Bird Watching {Birds & Eggs}

What an exciting day! After making our trail mix & binoculars, we went outside to look for birds. We saw lots of robins, a starling and, well that’s about it.

Somehow we didn’t see any of these. 

It would have been fun to walk around the block looking for more birds but we don’t have sidewalks all the way around and it takes a good hour with less than this many.  We played outside instead and everyone was fine with that.

We also put our hummingbird feeder out. I guess it’s kind of early because they reach our area about mid-late April.  Oh well.  We learned that hummingbirds like nectar and the color red.  They eat every 10 minutes or so because they burn so much energy. Sounds like kids!

Trail Mix for Bird Watching {Birds & Eggs}

Today we made a trail mix for our bird watching excursion {to the front yard!} Each child brought something to contribute. We had: Cupcake Graham cracker “gold fish”, Goldfish crackers, Craisins, Pomegranate infused Craisins {didn’t know those existed!}, yogurt covered raisins, mini chocolate chips, chocolate covered raisins, pretzel twists and sticks, peanuts and marshmallows. We had a great time making & EATING the trail mix!

Keeping My Little Family Happy

You know that saying "If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy?”  Well, I think there’s some truth to that! 
Keeping my family happy is partly being happy myself. Which isn’t the easiest since I’m responsible for my {stressful} business, the laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping menus, etc.  and all that tends to make me tired and crabby. One thing I do for myself is get a massage every 3-4 weeks. Stress relieving, complete relaxation just for me.  I’d recommend it.  That is one way I indirectly keep my family happy.  Another thing that makes me happy is a quick pick up the house. Everyone helps. That makes me very happy. It means I can relax without looking at a mess and my boys know I need this.

Really, thinking of others is what I do to keep my family happy.  Thinking of what my husband and son want for supper, if their clothes are clean, if our home is pleasant. I like to make the most of special days and occasions.  Taking care of others and thinking of them always makes for happiness. 

The way to a man’s heart, they say, is through the stomach.  Really, I think we all enjoy a good meal or treat.  For us, a homemade dessert isn’t something we have daily so making a pan of brownies, rice crispy bars, or chocolate chip cookies is a special mid-week treat.

It seems like what we all need at the end of the day is down time. Our down time is what we really look forward to. Dinner and relaxation. Unfortunately every night can’t be like that but when we can, we really look forward to it.  Creating special us time in between everything else that needs to be done keeps us all happy.  Usually this time is spent in the same room. Occasionally, being happy is being home but doing our own thing.

In the summer we look forward to bike ride nights. We have a great bike trail near our house. Sometimes we come home and make a fire in the backyard.

For Brett, just staying home makes him happy! He always puts up a fuss if we have to go somewhere at night.  If we have to go grocery shopping, lately we go as a family because it’s not just a “mom job”. We cruise through the store & get the job done! Everyone can have input on what to buy.

Sometimes I think just planning something fun and surprising my guys with an idea for a special night - like suggesting a bike ride and a picnic - makes them happy.  My husband doesn't think of stuff like that yet enjoys it.  I like to create a little spontaneous fun!

Really, the happiness of my family is my happiness.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Farm Rich blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (make sure you link to http://farmrichsnacks.socialmoms.com/about)

Cat in a basket

Before lunch this was a very active household. 8 kids were playing while I put together ravioli and sides. 4 boys were paying “pirate” with paper towel tubes. It was loud and messy.  I walked around the corner for something and spotted Stormy resting in this basket (that has served as our bird nest for stuffed birds but was emptied out). He was just laying there enjoying watching all the kids running around.

Anxiously Waiting! {Birds & Eggs}

We have 29 chick eggs incubating!  Today is day 16…just 5 more days before hatching! {Or “patching” as one of the preschoolers calls it!}
Here’s our set up ~ on the kitchen counter. I love the new thermometer we’re using this year that allows me to see the temp and humidity inside the incubator (as opposed to one kept on the inside).  I can’t keep the humidity as high as it should be, which is normal I guess.
On the counter, we keep a laminated copy of this development chart to “see” how the chicks are progressing.

A peek inside!
We have pictures and videos playing on the digital picture frame. We have pictures of chicks from previous years, nests, birds, and a video of a chick hatching.  There’s also our book about a life cycle of a chick.

It appears we’ll have a good hatch! I was told the eggs are very fertile this year (or that a higher number of them were fertilized? Not sure on the terminology) this year. Also, the eggs are getting heavier and I can see by holding them up to a lamp that the eggs are dark, meaning growth inside. It’s so exciting to see movement inside!  We’ll have chicks hatching just in time for our Baby Animals theme.

