The All Star's First Week

 My sweet daughter was all set to begin school on Monday when this happened:

 I had originally put an exclamation point at the end of the message but she erased it. She was not so excited for it to be a Snow Day, she was ready to start school. Tuesday came and it was another Snow Day.

 She was not impressed.
Then Wednesday:

Yeah!!! Finally, she had school. A first official day. Off she went with a smile. As for me? I was smiling too. No tears. No fears.

Her initial response to public school was, ""Good first day of school. It's really loud though." Ha!

Her second day she was relaxed and happy at pick up. Excitedly telling me about her day.
At 4:30pm her teacher called me. The best teacher phone call in history. He explained that each month, a student from each homeroom is given the All-Star Award for showing exemplary behavior and the character virtue of the month. The virtue? Courage.

My sweet girl walked into that school with her head up, ready to learn. Taking what could be a very daunting transition and doing it with ease and grace. My sweet girl had courage. :)

He went on to say she is a great kid and a wonderful addition to the school. Yeah!!!

So this morning I attended my first ever school assembly as a parent. As soon as I walked into the gym I was instantly chocked up. I had managed to escape tears all week up until that point. In my defense I am often choked up by kids; parades, singing in church or concerts, whenever I see kids doing big things, or a sentimental commercial. So it was not really a surprise to feel that wave of emotion. I did however have to pull it together before the kids came in. Which I mostly did. ;)

Receiving her award.

  

My All-Star! Barely entertaining my request for a picture. ;)

Needless to say, this momma is super proud!

Freedom and Insanity

This week should prove to be the craziest week of the summer.
The boy is a member of YLP, Youth Leadership Program, at Fenner Nature Center. He meets weekly with other youth and helps shape the future of the nature center as well as maintain it. This week he has volunteered to be an assistant at their week long summer camp, Wilderness Rangers. It is right up his alley as it covers the fundamentals of fire starting, shelter building, water purification and navigating in the back country.

Sweet tart, aka DD, will having quite the week as she does VBS the Blast in the mornings. Hangs out with a friend that we are transporting to VBS for a couple of hours. Throw in cooking our recipe for the day. Then it is off to the theater from 6-9:45pm for Tech week, a series of dress, sound and tech rehearsals getting ready for Opening Day on Friday. Closing the week with three performances of The Little Mermaid.

Yesterday, I got a really unusual phone call. A friend of a friend was looking for a ride for their son to and from VBS so he could volunteer. I said I would, hopefully I can figure out who he is at pick up today.

Which leads me to FREEDOM! I am kid free all week from 9-noon. By free I mean, free to pay bills, clean the house, blog, go shopping, do school prep and read with no kids to distract. Close enough to freedom for me.

We will be coming and going in a whirlwind of activity but it should be a grand adventure.

Kit Kittridge

Who is Kit Kittridge?
Besides being an American girl doll and the star of a chapter book or even a movie star, she is my new best friend. Seriously, I love her!
A week ago my daughter picked up the American Girl books at the library. She quickly devoured book 1 of Molly. When she went back to the library she could not find book 2 so she got the Kit Kittridge series instead. Hooked I say. In three days she has read three books. But my joy is not that alone. Oh no! The true reason I love Kit Kittridge: She has turned by daughter onto writing .
In the books Kit is a nine year old growing up in the Depression. With the help of her typewriter she writes daily newspapers to her dad to fill him in on the happening of the day.
Little girl finished book one of the series and asked if she could do that too. Of course, she can write articles for a newspaper!
We hopped on the computer, sorry no typewriters at this house, figured out how to make a newsletter on Word and off she went. Within 24 hours she had written 5 articles for her News. She figured out how to add pictures and clip art, then discovered text wrap.
With a little help from spell check and her editor(me) she was ready for print.
I could not be more proud or excited!
She has already exclaimed to dad that he will be recieving a weekly newspaper. Woot woot.
See I told you I love Kit. And now you know the rest of the story.

