The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure

All the children have been devouring books this summer! They will have a certain book in their hands one day and the very next day they will have a different book. Thinking that they must have quit on the first book I may ask one of them why they didn't like the book they had yesterday. They have always answered that they enjoyed it very much but that they had finished it and started a new one! And I'm thinking how these books are not small, baby books (except for Timothy's, but he's not been reading much anyway), and that I don't know how they could read the books so quickly. But I have discovered that they are indeed comprehending what they read because they are liable to go on and on talking about the plot and happenings of the book if they get a chance!

I would like to read everything that the children are reading, just to know what they are filling their minds with. Sadly, I can not keep up with all those books, even though many of them I have read in the past. We have a very large library of our own books, both fiction and non-fiction. Many of the books go back to my childhood and were my books when I was a kid! Such was the case of some that Simon has been reading recently, and I was excited to see the latest book he brought down from our library. Simon had discovered the Hardy Boys, of which I have maybe 6 or 7 books of the series. I had fond memories of the book but couldn't really remember how good the stories were. Since it was right in front of me last week, I decided to begin reading the novel when it was not in Simon's hands.

It was called "The Tower Treasure" and I must say that I enjoyed it very much! I read it as a child, and some of the story felt familiar, but for the most part it was like I was reading the book for the very first time! The back of the book states, "All boys from 10 to 14 who like lively adventure stories packed with mystery and action, will want to read every one of the Hardy Boys stories..." I guess it was a bit under my age bracket? But it was fun anyway!

I did want to see what type of family the books portrayed in the Hardy household. These are not "Christian" books per se, like the Sugar Creek Gang mysteries, and I couldn't remember what the Hardy's were like. I was pleased that the story mentioned them going to church as if it was a regular part of their week, and I was impressed that the boys were good friends as well as brothers. They never had any fights or arguments among themselves and demonstrated mutual respect for each other. They also had respect for authority and were always polite and mannerly. Fenton Hardy, their father, was portrayed as a strong man who was admired by all, and encouraged and helped his boys, while their mom was a stay at home mom who fixed lunches for them and was involved in the lives of her boys and husband. It was a very functional family without all the nonsense that the family is portrayed as today, with a buffoon father, nagging mother, and teens that are so superior to their parents and all other adults!

I was also happy with the underlying messages of hard work and perseverence that were part of the story, and is likely in all the books. Simon had already finished another Hardy Boys book before I finished this first one, so I am thankful that I can reccommend the series! He told me that he liked "The Missing Chums" even better than "The Tower Treasure" that I read, so I may just have to get in on another Hardy Boys adventure myself!

This is kind of silly, I know, and I'm not sure why I wanted to, but I took a couple pictures of the book. It is the 1959 version of "The Tower Treasure". Maybe I just want to remember the good time I had reading one of my old books and pay it a deserving tribute.

Here it is. This copy is in pretty good shape for a 52 year old juvenile fiction book! I've always treated my books with respect and I am teaching my children to do the same.




Thank you Franklin W. Dixon (whoever you really were) for giving us such a nice story!

Amazing Pictures of Brand New Blue Jays

While looking around at the pictures on Erica’s card, I came across some really amazing pictures. I knew she had found a bird’s nest in the play tree that she was keeping an eye on, but I had no idea that she was getting such awesome pictures!

Perhaps she will write some of her thoughts about this experience some time for the blog. She has already written all about it in her personal journal. All I want to do with this post is share a miracle of God with everyone, through Erica’s photography.

I like how this first one shows the nest as we approach the miracle:



Here is the scene the first day after one of the eggs had hatched, on April 27:




A bit closer up:



Erica came back to record their progress periodically. This is what the nest looked like the very next day:



Wow! They all have hatched! Amazing!



Here they are on day 3, still no feathers visable:




We had over a week of rain and dreary weather, so there were not many good picture oppourtunities. But 10 days later, what do you think they looked like?



They are feathered and even opening their eyes!



Here the adorable creatures are two days later:




Lets see one even closer:



The next day was the 16th day since the first one hatched:



By the 19th day you can see the colors God is painting on them:




And at 3 weeks they are ready to try flying on their own. Erica had to help one of them back to the nest:




They sure are beautiful little creations of our Lord!



This little nature exercise really demonstrated another difference between home school and public school. For one, public school students don’t get many learning opportunities like this. For another, most don’t want to learn about things like this! When I found these pictures I was so excited and I showed them to numerous public school girls, about the same age as Erica. The overwhelming response was a scrunched up nose and, "Eewwww. That’s gross!"

