It's 2010. What a year! I'm turning 30 and about to celebrate my 10th anniversary with my husband. This is so exciting! It has been an amazing journey with him.
I remember the first time I met him (well, this is actually debatable - he says we met before this but I don't remember what he does). That's funny. But the first time I'm remembering was in a caffeteria. We were both freshman, about to begin our first year at college. Both of our parents had brought us to school and his had gone on home. One Sunday morning, my parents and I were eating breakfast just before going to worship. A friend of mine was there with us and Jeff walked in. It turned out that he was my friend's roommate. When Jeff walked in, we called him over to sit with us and that is the beginning of our story. We found out through conversations at that table that our mothers were very good friends in high-school.
The following week, we spent quite an amount of time getting to know one another and developing a good friendship. Day after day I looked forward to seeing him and hanging out in the computer rooms together with him. We already had a great past through our mothers and I was hoping that we might have a great future together, be it friendly or otherwise.
Fairly soon, our schedules began going in different directions and our groups of friends were in different zones as well. For most of the semester, we didn't really see each other.
Christmas break came and everyone went home. During those three weeks, my thoughts went back to this young man over and over again. I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to see him. I had to find him.
The first day back at chapel I was talking with some friends and then I heard my name. I looked up and my heart jumped. I saw him. He had seen me from across the auditorium and yelled out my name. He ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug I had ever had, I can still feel the flutters in my heart today that I felt then. It was amazing. Each day got better. I had no idea what was about to come.
Sunday, January 10
Monday, January 4
Settling In
Good afternoon dear friends!
We are settling in quite nicely. Rooms are coming along great, Christmas went up right away for the season, now it is nearly all packed up again, snowmen tucked away nicely in the attic. I've been unpacking the picture boxes in the guest room and now I'm progressing toward trying to figure out where everything is going to go. Our loft area has turned out awesome! It is the play, TV, office, craft, and school room, oh, and the wrestling/racing place too. It sure is fun! The living room is totally musical. We've got our piano and dulcimers placed and now we're considering rack displays for the guitar and fiddle. The kitchen is so nice and very functional. It's the best one I've ever had!
We have just about completed Adie's room. Her room is done in horses. It sure has turned out adorable! She likes the colors brown, red, orange, and yellow, and pink too! So, we've incorporated the brown, red, and pink (from before).
The boys' room is going to be just what most boys want, sports! I'm thinking we will probably see college posters up on the wall someday and lots of balls, trophies, medals, etc. We're going to try and make it look cool.
Now as for the master bedroom, I'm just trying to get the rest of the house done! I'll be surprised if I am ever able to get something done in there. One day I want to paint our dresser and chest. They are old and funky looking. I still haven't figured out what I like best for the bedding. Hmmm...any ideas would be fun!
Well, I finally found the cable for the camera and now I'm going to go clean the house and take some pictures to share! (No worries, sis. I'll work as fast as I can. I've got so much to catch up on , all the way since the balloon fiesta!)
We are settling in quite nicely. Rooms are coming along great, Christmas went up right away for the season, now it is nearly all packed up again, snowmen tucked away nicely in the attic. I've been unpacking the picture boxes in the guest room and now I'm progressing toward trying to figure out where everything is going to go. Our loft area has turned out awesome! It is the play, TV, office, craft, and school room, oh, and the wrestling/racing place too. It sure is fun! The living room is totally musical. We've got our piano and dulcimers placed and now we're considering rack displays for the guitar and fiddle. The kitchen is so nice and very functional. It's the best one I've ever had!
We have just about completed Adie's room. Her room is done in horses. It sure has turned out adorable! She likes the colors brown, red, orange, and yellow, and pink too! So, we've incorporated the brown, red, and pink (from before).
The boys' room is going to be just what most boys want, sports! I'm thinking we will probably see college posters up on the wall someday and lots of balls, trophies, medals, etc. We're going to try and make it look cool.
Now as for the master bedroom, I'm just trying to get the rest of the house done! I'll be surprised if I am ever able to get something done in there. One day I want to paint our dresser and chest. They are old and funky looking. I still haven't figured out what I like best for the bedding. Hmmm...any ideas would be fun!