Bobbitybobbitybobbity

Yesterday for Math a stream of continuous and nonsense sound came from my son. Bobbitybobbitybobbitybobbity...for 10 minutes. I found it annoying at first and then I realized something. It was helping him.
Sometimes in our house Math can take a half hour other days in between standing on his head and sharpening pencils it can take an hour. Distractions abound and there are times the distractions are overwhelming. Focus.
So enter the bobbitybobbities and for once there were no other distractions. For 10 minutes he sat focused on his Math, as he sang he was doing his Math. and people say men can't do two things at once.
Here was the boys journal yesterday:
Mommy, can I please sing at my desk? It helps me and (my sister) focus very much. I know that it makes you kinda mad but I would really love to. I would like to sing while I do Math. When I sing it gets the pressure off of me so I can focus better. Thank you very ,very much. Love, (Your son)

Who am I am to argue with that? In fact we just completed day two of singing during math and guess what? He finished 40 problems in LESS than 10 minutes! A miracle. A singing miracle.
Bobbitybobbitybobbity- Now if only that would help me accomplish all I need to do.

Another Exciting Day

Lately the weather has been ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! Needless to say we have been trying to make the most of it.
Yesterday we decided to pack a picnic lunch and head over to Hawk Island. We ate, played, walked the board walk and soaked in the sunshine as the ducks swam out on the lake.

Since it was Babler's birthday we decided to go to on of her favorite places...The Dairy Farm.
And lo and behold, we go to see yet another birth. This one was a boy. :( So it won't be staying on the farm but we named him anyway. Introducing Axe. Hopefully this is not a foreshadowing of his fate.

Regardless he is a cute little thing with a white heart on his forehead.

Looking for something to do? Check out the MSU farms. The horses, cows and sheep are all expecting little ones. Oh and it's FREE!

Highlights of Meijer Garden 2010

With the butterflies flying at Meijer Garden we joined our homeschool co-op on a visit.
I must say the diversity of the plants and flowers there is amazing. I must also state that the following pictures were taken by my mother, who did a fabulous job. Thanks mom!

Cactus

Pitcher Plants

My beautiful butterflies.

Butterflies all around in the aviary.

How many butterflies can you find on this one plant?

Don't forget to look for the birds...here is a blue one, an orange one and a yellow one.

Jailed? Not really, they are enjoying the kids gate of the Children's Garden.

Butterfly dress-up.

Archeological dig.

When we did our sculpture study back in January we studied Marshall Fredrick. After reading, The Outdoor Museum: The Magic of Michigan's Marshall M. Fredericks, we fell in love with his work. We even visited his museum. So we were delighted to revisit so many of his sculptures at Meijer Garden.
Here is the Leaping Gazelle...

Which is actually a fountain.

More Marshall Fredrick.

Red-Tailed Hawk looking for lunch.

Davinci's Horse...we were highly anticipating this sculpture after reading Leonardo's Horse by Jean Fritz

I absolutely LOVE the expression of the grandfathers face.

What kind of bird do you think might hatch from these?

Strike a pose.


Hope you enjoyed our trip to Meijer Garden as much as we did.

Face to Face With a Butterfly

The butterflies are back at MSU gardens.
The thing I love about the butterflies at MSU besides the fact that it is free, is you can get up close and personal.
My boy face to face with a Zebra butterfly.

You can hold them just remember to never touch their wings.

It's best to dip your fingers in sugar water and hold your finger in front of them. They will climb on and you will get a close look at your favorite butterfly.

Chrysalis await to emerge and newly emerged butterflies dry their wings. In a few more weeks you will be able to see all 4 stages of a butterfly as eggs are laid and caterpillars can be found on some of the plants.

While there we always go on a hunt for tree frogs. Hint look on the cement wall and the large tree by the pond.

