Monday Musings: Train up a Child

Train up a child in the way he should go.  Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Last year in Bible Study we discussed this verse.  My Bible Study leader explained that the phrase “in the way he should go” means “according to his bent.”   This verse is telling parents to train up their children according to their own personality and skills.  Though I had never heard this interpretation before, it resonated with me.  This is the way  my parents raised me.

Me & my siblings holding my offspring

I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home by two godly, loving parents who both had been given the gift of salvation when they were children.  They had three kids and they treated us all differently.  Of course, the foundation of biblical principles was the same for all of us, but how they were applied were different.  They raised each of us according to our own bent.   I believe that their intentional parenting in this way helped us to be the best ourself we could be.

Now I am the mother, blessed with four very different children.  I want my children to become who God intends for them to be.  I want to train them according to the personality and skills God has given each of them.  So I took some time last week to contemplate what my parents did to raise us according to our bent so that I could glean from this wisdom.  So here’s what my parents did and what I want to do too-

Spending time with my girl

1.  Get to know the kids.  Spend time with them, watch them, listen to them so as to understand their personality, love language, dreams, skills, interests, strengths and weaknesses.

My dad would take me on dates where we talked and talked and he listened and listened.  My mother would ask me how my day went when she picked me up from school every afternoon and she listened attentively to my long replies.  They both invested time so that they knew me well and as a result, our relationship was deep and meaningful.

2.  Assign tasks and deliver discipline according to their strengths and weaknesses.  

Princess is interested in helping out in the kitchen, so that is what she does!

My mother knew that I did well with being in charge over a domain.  So my chore growing up (from the time I was about 7 until I left home for college at 18) was cleaning the kitchen.  My mother left that entire domain to me and I could complete the task anytime I wanted after dinner, as long as it was clean by the time my mother woke up the next morning.  Later, she gave my sister to me as my assistant.  In giving me a domain over which I was entirely responsible, she not only got some household help, but she also trained me in responsibility, time management, and people management skills (once my sister started helping).

In discipline, my mother knew us well enough that my siblings were grounded from television and I was grounded from the telephone.  Also, my sister received more mercy than I did.  My mother explained later (though I thought this was terribly unfair!) that my sister responded well to grace, but I needed clear, strong, consistent boundaries.  She was right of course.  (Not too smart, Self.)

3.  Take the time to instill good habits.  

They trained me to tell the truth, to show compassion, to put others ahead of myself, to eat vegetables with every meal, to clean up after myself, to do my work before I play, to read my Bible every day.  They did this by modeling these, expecting these out of me, using discipline (where appropriate), and through lots and lots of discussions.  I have my fair share of struggle with sin and selfishness (ask my mom- there are some ways in children that just can’t be trained out!), but I am thankful for these good habits that make living a disciplined, godly life a little easier at times.

Teaching Bible stories is fun

4.  Teach God’s Word diligently.  

We never had family devotions regularly, but I could see their love for God and for His Word through their daily actions and words.  We spoke about Him often.  Their advice was founded upon biblical principles.  They served in church as Sunday School teachers- my mom to children and my dad to adults.  When they would speak of their own lives, God would come up inevitably.  I remember when my dad would take me on dates- out to eat- when I got a little older, I would talk and he would listen.  Then I would notice that he was done with his food and I had not yet touched mine.  So I would think of what I could ask my dad so that he would talk for awhile and I could eat (he was a quiet man) and I always knew what could get him talking the longest was some theological question.  So we had many theological discussions on our dates.  My first introduction to deep theological issues was from my dad.  And I still hold most of his opinions myself to this day.

5.  Be an example both in practical life skills and in biblical principles.

My mother taught me how to put on parties. She literally wrote the book on how to put on parties!

