Nature Study: Birds

This was my son's and my first week participating in the Nature Study activities on the Handbook of Nature Study Blog. This week's focus was on birds.

We began on Monday by covering a couple of pinecones with peanut butter and sunflower seeds, and then hanging them outside for the birds. We also added more sunflower seeds to our feeders.

On Monday afternoon, we went outside to watch the birds some. Content to just sit and watch for a while, my son carried a chair out into the yard, not far from the feeder, and sat patiently waiting. I decided to follow suit, and we sat there together, watching and enjoying being out in nature. Before long, the birds began to ignore us and came to the feeder. My son took several photographs that day, and then took more on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Wednesday, we selected one photo - a male cardinal sitting on our fence - to draw in our nature journals. I found that I noticed so much more about the cardinal while drawing him (from his photograph) than I ever would have by just studying the photograph alone! In order to draw a bird, you have to look very closely at all the little details...and it was this close observation that helped me to really see, and remember, him!


This was the first bird we captured on film on Monday. It appears to me to be a sparrow. Notice the signs of spring in this photo! We're having warm weather here!


This one is a Chickadee. The Chickadees would fly to the feeder, grab a seed, and then fly away to a nearby tree to eat! It was hard to catch a photo of them! In this photo, it appears that he's holding the seed with his feet, while eating it.


I think this one's a dove.


A Female Cardinal.....


And her mate.


A Robin.

My son also caught several photographs of flying birds, but we weren't able to see the birds well enough, even on the photographs, to identify them.

We really had a lot of fun observing the birds this week! Tomorrow my son has an art class to attend, and he's already asked if we can leave home a little early so that we can stop off at the park to observe some birds there!

The whole experience was so much fun!! Barb, if you're reading this, thanks so much for getting us started on this with your Squidoo page!

Stone Mountain Campground

My family spent a weekend at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia a few weeks ago. We camped in the Stone Mountain campground and had such a beautiful lake-front site! Actually, there's a story behind how we got our site. When we pulled into the campground, we were told that the campground had been completely full, but then just an hour before we got there, one person had canceled one of his sites, and so we got it! We couldn't have picked a nicer site! It had two levels to it. One was on the same level as the road. The other was down a short drop off, closer to the level of the lake. Both levels had their own picnic table, spot for a tent, and grill. Yet it was all considered one site! The site was shady and beautiful!

Here's a photo we took of our campsite. This is the lower level of our campsite.

The Interesting Life Of Meerkats

My homeschooled son did some research on meerkats and found out such neat things about them! We took a field trip to our zoo and took plenty of pictures of their meerkats too.

What do meerkats look like?"
Where do meerkats live?
How do meerkats survive in the dry savanna?
What do meerkats eat and drink?(Guess what their favorite food is!!!)
Did you know meerkats can close their ears, without using their paws?!!
Sentries are look-outs for the rest of the mob!
Look at those CLAWS!
And a bunch of other interesting facts! I really enjoyed learning more about meerkats along with my son!

Vegetarian Baked Eggrolls Recipe

Vegetarian Baked Egg Rolls

Do you love egg rolls, but don't love all the oil that comes with deep frying? Here's a recipe for crispy, yet healthy, vegetarian baked egg rolls. They really are delicious!

What Is It Like To Homeschool?

Do you ever wonder what it's like to homeschool? Or are you already a homeschooler, but you're looking for new ideas?

I've been homeschooling my son for the past 7 1/2 years. I'm often asked by friends, "What is it like to homeschoool?" So, not to long ago, I created a mini website / blog on Squidoo called, Ever Wonder What It's Like To Homeschool? On that page, I try to answer that question by describing a typical day of homeschooling at our house. I include information about the types of curriculum we use, as well as our overall style.

By the way, I'm happy to report that Ever Wonder What It's Like To Homeschool? recently won a special honor! You can read more about that on the Giant Squid Community Showcase.

Corn Bean Avocado Salsa

Corn, Bean, and Avocado Salsa is one of my family's favorite vegan recipes! It has cilantro and a hint of lime, along with fresh tomatoes, corn, beans, and small pieces of fresh avocado. We eat it with chips, or sometimes on veggie burgers.

If you'd like to try it, you can find the recipe for it, and for Vegan Nachos, posted at the following site.

Corn, Bean, and Avocado Salsa...& Vegan Nachos!"

Vegan Nachos

Meeting Your Unborn Baby In A Dream

Many women dream of being pregnant, or experience a dream in which they meet their babies-to-be, either before or during pregnancy. Sometimes they are able to accurately determine the appearance, gender, personality and/or health concerns of their baby to be from these dreams. Other times they are simply provided with the information that they are pregnant, or that they will be soon.

Mothers and fathers-to-be are also often given a name for their new child. Although of course there are exceptions, most parents who are given a baby's name feel strongly enough about the validity of their dream or intuitive experience that they do go ahead and name their baby the name that's been given them.

Some parents dream of complications within their pregnancies. These dreams can serve to prepare the parents-to-be for the complication, or even provide them with hints on what to do to avoid the complications.

I am currently collecting stories about women's spiritual pregnancy dreams for a book that I'm writing. If you have a spiritual pregnancy dream or other story to share, I'd love to hear it!

If you'd like to read more about pregnancy dreams, please check out the following links!

Spiritual Pregnancy Dreams

Dreams of Being Pregnant

Dreaming About Your Baby's Gender