Butterfly update

These aren't our caterpillars (b/c I STILL can't find my camera memory stick--the Iphone pictures did not come out very well) but this is what our caterpillars did before they went into the pupa stage. Did not know this but when caterpillars decide to change they do it FAST! In a matter of hours (less?) our little guys went from hanging upside down like this to this:




We should begin to see some butterflies hatching over the weekend. We are on butterfly alert :)

Rare Central Texas Snow Day

This week's surprising snowstorm was such a fun event. It's been an unusually cold winter here in central Texas and we have heard several snow predictions. So far they've all been a bust. So when the weather was calling for snow the next day I didn't pay much attention.





Tuesday morning brought the screams of four (myself included) happy girls who didn't even wait for breakfast before venturing out into the winter wonderland. We had but a dusting and I figured what we were seeing was all the snow we would be getting.



But no! We received shower after shower of big fat snow flakes! The day went like this: we'd suit up and run outside and play until our warm-weather-loving selves were soaked and freezing and then troop back in and throw all of our wet winter gear into the dryer. Another snow shower would blow in and the race to get outside and experience the falling snow would begin.



I must add that the snow was a fun opportunity for the the girls to learn more about God. That He is a kind, loving, creative, powerful God. They learned new things about the beauty of His creation (snow). We also talked about how nice it was that God gave us all of this snow to enjoy! And that if God wants it to snow in central Texas then well, He has the power to do that! Pretty neat!









The final snowfall total was 2.25 inches for our yard. Oh--one precious picture that I failed to capture: Penny sitting in front of our glass backdoor, absolutely mesmirized by the falling snow. :)

Winter Butterflies

Reese: "Little smooky caterpillars grow bigger every day"
Hailey: "Yay! They are bigger and there moving!"
--excerpts from the girls' butterfly journals

Observing caterpillars has been one of the coolest things we have done this year. At the moment we have five Painted Lady caterpillars crawling around in a little jar. Since we received them in the mail (bugs in the mail--who'd a thought??) they have nearly tripled in size. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are visibly larger with each day that passes.

The two oldest girls each have a little notebook where they are keeping track of their daily observations of these little baby butterflies. This is one "assignment" that I do not have to remind them about! Any day now the little creatures should begin to tuck themselves into their chrysalises. Super exciting time around the Garrett household :)

So frustrating--I am without a camera right now. The memory card for our camera is M.I.A. I really don't want to drop $30 on a new one but if another week goes by and it doesn't turn up I'm going to have to. Caterpillars and butterflies be darned--we have a little human who is going thru plenty of changes herself. I don't want to miss too many photo opportunities. We already struggle with the "fourth child syndrome" where there is far less video of Penny than of the other three. Don't want to follow suite with the photos!

What else we have been up to...

Wow. Clearly I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to this blog here. Let's try this again...

We have had the best school year yet! We have found the right curricula for our family. Everything is "working". This is a fantastic feeling. As a mom and a homeschooler I am overcome with thanksgiving to our Lord for the happy home we are enjoying.

I had purposed to update this blog with our school experiences--a sort of record. School has been great and we have done many fun and interesting things but that stuff has not made it to our blog. I'm out of practice with writing and just plain BUSY wifing/mothering/teaching. I read what I have written, don't like it, and decide not to post it. I'm going to try not to be so picky from now on.

We are nearing the end of our first unit of Tapestry of Grace. We are planning an end of unit celebration. My plan is to do our school update around that time. And then when we begin unit two I'm going to update regularly (I will!).

I can't believe my last entry in this here little blog was nearly four months ago. Life was different four months ago.

If my life was a newspaper then in mid October the headline would have read "My Mom has Cancer." Sometimes I still can't believe it. It was so hard to face the possibility of losing both my parents just as I had crossed over into my thirties. For heaven's sake--my mother is only 53 years old! But cancer doesn't care about that kind of stuff. And lung cancer is especially brutal. Without treatment the doctors gave my mom 6 months. Mom was not sure she wanted to endure chemotherapy--I can't say I blame her. I get wickedly sick and exhausted while pregnant and that has made me appreciate my health more than most people my age I believe.

Mom chose to undergo treatment and as of right now she has two sessions of chemo left. Her tumor has shrank 50%--somethign her doctor did not expect to happen. Her doctor has been happy with her blood counts--another miracle. I don't know if its possible for her to go into remission--its very unlikely she will be "cured." But she is fighting the good fight and hanging in there. I'm so proud of her--she has faced this with amazing bravery and has kept her sense of humor. I know she has terrible days--she doesn't say this to me but I know they have to be there. But above all she has concrete faith in the Lord and His plans and has surrendered herself to his will. This has been an incredible blessing to me--I know she is in the Lord's hands. We will see each other some day! When she gets Home she will have so many waiting for her--my dad and the baby Jason and I lost are two people who come to my mind.

My Mom and I have had more than our share of mother/daughter conflicts. We are both incredibly stubborn people. I think she might actually be worse than me and that's pretty amazing! I love her so much though. She was the best mother ever when I was a little kid and I always felt loved. I hate the thought of losing her but I am ever so grateful that we've all been given the gift of being able to say goodbye. And who knows--we might not have to say goodbye as soon as we think! Who knows what God has in store?!

The Happiest Baby on the Block...

is MINE :)

I don't think there is a happier baby anywhere! This little girl even smiles when she cries (and
it is not often that she is upset enough to make a fuss)! She wakes up happy, goes to bed without a peep, and smiles constantly (ok--she is a terribly unpredictable napper but we just roll with it). I just had to type that I am so blessed to have this sweetest of babies for my fourth daughter.

New Curriculum!

After much thought and prayer we decided to make some changes to our home school. We had been doing "Five in a Row" and initially it was a hit. The girls liked it and it was easy for me to plan lessons. That worked very well while I was pregnant and then while we were adapting to baby number 4. I still love "Five in a Row" but school was becoming a battle--the girls were not interested in hearing the same story five days in a row! I secretly agreed--I found myself almost dreading reading the book for the third or fourth day in a row. So we knew it was time for a change:)

We are now using Tapestry of Grace . Today was our first day :) A good friend uses this curriculum with her family and I fell in love with it a few years ago when she shared it with me. I had planned on beginning it with my children in 2010 when (hopefully) both of the older girls were reading (Hailey reads very well, Reese is progressing well but NOT reading yet). No big deal though--apparently it works just fine with me reading the material to both girls. Anyway, I am extremely excited to be starting this new study and I hope the girls continue to share my enthusiasm!

This week we are learning about ancient Egyptians. The girls enjoyed the first book we read today about life in ancient Egypt. Pretty fascinating stuff! When Hailey found out that they didn't have dishwashers back then she decided that she wouldn't have wanted to live back then :) We have a few activities planned for this week and next--we will begin making a salt map to illustrate different geographical terms; next week we will make a paddle doll (Egyptian version of a baby doll). My girls love hands on learning so my goal is to do one craft/hands on activity a week. I am not a crafty person and honestly, I HATE the mess that goes with these projects but its something I am just going to have to get over :) Plus I have helpers to aid in craft aftermath clean up!

Again, I am very excited about this new addition to our school. I look forward to relearning history alongside my girls!