Remembering Columbia

Remembering Columbia

July 5, 2011

I wasn’t sure what to expect on our visit to the small town of Hemphill, Texas; home of the “Remembering Columbia” Museum. I figured like most small Museums it would have pictures and posters and a few pieces of memorabilia here and there. At first glance that may be what you see. But the real treasure lies within the story.

I can not begin to do any of these stories justice, you have to visit the Museum and hear it told by the women who were there. They tell the story with such passion and love because it is a memory for them who lived it and saw it with their own eyes.

Matt Evett, Anna, Adam, & Austin waiting for the doors to open.

The Husband Clan Geocaching

The Husband Clan’s Geocaching

June 8, 2011

We have taken up a new hobby, Geocaching! For those who don’t know what it is, this is how it is described on the box of my new Magellan eXplorist GC GPS:

“Geocaching is a high-tech version of the game “hide and seek”, where adventure seekers use GPS technology to hide and find physical objects, solve location-based puzzles, and share experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people of all ages and promotes a strong sense of community and support for the environment”

One video I watched on Geocaching a lady said “ It is a way to get nerds out into the wilderness.” I thought that fit me pretty good, even though my kids are undecided if I am a nerd or a geek.

Basically (in the simplest form) what you do is get at least a basic free membership to www.geocaching.com and put in your address to look up the nearest cache and either send it to your GPS or get the iPhone app (the app logs the caches for you.) Then drive in your car and just follow the directions until you get close, hop out and look for a cache. Sign the log book, trade trinkets if able, and log it onto the Geocaching web site and poof you found your first cache.

 

I was officially labeled the “The Nag-a-gator”, now to explain this: I have control of the iPhone or GPS and tell them where to try to look. Of course, I am suppose to be “the navigator” but a bad pronunciation and a little humor from my husband, I am now “The Nag-a-gator.”

Guided Hike ~Sundew Trail~

Guided Hike ~Sundew Trail~

May 13, 2011

I was looking around on the Beaumont Community Calendar hunting for something to do with the family when I saw there was going to be a guided hike on the Sundew Trail. I was excited, we had just studied about carnivorous plants in Science and the Sundew Trail had the Pitcher Plants and the Sundew plants which are both carnivorous. Although we had been to the Sundew Trail before it was in the fall and with the change of the seasons each trail can offer new and interesting things to study.

When  we arrived at the trailhead no one was there. The hike was suppose to start at 10 A.M. so we waited a little while. The kids occupied themselves taking pictures of random critters around the pavilion.

 Buck Moth larva

Some Gave All

Some Gave All

5-30-2011

 

I never had the pleasure of meeting my Uncle Pat, you see the war took him back in 1966. My oldest sister Barbie was the only niece from my dad he ever met, and she was just a baby, so she has no memory of him either. Brenda and I had never met him, but that doesn’t stop the tears from running down my face as I type this blog and it doesn’t stop the emotions from erupting from my heart as I edit the pictures of the articles my Granny clipped from the newspapers long ago.  To read the words quoted from my daddy as he spoke of his only brother and to see the pain of losing a loved one in the faces of my dad, Granny, and aunts has taken its toll on me today. I am writing this blog for Memorial Day. The day that was set aside to remember that some gave all.

My daddy, William C. McGee, had already served one “hitch” in the army. When he got out, he and Uncle Pat worked in construction for a while. Work was scarce one winter so January 1963 they decided to enlist together. They were stationed together for a while in Korea.

Our Donated Terrarium

Our Donated Terrarium

May 14, 2011

My wonderful niece Susan, who is more like a cousin because of our ages, was so generous to donate her 60 gallon terrarium and several things to go with it to our little classroom after the death of her bearded dragon. She knew Austin was into reptiles and amphibians so she thought of him when she was ready to get rid of the tank.

Austin wanted to keep it in his room but the shear size of the tank made that not possible, so into the classroom it went. Which is probably better so that we all can enjoy it.

Slipping and a sliding

Slipping and a Sliding

May 7, 2011

We went to a birthday party and the kids played on a slip and slid. They had a blast!

Adam went at it 100% all boy but Anna wanted to be a little timid and tried to be more graceful.

Mud Slides and Dams

Mud Slides and Dams

May 9, 2011

We seem to end up back at Boykin Springs more often than I care to admit. I like the place don’t get me wrong but I love discovering new things but today they family just wanted to go play so that is what we did.

Anna was happy to see that the “tub” we made last time we was here was intact and had finished filling up with water.

Torah Scraps ~Sanctifying the Name of God~

Torah Scraps ~Sanctifying the Name of God~

May 6, 2011

Emor : אמר - "Say"
Torah : Leviticus 21:1-24:23
Prophets : Ezekiel 44:15-31
Gospel : Luke 11:1-12:59

“Birds and the Bees” of a Flower

“Birds and Bees” of a Flower

May 5, 2011

Working in our Botany Book we had a project to “dissect” a flower.

At first we tried with small flowers. That was way to hard so we went to my moms and swiped a couple flowers from her to get some that was large enough to take apart accurately.

Botany Test ~Monocots and Dicots~

Botany Test ~Monocots and Dicots~

May 5, 2011

Being the “not so typical school” that we are, when we test we usually end up with something like this:
After reading in our Apologia Science Book “Exploring Creation with Botany”  Lesson 2 ~Seeds~  and learning about monocots and dicots we needed to see if the kids understood what we went over. So out to a hiking trail we went!.

A monocot has a single cotyledon (seed part) like a piece of corn and a dicot has two parts like a bean. If the seed is not present you can look at the leaves to tell; monocots have parallel veins running vertically along the leaf (like grass) and a dicot has the “net” of veins spreading out from the main center vein (like most plants have). Monocot’s flowers usually have petals in sets of threes, where dicots have petals in sets of fours or fives.

“OK we are ready!” I don’t think I have to worry to much about them “freezing up” before a test!