DRAWN TO NATURE. Leslie. Signs of nature are everywhere, just waiting to be noticed, and noticed they have been by acclaimed wildlife artist Clare Walker Leslie. In this book, her drawings and words will inspire readers to develop a deeper connection with the natural world. Drawn to Nature will inspire you to become a better observer of the natural world as well as motivate you to record those observations for posterity

ILLUSTRATING NATURE, How to Paint and Draw Plants and Animals. Barlowe. Step-by-step guide to capture every aspect of nature, from lush swampland vegetation to shy forest dwellers. Expert discussions on

media including pencil, watercolors, oils, acrylics, scratch board, and pen-and-ink. Individual demonstration projects carefully guide one toward mastery of specific techniques.

CREEK AND POND LIFE ACTIVITY KIT. Acorn Naturalists. This unique activity kit is popular with young naturalists, environmental educators, and parents who have access to a pond or stream. This kit was originally designed for the western states, but its versatility makes it easily adapted to any aquatic environment. Search for whirligig beetles, dragonflies, toe-biters, water striders, and backswimmers! Includes activity cards, three petri dishes, dip net, plant press, magnifier, plankton syringe, magnifying observation box, and a pond life field guide. Kit includes a reply card for a free Aquatic Naturalist Certificate of Achievement. Aquatic fun for children ages 7-12

HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY. Comstock. First published in 1911 by Anna Comstock, founder of the Department of Nature Study at Cornell University, this 887 page volume has inspired thousands of elementary school teachers to develop their own outdoor study programs. What is more amazing is that this volume, updated in 1939, can still be used to teach the essential elements of the scientific method, mainly by engaging students in the study of the myriad life that surrounds them. Like many great literary works, books such as this are timeless in their approach and insight. Some parts could have been written today, such as the discussion of how the study of nature can help build healthy, observant, well-rounded citizens (as now documented in the recently published book Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv). Education, like everything else, has cyclical trends and once again schools are in the process of discovering just how much learning can occur when students go outside and explore nature.

I found some hilarious you tube vid's on 3 Ring Binder

You absolutely must stop by and see them!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs

OMG I love this man!!!

Found a great site for Earth Day and Nature Journaling.
It is called Green Hour

This was todys post:

Issue #107: Waters of March
Ever since the first time they heard spring peepers, my kids have been hooked. And, I have to admit, I can still remember the first time my dad took me to hear them. There's just something magical about the sound of these small frogs -- it's almost like a chorus of bells ringing in the season.
So, each year at this time, we make a point to get outside and listen to them. Today, that means visiting a local nature center with a few acres of wetland habitat.

on my nightstand:
Stiff:The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

The Joy of Family Traditions: A Season-by-Season Companion to 400 Celebrations and Activities by Jennifer Trainer Thompson
Awakening: A Daily Guide to Conscious Living by Shakti Gawain

am currently loving:
having my husband home everyday
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream
planning spring activities
the smell of fresh rain

my daughters singing
Garlic Chips from the Blind Onion

the kindness of others

what inspires you about spring?
rain coats and boots
the crispness of fresh rain
the peaceful glowing sky
dancing dafodills
planting a garden
rain drops on my window
what are three constants in your day?
sitting on my couch with my laptop
my husband and daughter trying to get the spot next to me=D
my puppy Irie at my feet
three dishes that you find yourself cooking over and over:
stew
Stroganoff
Terriaki Chicken and Rice

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

It is no measure of health to be
well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

-J. Krishnamurti,
author, speaker, and philosopher (1895-1986)

Sharing a little Baby Envy

pdxbeanies

amotherscrochet

leej7

westwillow

CurlyCrafter

cmu55

christiecreations

Beachwalkphoto

adriennekinsella

LeBleuet

Karenisa

fategoddess

sheknitsamy

tiptopapplesauce

pdxbeanies

NuxieMade

vintagebabyjane

Poetry Friday

A Change in the Year

It is the first mild day of March:

Each minute sweeter than before,

The redbreast sings from the tall larch

That stands beside our door.

There is a blessing in the air,

Which seems a sense of joy to yield

To the bare trees, and mountains bare;

And grass in the green field

~William Wordsworth

Today was a very slow Friday for us. Briana started off with her piano lesson. She was very excited to show her teacher her new books. We picked up 3 new ones on Wednesday while we waited for her dad to finish his guitar lesson. Ms. Christina, the piano teacher, ohhh'ed and aahh'ed at them enough that Briana left beaming as always=)

Then we stopped at Jamba juice for smoothies. Yummy!! I tried their oatmeal this morning and I must admit it was wonderful. I was only able to finish half but not to worry as Briana loved it and polished off the other half for me. We were quite early for her psychologist so we sat in the car and chatted. We made a little list of things she wanted to talk to her about and tried to decide what she was going to do this weekend.

