Spring is such a lovely season. The list of birds we are seeing around here is growing. Today we were so lucky to see a very shy Baltimore Oriole! The orange on this bird is amazing! I saw it a few days ago sipping from our hummingbird feeder and it flew off before I could see exactly what bird it was. Today, he stuck around long enough for us all to see! It was wonderful!
Today, we began cultivating our backyard. This is going to take forever! We have NO grass in the back yard so we are going to try planting seed. We'll see how that goes. I'm kind of skeptical. Yesterday we spread weed'n'feed. I hope it works, it would be nice to have a good looking yard. We are also preparing a section in the back yard for a garden. I'm so excited and I hope they grow! We are going to plant the seeds tomorrow for science. Last week, we talked about seeds and opened up some beans to see the baby plant inside and that was pretty cool. I hadn't ever done that. It really was a cute little baby plant right inside that bean! I even peaked inside of a maple tree seed. I've got some pods to start our garden and hopefully we can cultivate the garden site enough before we leave for our trip.
Well, it's growing season! Let us not forget to continually grow in spirit as well!
Sunday, May 3
Thursday, April 30
It's Spring!
Good morning.
It's been a great two weeks. We thought spring would never come, but it has finally arrived! Last week we had temps in the 80s and it was wonderful. The leaves are beginning to grace us with promises of the serenity of shade. We've witnessed the birth of flowers growing out of their buds. We've enjoyed the excitement of guessing what birds we hear, what tree is over there and what that wild flower might be called. God has blessed us with many birds to enjoy, a red maple tree, sweet gum tree, a pecan tree, and a couple of other tress still to be identified. We had a meadow of beautiful yellow wild-flowers that at first were mistaken for dandilions, but at closer investigation, they were found to be mountain sunflowers! Such cute, dainty little things! I'm glad we enjoyed them because they have whithered away. I wonder what else God has in store for us! One of those lovely days, we enjoyed over 7 hours outside and it was the best day we've had. Jonathan did most of his school work out there and we all had fun with a nature study. I had great plans to start a new formal science unit on seeds and growing and plants. While I was getting all of that together, Adie came running in to me yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! You have to come see what we found!" I ran out with her and they were amazed by a little snail making it's way up a rock in our back yard. It was a cute little thing and I decided at that moment to drop the unit for the day and grab their attention and excitement for this creation. We spent about 30 minutes watching him and learning about him from our field guide. Among other things, we learned that we had a ram's horn snail with a coiled shell. He's an invertebrate and a mollusk. They were excited and even now, a week later, they are talking about that day.
We've been planning a garden that we are going to plant. I'll have to admit that even I have a world to learn about this area. We are going to try carrots, tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, broccoli, parsley. We also have some flowers to plant. We'll see how it goes! Or "grows!"
As far as brids go, we have seen most of the regulars and occassionaly we are graced with a few new ones to enjoy. Jonathan identified a vulture flying over the river one day and that totally impressed me. The Yellow shafted Northern Flicker is a beautiful cousin to the woodpecker. I think I've also seen either a Red-Headed Woodpecker or a Red Bellied Woodpecker, both of which have the most red I've seen on one so far. A couple days ago, I heard a Phoebe. I'm not sure which kind it was I only heard it's very recognizable song "fi-bee!" We continue to see Cardinals, Blue Jays, Sparrows, Chickadees, Robins, and I'm pretty sure we have some Starlings. I've been watching a nest up high in one of our trees and I think a European starling has taken up residence there. I enjoy their clicks and whistles. A couple of our neighbors have some bird houses up really high and the Purple Martins have arrived and are neat to watch as well.
This week we started listening to the composer Gustav Mahler. I'm looking forward to learning more about him. His first symphony "Titan" is one that I really like so far, it's got a gentle intro. I can definitely hear a difference from Mozart. Tuesday when we were reading about him, I discovered that his inspiration for some of his symphonies came from German folk poetry, "The Youth's Magic Horn." I have yet to find anywhere I can read this or what it may be about, but I'd love to find out!
We are also studying Van Gough. Jonathan will tell you that he's his favorite, mainly for "The Starry Night." Jonathan has a link to a jigsaw puzzle of this work of art. I did it, it was very challenging, but so fun! Through some links from someone in email, I found some Van Gough pictures for the kids to color! I think they will really like that. Today is actually our art day, so I'm sure Jonathan will be very excited.