Next we head out to play in the Children's Garden. While there are not many plants in bloom, there is still plenty to do.

Yesterday we had perfect sunshine for testing out the sundial.
4:20pm


If you haven't been, I highly recommend the MSU Children's Garden and Butterfly House!
Don't forget there are parking fees during the week. Not sure about the weekends this year.

I Am Carrying On a Great Project and I Can Not Come Down!

One day last summer a couple of girls rode their bikes past our home. They stopped to chat with us.
The next day they came back. An hour later we had 10 kids in our back yard.
The next day we had 12. Upon finding out that we homeschool some asked if I would teach them during the Summer. I agreed.
Nearly everyday for the remainder of the Summer I had kids coming over. Most would do some sort of school. Some wanted to do Spelling, while others wanted challenges in Math. Others wanted to play basketball or skate. What they really wanted? Someone who cared about them. A safe place to play without worry. A snack and a friend.
So our family became the caring face and listening ear. Our home and yard became the safe place; we played basketball, let them ride our skates and our bikes. We would dish out snacks and we definitely made friends.
One girl in particular would stop by nearly every day. Before long I noticed a spark about her. I knew she had faith. One day the Holy Spirit nudged me to ask her what she prayed for. So I did. I will always remember her answer.
"I pray that my friends and I will be safe!"
I knew God had called me to open my home to these kids and I now I knew why. Our home, our family was a direct answer to her prayers.
Fall came. Kids went back to school. Temperatures dropped and the kids came around less and less.
All except Taylor!

She would come over every now and then. We had tea parties, played school and board games. Before long she was joining us on trips to the YMCA. So we helped her get a scholarship so that she could come with us every time. Eventually pretty much everywhere we went Taylor came too. And then Chi.
Chi started coming over with Taylor and we loved on her as well. Sharing meals, conversations, games, trips to the Y; life.

They have joined us on skiing trips, trips to the animal farms, parks, the circus and the Youth Gardening Conference.

Here is a picture of Taylor getting over her fear of snakes at Nature Discoveries Go Wild weekend.

These girls have become more than my neighbors, they are my adopted daughters.

I am carrying on a great project and it is this; TO LOVE MY FAMILY AND TRAIN THEM UP TO BE FULLY FUNCTIONING CITIZENS! AND TO LOVE MY NEIGHBORS! FEEDING THEM, LOVING THEM, TEACHING THEM, NURTURING THEM AND ACCEPTING THEM AS THEY ARE AS IF THEY WERE MY OWN.
I am carrying on a great project and I can not come down!
My desire for this year is to involve my new family in something productive and rewarding. So we will be starting a youth community garden a couple of blocks away from my house. Together we will dig up the earth, plant seeds, weed and water. We will see the fruits of our labor. I will pour into them in every way possible. I hope to teach them more than how a plant grows. I hope to show them how they too can grow into productive people. I hope to show them that they will be known by their actions as either good fruit or bad, the choice is theirs. I hope to see them succeed both in gardening and in life. The teacher in me hopes they will learn great things. The mother in me hopes they will know they are loved. The neighbor in me hopes we can be a positive light to our community.

Today in church I learned that Nehemiah was in the midst of rebuilding the wall, doing a great work that God called him to do, while others tried to call him away from the work. His response every time was, "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go(come) down." He kept to the work God called him to do and did not let the opposition steer him away.

I take from that this; I will not be called away from my calling to care for these kids. Be it two or twenty. Even when I get crazy looks and glances when I arrive somewhere with my "Gaggle of children." Even when I struggle to transport them to the various things we may do. Even when life happens and they go through hard times, especially then. Even when my garage door gets beat up from skates banging into it. Even when the pantry is thin. Even if our vegetables refuse to grow or the labor is hard.
Even then... I am carrying on a great project and I can not come down!