Through how they lived, they trained me practically and spiritually how to live.  I learned how to set a table, put on a party, how to teach Sunday School, how to handle stress by making lists (I am a pretty obsessive list maker still- I even sometimes write a list of all the lists I want to write!), how to study the Bible, how to serve others, how to be a godly and loving mother and wife, how to pray, and how to apologize when in the wrong.

I have a lot to live up to.  I am thankful that in my weakness, my Savior is strong.   His grace and mercy covers me in my failings.  For as I look at this list, it is truly God who does these things and my parents were just a reflection of Him.

1. He knew me and knows me better than anyone else- even better than my parents.  He formed me in my mother’s womb.  He gave me the skills and talents I posses and gave me the personality that I have.  Psalm 139
2. God has given me tasks and lessons in life according to who He created me to be and according to who He wants me to be.  He is the one who prepared the good works in advance for me to do.  Ephesians 2:10
3. 

   Daddy training X-man according to his musical bent (how nice that it runs in the family!)

   The good habits my parents instilled in me were inspired by His Word and His principles.  It was God who enabled me to do the good things that formed the habits.  I Peter 4:11

4. My parents taught me God’s Word and it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us all.  He enlightens our eyes and hearts to see and understand and know His truth.  John 14:26
5. Jesus is the ultimate example and model and we can see Him in action in the gospels and we can see God’s work throughout the Scriptures and throughout history.  I Peter 2:21

What an amazing God we serve!

Memorable Moments: Goodbye to Mexico!

Wednesday’s outing included a creek walk and mud

This week we finished our studies of Mexico.   We are also adjusting to a new weekly schedule as we are adding Wednesday morning Bible Study now that Z-urchin’s cast is off.

We do Bible every morning with or right after breakfast.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, we try to do phonics, math, and our geography and literature reading after Shortstop goes down for his nap at 9.  This hour is louder than I imagined it would be before I started homeschooling.  My toddler talks, yells, laughs, and protests (when I take something away or get him out of the pantry or freezer) very loudly in that hour.  I’ve had to readjust my expectations of how (not) much we can get done in each lesson.  We also do a little movement with the Wii game Just Dance Kids or with the Kids in Motion CD.  Then around 10:30, it is outside time.  After lunch, Z-urchin and Shortstop take a nap and we head to the garage (or the kitchen table or the backyard) to do whatever special project we are going to do (unless they are super occupied with whatever they are doing, then I don’t interrupt).  Then we all have quiet time, snack, dinner, piano learning with daddy and bedtime!  Wednesday and Friday we go out in the morning and then have a normal afternoon and evening.  This routine seems to be working well for now.

The Lord has been faithful to continue to help me rise every  morning at 5:45 to get ready for the day.  My husband gets up with the kids at 6:30 so I have a good hour and a half to read the Bible, drink  my tea, plan my day, and exercise.  I’m enjoying these quiet moments in the early morning.

Here’s what we did this week:

Enchiladas and cornbread

Bible- We are going through the Joseph story, very slowly.  As I read the story out of the Children’s Bible in 365 Stories, I am often given an opportunity to share the gospel and discuss Jesus with my children.  We also talk about the qualities in the characters that are admirable and those that are not.  We’ve continued to work on verses we are learning through Awana and singing Great is Thy Faithfulness every so often in the morning.  Our virtue we have been talking about is patience and I see improvement in the kids in that area.  I think we’ll work next on attentiveness and then on contentment and thankfulness during the holidays.

Trip Around the World- We read Off We Go to Mexico, Corn is Maize, Hill of Fire and finished our Maraca project.  We had our Mexico celebration with enchildadas, cornbread, and salad.

Train ride at the pumpkin patch

Literature- We read Gold Coin, and discussed how compassionate the old lady was.  We read Erandi’s Braids and discussed how compassionate the young girl was.  We read Borriguita and the Coyote and discussed how smart the little lamb was.  We read Domatila and discussed how hardworking and skilled she was.   We read Mice and Beans (right before our celebration) and discussed compassion again.  We are now almost finished with Surprise Island.

