Beautiful Moment!

Nature is a beautiful thing.  Taking time to just see it and be in awe can help reset the day, week, or almost any funk (well, until you are rapidly pulled out of moment)!  Here is one thing thing I saw today that made me pause!

Loved the shadows on the pantry and wall

into the dining room.  Colors were warm.  If it'd

been somewhere else, with a comfy chair,

it would have been inviting a book, cup of tea,

and a blanket!

 This was the view through the dining room window (and

a very dirty dining room window).  Beautiful view!

With a sick child, I was quickly pulled out of the moment, but thankful for a beautiful moment.

When nature calls

Go for a walk and enjoy the weather!  Dropped Kevin off at the airport and made it home.  It really seemed to nice of a day to spend the remaining day light in the car or house so we took a hike through the woods.  Never seems to get old going out into the woods (it's still a value added to our home)!

Here's some of what it looked like:

 liked how the light was coming through the trees

 off and walking away!

 off paved path adventures (to see where a beaver dam used to be)

 What is on the other side of the log?

 Charlotte wants to know as well.

the creek of course!

Welcome Fall

I am a fall person, by nature.  The cooler temperatures, the vibrant colors of leaves, the crunch of those leaves already fallen, the need for a sweat shirt or fleece jacket, or a cup of hot tea, all make the world feel right with me.

During this fall season, am really hoping to get out back more.  No, I do not mean out back to Australia or Outback the resturuant (that would be good too, though), but out and into our backyard.  One of the greatest benefits of our house is that it backs up to many acres of park land and paved foot paths.  Then there are the heavily wooden neighborhood areas that connect the various park lands together.  It's been enjoyable getting out and looking around the various paths and taking one we haven't explored before.  Our dog, Charlotte, has been having a ball with it as well.  Her nose has been going crazy when we go for walks.

Well, now after about 8 days of mostly overcast and some rain, I'm looking forward to the sun and getting out.  It's time to load up the backpacks with water bottles, pencils, art pads, nature journals, camera, and hit the trails.  Maybe even a a picnic blanket and snack. 

Daily Scheduling

I've been busy, busy, busy.  Printing things for school, making wish lists for when we attend the HEAV Convention, and about to print more blank weekly lesson sheets.  Yes, it may be a bit early, but given we will have a couple weeks of school in June, I want to get an idea of how school may look with some of the new subjects we are adding this year.

For 2011/2012 school year, I am hoping to add:

• typing
• Spanish vocabulary using Rosetta Stone Latin America
• Phys. Ed.
• Nature Studies (been meaning to do this and have neglected it greatly)
• more art, but through our Unit Studies, Geography, and History
• A Child's Geography written by Ann Voskamp

 Most of these may only be 2 or 3 days a week and may need to be shuffled some once we have fall activities figured out.  This is in addition to Five in a Row, Beyond Five in a Row, Amanda Bennett's Unit Studies,  Mystery of History, Math-U-See, and Language Lessons from Queens Homeschool Supplies.  These we've used in the past few years with a lot of success, so we're continuing with them.

Can you hear it?

It is the sound of nothing but slow, relaxed, happy breathing. It's the hum of a slow summer day. It's the sound of bugs flying from one flower to the next. It's the sound of ice melting from hot, fresh tea being poured over it.

Welcome to my day, sprinkled with a bit of reality (laundry and dishes don't take a vacation).

Last Friday wrapped a crazy week of VBS. The boys had a great time, but it sure was all consuming. Think I logged, on average, 6 hours each day at church even though VBS was only 3 hours. I'll be the first to admit, and the boys will attest to it, that it wore me out. Knowing myself though, by next May or so, I'll be ready to jump back into it and log some crazy hours again. Hopefully, I'll remember what worked and what didn't!! Eeek, I'm suppose to write something like that up for the co0rdinaters (yes, I did a lot of hours, phone calls, shopping, computer work, etc. and I wasn't a coordinater over it all. Our 5th and 6th graders do a number of service projects during the week and that takes a lot of planning).

Okay, back to this week. It was thought that this week would be a lot slower! Yeah right! As certain parts of our Home Study took so long to get accomplished, some of the back ground checks have expired and new "rules" took effect as of July 1, 2010. So, we spent a portion of yesterday getting finger printed AGAIN, I need to go by the post office to pick up a lot of $$$'s worth of certified checks AGAIN, and get another form notarized AGAIN. Friday, we hope to drop all this off, in person, during our last interview (yup, as of July 1, 2010 we need 3 interviews).

