King Breadius III

Orville just finished his IEW unit on writing from pictures.  You can read the finished work, King Breadius III, over at The Write Brothers.  He is anxiously awaiting your comments!

Blessings,
Dawn

Happy 12th Birthday Orville!

Someone is 12 today!  We celebrated a dozen years with a dozen doughnuts. 

No, we didn't eat them all.

Well, almost.
 

The birthday boy enjoys his favorite:
vanilla frosted with sprinkles!

Wilbur wants it to be some one's birthday everyday!

Happy birthday, Orville! 

I love you more than you love doughnuts! :)

Science Fair 2011

Question:  Where has Dawn been lately?

Research:  Sources indicate that Dawn has a tendency to overcommit get really involved in her community and to tell people what to do organize large events.  Satellites have tracked increased science activity in her hometown in recent weeks.

Hypothesis:  Dawn led her homeschool group's science fair committee this year.

There is no need to test this hypothesis because I have photographic evidence to verify its validity!

Okay, so I'm not in this picture of all the science fair participants.
I could not find a picture of me anywhere!
I guess I was too busy
giving orders
serving the group
to pose!

I worked with six other terrific moms to organize the first annual Super Duper Home School Association (SDHSA) Science Fair!  (FYI, that's what I will be calling my local support group from here on out.  I am tired of typing "local support group" over and over again!)

The SDHSA ladies and I started working on the fair in August.  There was a lot to accomplish: writing rules, holding registration, finding judges, gathering prizes, creating a judging rubric, providing a training session, etc., etc., etc.  However, from the start, we divided the work, and I cannot believe how well everything came together!

The competition was tight, and there were soooo many fabulous projects.  Take a look at these incredible boards!

On the home front, I had two participants of my own to manage.  I demanded the boys decided that they should work together on just one project since I had my hands full leading the committee.  Of course, the one topic the boys could agree on felt enthusiasm for was bird watching. 

Here is their project...

Question:  What color feeder will attract the most birds?

Orville (left) and Wilbur (right)
in front of their feeders of different colors.
Which one do you think will attract the most birds?

Research:  Their research indicated that birds' eyes contain "more cone cells" than humans'.  For this reason, scientists believe birds see colors in saturated tones.

This picture shows the cages in a saturated hue,
a guess as to what
they look like to song birds.

Hypothesis:  The boys believed their research indicated more birds would be drawn to the brighter colored feeders, particularly yellow and red.

Are the boys correct?

Will yellow and red win?

The Experiment:  Dad spray painted four suet cage feeders in four different colors: yellow, red, blue and black.  The boys decided to leave one cage in the original green color as a control.  They also hung the cages on the same tree to prevent environmental factors, like temperature, from skewing the outcome.  They also used the same brand of suet feed for each cage and filled each with the same weight of feed.

The Control Cage

They frequently observed the cages for one week and took note of how many birds of which species visited each color.  At the end of the week, they took the cages down and weighed the amount of uneaten suet.

They repeated the test on a different tree in a different part of the yard, keeping the controls in place from the first test.  Again, they observed for one week, took notes, and then weighed the remaining contents.

Data and Results: 

• Test One (from lightest to heaviest):  yellow, black, green, red and blue. 
• Test Two (from lightest to heaviest): yellow, red, green, blue, and black.
• Total Ranking (calculated by adding the weights from each test): yellow, black, red, green, and blue

Conclusions:  Because yellow ranked first (meaning the most was eaten from it) in both tests, the boys believe yellow is a good color for feeders.  However, because red was 2nd in one test and 4th in the other, they cannot say with certainty that their hypothesis is correct.

Orville (right) is disturbed their hypothesis was not valid.
Wilbur (left) is just happy he participated in the science fair!

While collecting data, they also noticed that more birds ate from a feeder similar in color to its body than at a feeder of a different color.  They want to do more research and testing to see if there is a correlation between body color and desired feeder color.

SDHSA awarded participants medals based on their judges' rubric score.  Everyone who participated received at least a bronze science medal.  Those whose judges' scores were between 80 and 89% of the total possible score received silver medals, and those who received scores of 90% and higher earned gold medals.  Local restaurants donated coupons for free pizza, ice cream and sandwiches, too!