Nature Studies- We read about beaks of birds in The Handbook of Nature Study and discussed the differences between chicken and duck beaks.  We spent a good amount of time outside this week- going to the pumpkin patch, the park, and then out in our backyard for Outdoor Hour #8.

Gluing triangles to make a ten-triangle pattern

We also worked on triangles and tens in math and the short a and short e sounds in phonics.  X-man and I made a Mario book together and X-man read it to me, his dad, and his sister.  That was fun!  We are definitely going to make more books together!  On Saturday, Daddy and the older two mixed dirt, flour, sand, salt, and water together to make a clay that they wrapped around little toy dinosaurs.  We are calling them dinosaur eggs and they are for Z-urchin’s birthday party this next week.  My toddler tornado is about to turn 2!

We stopped at the library on Friday after dance class and farmer’s market to pick up our books for next week.  Goodbye, Mexico, hello Europe and Greece!

Reading “Mario and His Hat” to his sister

Nature Study in our backyard

Making dino eggs with daddy

Getting ready for Z-urchin’s birthday party!

The almost-birthday boy at our Mexico celebration dinner

 

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge #8- Up Close and Personal

Outdoor Hour with the magnifying glass

We are on Outdoor Hour Challenge #8– almost done with the first set of “Getting Started” challenges (there are 10).  We started these Outdoor Hour Challenges in August, before the author of the blog changed the way you get started with the Outdoor Hour.  But now that we’ve started the 10 “Getting Started” challenges, something in me demands that we complete the list.   I see her posts every week about this month’s theme and the challenge grid and I am getting very excited about it.  But for now, we are having a lot of fun with the challenges we are working on and I appreciate how simple and relaxed they are.

This week we have gone outside several times.  We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday, to a park with a creek (there are many of these in my area!) on Wednesday, out in backyard on Thursday, and to another park (with a pond where one can usually find ducks and geese) on Friday.  The time on Thursday in our backyard was the hour set aside specifically for Nature Study, but I am impressed with how my children have improved in their powers of observation since starting nature studies.

The orange “fish” with brown legs (clearly we need to learn a little more about animal classification).

At the park on Wednesday, X-man came running up to me after spending some time at the creek.  He exclaimed with awe, “Mommy, I saw a fish!  An orange fish with brown legs!”  Hmm, a fish with legs?  So I said, “Let me see this thing!”  It was an orange and brown crayfish with just one pincer.  What an amazing find!  We watched it crawl around on the stream bed and find some rocks to hide near.  What a neat experience for my children- to see a crayfish in its natural habitat.  Wow.

 

Ducks resting in the shade with their bills tucked under the feathers for warmth

 

On Friday, while my daughter was at her dance class, we walked through the park and saw many ducks sleeping in the shade with their bills tucked into their back feathers.  My son and I wondered together why ducks sleep like this.  We came up with two ideas.  One idea was that it helps them keep warm.  The other was that perhaps their back feathers are like a pillow and it helps their head be comfortable.  Later on, when we looked it up on the internet, we learned that because duck bills do not have feathers, they lose a lot of heat through them.  Tucking their bills into their feathers is like sticking your hands into your jacket pocket.  It is indeed to help them keep warm.  We were right!  I also learned that ducks need only three hours of sleep a day and that they are able to sleep with one eye open.  This fact I definitely observed.  It was kind of spooky.

Meanwhile, Baby S is having fun on the swing at the park!

We also talked about the difference between duck bills and chicken beaks.  X-man noted the difference in the shape of the two beaks (he described the chicken’s beak looking like a “C”) and we discussed where each bird gets their food.  When we got back to the car, I had the section on bird’s beaks from the Handbook of Nature Study and we read about how ducks bills are flat and wide to help them strain water out of their bills when they capture food.  Chicken’s beaks are hard so that when they peck at the ground to get at their food, the dirt is loosened.  Their beaks are also sharp and curved to pick up small insects and seeds.  How much better lessons like these stick when they are based on real life experiences and observations from our nature studies!

