Monday, March 29, 2010

Bird Watching

Last Wednesday we set out with Kayden's kindergarten class for a full day of bird watching and learning! We've seen MANY cloudy, rainy days lately. But the skies cleared and that BIG YELLOW round thing showed it's beautiful self off. We had a GREAT day walking down the river sighting new and old birds!
The kids each had a clipboard with a piece of paper to write down each bird they spotted
We saw a whole gorgeous flock of Cedar Wax Wings which Kayden had never seen before, along with Chimney Swifts, a Brown Thrasher, and Blue Herons. Not to mention the ones we see frequently in our backyard like: Cardinals, Blue Birds, Black Capped Chickadees, House Sparrows, Mocking Birds, Robins, Grackles, Mourning Doves.......and her list ended up with about 16 total!! Yep it was a good birding day!
(Cedar Wax Wing)
After our picnic lunch and letting the kids play in the park we headed out to the Chattanooga Nature Center
Where we learned about 3 different "birds of prey"
(Great Horned Owl)
(American Kestrel)
After some "classroom learning" we headed outside to venture around the property. The kids were able to get in the nest of a Bald Eagle....it's HUGE!!
Before leaving we were able to go into the tree house......I NEED THIS!!!
I may need to find a side job to earn enough $$ to have tree house built in our backyard!
Kayden's class has been learning about birds for the last month or so. In high school I got on a little "birding" kick but didn't keep going with it. So it's been fun to dust off the bird book and we've had fun keeping an eye out for new birds! Hoping that this spring and summer will bring us many new bird sightings!!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Spontaneity

There are many qualities about Jon that I LOVE......yes some that I am not so fond of but this post is about the better of the two! He can be very set in his routine and if you mess it up be prepared for some grouchy Jon!! Some days it drives me batty but I am finding that maybe I like my routine too and I am really just batty with myself. Oh the analyzing of life! ANYWHO back to JON........BUT if given some free time, good weather, a phone call from a friend the night before.....a camping trip is planned! JUST LIKE THAT......no pre-planning, no matter that I had to work all weekend.....there is something about nature that brings out the best in him AND the girls.
And together they had a fun and beautiful night outdoors.
Did I really miss this??
Lily (1st time camper), Emery, and Kayden playing
Seeing an otter in person......which, to my knowledge, neither of the girls has experienced outside of a zoo/aquarium
CAMPING=ALL SMILES
A certain 6 y/o FINALLY learned how to stay snug and warm the ENTIRE night
There is something about camping....no matter the age which brings out the best of hair do's and puffy eyes!!!
I HATE that I missed out but I am thankful for that itsy bit of spontaneity in Jon to *LAST MINUTE* share some memorable daddy/daughter time camping.

Monday, March 22, 2010

GAME NIGHT

I grew up playing a German game called: Mensch argere Dich nicht.....or in English translation: AGGRAVATION!! It's definitely a game for ALL ages.....although when you are playing only with adults it can get UGLY......in the funnest way!!!
plotting your next move of who you can KNOCK OUT
racing around the board as quickly as possible to your "home"
opponents hot on your trail
sometimes yelping out a "YES" as you've successfully kept yourself ahead in the game
until you've victoriously have all 4 of your peeps "home"
and yep that glorious yellow was ME......I WON!!!
and I'm certain I didn't scream and holler in excitement as the other 3 people sitting around our table are pretty competitive!!
it was a fun Saturday night with good friends......board games can be fun for adults too!!! what are your favorite's??

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Hand-me-down

This blogging world has birthed some craftiness that I KNEW was inside of me but needed just a little nudge to come out! That nudge was then followed with a need.....a sewing machine. But it was gonna have to go on the "want list" which could be YEARS before being fulfilled.......we have little mouths to feed and clothe and that's JUST FINE with me!!! I could dream about having one for the time being! I was then given one of the best hand-me-downs an aspiring sewing girl could want. A sewing machine......AND A BERNINA AT THAT. This was graciously given to me by Jon's grandmother who was a WONDERFUL seamstress and ran a small business out of her home for years and years. So along with this machine I also was given a serger (I KNOW!!!), lots and lots of thread, bobbins.......oh the list is endless but I AM BLESSED to have everything AND MORE to get my beginners sewing skills going!
insert angelic singing here
it seems there is ALWAYS a birthday party to attend and so one of the things I've been making are colored pencil rolls (this was another item that Karah got me started on)
which really are perfect for boy or girls
(and i must say that fabric shopping is quite satisfying......i love this michael miller fabric i found for SOOOOOO CHEAP)
they can be paired with coloring books, drawing paper, "learning books".....oh the choices but have made PERFECT GIFTS!!
and can be made for young and older kids
i made this crayon roll for a 2 y/o....used the same concept as the pencil rolls just on a smaller/longer scale. these are pretty simple to whip up!
a quick satisfying project which is perfect for a beginner sewer like myself!!
i'm loving the ENDLESS sewing possibilities and look forward to learning more and more.........cause BOY do i have a LOT to learn. thank goodness for seam rippers!!!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

SHE wants to be the best guitar player and sings a convincing song while strumming the same cord.
HE wanted fried rice....SHE wanted vegetarian beef and broccoli. both were made. WE shared.
SHE was begging for another bowl of ice cream. before the other bowl arrived SHE had enough......it was only 6:10.
SHE decided it was time....SHE was right.
this is what WE did during parts of OUR day.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Bike Baskets

I never posted any details of the sewing I did while on my blogging date in Birmingham back in December (Christmas presents for the girls) with my very talented friend Karah. Spring is S-P-R-I-N-G-I-N-G around here and yesterday was one of those MUST GO TO THE PARK DAYS! Which meant bikes which then tapped in to my horrible memory of "oh i never showed off these EXTRA CUTE bike baskets"!!
the girls LOVE them and I'm hoping that maybe.....just maybe Karah will post a tutorial in the near future because they are SOOOOO worth sharing!!
they are perfect for holding ALL kinds of girly/naturey treasures
while biking we made some stops for skipping rocks
swinging on a tree swing
listening to a bagpiper (we heard him before we finally found him and when we did emery was OVERJOYED and sprinted out for a CLOSE UP view)
and finally she spotted "our flag" (state) all on her own......maybe jon taught her that? i was shocked she actually knew but i'm certain this has NOTHING to do with my teachings!!!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

in the wilderness....ish

we hit the road friday morning and headed for the "wilderness"
but not the wilderness we had intended our body's to be in. we had planned a camping trip which had to be cancelled last minute due to evening temps of 20's....a bit TOO cold for tent camping...at least for us.
our plan b turned into an overnight trip here:
so instead of sleeping bags we got this:
instead of stacking up nature "findings"......piling up starbursts as high as they could go until they tumbled over was 2nd runner up
instead of relaxing in camping chairs by the fire it was poolside like this:
instead of exploring near by creeks and waterfalls there was water dumping fun to be had like this:

and trying new things like this:
by THE bravest 6 year old
who loved every second of it
BUT we did get to venture out into the outdoor "hot tub" which felt "natural springs like...ish"
we SPLASHED 36 hours away
and came home feeling like we had a "get away" which is always a good feeling......even if it was PLAN B!!!