Orville and Wilbur (far right) won gold medals
and took first place in their division!

Good job, Orville and Wilbur!

Bronze and Silver Medalists

Good job, science fair participants!

If you are interested in starting a science fair in your area, I would be happy to offer support.  I learned a lot the hard way this year!  Just drop me a line, and I will get back to you soon.

Happy Experimenting!

Dawn

Legacy

Two of my dearest bloggy friends, Kathleen @ South Forte Farms and Kellie @ Blue House Academy, suggested that I repost some of my favorite "golden oldies" during my blogging hiatus. Great idea, ladies! Thank you!!


I first posted Legacy in December, 2008. I thought it appropriate to pull from the archives and post today since my mom made it through her knee surgery successfully this morning. Thank you for your prayers.

She now faces rehab from surgery and has to begin walking again with the aid of a walker today. Just hearing the word rehab is hard for her. This post can help you understand why. Please continue to lift her in prayer as she regains the use of her "good" leg and works to rehabilitate through the added difficulty of her disability....

Orville began piano lessons recently. My mom, his Nohnie, teaches him. The piano has so much significance to her, and it is a joy to watch them together. I hope one day he will grasp just how special this instrument has been to her and the beauty of the legacy she is passing to him.

Just before her seventh birthday, my mother wanted to learn to play the piano. Her neighbors owned a piano and offered to let her visit their house daily and practice. They even gave her a few "lessons." She truly loved playing and went to their house as often as she could. Soon, everyone saw that she had a remarkable ability. She could play by ear but was learning to read music and play by the rules, too. It was not long before she could play like a pro.

A few months later, my grandmother and she went downtown to shop for a new dress, a common practice of theirs. There were no malls at the time, so they would park where they could find a spot and walk from specialty store to specialty store. However, this shopping trip would be different.

Mamaw (that's what I called my grandma) got out of the car and walked around to help her seven-year-old baby girl out. Mom took two steps and fell to the ground. Mamaw thought she was joking at first and prompted her to get up before she soiled her clothes. However, Mom could not get up. She was rushed to the hospital and after a long series of tests was diagnosed with infantile paralysis or polio.

The good news was the paralysis was isolated to her left leg. The bad news was she would have to relearn some very basic motor skills, including how to walk. For the next year, she could not go to school, go outside to play or do many of the activities that a "normal" seven-year-old girl would do.

My dear Papaw was not a rich man but he had a heart of gold. He painted houses for a living and money was often tight, but he knew my mom needed something special to help her through such a difficult season. She needed something that she could call her own, that could occupy her days and give her joy as she worked so hard to rehabilitate. He worked extra hours and saved the extra pay until he had enough to buy her a piano of her own.

Her hands and arms worked just fine as did her right leg. She could play and work the foot pedals and forget all about her troubled left leg. She played and played, and her abilities grew. Soon, everyone recognized that she had a very special talent given and blessed by the Lord.

She did eventually walk again but only with the aid of a large, stiff metal brace that ran from her hip to her ankle. She could only move her left leg by swinging it way out to the side. To the kids at school, she was laughable. She was mimicked and teased. They called her "Chester" after the disabled character on the t.v. show Gunsmoke. To her teachers, she was little more than a nuisance. She was behind in her studies from being out of school during the year of rehab. Most thought of her as slow, a poor, little, crippled girl who would never learn anything.

But, she had her piano. It was a comfort to her, a reminder that the Lord had made her exactly whom He wanted, that He was all-loving and ever-present. Her remarkable gift grew and grew as she poured herself into her studies and practice. It was the one thing she could do well and she did it with gusto. By the time she was ten, she was her church's pianist.

Just before Mom's sixteenth birthday, a family moved to Knoxville from St. Louis and visited the church where she played piano. The family's eldest son had just graduated from high school and wanted very little to do with the South. He had protested the move, feeling sure there would be no indoor plumbing and that everyone would eat "possum" like on the Beverly Hillbillies. He intended to endure life in Appalachia for a couple of mandatory months and then take off for college- back to the Midwest where he belonged.

