A Creepy, Cool Bug

A few nights ago, I walked onto our porch to put cans in the recycling bin and noticed a strange looking bug on the screen. I called Josh to come look, and he captured the bug in a little bug cage to show the kids.

The kids squealed in fear, and I must admit that the bug looked quite dangerous. About an inch and a half long, it had a long, pointy tube on its back end with another thorn-like point above it. It looked like a very large wasp with two stingers, though I suspected it might use the long tube for laying eggs and not for stinging.

After some creative googling, we identified the species. It was indeed a wasp, though it was a wood-boring wasp and not a stinging one. In fact, this species could do more damage to local trees than to us, though we figured that out after we released it... The bug we found was a "pigeon horntail." It uses its long, slender ovipositor (that scary looking tube) to deposit its eggs into the wood of trees and then infects the trees with fungi in order to soften the wood for its larvae to eat. I hope that this particular pigeon horntail decided to lay its eggs in someone else's trees...

Anyway, after watching it for a few minutes, we let it go in our bushes. I did get one good picture of it, before it flew at me and I screamed and jumped away despite knowing that it could not do me any harm. It certainly looked intimidating!

Later that night, Hannah was excited to find the pigeon horntail listed in her little bug guide in her room. I actually enjoyed examining and learning more about it, even though I panicked just a bit at the thought of it landing on me... What a creepy and cool bug!

Speaking of Graduations...

As I wrote about Hannah's graduation, I realized that I never mentioned Ben's preschool graduation, which happened last month. I cannot believe that all three of my kids are now old enough for some sort of school - preschool, kindergarten, and first grade! Of course, they have all been learning and "doing school" with me for a long time. Their ages just make it more official.

The preschool graduation was held at a local church. I have always loved that this preschool teaches faith as much as it teaches academics. The kids memorize sight words and learn letter sounds, but they also memorize Bible verses each month as well.

Before the ceremony, all of the kids prayed together on stage with their teacher.

Each child had a turn to display something he or she had learned that year. Some kids said Bible verses, and other kids said the sight words. Because Ben reads so well, he read a Thomas book aloud for everyone, accurately pronouncing words like "miserable."

I am very proud of how he has matured as a reader this year, reading Magic Tree House books as voraciously as Hannah once did.

In spite of his academic skills, however, he remains all boy - full of mischief and wiggles. About halfway through the program, he discovered that he could pull his graduation cap down over his face, and he amused himself with that new skill for quite a while.

As part of the program, each of the kids received a different award, along with their graduation certificates.

Ben, of course, became obsessed with removing the CD from the book he won, and spent the remaining half of the program concentrating on that task.

This year, the graduation had an extra touch of sadness, since the teacher will not continue teaching next year. Hannah and Ben each attended the school for two years, so we have grown to love her and the school very much. As I mentioned before, Ben was all boy and definitely kept his teacher on her toes, but she had a soft place in her heart for him. At the end of the program, Ben read a poem for his teacher, as a way of saying goodbye and thanking her for her love for the students.

Ben loved his teacher very much and will miss her a lot next year. She always loved him and worked well with him, in spite of his occasional ornery attitude and his more-than-occasional wiggles.


My two big kids, preschool graduate and kindergarten graduate...

I am so proud of them, and I look forward to seeing them grow into bright, confident, and godly adults someday. But, they can stay small for a while longer, if that is ok...

Goodbye to School

I very much look forward to homeschooling Hannah next year. Because of that, I am surprised at how sad I feel as her school year comes to an end. Today, when I picked her up from her last day of school, I had to fight back tears as I said goodbye to her wonderful kindergarten teacher and Spanish teacher, and I could see that they felt the same way. I never questioned their love for my sweet Hannah, and I knew they cared for her well when she was at school. Our decision to homeschool is the best thing for our family next year, but I also know we have given up something very good in exchange, and I will miss the school quite a bit.

Wrapping up the school year actually began last Friday with the kindergarten "Knowledge Fair." Each kid could choose a topic and create a display to teach others about that topic. Hannah chose Sea Creatures. Though I sometimes had to convince her to spend time after school working on it, for the most part, she enjoyed this project. We borrowed some lapbook printouts from www.homeschoolshare.com to organize the material, and she created a nice display to set up in the kindergarten room to explain what she learned.

She also brought her stuffed manatee.

After the Knowledge Fair, the kindergarten kids had their promotion ceremony. They all lined up while their teacher spoke. The kids had decorated their hats at home the week before the ceremony.

One by one the teacher called their names, and they walked across the stage. Their first grade heart partners took their hands and walked them over the bridge to officially become first graders.

They lined up and sang "It's a Small World" together before dismissing to their parents.

Hannah has loved her teacher so much this year! In fact, she often calls me by her teacher's name, and she ends nearly every journal entry with the words, "I love Mrs. F!"

I could not have asked for a better kindergarten year for Hannah, even as I am glad that we will be homeschooling together as a family next year. I will miss the school very much and I am sure we will keep in touch with many of the wonderful people we met there. Her experience has made her into a better student and me into a better teacher, and I will always be thankful for our time at the school. We are sadly, but confidently, moving on to our next adventure!