Winter Nature Study...

The boys were off on an adventure in the pasture.

So Miss LouLou asked to do nature study.

We took off on a walk around the yard...exploring

One of the first things we noticed was...
Not just one...

Not two...

Not three...four...or...five

But...SIX...birds nests...

We found one...

in the oak tree at the road

in the hedges near the woods

in the oak tree in the yard

in the blackberry bush along the fence

in the bluebird house

in the magnolia tree

So we collected a couple that we could reach and examined how they were made.

We saw...

pieces of carpet from the carpet in the garden

pine straw

hay

pieces of blue tarp pulled from the fraying edge

and twigs.

We drew a bird's nest in our nature notebooks and taped some of their construction materials beside the picture...

And this Tiny Miss was just along for the ride...

Welcome New Year...

I awoke on the first day of the year feeling...

excited

hopeful

blessed

I told Chris it was exciting to think of a brand new year before me..

a fresh one with no mistakes in it yet.

He told me to just wait, it wouldn't take long.

And it didn't.

But I'm so thankful that ...

"It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed,

because His tender compassions fail not.

They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

So this year among the mistakes and the messes,

I long to bask in the grace of His new mercies every morning.

So I want to make this year...

the year of counting His tender mercies Every. Day.

1.  little girls giggling...chasing each other with cold hands

2.  Little Bitty shaking the garbage bag out and trying to put it in the can.

3.  Bo's excitement over starting his own quiet time...he told me reading his Bible has helped throughout his day.

4.  Boo telling me how much he wants Jesus in his heart.

5.  Little girls flying high in the swing...hair blowing in the breeze...full of giggles

6.  A week at home with Him...dreaming...looking...loving

7.  Laying on the couch with Him...feeling his heartbeat...breathing him in...feeling his arms around me.

8.  the gray in his beard

9.  Seeing a teenage son put his arms around his mom in a parking lot and giving her a hug.

10.  Listening to Little Bitty sing "There's No God Like Tekola" (Jehovah) on the way home from church.

11. Cruising the back roads with Him looking for a few acres to call our own.

12.  Gathering with family...eating...sharing...laughing...loving

 

Christmas Memories 2011

Away in a manger...

Christmas Morning...

Making gifts to give...

One Little...Two Little...Three Little Indians...

Four Little...Five Little...I guess we need a few more to make the song work;-)

What I Love About My Boys...

they bravely fight the battles...

they are always inventing something

or making something homemade for someone else...

they love to work alongside daddy...especially the youngest one

they almost always find a way to include their sisters unless the battle is far too fierce

I Felt Brave Saturday...

and decided to take the littles to Earlyworks all by myself...

it was lots of fun...but i had a hard time getting good pictures without daddy's help;-)

Nature Study With The Girls...

Miss LouLou has suddenly began asking almost everyday if we can go on a nature walk.

Her enthusiasm excites me:-)

We created a nature notebook for her awhile back.

Now we are slowly beginning to add sketches from our nature time together.

So far we haven't followed any lessons.  We've just walked outside until we find something of interest.

Like a cricket

or Plantain

Here we are collecting leaves in the woods.

Miss LouLou was very excited to see the surprise when she rubbed her crayon over her page.

We were blowing bubbles today and a ladybug landed on my hand.  That led to a story about ladybugs and a drawing in our nature notebooks.

This afternoon while baby sisters were napping she asked to go one a nature walk again.

 That walk ended with finding the seeds from the goldenrod and marigold plants left in the yard.

I showed her how to save the seeds from the marigolds and told her we could plant them in the spring.