Nurturing a Naturalist

Nature and I have a lukewarm relationship.  Half the time, I love it.  The other half the time, I don't love it. I love rays of sunshine peeking through rain clouds.  I don't love sunburns.   I love flowers and butterflies.  I don't love flying insects that bite/sting.  I love birds and the melodious songs they sing.  I don't love bird poo on my car every morning.

Many a mother, I'm sure, has come to point in their lives where they have to overcome their dislike of things for the sake of their children.  Maybe you had to eat more veggies so little Johnny would know, by example, that eating veggies is the cool thing to do.  Maybe you had to watch Barney a time or two.  (Or worse, Caillou.)  Me, I had to stop screaming like a wild banshee and kill a wasp a time or two.   And so, I'm getting over my "don't loves" of nature to embrace my inner naturalist (and I should specify that I'm not referring to those who like to go around "naturally", rather those who love to explore nature).  

I'm taking the time to stop and look at those creepy, crawly things.  The boys really do love this.  We caught a baby lizard and let it run up and down our arms, giggling with sheer delight.  We saved many an earthworm.  Blugh.  We've listened to the cicadas and even found a few shells hanging on the trees.  We discovered that something ate all the leaves off our tomato plant and we found the culprit:

A hornworm

Here's its frass (a fancy word for poo)

But it's not just the creepy crawlies that the kids love.  They also love bird watching (probably because I love bird watching) and predicting the weather.  And recently, HMNS Sugarland (for you Houston moms) put in a new exhibition called Animal Secrets.  Kids can explore (indoors, at that!) different habitats and learn about the natural world and the animals that can be found in the different habitats.  The exhibit was designed to develop empathy for the natural world by encouraging role play (pretending to be chipmunks and finding hidden acorns and storing them inside a tree that big enough for 3 kids to fit into...so cool) and giving them a hands on experience with various natural materials (real wood blocks made from sections of tree branches, real animal pelts and skulls).  It's a great exhibit and I encourage everyone to try and visit.  It runs until September 9th.  (And when I say everyone, I mean everyone.  It's an exhibit from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.  It travels, so if it comes near you, go!)

Now for a DIY section.  Some things to do/make at home to further assist in viewing and exploring nature in your backyard.  

• a bug box
• a butterfly net
• a garden (the tinier, the better)
• pressed flowers
• a bird journal

I can't wait to get out there, explore nature, and make my own bird journal!  At least that's what I keep chanting to myself.  Here's to a hot relationship with nature.  But not like this.

Looking Forward

March is here.  This last Friday we went to the zoo.  Here are a few photos:

These last three photos have us looking forward to bird watching.  Isaac's favorite bird is the Blue Jay.  It seems that this year, the jays stuck around for "winter".  I recently saw my first Cardinal of the season.  We've also seen House Finches and European Starlings.  Red-Tailed Hawks are quite common around these parts, as are Louisiana Herons and Laughing Gulls.  If you are interested in doing some bird watching yourself, here are a couple great places for some tips about:

• attracting birds
• identifying birds

This windy picture reminds me that March is kite flying month!  Well, I don't know how official that is, but in our family, it's pretty official.  The kids are pretty excited about flying kites again.  This year I think we'll try to make our own.  

And this final picture reminds me that we needed to cut our kids' hair (just the boys) pretty bad.  And so, that is what we spent our Saturday doing.  Well, Troy spent part of his Saturday doing it.  And if you might like to spend part of one of your days cutting your kid's hair, you can get some instructions here.  I've actually been meaning to really read through that last link and try to do an outstanding job with my kids' haircuts.  But alas, Troy has had to pick up the slack on that one.  Maybe he'll get the hint and take a long look-see at it... Oh, what am I saying.  He did a great job.  Have a look for yourself:

Yes, we went to the zoo twice in three days.  We have a membership.  We are crazy.    

Lately and Recently

Lately we've been...

"Are you talking to me?"

• driving a rental car more than our "new" van.
• learning about the presidents of the USA.
• dealing with temper tantrums from hell.  
• watching some of the best movies of all time.
• listening to birds, day and night.
• reading The Story.
• drinking too much coffee.
• keeping up with our New Year's resolutions.

Recently we've...

• gone to the dollar theater to see Happy Feet 2.
• celebrated Troy's 34th birthday!
• added reactive airway disease to Isaac's list.
• scheduled a wisdom tooth extraction for my almost birthday.
• sorted all our LEGOs.
• started noticing new leaves growing on the trees. 

I hope you've all been busy in a good way.  More to come later!