Scattered in there is getting Thing One ready for his first Cub Scout sleep away camp! Not sure who is more nervous - him or me!! Kevin would tell you, in a heart beat, that it's me! Just can't believe he's old enough for things like this. Yes, there may be kids that go to sleep away camp or boarding school earlier than 10, but our kids never asked to go!

Probably should get back to reality for a bit! At least check on laundry and do a few odds and ends. Some will be fun, some school related, some just flat out CHORES.

Stay cool friends!



P.S. How do you like the photo (above) of the flowers in the corner of our yard? Been meaning to take one lately and got around to it today. It's my tribute to Wordless Wednesday even though I wrote a lot.

Excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As an adult, what gets you totally excited? The success of your child in school, sports, or spiritual things? A raise in pay? A new car, house, or something else?

While all these things are wonderful, probably one of the greatest fun things for me, in the last few years, is going to the HEAV Convention. It's a chance to go to a bunch of vendors, listen to a few speakers on many different topics, see some friends, and having 6 meals with Kevin without kids!!!

Should you care, here's a list of Vendors I'll be visiting and most likely buying from:

• Excellence in Writing
• Math-U-See
• My Father's World
• Queen Homeschool Supplies
• Rainbow Resource Center, Inc.

Now for the the Workshops:

• The Power of Good Habits in Your Homeschool - Simply Charlotte Mason
• Homeschool Distractions - Kerin Morgan
• Nature Studies & Journaling - Barry Stebbing
• Combining Classical Education, Charlotte Mason, and Unit Studies with a Christian Perspective - My Father's World
  

Yes, there is a theme to most of the Vendors and Workshops I'll be attending. With three years of homeschooling under my belt, I'm a bit more relaxed, ready to try new things for the boys, and ready to set things aside if they aren't working. Unit studies have been a wonderful concept for our family. We can focus on a theme, book, idea, or whatever, glean a lot of information about said theme, then move on. Yes, the homeschool distractions play in as I'm naturally and easily distracted by my own body chemistry, things that look more fun, a new topic, and actual household chores. One of my "New School Year Resolves" is to get the boys outside more. There are a wealth of trails to explore in our area, county and state parks to play in or visit, and a lot of places we can go visit within a short drive (or metro)!

Tree Removal

Our dead oak tree, out front, has been removed, the stump ground out, and the wood split and stacked on our driveway. All waiting for us to do something about it. The following photos and videos were taken over the coarse of three days.

The top of the tree being taken down. Thing One and

Thing Two sure did enjoy watching.

Some of the limbs that have been taken down.

Thankful our neighbor's car wasn't there. Not many

limbs hit their driveway, but it was close.

What is left when they're finished.

Wood stacked and ready to be split.

I'm having a bit of trouble uploading videos, so those will be added on another day.

Perserverance

noun ~ 1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement

This is the term my children learned this late morning. It was in persuit of riding our deck of all things helicopters. This year, we seemed to have an over abundance of the kind pictured here. They are EVERYWHERE and clogging the little gaps in between our trek boards. We spent awhile, with plastic knives in hand, scraping out the cracks. After about 45 minutes, half the deck has been cleaned out. Hoping to finish sometime in the coming mornings or evenings as the afternoon sun can be a bit hot.

I'll be the first to admit though, this style is a lot easier on the feet than the kind that end in a very sharp point. It feels like stepping on knives. These though, are being plucked from everywhere. There are even gazillions of them in the nooks and crannies of my van, Kevin's Honda, cracks in the driveway. They're sprouting in flower beds and corners of patios that haven't been swept well.

It was kind of neat to watch them come down, a few weeks ago. Nothing like a strong wind to bring so many down, at one time, it looked like they were raining down. Occasionally, you'd need your wipers on because so many were coming down so heavily.

Ah, nature!!!!

Again with the snow????

It snowed again over night! Guess I am just not a total snow person. A good snow storm is enjoyable, however do we really need more than one covering (okay not a total covering today, but most of the ground is covered!)?

Snow does make for some cool photographs though! Below are shots from our front window and kitchen window.

Neat how the sun looks so orange and on fire.
Yes, it is on fire, but on earth we don't generally see
the flames shooting out of it.

