Nature Study 1: Squirrel Tree Frog

Goals: 

We decided to add a nature study into our home-school curriculum. We hope to do this once or twice each month. A bigger goal is to hit all the National Parks in Florida in one calendar year. A little ambitious. Time will tell.

Today was our first attempt at a nature study. Despite the brutal late-July-in-Florida heat and our inability to properly pack for a hike, it was a success. We realized we needed more water, more snacks, better shoes, better hats, a decent backpack, and trash bags. Next time.

We hiked one of the trails that is part of the Chinesgut Conservatory. It was beautiful. We can't wait to go back and explore more. Maybe in the autumn.

Definitely Probably not again in July or August.

Our hike wasn't long (in distance, parts seemed long due to excessive whining). With a four year old and a six year old long hikes are out of the question, at least without proper planning (inability to pack noted above).  It was 10:00 AM and already 90' F. Almost half the trail we covered was in direct sunlight. So we went as far as we could (about 2 1/4 miles round trip). Next time we will make it to the lake. Brice was disappointed we didn't make it to the lake.

Nature Study subject:

Luckily we found the subject of our nature study about 10 feet into the trail. The park rangers had a wooden box set up with a clip board inside for hikers to sign. When I took out the clip board this little guy was starring at me, not flinching. I was oblivious to him. Brice had to point him out, which startled me and in return startled the frog. 

We watched the little guy and discussed him ( I keep calling it a "little guy", I really have no idea if its male or female). We all took turns taking pictures of him. The kids liked this part. I loved it. I am always in awe of the quality of pictures we can get with our cell phones. He (or she) looks really large in this picture, he was actually only about an inch and a half long. 

At one point he hopped on Brice's arm. He seemed to like it there, or maybe he was too scared to jump off. Either way, he was in a good position for a photograph. 

Observations: 

This time I wrote the observations as the kids came up with them. This would probably be great writing practice especially for P. However, I wanted them to look forward to doing this again and recently writing has been a chore for her and also a chore for me (to deal with her stubbornness). 

After we wrote our observations we did some research. We looked at several tree frogs and think the frog we found is a Squirrel Tree Frog. We aren't positive, but pretty sure. I am not really sure how to be positive without asking an expert. What is a frog expert called? Herpetologist (yay Google). 

Sketches: 

We looked at some sites and watched some You-Tube videos. Then we worked on our sketches. I think the sketching was  P and S's favorite part. 

S's Drawing - he copied the letters that I wrote on a separate paper. I drew most of the frog and he colored him in. 

P's drawing - She drew most of the frog herself. I helped her by talking to her about scale and perspective and making suggestions only when she asked me for them. We talked about looking at the subject (we were looking at our photos) and drawing "what is there".  She was proud of the suctions on the feet. I think "he" looks great. 

P's Thoughts - 6 years old

The frog felt sort of wet and a little sticky. I learned that these frogs make noises that sound like a duck quack to me. We saw a video that showed the frogs making noises by filling up with air. It looked a bubble almost popping out of their chest. It was kind of gross. 

My favorite thing about the frog was his color and trying to make the same noises we saw the frofg make on the video we watched. 

S's Thoughts - 4 years old

I thought the frog was cute and he hopped a lot. He was green with some brownish dots and he had a little red near his eye. His eyes were black and gold. The frog was kind of cold and slimy. He went and hid in a wooden post and then we didn't see him again.  There were spider webs and a spider egg in the post.  I learned that snakes sometimes eat frogs. We turned off the video that should that  because it was a little scary, but I think that is cool. 

Other photos from the hike: 

Deer tracks 

One of two Gofer Turtles we met. 

                 

Family selfie during our apple break. 

I'm in LOVE and I don't care who knows it!

I am obsessed with my children. Its pretty obvious why; My little P is a beautiful spunky and sweet sass-ball and S is a sweet, affectionate little lover boy.  They are awesome. I love them so much that, as cheesy as it sounds, I feel like my heart may explode...literally. They consume so much of my thoughts, time, and energy that I feel like I might (unintentionally) neglect other people in my life. Especially my husband. He works, I stay home with the kiddos, when he's home from work, I work (yay! for a flexible job) and he takes care of the kids. Some days we barely have time for a conversation by bedtime... I am not complaining; we have the perfect schedules to spend time with our kids which is the biggest priority to both of us. We work for great people who help us facilitate this. I am so thankful. 

