we heart birds

For about two years now our family has been interested in birds. We were first introduced to the wonderful world of birds through one of our homeschooling books- The Burgess Bird Book for Children. This book is a wonderful narrative written by Thornton Burgess told through the eyes of Peter Rabbit in the setting of the Old Orchard, Peter's home.

In each chapter we are introduced to two or three birds and told about their nesting habits, feeding preferences and their interaction with other animals and nature itself.

After each chapter, we color a picture or two of the bird we just learned about and follow up with our favorite bird site for more details, a sample of the birds sound and even some video footage. This site has been an invaluable resource for our journey into learning more about the birds around us.

Every once in a while we'll spy a new bird in our backyard. It usually goes something like this- children or parent spot new bird and start calling everyone in the house in a loud whisper to the window facing our backyard. Everyone runs to the window and nine times out of ten the bird is scared off by the pounding sounds of the house shaking and flies off into the distance never to be seen again (or at least for a few weeks).

BUT... every once in a while we are afforded the opportunity to study a bird for an extended period of time as we all stand, squat and strain patiently and quietly around that one window with the perfect view. And sometimes we even have time to reach for the camera.

Last week was one of those moments. My husband was the one to capture this bird with the camera and really got a few great shots. A new bird!

After consulting with some very bird-savvy friends, this bird has been identified as a Juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Isn't it beautiful?

green foods

Is it possible to be drawn to certain colors of food while pregnant? Without realizing it, I have been enjoying a lot of green lately...

my new favorite tea, best drunk on chilly afternoons with a drizzle of honey- Tazo Green Ginger

our dinner tonight, including the greens of both lime and cilantro- Cilantro Lime Chicken Cacciatore

and the dessert that I was inspired to buy for tonight after reading this book to my boys today (I'm so easily influenced by my reading materials, even when they are picture books)- Pistachio Gelato, which will be promptly enjoyed tonight once the chidren are nestled snuggly in their beds.

Wishing you lots of green foods this weekend! And yes, vegetables would be nice too.

bedtime stories

Every so often we I fall in love with a set of picture books. It seems that our picture book reading has become more and more infrequent as we spend the majority of our time now reading chapter books and living books about nature, science and history.

It's sad for me when I think about it. Whenever I do realize that days have gone by without reading a good picture book, I always try and do something about it.

So recently we checked several books out from the library by Mary Pope Osborne that are illustrated by Giselle Potter- one of our favorite illustrators- that we have all just fallen in love with.

Sleeping Bobby, Kate and the Beanstalk and The Brave Little Seamstress have become part of our bedtime routine for the last week or so and are gently lulling little and big hearts alike into a dreamy state of bliss.

The artwork alone is simply gorgeous and the twist on these traditional fairy tales has been really enjoyable.

Sleeping Bobby is a story of true love and rescuing, except in this case it is the princess doing the noble deed and bringing the sleeping prince back to life. In the end, the princess and prince fall in love and immediately get married.

Needless to say, this is beyond disgusting and repulsive to my six-year old son who has vowed that he will never ever want to kiss a girl or marry one for that matter!

It makes me chuckle and reminds me of the simplicity and innocence of childhood.

You've just got to love bedtime stories.

ballet day

Monday was Parent's Observation at Sophia's ballet school. Each semester the parents get to sit in on a class and observe their child taking and executing instruction. It's always so interesting to see how my children respond to other teacher's authority when I am so used to living out my mother-teacher role with the children on a daily basis.

This is Sophia's fourth year of taking ballet lessons. Her school is a classical ballet school in the area that also presents The Nutcracker each holiday season for the community to enjoy. This year Sophia was cast as a Toy Soldier in the battle scene. Her brothers are quite proud that their sister gets to fight off the mice and rats with a weapon. Terribly exciting.

The thing that strikes me most about the whole experience is the degree of concentration with which each girl responds to her teacher's instruction. It is truly a result of continual training and consistent attention.


I have to admit to the amount of pride that swells inside of me during each of these times of parent observation. Seeing how she grows each time is really remarkable and knowing that it is her taking the lead and asking for this ballet instruction makes it even more enjoyable.

six little feet

So as the poem mentioned- six little feet entered the street... what a Halloween night that was.

This year we had a doctor, a Jedi and a knight. Only one costume was handmade, one bought and the other pieced together an hour beforehand.

When you're three, you tend to change your mind in the weeks, days and hours leading up to trick-or-treat and the costume is typically decided by which one you mentioned last right before heading out the door. After a little toy armor, a hoodie and some duct tape, Elias was good to go and was quite proud to be a knight in shining armor.


Nicolas had been asking me all summer to make him a Jedi cloak just like Anakin Skywalker. This is a child who rarely makes any requests let alone mentions them repeatedly. I had ignored the project all summer and I think it was nearly the end of August before I finally started sewing the cloak. It wasn't until mid-September before I actually found another sewing session to sit and finish it.

He was thouroughly pleased by the authenticity of the cloak and really loves how the hood and sleeves hang in just the right way. The authenticity was perfected by the poses and glowing lightsaber.



I will sat the the process itself was more than a challenge. But it was sewn with love and the image of that little dimpled face gently reminding me that he was pretty sure that we forgot about the Jedi cape- a super sweet way of saying Mom, why are you neglecting my request- was enough to get me off the sofa during my first few weeks of pregnancy and to the sewing machine for some stitching.

The doctor costume was purchased with a special payment plan- if you save half, we'll pay the other half. Sophia was pretty set on wearing scrubs and since they are no real-life child-sized scrubs, we had to purchase this costume.


So this was our Halloween night.

halloween night

A little Halloween art from my pair of author/illustrator children. They sat down a couple of weeks ago to compose a poem about trick-or-treat and took their task quite seriously. Sophia wrote the majority of the poem and she asked Nicolas to draw a picture to show what an autumn night might look like.

On Halloween night, the kids are in sight
And everyone will not be sleeping.
The kids run around the entire town
And the grown-ups just sit around waiting.
Six little feet enter the street,
The leaves blow around
And the children no frown.
What a Halloween night that was!

-poem by Sophia and Nicolas
October 2009

tasting good

So now that the word is out, I feel a bit more inclined to share from the deepest depths of my heart and soul on this blog. No more holding back. I hope you're all ready for what I have to share with you today.

Do you want to know what I'm really loving right now? My lunch.

Like I said, I'm not having any food cravings. It's just that food tastes unbelievably good these days. I think I went on and on about some cheddar cheese the other night to Mike and had him laughing with me and at me.

So, about my lunch.

Portabella burger on freshly sliced and toasted multi-grain breadwith thick slice of some seriously sharp cheddar cheese
Steamed broccoli with a bit of Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Baby greens with a little honey mustard dressing
Tall glass of sparking apple-raspberry cider

As you can see I'm pretty excited about food these days. If I were a cat, I'd be purring right now. Instead I am simply a really content and nourished person right now who is ready to take on the rest of the day.