Loved how the orange seems to be shooting form
the sun here. Very cool!

The above and below pictures are taken from our
kitchen window. Nothing particularly impressive about them
other than snow covered trees. We just enjoy living
in the woods.

Snow, SNOW, sNoW

and it keeps on coming down. From what the weathermen are saying, we'll end up with a couple feet of it and set a record for the most in December. The record hasn't changed since 1932 when our area got 11.6". Sounds like a good baking day here.

Here are a couple shots from about 8:00 AM today:

A Blustery Black Friday

The weather today sure is wild. It's been rather windy all day, which brought in a quick hail storm. It left, just as quickly as it came and now we have blue skies.

With these winds we have been having today, a squirrel's nest came down from our Oak Tree out front. The boys and I were rather curious and they wanted a few pictures taken of it as well. Have to admit, I did too. Here's what it looks like:

Up close of what might have been the "front door".

The front of the whole nest.

The back of the nest.

The boys with the nest.

Busy School Day

We have gotten a lot of school type things accomplished today. Some of it book related, some of it nature related, and now Thing Two is picking up a little Spanish as he plays his Diego game.

There was a lot of time spent outdoors this afternoon, too. Here are some photo highlights ~

Decided over the weekend, that we'd work a little harder
on memorizing the times tables. It's such a nice day, would be a shame
not to do some of the work outside. Had them skip count, the 3's, as I
wrote them on our drive way. Then I asked what 3 x _____ equealed.
Thing One would have to tell me and jump onto the number. We
did enough of that to hit all the numbers 1 - 10 a couple times.

While we were out doing math, I was able to
finally photograph a salamander.

Need to double check, but I think this might be a
bee hive in a tree.
Turns out this is a Burr tree, with an irregular growth,
sort of like a wart. Makes for interesting carvings.

Another item to check on ~ think this is a heron.
I was right on the heron, but to be more specific,
it's a female Great Blue Heron.

Playing in the water. Thing Two was actually running through
the water, tripped, and fell into the water (not during this photo
though, a bit later). He was soaked by the time we got home.

Thing One was having fun walking across, bare foot. Both boys
really enjoyed playing in the water. While we were in this area, I also
pointed out a bend in the river and tied it back to Higgins Bend Song & Dance.
This is such a wonderful area, I'm hoping to make it out more often,
even when we row Owl Moon. I'd love for the four of us to get out one night.

This was the first time walking through the woods that we came across
deer AND I had a camera. Very cool!

Double Posting

We got home from Breakaway today and the boys noticed a Praying Mantis on our stoop. Had meant to get a picture, but, of course, I totally forgot.

Later this afternoon a friend had come over to help me for a moment and on the way out noticed it had moved to a potted mum. No sooner than seeing this guy, a hummingbird came to one of the feeders and a salamander went climbing up the wall. After we finished talking, I grabbed the camera and here are the resulting photo's.

Can you see the Praying Mantis in the above picture?
He blends in fairly well.

Here's a close up. He really was quite large.

Really beginning to love this house and the opportunity to find nature things.

Missed Picture

I was chatting this morning with my neighbor. We got on the subject of the woods around our house because my normally indoor cat made an appearance outdoor. This lead to the need for us using Frontline Flea and Tick stuff; which in turn lead to her mentioning something along the lines of "you had a deer trying to get into your back yard. It's hooves were on the back gate!" My thought was "Darn!! I'm kind of getting into taking nature pictures and blogging about it. I missed a beauty of one." Oh well. Everyone can use their imagination.

Humming Birds

We get a number of animals in our yard, most are not domestic pets. Suppose that's not a surprise as we back up to park land and live at the end of the street (almost, second to last). Thought I'd try to get a picture of a hummingbird this go around. Each time I try, the pictures are getting a bit better. Here's what I've gotten so far:

Not the best, as the picture is washed out (through a window
and screen and maxed out on zooming). You can
still tell it's a humming bird in flight.

A hummingbird checking out new "bird juice" and location
of feeder so I could hopefully get better pictures from inside.

Suppose it tastes okay!

More on wild life!

Adding to the photo's of animals we find in our yard. Here's a rabbit in the corner of our yard:

Mr. Rabbit was probably just sunning himself, but his
ears seem to be perked up. Wonder what he heard?