Sometimes though, through  the hussle-and-bussle of the week, I feel like I might over look and take for granted how great of a husband and father he truly is. 

Brice, 

On Father's Day and every day I want you to know: 

How much WE LOVE YOU. Your patient, rational, and easy going nature is the perfect compliment to my obsessive, high strung, scatter-brained personality. 

I am grateful to have someone who makes me feel beautiful and appreciated.  Your ability to look past my snappiness and moodiness and almost never snap back does not go unnoticed. I love that you laugh when I get so annoyed that I growl. Dancing around the living room with you and our kids makes me feel happiness that I thought could never exist. 

I adore watching you with our little girl. I know that because she has a daddy like you she will understand how she should be treated by men when she grows up. You do a great job of teaching her to stand up for herself when she needs to, but at the same time teach her to show empathy and compassion. She has so much of your silly, sometimes show-boaty, personality. I know that she feels safe, secure, and loved by you. 

Seeing our little man with you melts my heart. He clearly adores you. He misses you when you are not here and lights up every time you come through the door (whether you've been gone 4 days or 4 minutes). He treats me so sweetly. He's not even two-years-old and he can sense when I am sad and kisses and hugs me until I feel better. He is the warmest and most affectionate person I know, next to you. I know he will grow into a good man because you are in his life. 

We are so lucky to have you. I do not know what I would do without you. I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Happy Birthday Silas!

My Sweet Si Guy

Its hard to believe that you've been here a year already! At the same time its hard to imagine a time without you; a time when I didn't have to wear under eye concealer and when I didn't drink coffee (which has increased to three cups / day over the course of the year).
I am so lucky to have you as my little man.  It is amazing to see your personality develop.You are growing into a sweet, affectionate, silly, and active little guy. You can be shy sometimes, but you light up around the people you love. Your laugh is infectious and is one of my favorite sounds in the world. Your big hugs and wet kisses are the greatest. I am fortunate to be at the receiving end of the majority of those hugs and kisses. I wish I could store them up and hold on to them for when you are older and don't want to hug and kiss me as often. I am so excited to watch you grow, but I am going to miss the little guy you are right now.
I understand now why some mothers are so protective of their sons. I have seen moms bully and compete with their son's girlfriends and thought that was a special kind of crazy. I promise I won't do that to you... but I totally get it now. Sharing you with any girl will be hard. As I'm writing this I realize I sound a little crazy myself...
 You are truly a blessing. I am not sure what I did to deserve you, but I thank God every day for bringing you to our family. Our world is a better place because you are here.
 On your birthday and everyday I wish you a lifetime of happiness. Happy Birthday baby boy.

Love Mommy

Dock Love

I have become addicted to pinning crafts on Pinterest. I don't know where I think I will find the time, patience, or skill to complete even a small percentage of these crafts, but I find myself pinning and pinning as though eventually I will miraculously transform into Martha Stewart (looking at my recipe pin board it appears I also intend to become Julia Child but that is an entirely different issue; how am I supposed to loose the extra baby weight with pictures of homemade snickers cheesecake taunting me?).

Anyways I've set a goal for myself to complete one craft or diy project per month...If I can't do that, no more pinning...sure.

This is the project we did for month one.

I had been seeing this "love" sign floating around Pinterest in various forms:

I believe this blog post by House*Tweaking to be the original (at least as far as I can tell)...

Some of the other versions were just as beautiful like this one that is made from a wood pallet by Young and Crafty:

(The tutorial for this one can be accessed here)

I just really love the shabby-chicness of these boards... I love the idea of using it for a headboard, I can picture it in a guest bedroom.

Here's what we did:

My husband and some friends recently repaired the dock in front of the house we rent.  From what I understand, the dock went up sometime in the 1960's. It had been damaged by the storms a few years back and was falling apart.

