This'n'That, 9/17/11

I recently discovered the Christian band, Future of Forestry (the name comes from a poem by C.S. Lewis) via a link to from Jennifer's Favorite Links. I found a lot of songs that I really like (and a few that just aren't my thing), including this one, called Close Your Eyes...



Another of my favorites is Slow Your Breath Down...



And speaking of slowing down, I've been working hard to slow down a bit - simplify my life and my commitments and it's not easy, but I can definitely see it making a difference in many ways and that it's something I've REALLY been needing to do.

I know I'm always saying that I'm getting rid of stuff, but I really did make an extra big dent in the last few weeks, especially with books, but other stuff too. Sometimes I just have to make myself pretend that I never happened to find it at a rummage sale or whatever because it looks really interesting, but I don't really need it and in the end it's just getting in the way.

We've also been busy with lots of painting projects - inside and out. There's nothing quite like paint to give your house a new outlook on life. ;)

Ria is doing very well at TAC and seems very happy. I can't believe that she's been gone a month already! It's funny how her departure made us start looking at everything in a new way again. It was definitely an impetus behind my simplifying of things around here, both because her departure reminded me of how quickly everything goes (it's not long, really, before other kids are ready to test their wings) and how much time I want to spend with my other kids right now both because of that and because of what we have left to do together before they're ready to go.

We eased our way into school a bit this year by giving ourselves a week and a half (or so) of part-time school before diving in more fully. On our first day of part-time school, I made a list of things for the kids to do, including "spend 15 minutes observing something outside". Well, this first day also happened to be our homeschool park day, so we decided to do our observing at the park. Late in the spring, at the same park, we got to watch a turtle laying eggs in a hole in the grass. We went home to look up when the eggs would hatch, but it was a wide range (9-18 weeks, I think), so we didn't hold up much hope for observing things on the other side. As it turned out, that first day of school, there were some new hatchlings nosing around in the hole and one that had escaped but had fallen down into the curb of the street where it was stuck on the wrong side from the river. Terri rescued it with a leaf and carried it down to the river. She set it down on the bank where we all got to watch it leap in (and it was a tiny thing!) and wriggle around happily in the water. So nice to spend time whenever we like in the greatest classroom in the world. :)

The Witness of a Christian Life...

We had a great catechism class last night. We even threw in some random snippets of video that ended up relating to the conversation, including all three May Feelings videos and the fun bits on ducklings and birds of paradise from Disney's Earth. (note: the second link is from the BBC version which includes much of the same footage, but different commentary - also I found this fun montage of scenes from the movie). Anyway, here's a favorite quote from this week's reading:

The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church's mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians. 'The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God.'

Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ, Christians contributed to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions and their moral lives. The Church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her faithful, until 'we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2044-2045

Speaking of Robins...

...another Catholic homeschool family has baby robins in their yard. Check out the cool video of the mama bird feeding the babies!

Science of Relations

Baby Birds Update (Day 5)

DSC_5872, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Photos from yesterday: The baby robins are four or five days old and don't seem to have opened their eyes yet. They were sleeping peacefully while I took pictures, but we've definitely seen them awake too.

I can't believe how fast they're growing. The nest is starting to look full. Contrast with Monday's picture.

The Wild Animal Park - 2004 and 2008

I'm going through old pictures (especially some from 2004 because I needed some for an article I'm working on and discovered that a bunch of them had never been uploaded to Flickr) and had to share a few fun ones. I don't think I even got around to blogging our Wild Animal Park visit from last May. When we visited San Diego briefly on our California trip, we had no expectation of visiting one of our favorite places in the world - The San Diego Wild Animal Park. But while we were visiting with some lovely homeschool friends...



We overheard that the following day was free day at the Wild Animal Park.

Unbelievable.

Anyway, just for fun, here are a few favorite pictures of various kids at the Wild Animal Park from our California trips in 2004 and 2008.

2008...

Frank at the Petting Zoo...



Kate feeding the Lorikeets...




2004...

Kate laughing at the animals. (Animals still make her laugh!)



Terri and Bernie oblivious to how cute they are...

The Zoo in Winter

Last weekend we bought our first ever Milwaukee County Zoo Pass. We got the impression from previous random visits (hadn't been there in about four years) that the zoo was well-designed for winter as well as summer visits. We were not disappointed. Really the only downside aside from, yes it was rather chilly (about 20 degrees out), was that the signs in the outdoor viewing areas were caked with snow. We didn't know the details of what we were looking at.

But it was still pleasant to walk around and see animals like these...



