What are we up to? {January 8-14}

In continuing with my effort to take a picture a day, I'm discovering that it's not often as easy a task as I originally thought it would be.  Most of our days are rather routine and somewhat boring, and it's easy for me to forget to take any pictures until the end of the day when the lighting is poor and all of the "excitement"  (although that's a generous term for what we do around here) of the day is over.   Even still, it is fun to keep a daily record and remember what makes up the fabric of our days.    

January 8:
Ellie made her own cake today and was very, very excited about it!   It's a tropical orange cake with homemade marshmallow frosting and a mango/pineapple topping  which she made for our Mommy/Daughter book group.   And in case you're wondering, yes, it was as delicious as it looks!

January 9:   Our kids aren't doing any sports this season, so our Saturdays are actually more relaxed than they are in other parts of the year!    Today we got the kids going on their Saturday chores, then Glen and I bailed and went for an 8-mile hike on the CCT.  Our long hikes together are one of my favorite parts of the week!   Later we went to cheer on our  YW at a basketball game.     In the evening, Adam made a music video at a friend's house, Ellie had a jumping and junk food fest at her friend's house, and Emma had a friend over to watch Ant Man at our house.  Sadly this photo of Ellie and friend, Adelaide,  standing in the dark and the pouring rain is the only picture I took all day!    

January 10:  Today was the 4th year anniversary of Spencer's diagnosis with leukemia.   It could have been a hard day, but between this beautiful breakfast (a perk of having the 1:00 church schedule), the fact that Glen and I both taught lessons at church, a powerful experience I had at church, and the fact that I ended up with meetings from 11-5 and 7-9, meant we didn't have much time to dwell on the gravity of the fact.    

January 11:  A trip we've been dreaming about and saving for for years is finally in the very beginning stages of being planned!

January 12:  Adam and his friend, Andrew, are working on the Bird Study merit badge, so we decided a field trip to Mason Neck State Park was in order.   Right on Pohick Bay, eagles, ducks, geese, and swans are often plentiful there and we figured it would be a great way to see some more birds to fulfill the 20 species requirement for the badge.  It was a quiet day, but we did see a bald eagle from a distance.

January 13: You may be sensing a theme, but I love being outdoors and I pretty much need a good dose of fresh air and sunshine several times a week to maintain my mental health.  This year I was very excited to arrange Emma's voice lessons to be at the same time as Adam and Ellie's piano lessons.   I take this time that they're all occupied and  go on a walk by myself.   I treasure this solitude and built-in time in my schedule to get some exercise.  Today, Emma's voice teacher had to delay her lessons by an hour, which meant I had kids with me during my walk--first Emma while the kids were at piano, then the kids while Emma was at voice.   I actually very much enjoyed the company, although two straight hours for me out in the 29º weather meant that I was feeling  a little frosty by the end!    And I know that based on what Adam was wearing that it   looks like he must have a little of my Minnesotan blood in him, but I will tell you that he was actually shivering and was the first one to beg to go back to the car!

January 14:  Glen has perfectly straight teeth that never have needed orthodontic intervention.   I, however, was born with  a mess of crooked buck teeth that needed braces TWICE to correct.   While all five of our kids inherited Glen's beautiful brown eyes, unfortunately not a one of them inherited his teeth.  Here's kid #4 in braces, with one more to certainly follow him in a couple of years!

How to Charm a Butterfly in a Few Easy Steps

In case you ever wondered how you can get to know a butterfly a little better, Ellie is here to tell you how in just a few easy steps.   

 1. Go to the Natural History Museum in DC on a Tuesday and get free admission into the Butterfly Pavilion.  

2.   Wear bright colorful clothing.

3.  Get warmed up for your butterfly meeting session by getting acquainted with other large insects.

4.  Sit quietly and patiently observe butterflies in action.  

5.   Approach butterflies gently with a small flower petal in hand.

6.  When all else fails, start walking around and looking at other things and wait for the butterfly to land on your shoulder.   