Two weekends ago, we went to a home school conference and it was fabulous! We found the math curriculum we are going to use. Right Start. We got the manipulatives and used them yesterday. For the first time EVER, Jonathan said he loves math and it is fun! Today, he asked if he could do his math first and it sounded like he was asking to go to his best friend's house! He was almost giddy about it. Yesterday, he could actually see the equations working and balancing out. He was so excited about it! I'm looking forward to using the full curriculum.
This last weekend, I went with about 15 ladies to a Christian conference called Women Walking with God. It was fantastic, I had an amazing time! My favorite session was about Child Spirituality. I've much to learn! The next one I really liked was about the sandwich generation. I had to hold back several tears in this one. They had a humorist and she was hillarious! I can't even explain. It's just great! Also, a friend of mine came with her siblings and they sang for us, they were The Herndons. They have great music. I saw so many friends from OC that I haven't seen in years and lost touch with, now I have the chance to catch up! The entire weekend was wonderful! Even the trip home was eventful. A 3 1/2 hour trip took us six! We were caught in the middle of two tornadic storms and the second one caught up with us about 15 minutes before it produced a tornado. I've never been more thankful to make it home safely! Then, as I got home, I learned that our cellar was flooded! Sunday morning we were awaken by an awful sound coming from the fan! Thankfully our land-lord did come that morning and now we have a new sump-pump.
A rainy weekend has turned into a cloudy, rainy week and the rivers are beginning to swell. This promises to be an active spring!
Speaking of rain, I'm seeing that our back yard is becoming VERY wet, please pray that we don't have too much water to contend with!
It's been a great two weeks. We thought spring would never come, but it has finally arrived! Last week we had temps in the 80s and it was wonderful. The leaves are beginning to grace us with promises of the serenity of shade. We've witnessed the birth of flowers growing out of their buds. We've enjoyed the excitement of guessing what birds we hear, what tree is over there and what that wild flower might be called. God has blessed us with many birds to enjoy, a red maple tree, sweet gum tree, a pecan tree, and a couple of other tress still to be identified. We had a meadow of beautiful yellow wild-flowers that at first were mistaken for dandilions, but at closer investigation, they were found to be mountain sunflowers! Such cute, dainty little things! I'm glad we enjoyed them because they have whithered away. I wonder what else God has in store for us! One of those lovely days, we enjoyed over 7 hours outside and it was the best day we've had. Jonathan did most of his school work out there and we all had fun with a nature study. I had great plans to start a new formal science unit on seeds and growing and plants. While I was getting all of that together, Adie came running in to me yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! You have to come see what we found!" I ran out with her and they were amazed by a little snail making it's way up a rock in our back yard. It was a cute little thing and I decided at that moment to drop the unit for the day and grab their attention and excitement for this creation. We spent about 30 minutes watching him and learning about him from our field guide. Among other things, we learned that we had a ram's horn snail with a coiled shell. He's an invertebrate and a mollusk. They were excited and even now, a week later, they are talking about that day.
We've been planning a garden that we are going to plant. I'll have to admit that even I have a world to learn about this area. We are going to try carrots, tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, broccoli, parsley. We also have some flowers to plant. We'll see how it goes! Or "grows!"
As far as brids go, we have seen most of the regulars and occassionaly we are graced with a few new ones to enjoy. Jonathan identified a vulture flying over the river one day and that totally impressed me. The Yellow shafted Northern Flicker is a beautiful cousin to the woodpecker. I think I've also seen either a Red-Headed Woodpecker or a Red Bellied Woodpecker, both of which have the most red I've seen on one so far. A couple days ago, I heard a Phoebe. I'm not sure which kind it was I only heard it's very recognizable song "fi-bee!" We continue to see Cardinals, Blue Jays, Sparrows, Chickadees, Robins, and I'm pretty sure we have some Starlings. I've been watching a nest up high in one of our trees and I think a European starling has taken up residence there. I enjoy their clicks and whistles. A couple of our neighbors have some bird houses up really high and the Purple Martins have arrived and are neat to watch as well.
This week we started listening to the composer Gustav Mahler. I'm looking forward to learning more about him. His first symphony "Titan" is one that I really like so far, it's got a gentle intro. I can definitely hear a difference from Mozart. Tuesday when we were reading about him, I discovered that his inspiration for some of his symphonies came from German folk poetry, "The Youth's Magic Horn." I have yet to find anywhere I can read this or what it may be about, but I'd love to find out!
We are also studying Van Gough. Jonathan will tell you that he's his favorite, mainly for "The Starry Night." Jonathan has a link to a jigsaw puzzle of this work of art. I did it, it was very challenging, but so fun! Through some links from someone in email, I found some Van Gough pictures for the kids to color! I think they will really like that. Today is actually our art day, so I'm sure Jonathan will be very excited.