However, at church that morning, his plans were derailed. He liked what he heard coming from the piano. When he noticed that the pianist was a pretty teen-aged girl, he liked what he saw, too. After the service, he complimented Mamaw on how well her daughter played. She told him that he should tell her daughter himself. He did, and, as you have probably guessed by now, the pianist and the Midwestern boy soon fell in love and married.

My dad would not be the only fellow to fall in love with my mom and her piano playing. Nine years ago, the pianist became "Nohnie". Her first grandson, Orville, loves to hear her play. He has since he was born, and it was the one thing that soothed his colicky spells as a newborn. He wanted to start lessons this year so he could learn to play like Nohnie and spend time with her. What a wonderful time they have together as his precious hands follow hers!

Hers is a legacy of faith and of love. I pray the Lord will continue to bless her life as she passes that legacy to the next generation of our family.

Nostalgia: Looking Back While Moving Forward

We will begin the 2010-2011 school year in two weeks.  This is a landmark year for us because Orville begins middle school . . .  

a step forward which makes me want to go back. 

I want to go back to when I could hold him in my arms  His baby pictures make me cry. 

I want to go back to when his little hand fit just inside mine.  I have to remind myself often that I do not need to hold it while walking in a parking lot any more. 

I want to go back to the days of snuggling on the couch while watching Blues Clues.  I am learning not to give him big, slobbery kisses in front of his friends or call him names like "Boo Bear" and "Mommy's Binky Boy".

It's sad.  I know.  But I am growing right along side him, learning to be the mother he needs for each season of his life.  By God's grace, I am letting go a little at a time and moving forward in faith.

I know I can't go back. but, as I proceed, I can take a little time to look back and remember those sweet days.  In fact, I have been putting together a portfolio of Orville's elementary school work and am creating movies to include in it from video footage filmed over the past six years. 

For the next two or three weeks, I will not have much time for writing because I have begun a part-time, temporary job teaching English to Korean children who live in our town.  We will also start our new year of homeschool in two weeks, and in mid-August, our homeschool association will hold its annual "kick-off" meeting.  I am responsible for coordinating this meeting.  Plus, we are having a big birthday party for Wilbur's 10th birthday before school starts!

I had to breathe into a brown paper bag as I typed that all out and I know my time in the blogosphere will be limited until mid-August.  Until then, I plan to share the movies I am making so I won't have to put Olive Plants into hybernation. 

So, as I look forward to a new year of new responsibilities, please join me as I take a look back.  In a few weeks, I will be back to journaling our school days and sharing teaching tips.  Until then, please enjoy this new segment called Nostalgia.

For those of you who knew my babies back when they were actually babies, feel free to have a good cry as you watch them grow before your eyes.  I sure have.

You can laugh too 'cause they were hysterical little people!

Here is the first Nostalgia video of Orville and Wilbur when they were in Kindergarten and pre-school.

Please excuse them.  They were still learning manners.

On second thought . . .

maybe growing up isn't such a bad thing afterall . . . .

Happy Remembering!
Dawn 

Congratulations Orville and Wilbur!

1st Place

4th - 6th Grades

Local Science Fair

You can read about Orville's project, If All the Raindrops, by clicking here.

2nd Place

1st - 3rd Grades

Local Science Fair

You can read about Wilbur's project, Radiant Radishes, by clicking here.

Sweet Shot of the Week

This picture was not taken recently but almost 9 years ago.

We were at a favorite park, and I took several shots that day of the boys on the play equipment.

This one, taken at a clubhouse, turned out the cutest.

Wilbur, peaking through the window, is not quite 1.

Orville, leaning on the wall, is not quite 2.

Homeschool Dawn, behind the camera and exhausted from chasing two little boys with a camera all day, is smiling and cherishing this simple but precious moment.

Thank you Darcy, at Life with My 3 Boybarians, for hosting Sweet Shot Day. Visit her blog to see more heart-warming pictures.

Top Ten Orville Moments

Today is Orville's tenth birthday. It seems like just yesterday that I saw him for the first time via ultrasound. He kicked at the scope so hard that we could see the outline of his foot in the skin covering my tummy! The sonographer told me that day to prepare myself. "This one's a corker!" she said.

