Bird Watching

Since somewhere around late fall, our backyard has been full of Northern Cardinals.  Unfortunately they stuck to the back part of the yard, meaning they were visible (hard to miss that red), but a bit too distant to see well.  So, hoping to entice those cardinals a bit closer, I finally bought a bird feeder to put outside the girls' window.

The news quickly spread and suddenly all of the other neighborhood birds showed up.  The girls have been loving watching the birds up close and have quickly learned the names of all the most frequent visitors (Cardinal, Chickadee, Titmouse, and Nuthatch) and are slowly learning the names of less frequent visitors (Mourning Doves, which Pookie insists are called "good morning doves" and House Finches) as well as the less interesting visitors (apparently Juncos are just not worth memorizing the name of.)

The kids have been much more observant than I expected and are quick to come and let me know when there is some new bird at the feeder.  The House Finches only just showed up the other week and I wouldn't have known of their existence but for the kids.

Of course, I started taking some pictures of the birds and naturally the kids quickly became a part of that.  They know exactly what birds we don't have a picture of yet and at least once a day one of them comes bursting into the kitchen telling me to "Come quick!  There is a *fill in the blank* and it is close enough for a picture!"  They've also been reminding me that we need to go for a walk so we can get pictures of the geese and the heron that hang out at the lake.

Now, I suppose the next question would be whether or not to start a bird book (like our bug book.)  I'm leaning towards no for now--we're certainly not still or quiet enough to capture any pictures of birds "in the wild" yet and my camera is currently not capable of handling such distant subjects.  However, it most certainly doesn't hurt to begin collecting pictures now annnddd....see where it goes from there.

Snow Day!

We're having a snow day!  A real snow day.  We've had a bit of snow here and there this winter, but nothing to compare with our much beloved and missed New England snow.  But today, snow, real snow.

The kind of snow you can make snowmen with and build igloos with.  So that is exactly what we did--we built and built and built until we were too tired and too damp to build anymore.

And then it was time for hanging out by the warm stove making hot chocolate and hot cookies.

Seasonally correct cookies and cocoas.  We couldn't ask for a better day!

Alphabet-ing

The two older girls and I have started working on letters/numbers during Little P's naptime.  We've been cruising right along with the consonants, but have suddenly encountered a bit of trouble with the vowels.  As it's Friday and it's raining and those vowels are being so very pesky, I thought we'd skip the more organized learning approach and just paint with letters today.

Because it is so much more fun to practice your letters when they're covered in paint! 

An Introduction

I know, I've been missing from this space again.  But this time I have a good explanation from my absence.  See I've been rather stuck in the dining room/kitchen/outdoors with this little guy.

Jasper.  The newest addition to the family.  He's brought a lot of joy, a lot of frustration, a lot of excitement and a little bit of calm to the family.  We're still in the process of potty-training, so I've been hanging out with him in the only non-carpeted rooms of the house, patiently (mostly) working with him.

But it's all good.  I've brought all my sewing supplies into the dining room and consequently I'm finally getting somewhere with some long overdue projects.

And that's where I am--sewing while attempting to decipher the difference between "I really want to go outside and play" and "I really need to use the bathroom."

We're getting there...