We made a bird nest {Birds & Eggs}

Nests are masterpieces and while our skills don’t rank up there with what a bird can do with just it’s beak and little body, ours turned our pretty good, I think.  Actually I think it’s adorable!
I wasn’t sure it was actually going to work, but we started with paper mache (mix flour & water, bring to a boil and let it cool.) We used leftover Scholastic order forms to make paper strips over the bottom of a bucket to make our nest shape.  This was fun and messy. Some of the kids didn’t want to touch the goopy stuff but after watching each of them tried it.  That night I showed it to Brett.  He said, “I’m sorry to tell you Mom, but I really don’t think that’s going to work.”  He was very sweet about it though.  I hoped he was wrong.

We waited several days for it to dry.  It dried surprisingly fast. I anticipated it might be difficult to remove it from the bucket. I did end up breaking the bucket to get it apart but it did work.  I made the mistake of turning it over for the bottom to dry (after taking it off the bucket) which caused the bottom to sink in.  It still worked but it would have been better if that hadn’t happened.
Next we painted it brown. I decided this was easier than adding mud to our nest.
While we waited for the nest to dry, we collected bird nest materials from the yard.Next we spread glue all over the nest and started covering it with grass, leaves, vines and weeds we found.

It looks like a beautiful home for a bird!  We learned it’s a lot of work to make a bird nest. It’s amazing birds can make their own homes.

Eagle Nest Cam {Birds & Eggs}

We've been watching the Raptor Resource Project Decorah Eagle Cam :

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/

There's 3 eggs in the nest!

First Egg Laid: 2/23/2011
Estimated Hatch: 4/1/2011

Yesterday we saw her leave the nest and return with something in her beak. It's been a great opportunity to see a big nest, eggs, a bird on a nest, an "eagle eye", big beak and a beautiful nature experience!  The kids sometimes ask if the eagle can see them.  : )

More bald eagle info:  aldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle4.html

Waiting for a ride

Counting the bricks. 62.

Ahhhh! Monday’s over!

Actually Monday went very smoothly for me considering I went to bed so late last night.
Stormy slept the entire day on this beach towel on top of the dryer.  Life is rough. He’s also the most entertaining cat I’ve ever seen.

Family Moments

*If you looked at this picture earlier & noticed the date said "2010" instead of "2011", you're ahead of me! I finally noticed it & changed it!

We had such a great weekend. It was relaxing, we accomplished a lot and we were just home together. I have lots of pictures of Brett but sometimes I look at my little boy and just feel like I have to capture how he is right now, at this exact moment.
This weekend:

• he laughed hysterically at my hiccups
• stayed in his jammies all day on Saturday
• looked so handsome on Sunday
• Asked me “So how was it with the kids this week when I wasn’t here?”
• Wondered if time machines were real
• Said it would be great to ride a T-Rex
• Talked to G & G R. on the phone
• Fell asleep with Stormy Sunday night
• Figured out a Karate Wii game
• Had tears in his eyes as we explained a classmate’s father is dying. He made her a “smile” and put it in an envelope for her family for the “Send a Smile Campaign” with a small donation that feels like too little
• Made his own dessert of sliced strawberries and Cool Whip
• Told me the drawing I made was “actually pretty good”

Everyday

I love this quote I found on Pamm’s House blog:
I promise everyday your children will learn something.
Some days they will bring it home in their hands.
Some days they will bring it home in their heads.
Some days they will bring it home in their hearts.
~Valerie Welk
We’ve had the cube climber/slide up since we’ve had so many rainy wet days. Sometimes I have to wonder if we’re really learning anything when days are frustrating like this, when things have to be taken apart and kids are attempting to STAND ON TOP of the cube climber when it’s on it’s side (REPEATEDLY but I didn't really want to put it away....):
I like the creativity, I just have to think of safety first all the time so this didn’t work for me.  {Yes, that's a masking tape spider web on the carpet. Did you know hummingbirds pluck bugs out of spider webs and eat them? Me either.}

Shape Birds

Today we made “shape birds”. I drew the shapes and two of the kids cut theirs out. For the other two, I cut the shapes and the child glued. They can make the scissors work but there won’t be a shape when they’re done! : )  It’s always a challenge helping each one at their level of ability. 3 others didn’t make the project – two are a little young for this one and the other, well, he wasn’t interested.
(I forget where I found this exact idea or I’d give credit!)

Block Prints

We took a break from our bird theme to make some block prints. I found this on Preschool Teachers Talk (great site/FB page!)  We didn’t talk about left & right, etc. Just painted. The kids loved it & the paintings look great on our door.