anybody guess what kind of egg it is?  Go see the photo here.

This is the kind of thing that gets us "unschoolers" going.  We like a challenge, especially one that just happens to .......happen!  Unexpected events make for some great learning lessons.  On the spot.  Unplanned interruptions.  Teachable Moments!  Thats what I was searching for.  Teachable moments.

Get out those bird books Mom! 

Homeschooling is Life,

Nancy

A neighbor child today told my son that he was making an ant farm so we were talking about them ourselves......and gosh, we concluded that you really probably wouldn't get much milk out of them and even if you tried you would probably end up squishing them while trying to find the udders.

Blessings!

Nancy

Bandita, in the basket and Little Lady Midnight, aka "Midi" looking as shiny and beautiful as ever.

And I don't let either of them lick the dinner dishes.  Honest.

Aren't they precious!  One of these days I will have to tell you all about my kids too.

Hugs,

Nancy

I found a match---El Serpiente appears to be a Western Terrestrial Garter  snake.  You take a look and tell me if you think he's the same critter!  I found this really cool site on Snakes of Colorado, but it didn't have a juvenile form of this particular snake, so I wasn't sure........the grown up version loses a lot of his definition.

ANYHOO----I am done now, so don't worry about any more slithery things showing up on my blog.  But, being the homeschool Mom that I am, I had to milk this teachable moment for all it was worth.  So.....for now, no more snakes.  Promise!

(And please Lord, no more visitors of this kind in the neighborhood, K?)

Nancy

I figure each of those fence boards are about four inches wide, so.....he's not quite as long as I thought.  El Serpiente is about 20 inches long I would say.  His tail is just out of the photo.

I think he is a variety of Garter snake, (no, not a Gardener snake.  Everyone keeps calling them that.  Cut it out!  GARTER.)  Ok, so let me know if you can positively I.D. him, ok???

Nancy

I had no idea this would turn into the domino effect!  From ugly little birds to ugly dogs---you have to see what Maggie posted.  This one takes the cake today, but read what she says.  It will bless you!

Have a wonderful day homeschooling :)   And speaking of cake, we are having a little birthday celebration, my baby turns 7!

Nancy

Isn't he just the ugliest thing you ever saw?  I am sorry, I love birds but I think fledgling Robin's are the most akward, ugly little creations.  Well, some things are so ugly that they are cute too---know what I mean?  Like tadpoles, and baby squirrels and .......wet puppies........um........kids with spagetti all over their faces.......ok, so I have run out of examples.

When we were camping a few weeks back, this cute (ugly) little green caterpillar dropped down out of an aspen tree, right onto our cooking table.  So I promptly did what any good homeschooling mom would do; put it in an empty water bottle, with some leaves.  "Let's take this home and see what it will become!"  So, it turned in to a little brown case and of course my 6 year old kept insisting it looked dead.  Well, it did. But we kept looking at it every day, and it still looked dead.  But this morning, (Fanfare and drumroll please......) I looked in the bottle and the little "case" appeared to have a hole in one end.  And yes, there was a creature in there.  Not a beautiful, colorful butterfly, but just a lowly pale tan looking.......miller moth. 

Well, it was still one of God's little miracles, this metamorphosis we witnessed.  A few years back, we found a caterpillar that turned out to be a two-tailed swallowtail.  Now THAT was a treat!  So I took the little miller moth out and put him near the aspens in our yard, and hopefully he will be happy there.

As for this ugly little robin, his birdy parents built their nest in a spruce tree in our neighbors yard.  We enjoyed watching and learning.  Today, we found the nest on the sidewalk---the wind must have blown it out.  It looks very nice in my window box by the front door.

I know you are probably thinking I  shouldn't be calling him so ugly----but after all,  I ran around taking pictures of him didn't I?  So, maybe I don't REALLY think he is so awfully ugly....right?......

Talk to you later!

Nancy

You may need to go back and read my June 10 blog about "the Invasion of..."

This may or may not be one of the little critters we rescued from the van.........but whatever the case, I spent several minutes pursuing this little beauty as "she" (or it) scurried up one stem and down another.  It's little legs were going so fast, it was just a blur.  Up the stem, over the flower, down the stem.  Up the leaf, around to the other side and back down.  Over and over, this little bug had such a determination it amazed me.  Imagine if I had that much drive, how much I could accomplish in a day!

Here is a neat page I found about how to identify ladybugs from Carolina Farm Stewardship Journal.

There has been some discussion on the blogsite about the Proverbs 31 woman, and with good reason!  We can learn so much from her life, whether it was real or a parable of sorts.  But what can we learn from this beautiful little creation? 

Proverbs 6:6 talks about the ant, another small wonder that accomplishes much! 

"Go to the ant, you sluggard:  Consider her ways and be wise, Which having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the Summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.  How long will you slumber, O sluggard?  When will you rise from your sleep?  A little sleep, a littl slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep --- So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man."  Proverbs 6:6-11 NKJV

Now don't think I am calling you a sluggard or anything....unless you truly feel this applies to you (I am right there with you!)  And it is these small things, and the small voices that sometimes speak to us in the most loud, clear way.

Have a wonderful day everyone!!!

Nancy

Hello all you dear people out there in bloggerland!  I know you are there :)

Would somebody PLEASE comment on my blogs, before I get a complex???

(Anissa, I mean everybody else.  You are my best commentator!)

Today, we had a very fun little experience.  We were coming home from picking up a container full of live lady bugs from a friend........actually at the bank drive through, when my oldest child took the container from the youngest, "just in case," and OOPS.  It slipped right out of her hands!  It kind of looked a bit like Gena's blog template

Lady bugs, lady bugs where have you been? 

 All over the inside of Nancy's Van! 

 On the floor boards, in the windows, even in her purse. 

I tried to convice my daughter, it could have been worse!

(It could have been a container full of .......baby snakes or something!

Thank God for Lady bugs. 

Have a blessed weekend y'all!

Nancy