...even if we didn't know *exactly* what they were called or where they were from. I could picture these as being from some place like Mongolia.

The swans were breathtaking and the ducks and geese seemed in limitless supply.



This guy cracked us up. Is this how all the herbivores became extinct?



The indoor viewing areas were fabulous. We visited the primate house (where, believe it or not, there was a bridal show going on!), the big cats house and the aviary. Incredible!!!

A penguin on timeout?



A thoughtful gorilla?



Checking out the cheetahs...



Everyone's favorite lion...

Dog and Girl on a Snowy Christmas Eve

DSC_1565, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Kate had a great time with Charlotte in the snow. One of Charlotte's very favorite things is to try to catch snowballs with her mouth.

Too Funny!

Our black lab mix loves the snow in just this sort of way, though I've never seen her in snow that goes over her head...



hat-tip Ten Kids and a Dog

Baby Moose playing in the Sprinkler

hat-tip Jennifer's Favorite Links

Sometimes It's a Little Hard to be Grateful

For instance, when you have a cat who's a great hunter... but perhaps a little too proud of it ... and likes to show off her "trophies" in odd places around the house. Ugh!


We're still alive here by the way. Just trying to keep up with mouse problems, starting school, co-op planning, mosquitoes, editing the new love2learn site (which is not up at love2learn.net quite yet, but I am thrilled to be able to work on once more!), children who manage to lock themselves outside before anyone else is up (Danielle dear, I've got you beat - 8:40 this morning to the sound of the telephone with poor Kate pounding at the back door) etc. etc.

We're good, though. Kate, who's finally getting "formal" phonics lessons (formal meaning practicing some phonogram cards each day and a little handwriting - with stencils or the Red Letter Alphabet book) is taking off and really excited about learning. The kids all were playing with balloons today (another long and slightly ridiculous story if I had the time) and she decorated hers with letters and backwards numbers. It took me a minute to realize that she had copied her numbers from the other side of her balloon (which big brother Gus had obligingly written out for her). I should've gotten a picture of the balloon. It really speaks volumes. :)

Ria and Gus had their first drama group get-together yesterday with some other homeschool friends. It's being entirely organized by several teens and they had a lot of fun. Among other things, they showed a clip from Men of Boy's Town with a really hilarious slow-motion wrestling skit. They broke up into teams and tried acting out some humorous slow-motion segments. The boys group (who naturally did a fight scene - the girls all chose tumbling and dancing and such) got the most laughs hands-down. I never realized quite how good our quiet Gus is at physical comedy!

Though school at times feels like something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed (what else is new?), our new lists and morning table time are working out quite well. Oh yeah, and the gum during morning Math doesn't hurt either.

And those are the sorts of things I can be truly grateful for!

The Little Girl and the Otter

Alice has a cute and amazing little video of her children watching an otter at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium in California. Her three year old daughter was playing with a stuffed otter and making it swim and do flips and such in front of the glass - when the real otter started to follow its movement! You really should see it!

Dog Magic

If you happen to live in our neighborhood, or drive by it frequently, I'm happy to report that you'll no longer see a crazy lady running around after a medium-size black dog, attempting to coax it back home with a juicy can of dog food (usually trailed by a handful of kids attempting to be o-so-helpful). Many thanks to the kind driver who stopped his car and got out to try to help me a few weeks back. Can't say the same for the driver who squealed his tires while zooming around the stopped car without having any idea what was on the other side (it could have been a child!).

The craziness is over as we invested in one of these and it is SO nice! The dog happily runs around the yard with the kids and no longer darts off for a jaunt around the neighborhood (and pestering the poor Unitarian Universalists congregation nearby). The timing was sort of accidental, but it turned out to be a fabulous mother's day present. John set up the system on Saturday morning and by Sunday, Charlotte was happily enjoying the freedom of being outside without a tie-down or a leash.

My actual Mother's Day present was one of these. I am so looking forward to some night-time reading in bed. :)

One more quick dog story, though some of you have already heard this. We went to Easter Vigil Mass and were preparing for an Easter gathering at our house later in the day. The dog escaped from the house and ran over to the parking lot of the Unitarian Univeralists where she began barking at the attendees, who were just leaving their service. John was trying to coax the dog back, but overheard one of the UU's proclaim to another "That's a Catholic dog!" John was too shocked to ask for an explanation. :)

Frank on Toads

Another quote from Frank (Gus' words)...