Car Conversation

"Mom?"
"Yes dear."
"Did you know I have 3 friends who go to their moms house and then their dads?" As she proceeds to list their names. Then continues..."Kelsey had to go back to her mom's house last night."
I wasn't planning on having a discussion about divorce or kids who have split custody. But apparently these things have been on her 5 year mind.
"Mom, why did her mom call her?
I tried my best to explain that regardless of where the parent is they want to talk to their kid. Like when my husband goes out of state on travel, he calls and talks to them because he misses them. Just like Kelsey's mom must miss her when she is at her dads.
"Oh."

Unfortunately, there are more than 3 kids let alone friends that are children of divorce.
Lord, be with our little friends that are in the midst of divorce and custody arrangements. Help them to see and feel loved by both of their parents. Protect their hearts Lord. Provide for their every need.

FINAL FOUR

Being the MSU fans that we are we ventured out to the Breslin Center for the Final Four game.
The kids chose to decorate themselves for the game.
The boy wanted to go green and white...

While little girl went with GO MSU

The crowd to get in. The place was pretty much packed out.

Little girls shadow...I absolutely love the pig tails in this pic.

Free throw fingers...

and SWOOSH!

The energy at the Breslin was electric. The team was on fire...
Congrats MICHIGAN STATE!!! 82-73
Dance baby dance!

A Month in a Moment

Oh. My. Goodness!
I never thought I would see the day that I did not blog for a MONTH. Yet that is precisely what has happened.
So lets see, what have we been up to for a month?

Jan 5- We went back to the books after a nice winter break. I have been absolutely AMAZED at how the kids are thriving in their school work. Little girl went from sounding out simple three letter words to reading 30-60 page books seemingly overnight. Her love of words has paid off as she is able to decode words that have not been introduced and has memorized nearly 100 sight words that don't follow the normal phonics pattern. Amazing I tell ya.
Since the kids are plugging away without too much struggle we will actually finish school EARLY this year. It is rather exciting. Last year I was debating not finishing our curriculum and this year I don't even have to worry about it.

Jan 8- After a few days of getting back into the gym to workout I had a heart episode. I was getting off the treadmill when my heart started acting crazy, I felt light headed and like I was going to pass out or throw up. I got to my husbands treadmill; leaning against it for about 10-15 minutes until I felt better. It was all very odd. I did not think too much of it , mostly that I had overdid the workout. That was until a family member also had heart issues and urged me to get mine checked out. After an EKG, stress test and echo, I am assured that all is well with my heart. I can workout but must watch my heart rate not letting it get over 160.

Jan-16 The kids and I went to Twistars gymnastics for an open gym. It was a blast. I was flipping on the trampoline. The kids loved jumping into the pit of foam. The boy was able to finally take his grandpas challenge of climbing a rope all the way to the top. I would venture to guess it was about 30ft up and HE DID IT! He also learned a few moves of the bars and rings.

Jan 18- My husband, son and I took place in the Greater Lansing Church of Christ food drop. Beginning this fall church leaders from 30 of our area met together with Mayor Virg Benero regarding Lansing's needs. With economy of the decline and area food banks shelves dwindling the leaders decided it was time to take action. On Christmas Eve the churches took up an offering that was 100% for the food banks, raising $111,000, far exceeding the original goal of $40,000. On the 18th all the churches met together, celebrated with a rally, praise and prayer. Then went out into the community delivering 2,000 food boxes. Feeding the hungry. The boy and I were part of unloading the big moving trucks full of boxes of food. Hubby helped direct traffic to keep the cars coming for boxes moving smoothly. After our truck was unloaded, Two friends, the boy and I went out into the community and delivered 4 boxes ourselves. An incredible moment. Churches of every race and denomination coming TOGETHER. Beautiful.