Over the course of ten years of motherhood, one thing has become apparent.

She was right.

In honor of my little corker turning double digits, I have compiled a list of his most interesting moments. His top ten moments to be exact. As you read, you'll laugh. You may cry, and you'll definitely understand why I love my life as the mother of a corker.

10. When I came home from the hospital with Wilbur, Orville was only 13 months old. He was not really talking yet, except to say "ma-ma" and "da-da" and "doh". We're still not sure what that was about. Nonetheless, "doh" was the phoneme of choice for quite some time. Despite his young age and limited vocabulary, he managed to coin a term for his baby brother. He would often go to wherever Wilbur was, lay his head on Wilbur's shoulder, and say "ahhhh". Anytime someone visited us, he would introduce himself as "doh" and his brother as "ahhhh".

I can hear him saying "ahhh" every time I look at this picture.

9. Around the time Wilbur was big enough to sit up, Orville would have him sit down in the "school" area of their bedroom. It was a place where I had created a few reading spots and had painted the lower half of the wall with chalkboard paint. Above this paint, I had placed alphabet decals. Orville would point to the "A" decal and say, "Wilbur, dis is A. It day, 'aaa'." Then Wilbur would repeat, "aaaaaaaaa." He would continue, "Wilbur, dis is B. It day, 'buh'." Wilbur echoed, "buh-buh-buh-buh-buh." And so on….

I am not sure if I taught Wilbur to read or if Orville did.

8. His first complete sentence was "Nohnie (what he calls my mother) house go now." His second complete sentence was "Car Gonic (Sonic) go now." You can see where his priorities were at this stage of his life.

Orville with his dear Nohnie

7. When he was three, he insisted on buying me the present pictured below for Mother's Day. I carried it proudly anywhere I went... until the strap mysteriously broke.

I had to edit this picture since the bikini-clad woman at the bottom breaks the Olive Plants rating standards. My apologies. Please keep in mind that he was only three!

6. When he was five years old, we took him to the movie theater on the opening day of The Polar Express. Every seat was occupied. At some point in the movie, a ghost turns to the audience and asks, "Do you believe in ghosts?" Orville took this question quite seriously. He jumped from his seat faster than his dad or I could react. He pointed toward the screen, looked that ghost squarely in the eyes, and proclaimed at the top of his lungs, "NO I DON'T!!!! But I do believe in the Holy Ghost. He is God and He is good!"

NO I DON'T!

5. The next year we started bird watching. One day he came running into the kitchen yelling, "Mommy! I just saw a roadrunner!!" Because we live in Georgia, I doubted his spotting accuracy but went to the place where he had allegedly seen this bird and took a good look around. It was a brown thrasher, our state bird.

I can see how he might think that!

4. At seven-years-old, he recited Patrick Henry's infamous speech.

3. One day while at the library for story hour, the children's librarian asked, "What do mommies do?" Preschool-aged Orville promptly raised his hand. When called upon, he replied, "They cook good food and give lots of love." Can you guess his love languages?

I'll grow it, Mommy. You cook it!

2. On the day he was born, as I held him in my arms for the first time, he tried so hard to lift his head. He managed to raise it just enough to glance into my eyes for a second. I was already in love but that, my friends, sealed the deal.



1. Just last night, he fell into my arms and gave me a big squeeze followed by a kiss on the cheek. He definitely knows my love language.



Orville, everyday with you has been a wonderful adventure, from the moment you kicked at the scope during the ultrasound to the time last night that I received my last hug from a nine-year-old you.

I love you with all my heart and am blessed to be your mother.

Happy Birthday!

The National Bible Bee

I have good news and bad news. Let's get the bad news out of the way.

Orville did not qualify for the national competition. :(

Now, for the good news.

He won 2nd place at the local competition where he took the preliminary tests! He was awarded a check for $50 which was made out to him personally and sealed in a silver envelope along with a 2nd place certificate. It was such a generous prize with such nice personal touches, and he felt so special receiving it. I want to send a thank you to Stacey and everyone who helped her make our local Bee possible and so very enjoyable.