Well, I finally found the cable for the camera and now I'm going to go clean the house and take some pictures to share! (No worries, sis. I'll work as fast as I can. I've got so much to catch up on , all the way since the balloon fiesta!)
Wednesday, December 16
How Times have Changed!
Okay, so now we are in a new home! We made a swift move and now we are enjoying our new home. Long story short, we traveled over 6,000 miles in one month and added another 1,300 for the move! It was all very crazy, but we are settling in wonderfully now. We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving at home, just the five of us. Now we are getting ready for Christmas and will be travelling East to see family. It will be a wonderful visit. Part of this family we haven't seen in 2 years and the children have grown so much! I'm excited to see them and to watch all our children enjoy time together. The two youngest are going to be interesting. Ours is quite a critter, he loves to play monster! And I'm curious about our nephew. I've heard he has quite the character too! Hopefully I can find the cord or get a new disc to finally upload pictures to the computer again and I'll get photos posted.
Ahhh! So much to do before the trip!
Ahhh! So much to do before the trip!
Thursday, August 20
I was just writing a post about our long vacation and then my computer did something and everything was lost! I have no idea how long it had gotten, but I'm going to have to write it all again!
Things are going great. We've been to Canada, we've seen 7 states. We've started school. Jonathan is now signed up for Cub-Scouts. We are considering gymnastics for Adie. Alex is keeping us all on our toes. Still no word on our move, but it will come sometime! Don't worry, we'll put the word out when it comes. Things are going great though. Keeping busy, but good.
Hope you all are doing fine. I'll try to write that blog again soon. I've been writing for twenty minutes and so it'll take some time to get it all back, but I'm tired and need to train myself to get to bed earlier now. I'm still on vacation mode! I've got to get disciplined again!
Love to you all.
Blessings!
Things are going great. We've been to Canada, we've seen 7 states. We've started school. Jonathan is now signed up for Cub-Scouts. We are considering gymnastics for Adie. Alex is keeping us all on our toes. Still no word on our move, but it will come sometime! Don't worry, we'll put the word out when it comes. Things are going great though. Keeping busy, but good.
Hope you all are doing fine. I'll try to write that blog again soon. I've been writing for twenty minutes and so it'll take some time to get it all back, but I'm tired and need to train myself to get to bed earlier now. I'm still on vacation mode! I've got to get disciplined again!
Love to you all.
Blessings!
Thursday, July 23
A Garden Mistaken for Weeds
Wildflowers...
Those wretched weeds! Those nasty things are growing in my yard again! That field has been let go for too long, look at that over growth!
Wildflowers...
Look how beautiful they are! So many colors, so many beautiful designs. God gave us many wonderful natural gardens for us to enjoy!
I love driving or walking around and viewing all the beautiful wildflowers God has graced the earth with. Just two blocks from here, there is a small field that had so many wonderful flowers growing in it (well, the variety wasn't that large, but the amount of flowers was abundant)! Jonathan and I actually had gone in there and looked at several of them. It was refreshing to the soul to enjoy those with him. Then just a couple days ago, we drove by there and it is all gone. Every bit of it has been mowed down. Sure I get it, we need to control overgrowth and it will most likely grow back. But will it? It was so beautiful! Not only did we see several flowers, but the deer enjoyed walking through there and munching on the vegetation. Now it's gone, absolutely gone. I miss it.
I wrote this last month and just realized that I haven't posted it yet!
Those wretched weeds! Those nasty things are growing in my yard again! That field has been let go for too long, look at that over growth!
Wildflowers...
Look how beautiful they are! So many colors, so many beautiful designs. God gave us many wonderful natural gardens for us to enjoy!
I love driving or walking around and viewing all the beautiful wildflowers God has graced the earth with. Just two blocks from here, there is a small field that had so many wonderful flowers growing in it (well, the variety wasn't that large, but the amount of flowers was abundant)! Jonathan and I actually had gone in there and looked at several of them. It was refreshing to the soul to enjoy those with him. Then just a couple days ago, we drove by there and it is all gone. Every bit of it has been mowed down. Sure I get it, we need to control overgrowth and it will most likely grow back. But will it? It was so beautiful! Not only did we see several flowers, but the deer enjoyed walking through there and munching on the vegetation. Now it's gone, absolutely gone. I miss it.
