Our New Land!!!

 
  Yes, it was required to put three exclamation points because we just closed on our new land two days ago!  I'm so happy!  That's not all, though.  M, Big Dog, D, and I put up a cattle gate at the front of our new land.  It was fun and the gate looks great. 
  Also, Big Dog, Little Thing, and I mashed up some Buckeyes we found on the ground.  WARNING: NEVER EAT BUCKEYES (not the candy) THEY CAN MAKE YOU VERY SICK!!!  They can kill cattle, so yeah don't eat raw Buckeyes that you pick up off of the ground.  We were just mashing them up.  Anyway, we put the Buckeye mash in the Buckeye shells, so it was like a bowl.

  We also made fairy houses (no, we don't believe in fairies) because we always have fun making the little houses.  We made tables out of rocks and put the Buckeye mash on that.  We pretended bugs would come in and eat the stuff we put out.  If I were a small creature, though, I wouldn't eat it.  You'd be dead with the drop of a hat.
  Back to the cattle gate, I helped M dig the first hole for a pole with the posthole digger (manual).  It wasn't quick.  On the second hole, we ran into rocks in the ground and had to stop after breaking up all that rock at a foot.  We had been aiming for two feet.  D cemented the poles in with QuicKrete.  I was photographer, so basically I helped dig holes (alot), took pictures, and made flower crowns for M.

Halloween at the Zoo

Yesterday, we all went to the Nashville Zoo.  It was for Boo at the Zoo, which we go to every year.  I was a Viking (Little Thing called me Viking Girl), Little Thing was an Airforce Pilot, and Big Dog was an Army Dude.  Boo at the Zoo was really fun this year!  The whole thing was way less corporate than last year.  We had tons of fun!

I'll add more pictures once we get them off of M's phone.

Adventure Science Center Squid Lab!

  Today, Big Dog and I both disected squids at the Adventure Science Center.  It was so much fun!  My squid was a girl and Big Dog's was a boy.  Big Dog got to write his initials using the squid's eye juice and I wrote with squid ink.  Not only did get to write with squid ink, I also wrote it with the squid's gladius!  The gladius is like the squid's back bone, except it's cartilage.  It looks like a feather.

My Squid Ink Writing and the Gladius I Wrote It With, AOH  (Aviculture Obsessed Homeschooler), KV (my initials), ASC (Adventure Science Center), Squid (okay, that doesn't really mean anything, I just wrote it because this came from the squid lab!)

  Before it was time for our lab, D took Little Thing, Big Dog, and me up to the Adventure Tower, which is this thing on the top floor of ASC where you can climb to the very top and see Nashville.  It was sooooooo crowded.  We went up the stairs of Adventure Tower all together to get up to level two of the tower (it was really freaky because there was netting around us, which somehow made it scary).  Little kids were running everywhere!  The whole tower was shaking as we looked out over Nashville.

  Level three was next.  D and the rest of us squeezed through the crescent moon climbing things heading towards the top.  We emerged, wondering exactly how many levels there were.  The bubble we stood in was stuffy.  Being surrounded by plastic is not my thing because I get headaches when I'm in stuffy places.  "I don't think I can crawl up the last part of it," D said.  So true.  The crescent moons leading to the last part were tiny.  Big Dog offered to come with me, but then decided not to.  I went up and I have to admit, it was pretty cool.  Fresh air, I thought happily.  I couldn't stay long, though.  The tower shook as if it might topple over and a kid sat in my way.  I wormed my way back to where Big Dog, Little Thing, and D stood on level three.  I told them it was cool and we all decided that we needed to get down now!

  D led us down to level two where he took pictures of the skyline.  "I'm going with Big Dog down the crawly thing," I said.  D nodded and took Little Thing by the hand and led him down the stairs.  "Let's go!" Big Dog urged.  I followed him down the last set of crescent moons, watching D and Little Thing as I climbed.  Big Dog and I climbed a pole down off of the landing and waited for the others.  Delinquent children rushed up the netted stairs, stopping D and Little Thing in their tracks.  We waited and finally they were able to make their way slowly down.  We all rushed down the final ramp off of Adventure Tower, glad to finally have excaped the tower.

All of Adventure Science Center (Plus the Adventure Tower the Three Sections at the Very Top)

  Also, we went over to the Animal Secrets exhibit.  Little Thing liked it a lot!  It was pretty cool.  Little Thing really liked the chipmunk tree.

  Okay, that's all for now.

Gee, I Haven't Posted in a While

M's been doing work, so we've been busy.  We're trying to find a Husky rescue for Kenai and all together it's been a busy while.  The chrysalis hatched (outside) so I'll have to add that to Chrysalis Cam. 

