NATURE
in the
NEIGHBORHOOD

I decided to take the littles for a walk around the block. It is only about 1/3 mile, but there is plenty to observe in this simple neighborhood in the city.

Katie liked the fushia azalea's;
the boys liked the gray and white rocks.
Seashells were a treasure found.

We thought this was a pretty fabulous Japanese Maple.

And we learned all about detours...



Interesting enough, we covered many topics in our 30 min walk...

Bryson liked a variety of rocks; pebbles, stone walls, red rocks, gravel...

Andrew noticed the clear blue sky, felt the breeze, noticed the warmth of the sun when we would walk out of a shady spot, and heard birds chirping & planes traveling by; can you tell he is my sensory boy?

Katie tried to name the few birds we saw; crows, grosbeaks, & a hawk.

Halfway through our walk she spotted the hawk. By the time we got in front of our house, there was quite the "sky war" going on between the crows (a lot of them) and the lone hawk. Our hypothesis was that the hawk was too close to home for some baby crows.

Not so sure I'm excited about more crows around here. Last year were enjoyed many birds in our backyard; starlings, robins, grosbeaks, & hummingbirds were common. Well, over the winter, we made those peanut butter pinecone bird feeders AND those stinkin' crows not only ate at the feeders, but took the whole pinecone at one time! It took a dozen or so attempts, but off they flew with their new feast!

We also enjoyed a moment in someones rock garden =)


This was a fabulous after-lunch stroll, and we are thrilled with a little bit of beautiful weather!

So, what's in your neighborhood?

Our Family Fall Nature Walk


Not too bad a picture for throwing them all under a tree.

Bryson was checking out the mushroom Daddy found. He tried to lick it like an ice cream cone. Thankfully this child has tamed down a bit, and didn't once run off towards the cliffs or hillside. This makes for a much more peaceful nature walk!

This completes our "year round" study of the environment at this particular nature trail. We started our observations last winter, and continued our research of wildlife and nature through all four seasons. Kind of a fun project to do.

Today's trip was to gather seeds & leaves, search for bugs, and to take note of which animals were still around.

It was a great outing, and the weather was beautiful. Days like these make me slow down my thoughts and be grateful for the more simple moments in life.

GREEN THUMB???

Maybe not....

Here is our journey with gardening. I share it here as to keep all things real. ;^)

We started in April with planting seeds.

Batch 1, batch 2, AND batch 3 were tortured by a curious 23 month old.

The 4th & final attempt we had him join the process....

then I got smart and placed the seedlings in an out-of-reach place!

CARROTS???

CUCUMBERS???

GREEN TOMATOES???

Bryson is begging to play with these wee lil green tomatoes that he calls a "ball".

We did actually eat many of our hard earned produce, including peas and green onions also.

So, what is your opinion?

With such strange looking vegetables, how would you grade our garden for an "agriculture" credit w/ science labs??

I would like to add that my dear husband was the supervisor over this 6 month project! He was great at explaining the growth, guiding the learning, and starting the green tomato fight. ;^)
I, on the other hand, could somehow die off a cactus; consequently, I stayed out of the way.

Nature Study...

Our Backyard!

These photos are all from our fenced backyard.
We moved from small town to big city, so I find it a bit amusing to still enjoy such treasures of wildlife.

The wee lil tree frog was the most enjoyable. All the kids had fun with him.

We also have several rabbits to observe. Our dogs go a bit nutty over them.

Spiders are of abundance.
Thankfully, not many are found in our house;
the way it should be if you ask me!

The Blue Jays are amazing. We have a lovely birdhouse that we keep stocked with bird food. Chickadees and Robins are popular guests also.
We cannot seem to capture on camera our surprise early morning guest at the birdhouse...
the neighborhood squirrel!

We also discovered a rather large BEE hive in our pine tree. The odd thing was that we did not have many bees bothering us this summer, which is a nice change from previous summers.
We have the hopes of dissecting this piece of artwork very soon.

Some other friends of the back yard are:

Hummingbirds

Dragonflies

ants, lady bugs, and the occasional slug.

PLANTS GROWN UP...

Yay! On our 4th attempt...

and Daddy's green thumb....

and letting Bryson be included in the dirt mixing...
I am relieved to say our GARDEN is finally on it's way....

~PLANTS GROWN UP....

~the title to our new Bible study.

To teach boys to be young men;
and to prepare young men to be a Godly man.

Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants
Psalm 144:12

Our garden of life contains 6 amazing plants!

Each one came in it's own season, and brings forth a variety of spice to our lives.

As we continue to be faithful in~

cultivating character,
nurturing enthusiasm & initiative,
to prune trangressions,
transplant knowledge,
& support independence....

we are eager to enjoy the harvest....

of passing God's love onto the next generation

(and of course, enjoy grandkids someday ;^)

*as for our one & only girl whom adds the beauty to our garden;
she is far more precious than jewels.

THE BEAUTY OF NATURE
~winter study


~ Waterfalls...

~a very active squirrel...

~bare trees...

~and mossy rocks...

~makes for a successful nature walk!