We were looking at All About Frogs by Jim Arnosky. I already knew that American toads had bumps on their backs. I told Frank that one of the pictures of an American toad was Blog "the Toad". He said, pointing to another picture of an American toad: "That Blog the toad too, cause they both fancy."

Another one...

The UPS guy was getting out of his van to deliver a package while Frank was watching from the window. Frank got excited and said, "Our friend, our friend coming!" At first he wanted to go over by the door to see him, but then seemed to change his mind excitedly exclaiming, "No, hide!"

I'm Thankful for...

(The packing-and-only-have-a-minute Edition)

1. Ibuprofen (SERIOUSLY!!!)

2. our cat, who caught three mice last night in the basement!

3. washer & dryer

4. disposable diapers

5. washable felt pens

6. Blogger

7. Thinsulate

8. Lands' End All Weather Mocs

9. home insulation

10. music

11. Thanksgiving at my sister's and my brother-in-law who loves to cook for a crowd

12. great neighbors who take care of things at home

That's all for now. Prayers for a safe trip are most appreciated.

Happy Thanksgiving!

More Backyard Nature

Robbie,
originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Today it was a bird that we think fell out of its nest. Bernie found it in the grass (thank goodness no one stepped on him) and at first we thought he might have been attacked by an animal. More likely he was just stunned from the fall.The children were all delighted when, after not finding him where they first discovered him (they had marked the spot so no one would step on him), they found that he was hopping about the yard, enjoying himself immensely.

UPDATE: Ria posted her sketch of Robbie here.

UPDATE #2: The Robbie story had a particularly happy ending The girls coaxed him into an abandoned bird nest we happened to find a few days ago. He contentedly slept in there while they loving carried him around until it was time to find a safe place for him for the night. John managed to afix this same bird nest to a branch of the tree and the mother bird was back and taking care of Robbie within minutes. Hurray!

More Toads - Easy Nature Study

Smaug swimming (toad #2),
originally uploaded by Chez VH.

We've had several toads come to visit us for a short while now - Blog, Smaug, Bog and then Blog again. This is a picture of Smaug (who is QUITE small) swimming in the kiddie pool. I think they all appreciate being temporarily relocated from their natural habitat since there's no significant water source nearby.

One thing I've noticed is that having all the gardens this year (most of which have little stepping stone paths through them that the kids LOVE) have caused lots of close encounters with nature since the kids like to spend so much time in the gardens (very little of it weeding, of course). So we've really been enjoying the toads, grasshoppers and other critters that went unnoticed before (or perhaps never even showed up - is it just that they like the gardens too?).

Blog the .... Toad

We named him Blog,
originally uploaded by Chez VH.

I discovered a toad in the yard the other day (a tribute to all the rain we've been getting lately as we're almost a block from the nearest river) and the kids took a great liking to him. Gus captured him from the vicinity of the lawn mower (I'm so glad I saw him hopping around) and brought him to Terri's garden (which we promptly flooded for his enjoyment).

He stayed there all night and was "invited" to swim in the kiddie pool the next day. He absolutely loved this and we were completely captivated by his athletic prowess. We found a nice little log (complete with tasty bugs) to float in the kiddie pool and he was in froggie heaven.

Such a Mean Mommy

I required "Terri" to spend 20 minutes reading a science book this afternoon before she could watch a movie. She was mournful and frowning about this infringement on her interests and desires...for about 2 minutes. The required book (which she chose from our "Kingfisher Young Knowledge" set) called Animal Disguises by Belinda Weber, had her "ooing and awing", showing me amazing pictures and reading off statistics in no time.

It doesn't always work out quite this nicely, but it sure is nice when it does (and beautiful, engaging books can be a huge help!).

Charlotte, the dog, really likes the book as well, as evidenced from the missing lower left corner.

"Honey Bird Feeders"

A few weeks ago, we were sitting in our garage doing school (with the door open - a little shade while enjoying the nice weather) when we saw a hummingbird dart across the doorway. We haven't seen many of them around here, but decided then and there that we needed to set up a hummingbird feeder to attract these delightful creatures.

A few days later we picked up not one but two feeders (they're very inexpensive) at the hardware store along with a book on attracting hummingbirds (I'm sure it's probably the wrong time of year for, this, but we'll just give it another try in the spring). This new book along with our DK Eyewitness Handbook: Birds of the World have been favorites around here lately - particularly with the three year old. She keeps asking to look for the "Honey Bird Feeder". When you ask her to show you the "Honey Bird Feeder", she carefully pours over the Bird Handbook until she finds the male Great Frigatebird, which inflate their red throat sacs during breeding.