Voila!   Guaranteed success!    

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See below for more butterfly acquaintances made today.    

Welcome to the Zoo (literally)

On Monday, we were a normal suburban family with five kids, two minivans, and a dog.

On Tuesday, things got weird fast.

 First thing that morning we got a phone call that it was time to pick up our new  baby chickens from the post office.   We're only taking care of them for a few weeks, but my kids were grinning ear-to-ear at the cuteness that lay within that little chirping box.

FYI this is what chicks look like when they get sent by mail.  Three of the four survived the trip.

Our kids immediately claimed and named them, except for poor Emma who happen to be the last one home that day and by default ended up with the dead one being named hers.

Meet Rose (the yellow one, named by Ellie), Stripe (the tan one, named by Adam), and Felix (the black one, named by Cami)...our temporary pet chickens.

We don't have enough yard to keep them when they're older, but our friend, Shelly, was nice enough to let us "foster" them for a few weeks for her.  They're all females and will eventually grow up to be free ranging egg-laying hens on Shelly's mini farm.

The kids are in love....

Most of the kids anyway...

We are keeping them in our bathtub with a heat lamp, which explains the inordinate amount of time my kids have been spending in the bathroom the last couple days.   Whenever I don't see them for a while, I can guess where they've ended up.   

Well, we thought that getting those baby chicks  was the end of the excitement at our house, but today my friend Lillian dropped by with a few more additions to our little zoo.

We've got a pretzel jar hosting luna moth caterpillars.  They eat only sweet gum and hickory leaves, so our first order of business was locating a suitable source of food for them.  Luckily we found a sweet gum tree about a half mile walk from here.  They will turn into gorgeous moths eventually.  

Lillian also brought us some Cope's gray tree frog tadpoles....

and a praying mantis egg case (of which I took no picture of).   

I figure that now that we've got a regular zoo going on here, I may as well invite the whole world to come visit.  If you happen to live locally and want to come see our little menagerie of wildlife, give me a call.  

Speaking of wildlife, our adventure with animals continued into the evening time.  While we were at the pool, we suddenly started noticing a little brouhaha with a teenage boys and a bird going on at the fence line.  When we  went to investigate what all the commotion was about,  we discovered a poor little parakeet who was clearly out of his element in the great outdoors.    He seemed disoriented,  skittish, yet oddly drawn to all the people.  I called my friend who had a parakeet and she informed us that he would certainly die if left in the wild. 

Thus began our mission to save the poor little thing.  

It took a lot of finagling and several prayers, but eventually we got the little fellow into a box (with the help of some teenagers)....

and for the second time in two days, we got  into our car with a box containing a live bird...

we brought it to my friend Julie's house,  where they are fully decked out for a pet bird.

Julie placed a FOUND ad on Craigslist and my kids are making signs to hang around the pool, so that hopefully we can return him to its rightful owner.

With up close experiences with six different animal species (including our dog) in a two-day period of time, now we are wondering what kind of animal adventures tomorrow will bring.   A pet unicorn?   Maybe a flamingo?

Whatever it is...we are ready!


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Once Upon a Springtime Morning

Once upon a springtime morning we went for a walk at Mason Neck State Park.  The sky was flawlessly blue, the air was crisp but mild, and somewhere along the way I became enamored.

We watched a magnificent osprey soar through the air with nest building materials in tow .....

A great blue heron gracefully flying just above the surface of the bay before landing a few feet in front of us....

The children were laughing and enjoying each other's company....

The entire family found a cute little tree frog  to admire....

At the ranger's suggestion, Glen actually captured it for a minute, before it hopped away.   Cami found a perfect little hole in a tree to pose for a picture....

And right as we were leaving we spotted a sunshiney yellow goldfinch chirping in a nearby tree...

Welcome spring!   We missed you.  

Fawkes

Meet Fawkes…

He is not a phoenix, nor does he belong to Albus Dumbledore, but he is a red-tailed hawk that has captured the hearts of the boys in our family.