I wrote this last month and just realized that I haven't posted it yet!
Wednesday, July 15
A New Interest
Hey there folks!
For my birthday, the family gave me a jewelry making set. I've had so much fun making things. So far, I've made 3 necklaces. I'm giving one away as a gift, (I'll post a picture of that one when I give it ~ don't want to spoil the surprise!) one was for Adie and I'm going to re-do it, and the most recent one I made is for me. Here is the picture.
I took the picture with my phone. It's not the greatest, but it works. Our camera is on a trip for the week. More on that one later.
Here's to a fun July!
For my birthday, the family gave me a jewelry making set. I've had so much fun making things. So far, I've made 3 necklaces. I'm giving one away as a gift, (I'll post a picture of that one when I give it ~ don't want to spoil the surprise!) one was for Adie and I'm going to re-do it, and the most recent one I made is for me. Here is the picture.
I took the picture with my phone. It's not the greatest, but it works. Our camera is on a trip for the week. More on that one later.
Here's to a fun July!
Tuesday, June 30
The Synopsis of June
Good evening my beautiful friends!
June has been a fantastic month! We've been home enjoying summer. We started bowling. We went swimming. Our garden is growing, by leaps and bounds! We've had ice-cream, cook-outs, and snow-cones. We've gone to the zoo and parks. We've gone on walks, around the neighborhood, down the street, and to the library. It hasn't been a huge month by any means, we've just soaked in the joys of this wonderful season. We've been watching lots of bugs take up residence in our back yard, and even in our home. We've gotten to know a daddy-long-legs, several mud wasps, cicadas, snakes, and even a little mouse. Inside our home we have had your usual little critter spiders, but also a couple of those mud wasps (NOT FUN) and last night I saw a mouse in the kitchen!
I have to tell you, I feel like I'm re-living my chldhood. Where I grew up, we had many mice in our home, skunks living underneath, squirls in the walls, and cats that liked to leave "presents" in my sister's bed! We've had nearly all of that and more here. The only thing I'm hoping we don't experience is the "presents" from our cats.
Well, I'll leave you with a few pictures from the month. But not before I put a plug-in about a new blog of mine. I want to keep this blog, it's personal and fun to come and share these thoughts with friends and whoever else may be reading. It's a journal that I hope to keep for years to come. But this new blog is strictly home school. I had wanted to chronicle it all here, but that didn't work. I've been educating myself this summer and have been praying about my scheduling practices. I hope to really write about all we do in our homeschool. After all I've been learning about homeschooling and an extremely wonderful method of home education, I'm so excited about it all. Educating the children at home will not only be a safari of learning for them, but it's a quest of knowledge for us all. We will be nourishing our minds with the best of ideas and quenching our thirst with God's amazing creation. If you find the time or your curiosity is pricked, please visit our blog: Kingdom Heights Homeschool. The link is on the right side as well.
June has been a fantastic month! We've been home enjoying summer. We started bowling. We went swimming. Our garden is growing, by leaps and bounds! We've had ice-cream, cook-outs, and snow-cones. We've gone to the zoo and parks. We've gone on walks, around the neighborhood, down the street, and to the library. It hasn't been a huge month by any means, we've just soaked in the joys of this wonderful season. We've been watching lots of bugs take up residence in our back yard, and even in our home. We've gotten to know a daddy-long-legs, several mud wasps, cicadas, snakes, and even a little mouse. Inside our home we have had your usual little critter spiders, but also a couple of those mud wasps (NOT FUN) and last night I saw a mouse in the kitchen!
I have to tell you, I feel like I'm re-living my chldhood. Where I grew up, we had many mice in our home, skunks living underneath, squirls in the walls, and cats that liked to leave "presents" in my sister's bed! We've had nearly all of that and more here. The only thing I'm hoping we don't experience is the "presents" from our cats.