How dissappointing and sad, to not be in awe of all the little miracles our Lord and Savior performs everyday! But our government does not want students to think about that!

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6 comments
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Ginger on June 2, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Absolutely beautiful! I'll be showing my kids these photos!!!
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Amy Jo on June 2, 2009 at 3:18 pm (edit)
I was public schooled and all the videos, school books, nature movies, etc. I have ever seen didn't get such great pictures!!! I loved looking at these and seeing how they developed into feathery little creatures!!! What a wonderful blessing!!!

Tell your daughter I loved her photography and think she is very tatlented!

God's Blessings,

Amy Jo
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Becky on June 2, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Amazing!!!!!!! Your daughter is very talented – what a wonderful opportunity that was presented to her, and such a blessing to be able to share in it.

Thanks for sharing these pictures with us. ˚Ü˚
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sassyfras on June 3, 2009 at 3:47 am
I don't think I have ever ran across a bluejay nest. How wonderful to watch them grow. She done a wonderful job taking the pictures..
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The Kings on June 4, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Thanks for your kind words on my blog Covenant Family Farm. I took a moment to review some of your post and I was encouraged. I will be adding you to my list of friends and keeping up with you as well. I look forward to getting to know you! Also, the vs. you have posted today (3 John 4) is our family verse.

God's Blessings – Tony
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Schatzi on June 5, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Beautiful pictures…I have never seen anything quite like it. We have birds nests all over the property but have never been able to get that close.

Have a great weekend.

Connie

Exploring Tadpoles Turning Into Frogs

This week the children have been having a great time watching the creatures change in our pond. Today they captured all of the different phases going on and had them all in one bucket!

Here is a tadpole, (or polliwog depending on where you are)starting to grow it’s legs:




I read that they hatch out as a tadpole and remain in that form until the following season. Then they start growing legs in their transformation to frog, and the other frog characteristics come on gradually.

The tail is the last thing the tadpole looses on its journey to becoming a frog. I don’t remember ever seeing a frog with a tadpole tail, so I was amazed at this next picture myself! Here are a couple of the frog before it lost its tadpole tail:





And we all know what a frog looks like, but I had to put up a picture of one to make this post complete. Here is a finished frog with a tail-frog in the background:




And some day these little guys will be peaking out at us, daring us to try to catch them, like this frog:




God gives us all kinds of science lessons right in our own pond! This is what I call "home schooling through the summer"!

Some Thoughts On Homeschooling

(The following is my reply to a private message concerning homeschooling.)

Hello _______,

Here I am in 3rd period. I have only 2 students out of 7 here today, so they are just watching a movie. We missed Wed & Thurs and then came today and we are off Mon for Presidents Day. Not many showed up today.

I said all that to show that there are many, many days in the public school when the students do not get much education. I am convinced that more good gets done on a homeschooler’s ”off” day than the public school’s ”on” day. Even if the academics don’t all come together, that is not always the most important thing.

The important thing is that they are in a safe place where they are loved and will be able to learn lessons in life when the bookwork doesn’t go well.

Bookwork is important, but it’s just a small part of homeschooling, I think. For us, it has been a very rare thing for the children to go all the way through any text book from start to finish in one regular 170 day public school year. Lisa has come to the point where she picks and chooses what parts of the books to go through completely and carefully and what parts to just skim and not spend much time on, and what parts she can skip all together.

And then there are all the other life lessons that happen all the time without planning for them. We feel that those times more than makes up for anything lacking in the ”official classroom”.

For us, academics are not the most important motivation to homeschool, even though the academics are usually better in the long run. Helping to guide them into being the servants God wants them to be, knowing and loving His ways, is our main job.

Did you notice the post on skylarks blog a day or so ago. It is rather interesting especially considering how you are feeling right now. It is at

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/muddyboots/45476/Even+%22Real%22+Teachers+Have+Doubts%21.html

Here is a quote from a public school teacher from that post:
"And once again I become depressed, convinced that the other teachers are better than I am, that my kids aren’t really learning anything, that I’m not really doing my job, that all my plans and excitement never end up actually happening, that I am a failure and I am failing my kids."

I felt compelled to comment on the blog. If you did not see it, you ought to take a minute to check it out. It’s not very long.

Lisa has been doing better in her back, but she still has to sit down regularly when she would rather be up and about. I will show her your message when I get home. She may have some other words of wisdom to give you.

Keep your head up, and realize that you don’t have to stress about homeschooling. Put it in God’s hand and relax. I will be praying for you the rest of today and we will continue to pray for you. We are so happy that you are homeschooling!

Love,

Eric