Jan 20- We took the day off of school and camped ourselves out in front of the TV to watch Inauguration 2009. What a historic day! I was moved by President Obamas speech and look forward with great expectation to the positive change that can happen. And while we still have farther to go as a nation, seeing our first African American president did my heart good. "The God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

Jan 23- Netflix met Xbox Liv. Since we dropped our cable a few months back it has been wonderful having so many movies and TV shows for instant viewing. :)

Jan 30- Enrichment Day is back. For the next 10 weeks we will be meeting with 15 other homeschooling families in a co-op focusing on Character, Art and Literature and Gym. I am once again teh gym teacher and am super excited about so new games I have learned. Paramedic. Treasure. Four Corners. Soup. It is going to be so much fun these next 8 weeks that remain.

Feb 3- I hid the video game remotes in our house as I (and the kids) were spending entire too much time playing games. And not enough time cleaning the house and focusing on my responsibilities. I am slowly getting back into a place of obedience and discipline. If that means hidding the remotes, so be it.

Feb 5- For the last couple of weeks we have been studying birds. Beaks, flight, feathers, migration, different species, etc. On the 5th I got together the book called Beaks and various kitchen tools that represent beaks in nature. Pecking,(fingers) stabbing, (skewers) hooked, (can opener) crushing, (nut cracker)and others. We met up with another family and had an impromptu discussion on beaks at Fenner Nature center. Where we read the book, did hands-on with the different tools and observed birds at the bird feeder. Cool stuff. Then as we were discussing crossbills(knife sharpener) the director came out all excited as we currently have crossbills in our area when we never have before. Apparently Canada is having a shortage of pine cones this year so the birds have come down to munch on ours. With that knowledge we went out on a hike in search of the white winged crossbill. Then went driving through Mt Hope Cemetery where they have been spotted. We did not see any but it sparked something in each of us. a new love and respect for birds.
In the evening we went to our first ever Audubon Society meeting and ended up joining. While the topic was some what depressing; Botulism in Great Lake Birds. It was rather fascinating.
As I have mentioned in the past my love for nature. I have a passion for seeing others out and enjoying it. I sense that we will be getting more heavily involved as well as encouraging others to join us.

Feb 7- I have started a new resolve to lose weight. As I have been exploring my heath and issues I am having it appears that my thyroid is out of whack due to gaining weight. So if it means losing 15-20 pounds to be healthy. This is what I am doing. Eating right, exercise and refocusing my relationship with Christ. It should be an interesting journey.

Today- Today is a new day. The blog is up to date and perhaps I will be more diligent in the coming days.

God bless!

Boredom Buster

With Winter Break drawing to an end I expected the day to be a bit boring. That was until a spark of creative genius, with each member of the family contributing to the end idea...then we hit Mama Jackpot.
What do you get when you combine Monopoly money, books, beads, pretend food, doll house furniture and some Webkinz?
You get Webkinz LIVE!
The kids went to the adoption agency and adopted a Webkinz, where they received a room (a book) and some Webkinz cash (monopoly money) They can buy additional rooms with the the green backed books being outside rooms.


Every half hour they can go to Artes Shop and go on a gem hunt (beads wrapped up in brown paper with some blank ones to add to the element.) There are 5 colored gems so if by the end of the day they can turn in for a Webkinz crown of wonder. Also every half hour they can get a Daily Kinzcare by hitting a pot to get a food item(pretend food)
Then there is the store which they can buy furniture, food and games.
Games can be played by inviting another Webkinz over and playing with them. Games winned means extra Kinzcash.

Oh and we can't forget my favorite....JOBS! Such as cleaning up rooms, making beds and whatever else mama conjures up. Complete the job in a reasonable amount of time and earn....you guessed more Kinzcash.
The kids are loving it and so am I!