Our official Outdoor Hour happened on Thursday in our backyard:

Task #1- Read in the Handbook of Nature Study  about Object Lessons and the Field Glass in Nature Study.  I was inspired by the sentence about using the magnifying glass-  “it is such a joy to the child to gaze at the wonders it reveals.”

Inspecting a leaf

Task #2- Spend time in our backyard with the magnifying glass.  I told the kids to go find something interesting to inspect and they went and found sparkly rocks and little leaves.  K found a pumpkin we had brought home from our pumpkin patch field trip and we looked closely at it.  I was amazed to see that it is not really solid orange.  It is a light orange yellow and then it has all kinds of dark orange veins running through it.  I never knew!  Looking at things through a magnifying glass truly does bring a sense of wonder.  I pulled out the feathers we had collected from the chicken coop last week and we took a closer look at them.  Then they took turns with the magnifying glass we have to look at the sand box (X-man was pretty interested in the fact that sand up close looks like tiny rocks!) and then the leaves on the tree.

Getting up close and personal with the tree

X-man noticed that there were tiny little holes in the leaves.  He asked me what made them.  I asked him what he thought made them.  He replied, “Maybe a ladybug.  Or a grasshopper.  Or a bee.”   Cool!  I’m glad I didn’t answer his question at first, to see what he could think up.  And of course, I don’t really know what makes the little holes so my reply was, “Good idea!  Let’s go look it up!”  I discovered that all sorts of things can make little holes in leaves and indeed, insects is one culprit.

Task #3- Talk.  We talked about the interesting things we found to look at as we looked at them.  It is harder to keep the kids focused on Nature Study when it is in our backyard, but it was good to examine some things in our yard.  It gave me the motivation to spend some time trying to figure out what the tree is that is in our backyard. (That is a whole story in itself- you can read it below.)

We drew the leaves from our cherry tree

Task #4- Nature Journal.  The kids decided they wanted to draw the leaves of our “Cherry Tree”- ones with holes in them.  So we each plucked a leaf with a hole or two in it and we went to the kitchen table to draw our leaves.  X-man decided to draw everything he examined and K was pretty frustrated that her drawn leaf was too big, but overall, we enjoyed the process of drawing our leaves and writing our observations.

Task #5- Field Guide.  We started work on this!  We chose pictures of the birds we’ve seen and studied and pasted the pictures to the cards.  Now we need to add information to the back of each card.

I plan to put out some bird feeders around our backyard this weekend (or some weekend soon, whenever I get to it), so I am hoping we’ll get to visit with many winged creatures this winter!

We went creek walking (even me- I just had to get a good shot of the crayfish) this week

Z found some rocks he was excited about

How amazing it is to see things with a magnifying glass that you’ve never seen before!

Examining the sand

Taking a closer look at our chicken feathers

This one found peanut butter and had an up close and personal experience with it

Inspecting the Montmorency (?) Cherry Tree leaves

My tree identification story:  I have been wanting to figure out the name of this tree for some time.  My landlord called it a “Green Cherry Bush,” but when I googled that term, I didn’t find anything.  The tree produces small sourish cherries in the summer that have the consistency of plums.  So yesterday, I went to the Arbor Day Foundation website as they have a page where they ask questions and when you answer, they bring up the next question.  In the end, it is supposed to give you the answer.  It is a great website (and I recommend it!), but the process was a bit frustrating this time for two reasons:

Pretty girl by our cherry tree

#1- I had to look up a lot of the words.  I did not know what “Margin” or “Petiole” meant.  (On the other hand, mostly it defines everything that it asks and it uses very helpful pictures!   Plus, I learned what “margin” and “petiole” mean.  That is not a bad thing.)