The weathered boards they removed reminded me of the images above that I had pinned a few weeks earlier. (Pinterest makes me look at "trash" in a whole new light, I am a few steps away from becoming a dumpster diver). We saved some planks and gave it a go (after they sat for a few months of course). We didn't follow any of the tutorials closely since we were working with different material.

1) Scrubbed the boards with soapy water and removed all the nails
2) Sanded the boards with electric sander, just enough to smooth out splintery edges, we still wanted the wood to have some character
3) Painted the boards. Has anyone else used these "painting pyramids?" Brice spotted them at the check out line of Home Depot. They are great for painting both sides of the boards,
4)Screwed the boards together. Note: You need to use wood screws. We first tried regular screws we had laying around. Fail!
5) Sketched "love" in pencil
6) Painted "love", sanded to achieve "weathered look", and glazed. I used this glazing technique from All Things Thrifty and was really happy with the results. It really helped pull out all the "nooks and crannies" in the wood.

Here is the final Product:

We are happy with how it turned out and love that we will have a piece of our family's first home as a keepsake. Not bad for an old dock. Hopefully next months project goes as well.

Nursery Art

Fabric Decoupage Wall Hangings

My fake cousin Michael recently (truth be told it was seven months ago)welcomed a baby girl. After getting the nursery colors  and theme from his sister, "Kate the Great" (6 months ago), I bought the supplies (4 months ago) and got started (3 weeks ago). Now the finished product has been sitting on my dresser, awaiting shipment (for the past two weeks). NEW GOAL: stop procrastinating (I'll get started on that next week). 

Anyways...

I made these similarly to how I made these wall hangings for my sweet Silas:

When I made these I had never used Mod Podge, so I sprayed them with a sealer to finish them. Now that I have tried Mod Podge I plan to take them down and reseal them; the finish with Mod Podge is so much cleaner and polished (We'll see when I actually get to this...hopefully before he outgrows them.)

Tutorial:

1. Decide on design and sketch...

I labeled the sketch with the colors I intended to use; quicker than coloring and helped me when making my list of fabrics to buy. 

2. Gather Supplies...

Supplies: Iron, Scissors, Fabric Glue, Embellishments (Buttons, ribbons...) Fabric  (I use fabric quarters from the quilting section, probably not the cheapest way to go, but I like the selection and that I didn't have to wait in line for cutting), Mod Podge, foam brush, canvas( I used two 8X12, stretched), iron, heavy spray starch).

3. Starch Fabric...

Starching is a must for making these wall hangings (see update below). It makes the fabric cut like paper; important for detailed shapes. This cool site has starching instructions and a recipe for a diy homemade starch. I haven't made homemade starch yet, but I intend to when the can I have runs out... could be a while, my version of ironing usually involves tossing wrinkled clothes in the dryer.

Update: Instead of Starching fabric, you can use fabric mod podge on it, and let it dry before cutting it...makes it ever stiffer than the spray starch. Here's a   great blog I found after completing this project. Oh the wonders of Mod Podge...how did I get by for so long with out it?

4. Lay and Glue Mod Podge background.

The nursery colors were sage greens, dusty pinks and chocolate browns. I created a background with three sage greens; the first is for the sky, the second for shrubs, and the third for grass in the foreground. I was unhappy with the glue line that showed through the second and third layers in these pictures, but after finishing the project and sealing with Mod Podge it was unnoticeable.

Update: Next time I will use Mod Podge to replace all gluing in this project. I LOVE that stuff.

If you are making a multi canvas piece, repeat step 4 on all canvases. Lay the  canvases next to one another to ensure that the background lines up. 

5. Cut and glue Mod Podge your design...

I used chalk to draw my design on the reverse sides of the fabric. It was unnoticeable and easy to remove if I made a mistake. 

6. Add Embellishments

I used buttons for the deer eyes and flower shaped buttons for the trees.

7. Seal with Mod Podge...

I should have used this amazing blog dedicated to the wonders of Mod Podge before completing this project. I love how my piece turned out but I could have saved myself a lot of headaches by reading through this first. 

