It is warm and sunny outside today. While spring isn’t officially here, it feels like spring in our little corner of the world. And, feeling excited about the warm weather, my boys couldn’t wait until the afternoon when we planned to head to the park to fly kites (see HERE).
So they took their kites outside to fly in our yard. … Continue reading
Spending time outdoors is a great way to refresh your mind and body. Whether you’re taking a walk (see HERE), playing outside (see HERE), or simply sitting under a tree and enjoying the quiet (see HERE), it’s good to be outside. Taking a quiet walk outside is one of my favorite ways to calm my mind and to refresh my spirit.… Continue reading
My boys and I have watched several different types of insects move through their life cycles. In past years, we’ve watched ants make amazing tunnels. We’ve observed as tiny caterpillars grew large, secreted a chrysalis, and emerged as butterflies (see HERE). We’ve seen ladybugs transform from larvae, to pupa, and then into the adult ladybugs we all recognize.
This week, we watched over a hundred praying mantis nymphs emerge from a single egg. … Continue reading
Lightning, thunder, hail, and torrential rain: a beautiful afternoon to sit snuggled together inside our warm, dry house as we watch the storm pass by.
The lightning is beautiful as it arches and flashes through the sky. It’s also close enough that it’s making our house shake.
As we watched it from inside (this is not the weather for being outside), I reminded my boys how to calculate our distance from a lightning strike. … Continue reading
“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
With Spring’s arrival, all sorts of people are out working in their yards. It’s wonderful that this time of year gets people outdoors and beautifies our cities and towns. However, for many people, their vision of a beautiful yard sends them running for chemical herbicides and pesticides to rid their landscapes of dandelions and other “pests”.… Continue reading
This week’s exciting learning experience: setting things on fire using a parabolic mirror.
While some parents might gasp – You’re encouraging your kids to set things on fire??!!” – I think it’s a good idea for children to learn about and experiment with fire.
After all, fire has been fundamental to the survival and development of humankind. … Continue reading
Spring is here, and with the rebirth of the world around us comes a reawakening of my boys’ desire to be up in the trees. It doesn’t matter whether we’re in our own yard, at a park, along a hiking trail, or in front of our local library (where I took this particular picture), if they see a tree that looks good for climbing, they are ready to go.… Continue reading
I know that tree climbing can be a controversial practice. I know this mostly because of the dirty looks I receive when I’m sitting at the park and I allow my boys to climb the trees (well, my 6-year-old actually climbs high into trees; the 2-year-old generally hugs the trunk from the ground and yells, “Climb tree! Climb tree!”).
When I receive these looks, sometimes I smile and wave – pretending the other mothers are not giving me the evil eye, most of the time I ignore them, and every once in a rare while, I rehearse what I might say if they asked me about why I let my boys climb trees.… Continue reading
We been keeping our jack-o-lanterns (yes, we already have several) out on our deck. Yesterday, we discovered a squirrel had been nibbling on them.
My boys decided that in order to lure the squirrel away from their prized painted and carved pumpkins, they wanted to give the squirrel a pumpkin of his own.
So my 6-year-old cut up a pumpkin and carefully stacked it for the squirrel.… Continue reading
A few days ago, my friend and her two boys were over visiting. All four boys started out playing in my boys’ room (an amazing chance for us mamas to catch up!), and then decided to head outside to play. A minute or two after they all ran out the door, it occurred to me to ask, “Do your boys know what to do if they encounter a predator in our yard?”… Continue reading