#2- It did not lead me to the answer.  Once I answered all of their questions, the answer it gave me just wasn’t right.  The pictures of the leaves, flowers, and fruit did not fit.  The leaves on my tree are finely toothed (as described by Arbor Day’s answer), but they were rounded (I learned this word: “Crenulate”) rather than serrated.

After quite a bit of googling “cherry trees with crenulate leaves” and other specifics like that, I think I may have discovered the answer: Montmorency Cherry Tree. Everything is right- the leaves look like they have crenulate margins and the fruit is described perfectly (light to dark red skin and yellow flesh that is sour), but on the zone maps on the Arbor Day website, this tree should not do well here in California.  So I’m left with a bit of a mystery.  I’m okay with that.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Even though the weather isn’t cooperating with my idea of the season, Autumn is here!  A few weeks ago the family went to the Petaluma Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch.  This week, we went with our homeschool group to a pumpkin patch a little closer to home.  It was bright, dusty, and hot; but it was a lot of fun!  I forced all of the children to wear orange- not so that I would be able to spot them (which is just as well since they blended in with the pumpkins)- but so the pictures would coordinate with the stickers and paper for the scrapbook pages that will be created later.

Z-urchin got his own car!

Our adventure started with a train ride for the kids around the pumpkin patch.  Then we listened to our guide tell us about pumpkins.  The pumpkins they grow here are Sugar Pie Pumpkins (so I am excited to make some pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin- this is something I’ve never done before!) and they grow one to a vine on a very long vine.  He explained that if another pumpkin appears on a vine, they will prune it off so that the one pumpkin gets all the nutrients it needs to grow well.  They also have some “volunteer crops” in the pumpkin patch- tomatillos that have volunteered to grow next to the pumpkins.

It was really bright

Next, each child was able to go out to the patch and select a pumpkin to take home.  The rule:  Each student must carry the pumpkin out to the car by themselves.  Mothers and teachers were not allowed to carry their pumpkins.  This was a good rule.  My children did a good job of selecting the perfect size pumpkins to carry home.  I did let them place these pumpkins in our stroller for the duration of our field trip.

Choosing the right pumpkin is hard work

Next, the kids chose a pumpkin leaf and had a nearby dad or the guide pick it off for them (the leaves and vines had stickers!) and they used it to do a leaf rubbing with vellum and a crayon.  They enjoyed this experience and Z-urchin found every single small white pumpkin in the area and thoughtfully threw them all in the trash.

Carefully selecting the right leaf

After I fished out all the the small pumpkins from the trash, we headed over to some hay bales and the area where I think they hold a petting zoo on the weekends.  The kids had fun climbing and wandering in the hay bale mini-maze and pretending they were in “prison.”

Playing in the dirt- good for his immune system!

We then visited the haunted house.  Princess and Z-urchin thought it was too scary until their brother wanted to go again.  Then they decided that it wasn’t so scary after all and followed him right back in.  We got one final train ride- and they got to ride around the patch four or five times!  At that point, the heat, the brightness, and the yellow jackets became too much for me and we headed back to the car for lunch and then spent the afternoon at home, in the shade, on our swing.

Our Sugar Pie Pumpkins

One pumpkin per vine

Doing a leaf rubbing

Having fun with the leaf rubbing

Playing on the hay bales

Playing Prison

Woohoo! Another train ride!

One enthusiastic brother, one apathetic brother

This is a fun ride

The front of our train

Fun times at the pumpkin patch

We all enjoyed our field trip! Happy Fall!

Books on my Bedside Table

Linda Fay at charlottemasonhelp.com (my favorite Charlotte Mason website) writes about her family’s “Ten Habits of a Happy Homeschool.”  One of them is this:

“I keep four books going at all times by my bedside and read ½ hour before bed, choosing whatever book I am in the mood for at the time. (fiction, spiritual, nonfiction and a child’s book I am proofreading)”

Charlotte Mason talks about the need for “Mother Culture”- time to herself to read, think, and remember.  She explains that it is important for mothers to grow so that they can relate to their children later.