Mission Accomplished

My dad grew up in the 1950's. I love hearing stories of his childhood and thankfully Dad still enjoys telling them. Story has it when he was a boy he had to eat a hot breakfast every morning. Be it oatmeal, malt o meal or cream of wheat; it did not matter as long as he ate something hot to "stick to his gut."
My first thought of that was, 'that so would not fly today.' If I told my kids hey you must eat a hot breakfast everyday and no waffles or toast would not cut it. I envisioned fits and complaints. Which then turned my thinking to how spoiled American kids are (mine included!) I thought of other cultures and nations who gladly eat their grains plain, thankful to have a meal. I thought of the poor and impoverished, the homeless, those who would be happy for a hot meal. And I thought that I needed to change my kids thinking about breakfast.
So a few weeks ago I decided that we were going to eat oatmeal(unprocessed) at least once a week (preferably more) for breakfast. That first morning I dished up a half serving of oatmeal (1/4cup) and laid out some toppings on the table. They gladly garnished the oatmeal with dried fruits and honey. Then they took the first bite. Total looks of disgust. They were completely unimpressed. They ate a few bites, begrudgingly. I am sure they whined, most likely complained. Needless to say that first day they did not finish their bowls.
I was undeterred. If anything more persistent in the fact that things needed to change.
So a few days later it was oatmeal again. This time I put about 2 tablespoons into their bowls. With the challenge that if they ate that they could chose something else to eat if they were still hungry. With thoughts of chocolate covered waffles they got through the oatmeal. Probably more honey than oatmeal but they ate it.
Week two: I upped the amount a tiny bit.
Week three: They discovered brown sugar.
Week four: They happily eat the oatmeal with no complaint and don't need the waffle afterward.

I would say: "Mission Accomplished!"

Hey Dad, bring on some more stories. I have some children to raise.

The Effects of Nature

As a kid I lived outside. I could orient myself and tell time by the sun. My favorite place to be was up in a tree. I felt safe, secure and happy in a tree. The higher the better as I could see more of our world from the perch in my back yard. I am extremely fortunate in the fact that I was born into a family that frequently appreciated the outdoors. We camped at state parks, hiked trails at nature centers and explored different environments on a regular basis. I know I am a richer person because of it.
On my date with my Dad last night we went to see a lecture by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. I am so glad we went.
Our nation is in desperate need of reconnecting with nature. Obesity is on the rise(even with organized sports) more kids than ever are on antidepressants and there is an alarming amount of kids that have been diagnosed with ADHD. I am talking about our children here. We live in a generation that would rather watch a program on TV about nature rather than be in nature experiencing it for themselves. We live in a generation that believes they know more than those who came before, yet they do not know true real life experiences. We are loosing our kids to technology and I think unless some very intentional things happen, nature will be lost to this generation and the ones that follow.
During the lecture the phrase 'in our schools' kept surfacing and research that had shown the effect on our kids when they encountered nature. . There have been studies that show kids who learn by natural light perform better than those who use artificial light. There have been studies that show kids who had one week of outdoor nature experiences scored better on tests. Those who walked in parks; were more relaxed, better focused and performed better on tests. Nature has had huge calming affect on those with ADHD and some studies show it should be included in ADHD therapy. To sum up the research, Kids are happier, healthier and smarter when they experience nature.
The phrase 'in our schools' stuck out to me for many reasons.
1. The schools are under restrictions and pressure. They often do not get the opportunity to get their kids truly outdoors as field trips require planning and funding. Their schedules are restricted to make more time prepping for standardized testing, meaning shorter recesses.
2. I see the effects in my nieces and nephews who are in the school.
3. I am not nor our my kids in the public school. So everything mentioned on the school front I automatically process through the mentality of how can this information be altered to benefit my homeschool.

So how can I take what was discussed and apply it to our home school? I believe I need to get back to nature. I no longer want to be content reading about it in a book. I want to go, explore and see if we can see it live. I want to include at least one half day a week of nature study. Going to different parks; watching the leaves change color and fall to the ground. Hiking trails. Getting knee deep in a pond with a skimming net. Tracking animals. Laying out under the stars. Seeking out different habitats and ecosystems. I want my kids to know how to fish. I want my kids to know how to hunt. I want them to know how to survive in the wild. And I truly believe to do this it will have to be intentional.