Young red-tailed hawks have a high mortality rate and only about 20% survive their first year of life.  Our friend, Scott, along with a mentor, captured Fawkes when he was young and are helping him learn to survive in the wild.

He has invited Adam and Glen along for two of their hunting trips and a couple weeks ago Spencer got to come as well.

The boys have very much  enjoyed the opportunity to see this gorgeous hawk up close and personal and it's actually inspired Adam  to want to adopt his own hawk someday.  Ellie, however, despite loving birds too, hasn't even wanted to meet him yet because she is still processing the fact that Fawkes mainly eats cute little bunny rabbits for his meals!  

Speaking of bunny rabbits...did you hear the story about the rabbit who went on a trip?

He went by hareplane!    

God's Handiwork

On Wednesday evening I walked out of the library to one of the most stunningly gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen in my life.  The kids and I literally stopped in our tracks and were completely mesmerized by the brilliant display of pink, orange, and lavender dotting the sky in what the meteorologists called a mackerel pattern of altocumulus clouds.   The luminous rainbow of colors lasted all of two minutes and was gone before I could even call Glen and tell him to go outside to see it for himself.   Thank goodness for my iPhone camera so I could at least share it with him via text!

The next day I read this article that deemed it one of the most photographed and unforgettable sunsets in DC history.   We knew it was extraordinary from the moment we laid eyes on it, but reading about how many people were as taken with its beauty as we were, gave me a sense of deep appreciation for the privilege of having seen it for ourselves.  

It reminded me of the scripture in Psalm 19 that says, "the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork."  I love the use of the word, "handiwork," because it so beautifully illustrates to me that while scientists can say that it's a certain combination of atmospheric conditions that causes such a glorious display of clouds and colors, I feel strongly that God is in the details of that science.

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"When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon,  my soul
expands in worship of the Creator."   

Mahatma Gandhi 

Spencer Steals a Girl's Lollipop in Saint John

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Once upon a time a family made plans for a vacation.

There was a little mix-up in the name of the city they were going to, 

but luckily it was all squared away before they left home

and lucky them, they were still able to find a last minute 

vacancy in this fine looking establishment. 

And the luck continued when  the next morning dawned bright and clear--

 perfect weather for a boat ride. 

They were a tad surprised (and worried) when they arrived to the boat launching site 

and saw this not-so-lovely paper factory directly across the river. 

But their hope was renewed when they saw that this was the view looking the other way...

They ended up going on a leisurely harbor tour where they relaxed... 

and got to hear all about the fascinating way that the Bay of Fundy and the Saint John River

interact with each other.

It was on the boat ride that they fell in love with the quaintness 

of the small New Brunswickian city 

and decided that they wanted to explore a little more than they'd originally planned 

before driving onto their next destination. 

But first they took a wild-and-crazy jet boat ride that took them 

spinning and splashing 

through the rapids and in process traumatizing a whole flock of cormorants

(and their youngest child).

After they dried off and stopped their knees from shaking, 

they drove to the thriving metropolis of downtown Saint John to eat some lunch.  

I don't know if there was something fishy in that bag of Bugles, 

or if the jetboat ride damaged their noggins,

but from lunch on after things went downhill pretty quickly. 

First Emma started reading the newspaper over some random guy's shoulder.

Then Cami and Adam started fraternizing with a creepy looking dude holding a pinwheel

and even Ellie started trying to share her lunch with a well buxomed lady waiting for a bus.

Even Glen broke out of his normally reserved personality and 

got all chummy with homeless guy feeding the birds. 

As shocking as all of their behavior was, 

Spencer's actions really took the cake.

Or should I say "took the lollipop"? 

It was shortly after he made the little girl cry

that they declared that Saint John had gotten a little too odd for them

and that it was time to move onto greener isles.

The end. 

Stay tuned for more Canadian adventures coming soon...