Mother must have time to herself. And we must not say ‘I cannot.’ Can any of us say till we have tried, not for one week, but for one whole year, day after day, that we ‘cannot’ get one half-hour out of the twenty-four for ‘Mother Culture?’–one half-hour in which we can read, think, or ‘remember.’

…But, if we would do our best for our children, grow we must; and on our power of growth surely depends, not only our future happiness, but our future usefulness.  (Charlotte Mason, Vol. III)

A few weeks ago, I decided to put a few books next to my bed in hopes that I would be able to start this habit of reading 1/2 hour before going to sleep.  So I have three books on my nightstand right now: fiction, spiritual,  and non-fiction/child’s book I’m reading through.

1.  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (on my Kindle).  I was compelled to read these after watching the first episode of the series Sherlock on Netflix and because my sister told me that she reads one Sherlock Holmes chapter a night.  My sister has good ideas.

2.  What is a Family by Edith Schaeffer.  A friend lent this book to me and told me that it had encouraged her in some ways.  I look forward to being encouraged!

3.  Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes.  A friend recommended this book and said that she was going through this with her daughter.  My daughter has told me often that her favorite part of school is the drawing.  She also seems to get frustrated when her drawings don’t turn out “right.”  So I thought she would enjoy going through this book with me.  As I read it, I am actually getting excited about learning to draw as well!

So I guess the first habit I need to work on is going to bed early enough to have a half an hour to read a chapter before going to sleep!

Making Maracas

We made maracas this month

In our studies of Mexico during the past few weeks, we have been working on making paper mache maracas.  They are finally finished!  Here’s what we did:

1.  Made a paper mache paste with flour and water.

2.  Placed beans and rice in a balloon and then blew it up to the size we wanted our maracas.

3.  Attached two jumbo craft sticks to the balloon.

4.  Tore a few newspaper pages into strips.

Princess K was totally into the paper mache paste- she loved it

5.  Used the paste to cover the balloon with the newspaper strips.

6.  Let it dry in the sun (it was one of our very, very hot October-in-California days, so it dried quickly).

7.  Popped the balloon.  (I was told a long sharp needle would do it, but it didn’t.  I ended up having to cut a flap into the maraca and use scissors to open up the balloon.  Then I taped the flap closed.)

8.  Painted the maracas with red, green, and white paint.

9.   Let it dry.

10.  Shake, shake shake!  (When the rice and beans started sprinkling out, then- tape, tape, tape!)

X-man was not as excited about getting sticky and messy.

Painting with white, red, and green

Intent on his task

All done! Shake, shake, shake!

Memorable Moments: A Relaxed Week

Waiting to get that cast removed… counting down the minutes now!

We haven’t done much “school” this week, but we have learned and spent wonderful time together.

My Top Ten Memorable Moments This Week:

1.  Spending the morning with Z-urchin at the doctor’s to get his cast removed.  We looked at a Star Wars magazine that was in the waiting room and Z-urchin did a pretty impressive Yoda impression.   And a good light saber sound effect.

2.  Reading The Little Engine That Could while cuddling with my (newly de-casted) toddler.  He likes to name all the things he recognizes in the pictures.  He did a great job!

3.  Finding Shortstop asleep in the jumperoo.

Backyard “hockey” with my son.

4.  Playing “hockey” with my son- he had a small hockey stick (thanks to his Uncle) and I had a broom.  Scoring was estimated and generous and we had fun!

5.  Making popcorn with my girl.  When the popping slowed down and we turned off the heat, she jumped at every late “POP!”

“Fun! Mommy, Fun!”

6.  Freeing Z-urchin from his stroller at the park- for the first time in a month and watching him limp over to the playground structure and play Ring Around the Rosie around a circular rail.  He exclaimed, “Fun!  Mommy, fun!”