Yesterday before the lecture I was having a discussion with my son, age 7. He was asking where I was going to go with my dad. I told him about the author, the book and the authors views. We talked about our families take on TV, computer, books, education, exercise and nature. Then we discussed how other families do not get outside, that their kids are content to watch TV all day. It was about this point that he exclaimed "cool." I mean really doesn't it sound great to watch TV all day. So being ever wise, he proposed a social experiment. He would stay in his room for a week, not talk to anyone, nor go outside or interact with anything living. We talked about what variables would be part of "the experiment." Would my fish stay in my room? No, that would be considered nature. Oh and we should probably cover the window so you can't see outside. And your books, those should probably go to. And if we wanted to make this truly a technology verses nature experiment we should get rid of your toys for the week too. Just you, the TV and video games. Food would be delivered to your room and you could come out only to go to the bathroom.
Sound like a good plan....not to me! But he was all over it. He was ready to start that moment. But rather than a week he quickly decided that a day would be good. Somewhere in his brain he was already counting the cost and isolation for an extended period of time did not sound so pleasent. But a day off of school with the TV, this he thinks he could handle. All in the name of a social experiment.
We called dad for approval and it got pushed to the needs further discussion plate. After further discussion we stil don't know if we are going to let him try it. On one hand what damage could be done in 24 hours? What could be learned? Is it worth it?
Personally, I think he would happily kiss us good-bye. Shut the door and escape into TV oblivion. For about 2-3 hours, then I think he would venture out, just to see what we were doing. Or he would convince his siter to join him. I think he would grasp the concepts of isolation and the effects it has on a person. I think he may also try to play up the fun that video games and TV can offer. I think he would experience lonliness. I think he would want to be outside, especially if he could here others playing outside. I think the experiment has merit but can we achieve the same observations without having to experience it? What do you think?

There is definitely an interesting current and discussion of all things nature in our home this week. One I am glad to be reminded of. I homeschool for a reason. I am not stuck to a desk or a set format for the education of my children. Sometimes I need to be reminded that seat work is not were true education happens.

As Louv said, "Kids in nature are happier, healthier and smarter." Isn't that what every parent wants for our kids? If you do, get your kids outside today. A sense of wonder awaits them.

Oh and one last thing, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU READ LOUV'S BOOK. Last Child in the Woods.

Birthday Girl

Birthday Breakfast of pink heart pancakes and sausage

One happy 5 year old

Crane Fest

I mentioned in previous posts that the kids and I were planning on attending the Crane Fest. Will attend we did.
It was such a great, fun and inexpensive way to spend a Fall day. There were so many activities and things to see and do that we spent the large majority of the day there. Here is our day in pictures.

There were many different organizations that brought animals such as this owl.

A peregrine falcon

Here is how you can tell the difference between a hawk and a falcon in flight.

This tortoise was out walking ALL DAY. Whoever said tortoises were slow never met this guy. He literally walked MILES throughout the course of the day.

The local high school had decorated wooden cranes as an art project, we had fun picking out our favorites.

Pirate Crane

Super Crane

Checking out the different rocks at one of the booths.

Looking through one of many different binoculars and scopes to get a better look at the birds.

Little Miss as a butterfly

This is Captain Cattail. He led the kids on a hike and then stopped here to talk about water.

He strongly encouraged the kids to get out and explore. So here is my troupe exploring.

They found this cute little toad.

The hayride.

Shuckin' corn the old fashion way.

Below are the kids making rope. This was probably a highlight of the day.

They made teh ropes the perfect length for jump roping.

The color was fabulous and the sun was shining. Who could ask for anything more?

Around dinner time we settled into our chairs and watched as the cranes came in. It was really cool watching them fly in. There were hundreds by the time we left. They were landing in the water seen below.


Thanks for letting me share our day.