Well, I'll leave you with a few pictures from the month. But not before I put a plug-in about a new blog of mine. I want to keep this blog, it's personal and fun to come and share these thoughts with friends and whoever else may be reading. It's a journal that I hope to keep for years to come. But this new blog is strictly home school. I had wanted to chronicle it all here, but that didn't work. I've been educating myself this summer and have been praying about my scheduling practices. I hope to really write about all we do in our homeschool. After all I've been learning about homeschooling and an extremely wonderful method of home education, I'm so excited about it all. Educating the children at home will not only be a safari of learning for them, but it's a quest of knowledge for us all. We will be nourishing our minds with the best of ideas and quenching our thirst with God's amazing creation. If you find the time or your curiosity is pricked, please visit our blog: Kingdom Heights Homeschool. The link is on the right side as well.
Monday, June 8
Good morning!
Well, it has been a while since I was here. We went on our trip (#1 for the summer), saw my cousin get married, enjoyed visiting my parents and sent Jonathan off on a week trip to San Antonio with Jeff's family. Our grass is doing very good and we did finally get the garden planted in the ground. I'm afraid we've lost the peas. However, the carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, squash, and pumpkin are looking great. We have a lot of rodents around here; squirls, rabbits, ground hogs, racoons, skunks, etc. A friend of ours suggested that we plant peppers around the perimeter to ward off the critters. One taste of those spicy leaves and they'll be gone! So, we we out and found some nice pepper plants that were already established and growing well and picked up a strawberry as well! We got it all in the ground Friday and it all seems to be going well so far!
As far as the school year goes, we are nearly done, 4 days left! This morning, Jonathan got up very early and got right to work! He planned and opened up a Kool-aid stand yesterday and was very determined to do it again today. So, he wanted all his school work done first thing this morning, to allow himself most of the day to sell "nice fresh koolaid on a hot summer day!" It's 9 A.M. and he is done (course, these last few days are extremely light in the work)! VERY ambitious young man. We are proud of him. He only made one sale yesterday, but he started in the alley and decided that wasn't the best place, no one came! So he moved to the front. Some teen agers drove by and he and Adie were yelling at the top of their lungs to get those girls to come to their stand. Didn't work. Then, Jonathan got the idea to go door-to-door selling his drink (for $.50!). That was at 7:30 last night. I allowed them to go to the only neighbor we know, on the condition they would sell it for a quarter. Well, that was their sell for the day and today, they are determined to sell more today. They've added to what they want to sell today, smarties! These kids are so cute! Oh! While we were sitting on the porch ending the day, I was telling Jeff that I've got a new interest. Beads and making jewelry, not to mention the bows and socks that I'm getting back in to! Immediately, Jonathan piked up and nearly jumped out of his chair and said, "OOh! More stuff for us to sell!"
They are working very hard, he says, so they can earn money for them to go to Canada and see their cousins. That trip is coming very soon, and all of us are so excited! Lots to do, lots to do.
Have a good week!
As far as the school year goes, we are nearly done, 4 days left! This morning, Jonathan got up very early and got right to work! He planned and opened up a Kool-aid stand yesterday and was very determined to do it again today. So, he wanted all his school work done first thing this morning, to allow himself most of the day to sell "nice fresh koolaid on a hot summer day!" It's 9 A.M. and he is done (course, these last few days are extremely light in the work)! VERY ambitious young man. We are proud of him. He only made one sale yesterday, but he started in the alley and decided that wasn't the best place, no one came! So he moved to the front. Some teen agers drove by and he and Adie were yelling at the top of their lungs to get those girls to come to their stand. Didn't work. Then, Jonathan got the idea to go door-to-door selling his drink (for $.50!). That was at 7:30 last night. I allowed them to go to the only neighbor we know, on the condition they would sell it for a quarter. Well, that was their sell for the day and today, they are determined to sell more today. They've added to what they want to sell today, smarties! These kids are so cute! Oh! While we were sitting on the porch ending the day, I was telling Jeff that I've got a new interest. Beads and making jewelry, not to mention the bows and socks that I'm getting back in to! Immediately, Jonathan piked up and nearly jumped out of his chair and said, "OOh! More stuff for us to sell!"
They are working very hard, he says, so they can earn money for them to go to Canada and see their cousins. That trip is coming very soon, and all of us are so excited! Lots to do, lots to do.
Have a good week!
Sunday, May 3
Growing, Growing, Growing!
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!
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!
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!