7.  Hearing X-man’s voice saying, “Mommy, a squirrel came by here and left his skin!”  Turns out it was a rat.  A dead rat.  I saved it for daddy to clean up and didn’t take a picture for you to see.  I’m pretty sure you appreciate that.

Baking oatmeal cookies together

8.  Baking oatmeal cookies with my middle two.  They stirred the dough together and Z-urchin exclaimed, “Fun!”

9.  Winning our game of dominoes at Friday Family Fun night.   Oh yeah!

Petting the soft feathers of the chicken

10.  Learning about and observing and interacting with chickens for our Outdoor Hour this week and seeing my children enthusiastic about these interesting creatures.

It’s family fun night

And I won the dominoes game! That is right!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #7

Z-urchin was able to participate fully again in our Outdoor Hour Challenge!

On Monday, my toddler had his cast removed!  Hallelujah!  This meant that our outdoor time was so much easier this week.  He still limps a little as his muscles are weak from the month of not being used.  But we can bring him outside without any fear of getting dirt, sand, or rocks in his cast.  What a wonderful relief.

Our focus for our nature studies for now is birds.  When I read on  page 28 of The Handbook of Nature Study. “The hen is especially adapted as an object lesson for the young beginner of bird study… the hen is a bird always available for nature study,”  I immediately thought about my friend who has four chickens- born the same day as Shortstop!  We were all very excited to go visit her, her dog, and her chickens this week for Outdoor Hour Challenge #7.

Barred Rock Chicken

Before we went, I took a look at the section in The Handbook of Nature Study on Chicken Ways.   The most interesting fact I read was “the chick swallows [food] whole; after being softened by juices from the stomach the food passes into a little mill, in which is gravel that the chicken has swallowed.  This gravel helps to grind up the food.” (p 48)  I asked my friend about this and she said she also offers them oyster shells for this purpose.

Up close experience with hens

My friend has four chickens, three Barred Rock chickens and one Ameraucana.  When we arrived, we walked down the hill to her chicken coop.  How thrilling for my children and I when she let the chickens out to roam around us.  We were able to have an up close experience with this beautiful, chatty birds.  They got to pour some chicken feed on the ground for them and watch them peck at it.  They chased the chickens around and later noted that chickens are fast runners.  We got to pet one of the Barred Rock hens.  The feathers were very soft.  X-man found a few feathers to add to our collection.  We peeked into the coop and found one brown egg!  Last week, we learned about chickens oiling their feathers, a fact Princess K was able to recall as she watched the hens preening.  I encouraged the kids to ask questions and I asked several myself.   We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the hens and we learned a lot.  I am interested to find out more about these fascinating creatures.

A brown egg from a Barred Rock hen

 

What We Learned About Chickens

1.  The hens- about 5 months old- lay about 6 eggs a week.

2.  The Barred Rock hens lay brown eggs.

3.  The Ameraucana hens lay light blue or green eggs.

4.  Their favorite food is watermelon, though they eat quite a variety of foods she gives them.

5.  They use their beaks to peck the ground for food.

Ameraucana Chicken

 

On our way home, I asked the kids what they noticed about chickens.  Their first reply:  “They say ‘bock, bock’ and they run fast.”  After a little prompting questions, they remembered, “They lay eggs!  They eat with their beaks at the ground.”  They were able to remember the colors of the feathers and when I told them the names of the chickens, Z-urchin piped up, “Barred Rock Hicken” and he repeated this fact many, many times throughout the next half hour.

They enjoyed watching the chickens run around

 

We drew chickens in our nature journals and I recorded their observations and impressions of the chickens.  Princess K thoroughly enjoyed our excursion and her drawing and excitedly told her daddy all about it!  She also explained in some detail why and how chickens oil their feathers.  Spending time in God’s great outdoors and learning about His creation is truly a delight!