After Briana went into her appointment I reclined my seat a bit and apparently fell asleep. I woke about 5 mon. before the end of her appointment. LOL!!! Like I said...slow day. We stopped at the scrapbook store and then got home around 2pm. Had a quick lunch and then BJ and Briana took off to run a few more errands so I took a full out nap! I didn't wake up till Bri woke me up at 7:45pm. I had a little dinner and now it is 10pm and I am thinking about saving my house stuff for morning so I can get to bed early. Tomorrow my books from Amazon get here so I won't be sleeping then=) I will take a pic. and share with you my book finds tomorrow=)

Till later toodlooo!

Wordless Wednesday

101 in 1001

Here's my mission:

Complete 101 tasks in the period of 1001 days

Here's my timeline:

April 1, 2009 - January 29, 2011

Here's my Goals:

Italics = In Progress

Striked = Completed

Bold = Unsucessful

Completed Tasks:
1/1001

Bettering Myself

1. Lose 100 pounds (0/100)

2. Read Toxic Parents

3. Fill in How you do Anything is How you do Everything

4. Read 101 new books (0/101)

5. Make a complete and utter fool of myself

6. Write a letter to my an old friend

7. Read a Shakespeare play

8. Do dishes everyday(0/1001)

9. Complete a wordfind book

10. Own a little black dress

11. Use treadmill at least one day each week(0/143)

12. Participate in a charity walk

13. Read 10 books from the banned book list (0/10)

14. Learn to tie a tie

15. Read at least 3 classic novels (0/3)

16. Tuck kiddo in everynight (0/1001)

17. Don’t watch TV for at least one day each week (0/143)

18. Stay off the Computer for at least one day each week (0/143)

Being Crafty

19. Try embrodery

20. Paint the house (0/9 rooms)

21. Start scrapbooking again

22. Take a picture a day and post on blog weekly (0/143)

23. Give only homemade gifts for one Christmas

24. Take a stairned glass class

25. Make a gingerbread house

Exploring and Experiencing the World

26. Go on a walk outside every week(0/143)

27. Go on a hike

28. See the sunrise from somewhere with a view

29. Go camping

30. Go to downtown Portland and spend the day

31. Go to the Art Museum

32. Road trip to the Redwood Forest

33. Road trip to Disneyland

34. Spend a weekend at the beach

35. Go for a weekend in the mountains

36. Go on a ladies only trip

Money Smart

37. Pay off our debt

38. Create a budget

39. Stick to the budget each month once we create it

40. Save $2,000 using coupons (0/$2,000)

Being Green

41. Plant a tree

42. Plant an herb garden

43. Plant a vegetable garden

44. Save pop tops for school

45. Use only reusable bags for shopping trips

Being a Good Wife

46. Do something unexpectedly nice weekly(0/143)

47. Have date nights bi weekly (0/72)

48. Go on a picnic date at least 3 times (0/3)

49. Kiss B.J. under mistletoe

50. Make a favorite dinner bi weekly(0/72)

51. Write why my husband rocks every Friday (0/143)

52. Watch a movie series he likes all the way through at least 3 times.(0/3)

All About Food

53.Make salads at least 3 times a week(0/429)

54.Slim down our portion sizes

55. Make dinner 3 nights a week

56. Bake bread 20 times (0/20)

57. Make cookies 20 times(0/20)

Being a Good Citizen

58. Pay it forward at Starbucks

59. Spend under $10 for a meal and give a $10 tip

60. Donate blood

61. Volunteer at a soup kitchen off holiday

62. Go Christmas caroling

Being a Good Friend and Family Member

63. Reconnect with old friends

64. Get to know our neighbors

65. Host a holiday cookie exchange

66. Host a New Year’s party

67. Send a thank you note from every gift received

68. Have a girl’s night

69. Write and mail at least one handwritten letter per month (0/33)

Bloggy World

70. Blog my progress

71. Post this list online

72. Write 101 comments on other peoples blogs (25/101)

Life Decisions

73. Shop less

74. Have less

75. Throw away less

76. Paint our house

77. Donate More

Being more Spiritual

78. Practice being in the moment

79. Meditate daily(0/1001)

80. Speak only kindness

81. release control of things uncontrolable

For Fun

82. Play in the mud

83. Stay in bed all day when I’m not sick

84. Send a message in a bottle

85. Fly a kite

86. Build a bird sanctuary

87. Have a garage sale

88. Complete a puzzle a year (0/3)

89. Watch AFI’s best 100 movies (0/100)

90. Play in the rain

91. Build a snowman

92. Build a sand castle

93. Upload a video to YouTube

94. Make a snow angel

95. Attend a Murder Mystery Dinner

96. Milk a cow

97. Go to a Grand Opening

98. Buy something from Williams & Sonoma for our house

99. Ride Max

100. Donate $5 for each item not completed

101. Save $1 for each item completed and spend it on myself

Spring Reading Thing 2009

Spring Reading Thing 2009

Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this spring. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.)

Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post at

Get reading! The challenge goes from today, March 20th, through June 20th.

Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile!

So my list is:(Self) (Family) (Homeschool)

1.Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
2.A Thousand Splendid Suns

3.Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson.

4.Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen

5.I Love Dirt By Ward

6. Literature for Lively Lessons By Edwards

7. Busy But Balanced By Mimi Doe

8. A Thomas Jefferson Education ByOliver Van DeMille

9.A Picture Perfect Childhood By Gibson

10. The Joyful Child By Jenkins

11.Handbook of Nature Study By Anna Botsford Comstock

12.Festivals Family and Food By Diana Carey

13.Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You By Clare Walker Leslie

14.The Joy of Family Traditions: A Season-by-Season Companion to 400 Celebrations and Activities By Jennifer Trainer Thompson

15.The Ancient Celtic Festivals: and How We Celebrate Them Today By Clare Walker Leslie

16.The Birthday Book (Crafts, Festivals and Family Activities Series) By Ann Druitt

17.Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson

18.

SE7EN
(copied from 3 Ring Binder)

1. I was so scared when the neighbor kids showed me the movie Nightmare on Elm St. I didn't sleep for weeks, and I haven't watched a scary movie since.(I was in 4th grade)

2. I don't drink or smoke(but I did both when I was 13).

3. In my 30s, I was going to be a psychiatrist and a writer until I met my husband and had a family instead.

4. I was born less than 5 miles from where I live now.

5. My start to melt when the temp goes above 75 degrees.

6. I am conflicted by wanting to both sit on my ass and have the house clean and tidy.

7. I'm all a twitter about Friday being the first day of Spring!!

St.Patricks Day 2009

Blarney Stone

My friend Dawn sent me these first few pictures from Ireland last year when she visited.

I started out my St. Patrick's Day reviewing them to get in the spirit.

I made a brisket that I first soaked in Guinness Beer.

I added baby red potatoes toward the end.

It was so loved this is all that was left.

I will take the picture first next time, promise.

I also made 2 loaves of Irish Mom's Brown Bread.

My husband loves fresh bread!

I also made a Grasshopper Pie.

It was too strong flavored for my husband and I.

Briana loved it and has already verified

she can have left overs tonight!!

It was nice to celebrate.

We listened to Celtic music, had green sprite, colored leprechan pictures,

ate green

hostess treats for snack and read quite a few stories

about Ireland and it's customes.

I wanted to watch Darby O'Gill and the little people but we have it on VHS

and our VCR broke. Every store I went to had no VCR's, only DVD players.

I was told they were obsolete=(BOO!!

So we watched Shrek 3.

Cell Phones and Kids

I just read this post at Kim's Play Place on cell phones and it got me thinking. I have an eleven year old daughter with a cell phone. We got the cell phone for her at 10 for many reasons.

One of the reasons was it was cheaper for each of us to have a cell phone than to have a home phone.

One of the major reasons was so she could call us anytime. This means if she gets lost in a store she can call. If she is with a friend and they have to stay together but the friend is making bad choices, she can call. If she is at a lesson and it gets over early, or she is sick, or unhappy, she can call.

Rules
1. I still want to know who she is talking to so if she is going to sit down and chat I ask her to let me know.
2. She can't answer a text if she doesn't know who it is from.
3. It is a phone that we (parents)own and pay for and therfore we get to make the rules.
4. We talked about the sextexting issues going on. This is a big deal as both the sender and reciever can be charged with child pornography and have to register as a sex offender for life, just for a "butt shot". If an 18 year old can make the wrong choice I have no doubt my 11 year old could to so it is my job to educate her.

We have thus far had no problems and I think it is still the best choice for our family.

Bri's Feb. 10- March 10 Homeschool log

Briana's Homeschool Acomplishments this month
Brief summary of Feb. to March

Reading:

Geeks in Love by Laura Preble
Geeks at the Prom by Laura Preble
Vampire Academy vol.1 by Richelle Mead
Frostbite vol.2 by Richelle Mead
Shadow Kissed vol.3 by Richelle Mead
Vampire Diaries vol.3 by L.J.Smith
Vampire Diaries vol.4 by L.J.Smith
Vampire Diaries vol.5 by L.J.Smith
A Mom to Embarass Me by Carol Lynch Williams
The Worry Website by Jacqueline Wilson
Reaching for Sun by Tracie Zimmer
Blue Bloods Masquerade by de La Cruz
Blue Bloods Revelations by de La Cruz
Doing Time Online by Jan Siebold
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Geek Charming by Robin Palmer
Paparazzi Princess SHL by Jen Calonita