Wednesday group yesterday was great.  My friend Z was there, so we talked and had fun.  Little Thing had Big Dog and I take him up and down the playground's swirly slide.  The paint on the playground was chipping (again).  Big Dog and I ended up with colorful paint chips all over our hands.

D got P.F. Chang's for us yesterday, so that means leftovers for breakfast/lunch.  Yay!

I absolutely can't wait for next Wednesday.  I just love our group because (a) my friend Z is usually there and (b) it's secular!!!  Joy to me the atheist!

Mondays are also great because we have co-op then.  That means Beowulf (the epic poem) for me and nature walks for my brothers.  Drama was a let down, it was too juvenile for Big Dog and me.  Well, it was very juvenile, but then again, Big Dog and I do our own plays at home, so that's not a huge problem.  Last Monday we were able to play kickball at the end of the co-op and that was fun.

Basically, I'm quite excited.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  Halloween's coming up (my favorite holiday) and then I have NaNo in November.  I'm psyced!

Chrysalis Cam

Today Big Dog, Little Thing and I found a chrysalis.  It has a butterfly or moth in it.  You can see through the chrysalis and the butterfly/moth is orange.  We're going to keep it in this butterfly habitat we have until it hatches.  Then we'll release it.  I'll try and add a new video of the chrysalis each day.  To see the videos click on Chrysalis Cam tab at the top of the page or click here.

There's a Hummingbird in the House!!!

Oh my Darwin!  The hummingbird that often frequents our feeder, we call him Creepy, flew into the house.  We had the door open so that Kenai could go to and from the backyard whenever he wanted to.  Creepy flew inside and tried to go to our Butterfly Bush.  He had one problem, though.  The window was in between him and the bush!  He kept running into the window, thinking he could get through.  "Boys, there's a hummingbird in the house!" I called.  The boys came running into the dining room.  Little Thing and Big Dog got M and D, while I ran upstairs to get my video camera.  D caught Creepy in a green net and released him outside.  Amidst the chaos, I took some pictures and a video.  Here they are.

Creepy





Remembering Alaska

Today, I have been thinking about all of the fun things that we have done in Alaska.  It is unlike anything you could possibly imagine.  Mountain trails, wildlife, beaches covered with 5 feet of ice, mud cliff climbing, making sand cities, and rock collecting were all things we did in Alaska.  Alright, here's some pictures.

Little Thing on an Ice Slide

M at the Beach (yes that is ice covering the beach)

Us, on a Mountain Trail Called Hope Point Trail (it climbs up Mount Hope)

Standing in Front of the Summit of Mount Hope

On the Gull Rock Trail

I hope you liked the pictures!

Co-Op

Today M, Big Dog, Little Thing, and I went to our co-op.  It's at this park with a playground, tennis courts, basketball court, and baseball field, so we basically just played alot, but we'll be doing classes there soon enough.  It was really fun!  We played kickball, football, and tag.  I can't wait for next time!

Chicken Project

7th grade is awesome!  Today I did a chicken project with Big Dog and Little Thing.  We watched a video from the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago of a chick hatching.  We had already read a Life Cycle of a Chicken book, so the video tied in with the book.  After the video, we made a little display out of two folders glued together.  Little Thing colored some chicken coloring pages that I got from http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/cp_farm/cp_chicken.htm, and we cut those out and glued them to the front and back of our display.  Big Dog researched four of our seven chickies, and I researched three, since he wanted to do the extra one.  We cut out pictures of our seven chick breeds (Buff Orpington, Australorp, Ancona, Dominique, Welsummer, Columbian Wyandotte, and Speckled Sussex) and wrote three factoids about each chick beside the pictures.  Finally, Big Dog and I made an egg flip through thing that showed the color of the eggs each chicken will lay.  We also made pockets that held a breed appearance card for each chicken.  I think it went together well.

front cover of the chicken project

inside of the chicken project

back cover of chicken project

Ah, Rain

Because of Tropical Storm Lee, where I am in Tennesse is getting, and going to continue to get, quite a bit of rain.  Usually, this would cause a problem with baby chicks, but, even though ours are only eleven days old, they have grown lots of feathers and are very tough.  We have been raising them outside in a big metal tub in our chicken coop.  I've been turning on a red heat lamp mounted to the tub at night, when it's cool.  We have a red thermometer to tell us the temperature (when chicks are only a couple days old, they are supposed to be kept at 95 degrees Fahrenheit), but we mainly just watch the chicks behavior.  They've gotten to where they are far more advanced than normal chicks, however.  We had to think of a new set up for the chicks, though, because Trooper and Dorable jumped out!  Our new set up is made for the rain, and lets the chicks decide where they want to go.  One corner of the coop has metal siding on all sides with a hole to enter, so we set up the brooder light there and filled the corner with bedding.

Fearless

Lello

Little Thing with Lello, Canoli, and Serene