Two weekends ago, we went to a home school conference and it was fabulous! We found the math curriculum we are going to use. Right Start. We got the manipulatives and used them yesterday. For the first time EVER, Jonathan said he loves math and it is fun! Today, he asked if he could do his math first and it sounded like he was asking to go to his best friend's house! He was almost giddy about it. Yesterday, he could actually see the equations working and balancing out. He was so excited about it! I'm looking forward to using the full curriculum.
This last weekend, I went with about 15 ladies to a Christian conference called Women Walking with God. It was fantastic, I had an amazing time! My favorite session was about Child Spirituality. I've much to learn! The next one I really liked was about the sandwich generation. I had to hold back several tears in this one. They had a humorist and she was hillarious! I can't even explain. It's just great! Also, a friend of mine came with her siblings and they sang for us, they were The Herndons. They have great music. I saw so many friends from OC that I haven't seen in years and lost touch with, now I have the chance to catch up! The entire weekend was wonderful! Even the trip home was eventful. A 3 1/2 hour trip took us six! We were caught in the middle of two tornadic storms and the second one caught up with us about 15 minutes before it produced a tornado. I've never been more thankful to make it home safely! Then, as I got home, I learned that our cellar was flooded! Sunday morning we were awaken by an awful sound coming from the fan! Thankfully our land-lord did come that morning and now we have a new sump-pump.
A rainy weekend has turned into a cloudy, rainy week and the rivers are beginning to swell. This promises to be an active spring!
Speaking of rain, I'm seeing that our back yard is becoming VERY wet, please pray that we don't have too much water to contend with!
Monday, March 30
In His Hands
My sweet little Jonathan has created his own blog. He hasn't posted much on it, but everything that has been done so far has been all him! I'm so proud of my little boy, no my BIG boy! He came up with a great idea and I can tell more wonders are on the way from his hands.
Hope you enjoy! Jonathan's Hands can be seen here.
Hope you enjoy! Jonathan's Hands can be seen here.
Saturday, March 28
Winter Storm of the Year
It crippled Denver and was said to dump around 2 feet of snow in southwest Kansas. It hit New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas yesterday. This was the largest area of a snow storm I have seen in a very long time (maybe ever). At the beginning of the week, I had heard around town that there was something coming on Friday and we were going to get some snow. I laughed inside, saying to myself that we had such a beautiful spring week the week before, surly this wouldn't be that bad. Wednesday night, I heard someone at church saying we were supposed to get 4 inches!
Real quick, to preface this, we've dropped cable and we don't have antennas yet, so we just see a lot of static and we just aren't watching that much television any longer.
So, I told Jeff and we checked out the weather websites and discovered Wednesday night, that we were predicted to get 8-10 inches of snow here! Other stations were saying 4-6. It has gone up and down all week. Yesterday I watched the internet radar and saw this storm knock on our door and then fissle up. There was still a large area behind it and the action for us was going to begin at 2 o'clock this morning. We were actually looking forward to the snow, one last play and another chance at a good snowman this year. People all over town covered flowers and parties were cancelled for today. Even Jonathan's last game of the year (which happens to be a make-up from the last snow we had) was cancelled for today. We've been watching outside and on the radar, this storm is loosing it's punch, space, and turning into rain. Our city is right on the line of where this storm is fighting itself. So far all day today, we've had rain and the occasional sleet.
UNTIL NOW. We were just about to sit down to lunch and Jeff said to look outside. The largest flakes I've ever seen were coming down! I couldn't get the camera in time, it happened pretty fast. But now, the ground is covered in a layer of white and the snow is falling. From the look of this radar, we could be in this for several hours now. I wonder what will happen!? How many inches will we actually get???
Well see!....
...2 hours later
The snow's still coming down and we have about an inch so far! Doesn't look like it's going to stop soon. Hmmm...
...6 hours after the snow began...
Well, it's just about over. Alex, Adie and I went outside for a while and ended up building a snowman! Woohoo! Actually, it's a snowgirl! While we were putting her together, Adie said that she should be a girl because the last one we made was a boy. That was Jack frost from January 2007. Jo has been sick the last couple of days and so today he stayed inside, since he gets pnemonia easily. But tomorrow, we will all stand with our snow girl and have our first family snowgirl picture with Alex!
The total for snow here was only about two inches or so. Not that much, but enough for a snowman!
Real quick, to preface this, we've dropped cable and we don't have antennas yet, so we just see a lot of static and we just aren't watching that much television any longer.