Writing

Class at VHC
Her Blogs: Singer World and b.m.mason
Daily Journaling for psychiatrist

Science

Class at VHC
All extra labs recommended in teacher handouts.
Turning class room lab into a Power Point Presentation.
Reading online resources about Ponds such as:
Discovery Online Streaming Video about Pond Life
Microbe Zoo
EEK! Lakes Are Great
MBG net Ecology

Enviromental Literary Council Ecosystems
Yarra Valley Water Life in a Pond
Books about Ponds:
Ponds and Rivers by DK Eyewitness
Freshwater Pond by Dover
Pond Life by A Golden Field Guide

Math

Math Doesn't Suck by Danica McKellar

History

If you Lived at the Time of the American Revolution by Kay Moore
Martain Luther King Jr. activities
Inaugeration Study

PE/Health

1 nature walk around the neighborhood to look for signs of Spring.

JJJump on Presidents Day
Mostly Just:"No, you can't do DDR, you're sick!"
"No, you can't play outside, you're sick!"
"No, you can't jump on the trampoline, you're sick!"
"No, you can't have a friend over, they'll get sice!"
"No, You must wash your hands or I'll get sick!"

Art

Theater class at VHC- daily reading her script
Art class at VHC- daily sketching
Piano Class 2 times (missed 2 due to illness) and daily practice for 30-60 min.
Photography

Technology

Art with paint program
Art with Photoshop Program
Web Design
Blog Design
Typing tutor

This is our past month. Quite a bit less than normal due to being ill the entire month.

Wow, Another weekend with sick family. I can't believe how hard this flu season is being on people. I am normally not one to look forward to summer, not to fond of the heat, but boy I am beginning to look forward to the germ killing power of the sun. I also typically run an only organic home and I must admit to using a can of Lysol disinfectant several times lately. It is amazing what levels we moms will stoop too when it comes to sick kids and husbands=D

I have already told Bri. she is not going to classes tomorrow. She is not to thrilled as she hates to be behind and she can't stand the way the other kids in her science group log down the information on their ecosystem. Did I mention she is a bit of a perfectionist,lol. She is even using her cell phone to make a photo log that she later transfers into a PowerPoint presentation she is making to document the process. Not exactly what the teacher expects from 5th and 6th graders but she is giving Bri lots of room to do things her way. Besides the other kids seem quite happy to let her do all the documenting as long as they get to do the hands on stuff. Bri said the other day the principal came in to observe the class and began to panic that she had her cell phone out in class until the teacher explained that it had been approved for her to use the camera function. LOL, Apparently my darling can even break school wide rules and get away with it. I swear that child can talk her way out of anything. We sure have come along way in six months. Hard to believe she has 'Selective Mutism' on her list of diagnosis.

So in preparation for St. Pa tricks Day we will be making Irish Brown Bread this week and maybe a Grasshopper Pie both were found on By Sun and Candlelight, a favorite blog I read. We will also be reading some stories from Pot O' Gold by Krull. I have yet to order any goodies for the kiddos on my list but I know I have a box of cards with small glass shamrocks on them so maybe I will just pick up some flower seeds to go with them and call it good. We will also be reading Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato By Tomi dePaola, Strega Nona also by dePaola and hopefully if the library gets the copy in I reserved The Sun Egg by Elsa Beskow.

I am hoping the weather will hold out for us to finish our nature walk from last week. We are looking for more signs of Spring. Last week I was astonished at all the different things Bri. was able to identify on our walk. I am curious as to how many more wonderful things she can find this week. I have also introduced to her the idea of setting up some more bird feeders in the yard. We have a cat who loves to bring us birds so we need to be a bit strategic in our placement so as not to create a game for the cat. I am hoping that some feeders on poles that have nothing else near them will solve our problem.

I have also reserved some books for the 20th/ First Day of Spring. I love the book The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren and I am excited to see The Spring Equinox: Celebrating the Greening of the Earth by Ellen Jackson. I will let you know what I think once it gets here.

For those of you waiting to hear about B.J.'s job, this is the week. The company will announce on Friday who the lucky recipients of the layoff are. He is handling it very well. Not getting much accomplished but still in good spirits. What more can I ask. It is very probable that this round will affect him but we are staying optimistic. It will be a hard road either way. One way he has some vacation and free time to till the garden but has to look for a new job, and the other way he will have allot of work piled on him to make up for all the people that leave but will still have a job. Either way it will be nice to not be in limbo any longer. Thank you for all your happy thoughts and I will be sure to keep you all updated.

For now I think I am going to finish tidying up and get some sleep. See you all around again soon I hope.

What news anchors do during commercial breaks: http://tinyurl.com/dxd2au #

Found on The Bonny Glen Blog February 22, 2009 @ 11:25 am Filed under: Twitter