Our Latest Science Adventure

We’re currently studying social insects in science, so I bought an AntWorks kit and a couple dozen live harvester ants from Life Studies.  We had quick service from this company (and only one dead ant), but for some reason I can’t find AntWorks listed on their site, although I’m certain I bought it from them.

I’m not joking when I say the kids have spent hours watching this ant farm.  They’re loving it.  Baba’s even producing his own ant science video series (more on that later, I hope).

In the next week or so I’m planning to order another set of ants, and Baba will be making his own ant farm so he can compare habitats.

“Baby Puppy”

This picture is especially for Mimi, who gave Junior this little Beanie Baby a couple weeks ago. The boy and his dog have been inseparable since then, and he often carries “Baby Puppy” around in the front of his shirt. In fact, yesterday I had to undo the buttons on the front of the shirt he’s wearing in the picture because he was distressed that he couldn’t squeeze his toy under the collar.  Thanks, Mimi!

Moonset

James took these pictures last week when he woke up early with Junior.  That’s a full moon (the largest of the year) setting over our lake.  It’s almost as beautiful as the sunsets.

Internet Filter Recommendations Needed

We’re about to be in the position of giving Baba little bit of online access here in our home, and up to this point he’s had zero experience with the Internet.  Of course we’ll sit down and have a talk with him and set up rules and guidelines; however, we’d also like to have an Internet filter in place on the computer which he is using.  Anyone have recommendations?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Red October

One of my favorite things about where I live–the sunsets:

Thanks, Guys

Saturday morning, 8:30 A.M.  Your Weather Channel Widget reads 34 degrees, but, tempted by a fine fog hovering over a ripple-free lake, you squeeze into your wet suit for the first time this season and slide your kayak into the water.  You marvel at the tranquility, snap a few photos and begin a prayer of thanksgiving . . .

And then the duck hunters spot you.

I’ll be honest.  I was tempted to come here and write a post entitled “Duck Hunting: Sport of Pigs”.  I’ll be even more honest: I started the Men-As-Pigs tirade with my husband upon returning from my shortened paddle around the lake.  But as I furiously scrubbed the bathroom sink I realized why this kind of behavior from men bothers me so much: I haven’t worked up callouses.

You see, first there was my daddy and both grandfathers and my uncles and then my brothers and cousins.  Later I met Troy and Adam and Ben and Mike and Jay and Aaron and Paul and Pete and Dan and my father-in-law and my brothers-in-law and a host of others I’ve unintentionally forgotten.   And, of course, there’s my husband.  The guy who leads quietly by example.  The guy who has no concept of “woman’s work”.  The guy who walked down the street this morning in order to have a man-to-man with the harassing hunters as they pulled their boat out of the water.

I run into a few jerks now and then, but from the moment of my birth I’ve been surrounded by males who treat me almost as if they see the Image of God in me.  And for that I should be profoundly grateful.  I hope the young men I met today eventually learn what the men in my life already know.

So instead of dumping on the guys this morning, I want to say something to all the young women I know: There are plenty of terrific men in the world.  Find one and stick with him and reciprocate the respect.

Enjoy the photos.  It really was a spectacular morning.

Adam Knows

I don’t know why I’m not blogging more often.  I should have plenty of material.

HT: Mommy Brain

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Bonfire at Papa and Mimi’s

My parents had a semi-impromptu bonfire on Saturday night. The cousins enjoyed the 80+ degree weather by tooling around on the new kid-sized four-wheeler (Papa set it up to stay at low speed). Later in the evening we enjoyed a picnic with lots of great food and S’mores to wrap up the festivities. We don’t experience such warm weather in October very often, but when it comes along we know how to take advantage of it!

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Apple Orchard

Friday afternoon we traveled to a local apple orchard for a field trip.  The kids were allowed to pick three apples to take home, and we sampled apple cider and homemade donuts.  Baba was off with his friends most of the day, which explains why he’s missing from our pictures.

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Mr. Manners

He’s nine years old now, but a little more than six years ago he was not-quite-three and baffled by the requirements of polite society:

(For best results, turn up the volume)

We’ve made the switch to Mac and now have superior video editing capabilities.  Expect to be bored by home videos even more in the days to come.

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