So, I told Jeff and we checked out the weather websites and discovered Wednesday night, that we were predicted to get 8-10 inches of snow here! Other stations were saying 4-6. It has gone up and down all week. Yesterday I watched the internet radar and saw this storm knock on our door and then fissle up. There was still a large area behind it and the action for us was going to begin at 2 o'clock this morning. We were actually looking forward to the snow, one last play and another chance at a good snowman this year. People all over town covered flowers and parties were cancelled for today. Even Jonathan's last game of the year (which happens to be a make-up from the last snow we had) was cancelled for today. We've been watching outside and on the radar, this storm is loosing it's punch, space, and turning into rain. Our city is right on the line of where this storm is fighting itself. So far all day today, we've had rain and the occasional sleet.
UNTIL NOW. We were just about to sit down to lunch and Jeff said to look outside. The largest flakes I've ever seen were coming down! I couldn't get the camera in time, it happened pretty fast. But now, the ground is covered in a layer of white and the snow is falling. From the look of this radar, we could be in this for several hours now. I wonder what will happen!? How many inches will we actually get???
Well see!....
...2 hours later
The snow's still coming down and we have about an inch so far! Doesn't look like it's going to stop soon. Hmmm...
...6 hours after the snow began...
Well, it's just about over. Alex, Adie and I went outside for a while and ended up building a snowman! Woohoo! Actually, it's a snowgirl! While we were putting her together, Adie said that she should be a girl because the last one we made was a boy. That was Jack frost from January 2007. Jo has been sick the last couple of days and so today he stayed inside, since he gets pnemonia easily. But tomorrow, we will all stand with our snow girl and have our first family snowgirl picture with Alex!
The total for snow here was only about two inches or so. Not that much, but enough for a snowman!
Monday, March 23
Two Cardinals
It is so windy today. A little dangerous to be outside actually. Pooh would be singing his blustery song and I think I saw Piglet flying by! ;)
We have two beautiful Cardinals that have been sitting outside our dinning room window for quite some time now. The kids decided to give them names. So, we have Brody (the female) and Marlin (the bright red male). I think these two are living in our house (two holes on the side and the fact that we've seen these two nearly everyday suggests that fact). It really has been a lovely day.
We have two beautiful Cardinals that have been sitting outside our dinning room window for quite some time now. The kids decided to give them names. So, we have Brody (the female) and Marlin (the bright red male). I think these two are living in our house (two holes on the side and the fact that we've seen these two nearly everyday suggests that fact). It really has been a lovely day.
Saturday, March 21
A Fun Spring "Break"
Yes, I put quotes around break. I just don't think we could call this last week a break! There was still much learning involved, even though we didn't crack open the school books. We went to the zoo, nature centers, the lake, Powell Gardens, our co-op, Jonathan's science class, and a Dairy Farm field trip! This week was so busy but so much fun!
The dairy farm was great. We got to see the whole process of how milk gets from the cow to the jugs in our grocery stores! I was unable to snap a lot of photos, only a couple, it was so crowded and holding on to Alex was quite a challenge. We got to taste some interesting flavors of milk - banana, strawberry, orange, root beer, and chocolate. The milk was great! No growth hormones, and fresh from that morning! It really was a lovely day.
Powell Gardens was great, it wasn't full of flowers yet, but it sure was a pleasant walk. And the lake was beautiful.
Jonathan is enjoying his science class (home school science lab at a local nature center). So far they've learned about eggs and compasses. There are three more weeks for this one.
I took Adie and Alex to the zoo during Jonathan's class and that was fun! I had Alex in a back-pack and Adie in the stroller (poor little ladie gets so tired walking the zoo). We have a membership so it's nice to go and just see a few things and then know we can come back anytime we want for free!
Our bird feeder is great. I believe we will have to get some more as time goes on. The whole family is getting a lot out of watching all that's going on. We do have a theif of a squirl coming along these days, so we'll have to figure that out. And this week, a new bird decided to grace us with his presence. It looked like a sparrow, but red like raspberry juice! I looked it up in the field guide and discovered that it was a male Purple Finch! I've never seen one before and they truly are beautiful!
The dairy farm was great. We got to see the whole process of how milk gets from the cow to the jugs in our grocery stores! I was unable to snap a lot of photos, only a couple, it was so crowded and holding on to Alex was quite a challenge. We got to taste some interesting flavors of milk - banana, strawberry, orange, root beer, and chocolate. The milk was great! No growth hormones, and fresh from that morning! It really was a lovely day.
