Blog Purpose (and a post about spiders!)

Hey y'all, you're still with me, right? I've been commentless, but I skip and jump on because, after all, I'm doing this primarily for ME. You know my memory, right? I need to record these things. And I feel compelled to ...encourage? Inspire? Prompt you to enjoy things and have fun. Yeah, all of those things. So I'm hoping someone somewhere can take a little away from here with a smile or an idea.
Which brings me to the purpose of this here blog. It's always been kind-of an online journal/scrapbook...and occasionally a bit of a diary. My time is even busier these days, though, and I'm trying to use my minutes purposefully. I spend a lot of time on the computer in the evening as it is, getting ideas and plans, writing things up for the school week. And I've decided that I'm going to use this space for more of a craft/art sharing spot than anything else. I know, I know, that's pretty much what I do already. And I blog field trip ideas, etc, but my personal writing has become less commonplace. I have things to say, but feel more compelled to share what we DO. The irony is not lost on me. I'm writing paragraphs about how I'll be writing less. Yeah. {ahem} So. Welcome to our hands-on learning, art, craft, activity homeschool site.
If you want to keep up, feel free to follow on facebook (still under the former name of Sun-Kissed Scholars) using the tab on the right. Or follow our ideas and activities on Pinterest (again, on the right hand side.) There are a lot of art/activity/homeschool blogs out there. I'm just one person, doing what works for us, trying to balance life, spend time on the most important things, hoping it might help or inspire another!

Now, on to the spiders....!


The kids had an impromptu science lesson the other day on how spiders make webs. These pictures were taken in our front yard, of an argiope, or yellow and black garden spider.

Did you know...
"Spiders produce silk from their spinneret glands located at the tip of their abdomen. Each gland produces a thread for a special purpose – for example a trailed safety line, sticky silk for trapping prey or fine silk for wrapping it. Spiders use different gland types to produce different silks, and some spiders are capable of producing up to 8 different silks during their lifetime."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_web

This spider fought another one to the death. The boys were enthralled.

Even if you don't care for spiders, you have to admit, the colors are beautiful!

Hobbs State Park

On Labor Day we spent the day at Hobbs State Park with Papaw. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day!

We even made it just in time for the snake talk! YAY!

Look at the picture below. Which snake is venomous?

Here's a trick to help you remember:

If red touches yellow, it can kill a fellow,

but if red touches black, it's a friend of Jack.

So, you see, the one on the right is venomous.

Other things to look for:

A non-venomous snake has a head shaped like your thumb, but a venomous snake has a more pointed end, and poofier "cheeks" (which is where they store their venom apparently .)

You can also tell by their eyes. Venomous snakes have slitted eyes...although I'd never want to get that close to tell the difference!

Here are my three little guys who got in line to pet the king snake. :D Good times!

The Weather Outside is Frightful ♪

If you recall, 7 months ago we weathered a hurricane....

and now it looks like my southern state, is in for a blizzard!
This is turning out to be quite the year for us!

snow, snow, snow!

The predictions keep getting higher.

Now it's up to 1" of ice and 9-13" of snow.

Like I said, that's a lot for a southern state!

We're also expected to get Thundersnow.

Do YOU know what that is?

It's a rare kind of thunderstorm with snow falling
as the primary precipitation instead of rain. It typically falls in regions of
strong upward motion within the cold sector of an extratropical cyclone, where
the precipitation consists of ice pellets rather than snow.

Remember the 2009 ice storm, when Arkansas and Kentucky were declared federal disaster areas? That, folks, is why people are so panicky. People were without power for weeks.

http://www.extremeinstability.com/09-1-28e.htm

So, if you're reading this, please just pray for those who could be affected by this storm (up to one-third of the country, and 100 million people.) My little home will stay warm, as long as we can keep power. But the trailers around town will be getting very, very cold, even if they don't lose power. There's just not much insulation in those. Brrrrrr!

It's already icing like crazy outside.

I also know a lot of mamas with new babies, who really need their heat to stay on!

Here's hoping it's just a fun, memorable, beautiful storm!

Make an octopus from bubble wrap and paper

My NatureMan is particularly fascinated by sea creatures, and often chooses many ocean-life books from the library. We followed a side road of interest for awhile, earlier in the week, and learned as much as we could about octopuses.

Wikipedia, click for Octopus info

As you probably know, octopuses have no internal or external skeleton, which means they can squeeze-- slowly but surely-- through very small, tight holes. We tried to simply demonstrate this invertebrate's abilities by making paper and bubble wrap octopuses, and then squeezing them in between the bunk bed rails, through toilet paper rolls, and so on.

Did you know? Common octopuses will collect crustacean shells and other objects to construct fortresses, or "gardens," around their lairs? Very neat! So the kids collected blocks, and other small toys to build their fortresses. Natureman's "Octopus Castle" even had a moat. Can't beat that, although it's not scientifically accurate. ;)

I'm a firm believer in studying about the things that really interest kids.

I believe that learning can and should be fun, hands-on, and interactive.

I believe skipping down side roads of interest often yields the most memorable learning.