Chickens pecking the ground for food

 

 

The last part of the challenge was to make a personal field guide.  When I explained this idea to my children, they were very enthusiastic.  I asked them to name the birds we’ve seen and can identify that they wanted to include in our field guide.  Their list included: Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks, and Chickens (both Ameraucana and Barred Rock).  I reminded them of the Brown Pelican we drew and they decided they wanted to include that as well.  We will begin working on that project tomorrow or next week.  I am very encouraged with all that they are learning and are able to recall and explain through these outdoor challenges.  What a blessing nature study is turning out to be!

Chasing Chickens

Z enjoyed watching the hens as well

We all got to pet the Barred Rock hen

The feathers were quite soft

For our collection

Our journal entries: Princess K’s is at the top, Mommy’s is in the middle, and X-man’s is at the bottom. They were very enthusiastic about this entry.

 

Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze

This weekend, we had a fun family excursion with the Grandparents to the Petaluma Pumpkin Patch and the A-Maze-ing Corn Maze!

The first thing we did was to enter the maze.  At first, we let the kids take turns deciding which way to go at each intersection.  When we made it back to the beginning of the maze, my husband decided that his strategy needed to be employed.  So at every decision point, we turned right.  We wandered around that maze for a long time, turning right every time (on the plus side, I think the kids now know which hand is their right!) and after all of our legs and feet were aching, we made it out!  Ah, the rejoicing was great.

Next, the kids had so much fun riding the ponies (thank you Grandma & Grandpa!!).  Clearly, something is lacking in our children’s zoological education- or they’ve had too many rides on pretend animals on the merry-go-round- because X-man asked, “Is this a real live horse?”

We wandered around the pumpkin patch and the kids enjoyed playing around the pumpkins.  Z-urchin loved riding on Grandpa’s shoulders.  We found a huge stack of hay bales and everyone had a good time climbing up to the top (even the kid in a cast).

What a fun family day!  Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa for joining us on our adventure!

Heading into the corn maze

The Princess on her pony

X-man’s words: “Giddyup, Yeehaw!”

Found this pumpkin

She loves her pumpkin

Z-urchin loves to be on Grandpa’s shoulders

Cutie pie in the hay

Jump!

The kid in the cast managed to make it all the way to the top (with Grandpa’s help)

Grandpa to the rescue

Now Daddy’s going to jump

In the air!

Mommy and baby in the hay

Baby in the wheelbarrow

Monday Musings: Looking Up

“The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hand.” Psalm 19:1

The other day I was at the park with my boys (my girl was at her dance class).  It was a beautiful day.  Perhaps it was even more beautiful because it was so stinkin’ hot earlier in the week.  I decided to let Z-urchin out of his stroller so I put him in the swing.  We’ve been studying birds lately, so I thought I would look up to see if I could spot any.  I didn’t see any birds, but the tree branches swaying and providing a rich green design with a cloudy sky backdrop was so gorgeous that I just had to stare.  And then run and get my camera and take a picture.   What a beautiful world God has given us.

Looking up into the great expanse of the sky, gazing at puffy white clouds floating by, watching the tree branches sway in the breeze, seeing leaves fall and birds fly… these refresh my spirit.  It reminds me of the verse from Colossians 3, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”  Of course, the sky and the trees are in fact earthly things, but they declare the glory of the Heavenly One.  They point toward our Creator and seem to whisper to me, “Just look at how great He is!  See how vast His love and His power and His wisdom that He would grant this world so much beauty and complexity!”  Looking up at the sky reminds me to continually praise Him and thank Him for His good gifts to me.

So throughout my day today, I am going to try to “look up” to the Lord in prayer and ponder His greatness and goodness.  It will refresh my soul and help me have the strength, joy, and peace I need to deal with the various challenges I face during my day.  I will set my mind and heart on things above by meditating on His Word, by being thankful in all circumstances, and by proclaiming His great works to the next generation.  “This is the day that the Lord has made!  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”