Powell Gardens was great, it wasn't full of flowers yet, but it sure was a pleasant walk. And the lake was beautiful.
Jonathan is enjoying his science class (home school science lab at a local nature center). So far they've learned about eggs and compasses. There are three more weeks for this one.
I took Adie and Alex to the zoo during Jonathan's class and that was fun! I had Alex in a back-pack and Adie in the stroller (poor little ladie gets so tired walking the zoo). We have a membership so it's nice to go and just see a few things and then know we can come back anytime we want for free!
Our bird feeder is great. I believe we will have to get some more as time goes on. The whole family is getting a lot out of watching all that's going on. We do have a theif of a squirl coming along these days, so we'll have to figure that out. And this week, a new bird decided to grace us with his presence. It looked like a sparrow, but red like raspberry juice! I looked it up in the field guide and discovered that it was a male Purple Finch! I've never seen one before and they truly are beautiful!
Tuesday, March 17
And they don't even know it...
I've got a secret... Shhh... don't tell them.
I've got a picky eater. Seriously, doesn't like meat, most veggies, and nearly everything on the table. Does like sweet foods, fruits, and carbs. The other two are semi picky. So naturally, I worry about what I serve at the table. Don't we all?
Well, recently my beloved sister shared her secret with me. Deceptively Delicious. Oh boy, is it wonderful! Secret ingredients in all recipes! These are pureed ingredients so they are not even recognizable. I had already been pureeing food for our baby and this was nothing new for me. All I had to do was add it in to foods that I figured my pickiest would go for.
A few days ago I made a white lasagna. I wasn't sure about it, but wanted to give it a try. This was made with chicken and a butter sauce with pureed yellow squash. It turned out fabulous and was a hit to the entire family. For the first time ever the pickiest ate seconds and nearly a complete third serving of this dish. My heart skipped a beat and jumped for joy! I get a thrill out of sneaking things into their diet that is chock full of nutrition for them and I love the added value of the food I'm serving at our table. Not once has the question - Mom what is this? come out and neither have they refused any of it. I've served protien packed mac-n-cheese, spinach stuffed green-eggs-and-ham (Dr. Seuss was a fun addition to this one), sweet potato pancakes, and other fabulous dishes of foods my kids won't eat (or so they think);). There are more on the way.
This has been a hit, and they don't even know it!
I've got a picky eater. Seriously, doesn't like meat, most veggies, and nearly everything on the table. Does like sweet foods, fruits, and carbs. The other two are semi picky. So naturally, I worry about what I serve at the table. Don't we all?
Well, recently my beloved sister shared her secret with me. Deceptively Delicious. Oh boy, is it wonderful! Secret ingredients in all recipes! These are pureed ingredients so they are not even recognizable. I had already been pureeing food for our baby and this was nothing new for me. All I had to do was add it in to foods that I figured my pickiest would go for.
A few days ago I made a white lasagna. I wasn't sure about it, but wanted to give it a try. This was made with chicken and a butter sauce with pureed yellow squash. It turned out fabulous and was a hit to the entire family. For the first time ever the pickiest ate seconds and nearly a complete third serving of this dish. My heart skipped a beat and jumped for joy! I get a thrill out of sneaking things into their diet that is chock full of nutrition for them and I love the added value of the food I'm serving at our table. Not once has the question - Mom what is this? come out and neither have they refused any of it. I've served protien packed mac-n-cheese, spinach stuffed green-eggs-and-ham (Dr. Seuss was a fun addition to this one), sweet potato pancakes, and other fabulous dishes of foods my kids won't eat (or so they think);). There are more on the way.
This has been a hit, and they don't even know it!
Sunday, March 15
Birds, birds, birds!
Yesterday birds finally decided to take a taste from our bird feeder! One of the birds that graced us with his presense was a Hairy Woodpecker. It was beautiful! I had never seen a woodpecker like that before (my impression was that they all look like the good ole Woody Woodpecker from the cartoon of my childhood!). I have started a new gadget to the right, hopefully it will show up.
Have a wonderful week!
Have a wonderful week!
Saturday, February 28
The house
Well, I know everyone has been curious about the new place. Here is a picture of the front of the place. We quite like it. It snowed last night and this morning and left us about 3.5 inches to play in! I'll also post a few of those as well.
The snow was too fluffy today to build a snowman, but maybe we'll try tomorrow after it's settled a little while. We'd like to get one good one in this year! This was fun for make-shift sledding!
The snow was too fluffy today to build a snowman, but maybe we'll try tomorrow after it's settled a little while. We'd like to get one good one in this year! This was fun for make-shift sledding!