The grand prize, however, was won by all who participated. It was the time spent delving into the Word of God while meditating on and memorizing so many Bible passages. By the time of the competition, Orville had memorized 100... a feat I did not think was possible.

Actually, he did not think it possible either. When the study materials first arrived, we both felt overwhelmed. He did not really get motivated until two weeks before the competition date. Then, things just started to click. Not only could he recite the verses when called upon by his dad or me, but he started bringing Scripture up in daily conversation.

While reading a story one day, he said, "This situation makes me think of 1 Cor 10:13" Then, he went on to explain why.

When contemplating a decision another day, he recalled a verse he had learned from Proverbs and decided he needed to complete the task at hand.

He even wanted copies of audio recordings of sermons on the passages he had memorized.

When we began studying, my prayer was that he would be motivated to hide God's Word in his heart so that he might not sin against God, thinking more of later than now. I thought of him preparing for his future calling so that he would be fully equipped for every good work. A future father, teacher, missionary, leader, or "whatever else the Lord might call him to do" building up his arsenal.

I was reminded as he studied, however, that God's word does not return void. It is not something that is just stored up for the future, like an arrow sitting in a quiver waiting for the archer to pull it out and shoot it. When we memorize it, we are not tucking it neatly away for a time when it may become useful.

The Bible is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness... in the present. The more time we spend in the Word daily, the more we become like Christ, daily. In this article on scripture memory, John Piper gives six reasons for Scripture memorization, all of which deal with our day-to-day walk with the Lord.

So, we have a made a pledge to be more diligent in memorizing on a daily basis, even when it is not Bible Bee season. Likewise, I encourage you to get your children involved in next year's Bible Bee. Only three children out of thousands will win the big scholarships, but every child will reap the rewards of studying the Bible with such intensity.

I am thankful for The National Bible Bee and for the Shelby Kennedy Foundation and pray that God will be pleased to use this ministy to raise up a generation of men and women who will say like Jeremiah, "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight." (Jer 15:16)

The Trail

Farewell Friday

The boys finished their unit on the Oregon Trail just before Christmas break. Their final project was to write a fiction story in the style of Bound for Oregon by Van Leeuwen. Plush toys seem to find their way into most of their projects, so the main characters are Pioneer Piggy, of course, and a band of dogs, pigs and birds.

The boys worked together on the pre-writing aspects. Orville did the majority of the writing. All three of us contributed to the editing. In the publishing phase, Orville typed and formatted, and Wilber added the illustrations.

The Trail

by Orville and Wilber

Once upon a time, a group of animals went on an adventure on the Oregon Trail.

They started in Independence, Missouri. They needed a lot of supplies because the trail was 2000 miles long. Their names were Piggy, Scruffy, Puppy, Quill, Love, Kiss, Lovie and Friendly. So they got their supplies and took off across the country.

Little were they aware that there were a lot of dangers on the trail.

They made 15 miles the first day. They reached Fort McKinley on the 4th of July, which was a very special day. They left after the historical celebration.

But right after that, Kiss got the cholera, a very bad disease. “No! No!” was all Friendly could say about Kiss. Although he did stop so she could get well. Finally she got well and they moved out.

Sometimes Friendly and Lovie went to play hopscotch.
Love and Kiss gathered, Puppy fished, and Scruffy hunted. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. If they wanted to survive, they had to do the work. They had traveled 1123 miles. Now they were at Chimney Rock. They stayed there for 2 days. They enjoyed the sites for while and moved on. 1500 miles... 1600 miles... 1700 miles... OH NO!


It’s winter and there‘s one more mountain to cross, Mt. Hood. The hardest mountain to cross. “We must persevere and conquer that there hill” said Scruffy. “Yes, Grandpa,” said Friendly. PULL, PULL, PULL! “HOORAY!” they all shouted. Then they used the rope to pull the wagon along way down hill. Yippee!! It's down!!! 1800... 1900... 1950... 2000 miles! THEY MADE IT!! “OREGON!!” They all shouted. Now, they live peacefully in Oregon City, Oregon.

THE END