8. Ta Da... 

This is the finished product, minus the frame. In the framed piece with the frogs pictured at the beginning of this post, I my dad had the canvases framed at Michael's. The cost was upward of $300. It looks beautiful, but is not affordable. When I frame this piece I (probably with the help of my lovely assistant husband) intend to follow this helpful video and frame them myself... we'll see how that goes... and when it actually happens.

These make great baby shower gifts. Give it a try! (or commission me to make one for you.) 

Boobing

My rant about breastfeeding.

Soon after my son was born I was nursing him under a nursing blanket in my step-mom's living room. So I wouldn't be disturbed, my youngest sister Carly  warned one of the guys in the house that I was in there "boobing". I had never heard breastfeeding called boobing, but like a lot of things Carly says, it was awesome. Boobing is now a verb I use as often as I can.

I have breastfed both of my children. I know that this is not something that every mom can, wants or chooses to; medical issues (for both the mom and baby), work, comfort (or lack of...pain), milk supply, time, patience, and personal preference all come into play. For me though, I am glad I have been able to do it for both of my kids. It allowed me to feel an indescribable connection to my babies and saved us a ton of money. Formula prices are insane! Also, there are many health benefits of breastfeeding that extend not only to the baby, but to the mother as well.


Here's the thing, I keep reading, hearing, and seeing negative, borderline hateful attitudes towards breastfeeding. I guess I am feeling a little defensive. No, I am not one of those "popping out a boob in public" kind of mothers, but I do breastfeed discreetly in public when the need arises and not so discreetly in my own home. For me discreetly is sitting  somewhere clean and comfortable with my baby under a nursing blanket. Occasionally it is walking around the store or park with him under a nursing blanket.  Babies eat on demand, it would be cruel to make a baby wait to eat. However, those "pop out of boob in public moms" are entitled to do so under the law.


On facebook recently someone posted, "No offense, but if women have the right to whip out the boobs wherever they want to feed their kids because it is natural; I'm going to start whipping out my d*** and pissing wherever I want because that’s natural too... ". Ok buddy, sure, no offense taken, but you just compared the milk I feed my infant child to your piss. Also we are not spraying our milk around everywhere, we are feeding it to our children. And it breast milk is a form of nourishment, it is not a way of eliminating waste.

A couple years ago when I was still  nursing my daughter someone asked me honestly if I was worried that she would end up being a lesbian. WHAT!? Seriously that was one of the craziest things I have ever heard. Is that a thing? Do people worry about that? In our culture breasts are constructed almost completely as sexual objects. This is not their primary function. Infants have no idea that breasts are thought of as sexy. Their first instinct, after breathing, from the moment they are born is "I need to be boobing". They immediately start rooting their head around looking for the breast. Infants have a suckling reflex that develops in the womb. All this is so amazing to me. Our bodies have been designed so perfectly; women not only have the ability to grow a baby in their womb, but to provide their sole source of nourishment throughout infancy. How is this gross?

I also heard someone say recently something along the lines of;  "I am not against women breastfeeding, but there is no reason to do it in public. They (moms) can stay at home, plan better, or go to a restroom to nurse". Staying at home is not an option. The World Health Organization suggests that infants be breastfed for at least six months. So my baby and I are supposed to stay inside for the entire time? No exposure to the outside world. No walks to the park? No trips to the grocery store? Complete isolation until I am done nursing? Or what? I can go somewhere like a restroom to nurse. Try eating your lunch in a restroom for six months and get back to me on that. Gross. And plan better? All the plans in the world are no match for an infants unpredictability. Trust me on this, I am a serial planner; queen of making lists and schedule, and my kiddos are always testing my emergency preparedness skills.

Its just sad to me. We live in a pretty progressive place and time. Why do people have to act like middle school boys when it comes to breasts? (huh huh, she said breasts). Actually, maybe it is fitting. After all, this is stuff we learn in sixth grade science; humans are mammals, breasts are mammary glands used to nourish our offspring. Nothing perverted or sexual going on there. If it grosses you out turn your head. No one is making you (or wants you to) look anyways. Wierdo.