Have fun!

Featured HERE at Play 2 Grow! :)

Snapping Turtle

I snapped the picture to get the baby turtle, and captured some toddler-orange-eaters as well.

The sex of the baby snapping turtles depends on the temperature at which the eggs are incubated.

He (or she, who knows what the incubated temp was?) is now happily swimming around our kiddie pool, munching on reptile & amphibian food.
We also ended up with a little froggie friend. :) Oh, the joys of a boys' world.

Blog search tip: If you are interested in what we've studied before, you can click on the homeschool label, or the links to the right. If you are looking for information on a particular subject/ animal/ craft, then use the search bar on the right-hand. Hope that help the gals who emailed me. :-)

Aquarium Day

Today my Mom and Dad offered to treat our family to a day at the Jenks Aquarium. We've been going a bit stir-crazy in the house, on these insanely oppressive summer days. I mean, really, it was 115 today. I have to hold a sprinkler over my head just to check the mail.

So, we invited Papaw to ride with us. I offered to give him the front seat, but he enjoys being back by the kids, talking to them, reading them stories... napping with them. ;-)
Such a cute, cute picture.
Papaw and Little Lad both fell fast asleep until we got there.

I think these boys enjoyed the statues outside almost as much as the real creature inside.

Dash, the Artist with Little Lad, me, NatureMan, Fred, Papaw. And Mom took the picture. Dad is still in India until next week.


Naturally, every kid's favorite things are the touch tanks. It was fairly crowded when we got there, but had just opened half an hour earlier, so we decided to start at the back and work our way forward. That made a huge difference. (** There's your field trip tip for the day!**)


Octopuses completely amaze me. Did you know that the largest Giant Pacific Octopus ever caught weighed about 600 pounds, about the same weight as a Brown bear??
Octopuses, like chameleons, are able to change their color and even their skin texture to blend into their surroundings so their enemies can’t see them. They can also squirt ink at an attacker, obscuring the predators vision AND interfering with its ability to smell. Because octopuses have no bones, they are able to squeeze their bodies through teeny tiny openings. All very neat stuff!

Ah, Jellyfish! Another of my favorite things. Besides being stunningly beautiful and "graceful," the study of jellyfish has also really advanced medical studies.

Did you know that jellyfish have no brain, no blood, and no nervous system?

And they are made up of more than 95% water?

Below, the shark tunnel, which is one of their best-known & unique exhibits.

Just stunning. Absolutely amazing to me that we have a God who would make such beauty, even in the darkness of the sea. He truly is a Creative Creator.

Stingray touch tanks:

They didn't exactly expect a feisty stingray to start splashing them.

Nemo, of course...

When we were sufficiently worn out and hungry, we rounded the troops and headed to Casa Bonita. I love the atmosphere in there.


After dinner and sopapillas, we spent just a few minutes in the game room. I love being married to an awesome man who truly enjoys spending time with his kids. :-) I used to gripe about dirty socks on the floor. Or the fact that he didn't actually wash the kids when he gave them a bath. All little, unimportant things, really. But then a friend, who is not so fortunate as I am, pointed out to me that my husband LOVES us. He loves to go places with us, play games with the kids, read them books. He loves to hike, camp, swim and raft with us. He also likes to relax at home, talking to us or watching family movies. And he tells us often that he loves us. "Focus on the important things."
Man, I'm thankful. I'm lucky. No, I'm blessed. This is just another of the amazing things in my life that I don't want to take for granted. I love that man.

5 Unusual South Padre Facts

A lot of you already knew the destination (so thanks for just sending emails with your confirmation!) The closest guess was Sinai. Yes, we are heading to South Padre, TX, rated one of the Top Ten Beaches in the United States.

I'm a homeschooler, you know, and we never just take the easy route. I can't just tell the kids, "hey we're heading out on a road trip, to Texas and we'll see the beach." No way; I had the kids look up "verifiable, unusual facts" about our destination. Might as well learn as much as we can beforehand, to make the experience really stick. If they read enough about the history of the area, it'll be more interesting to see the "real place."

Soooo, these are the things they came up with:

1. We'll be crossing over on Queen Isabella Causeway, which is the longest bridge in Texas, and the only road connecting South Padre to the mainland.

We'll also visit Port Isabel. Unusual for us, because The Artist is an Isabelle. We've never visited a place that carries her name (different spelling, but close enough!)

2. Every Friday night, there is a fireworks display over the ocean. Really, how many places do this? It's obviously a year-round tourist location.

3. Pirates!! South Padre was apparently a popular location for pirates, and numerous treasures have been found buried on the island. They still offer Treasure Hunts, for eager tourists. 4. The lower Laguna Madre Bay is a hyper-saline estuary bay system, one of only a few in the world. Because of the extra salt, jellyfish and Portuguese Man O War are much more common. Did you know that salt water & vinegar are the best treatments for a sting? I never would've guessed. 5. Padre Island is the longest barrier island in the United States, and is home to 11 endangered species.

Fun stuff! We're busy planning and packing!