A couple of awesome things in my life...

We got a dishwasher! This is an awesome thing in my life.

Another awesome thing in my life is that I'm pregnant and due in April. With a boy. Because I KNOW you were wondering. :)

Just a couple of the many awesome things in my life right now.

Beach trip!

Mark's mom treated us to a wonderful trip to the Oregon coast. I'm not really much of a blogger anymore, but I do have some lovely pictures I wanted to share. We all had a great time. Thanks Grandma!













You can't go down Hwy 101 without a stop at the cheese factory for ice cream. Happy Friday!

About the bald eagles

Mid-April, right in the midst of our daily online bird watching, I was washing dishes when I happened to glance up and spot a commotion amongst the cows. I paused for a moment and watched. There seemed to be something foreign moving just inside the fence. As I watched, a saw a white head bob around, and huge wings flapping along the ground. "Oh!" I thought. "There is a bald eagle in there and it is HURT!"

The cows were curious and they kept moving forward, then startling back when the eagle would leap forward. Suddenly, I spotted a splash of orange at the bald eagle's feet, and then it hit me. The eagle is not hurt, is has something in its feet and is trying to take off, but it can't. It must have one of our chickens. I dashed outside and ran over to the fence.

The bald eagle did not have one of our chickens. It had plucked our beautiful drake from its little pond we had built in the creek. The eagle dropped the duck when it saw me and flew a little ways away. It was reluctant to leave such a tantalizing lunch, and I ran back up to my house to grab my camera. I was able to get a few pictures. They are beautiful and so big! But I must admit, my feelings toward the bald eagle has changed a bit. I couldn't watch the eagles online without thinking of our dear little duck grasped in this eagle's large talons.

A sunny day on the Oregon coast in May! Hooray!

If you're looking for a nice beach along the Oregon coast, we would highly recommend Oceanside. Bonus: The Tillamook Cheese Factory is only 10 miles away.

Rainy day nature study

We started watching these live streaming bird things just yesterday. Lia really loves the hummingbird babies. "Look Mom, it stuck out its tongue! Ahhh, there's a bug crawling on its head!" I'm pretty excited to see the bald eagle babies. They are supposed to hatch out around April 1.

I know we are pretty late hopping on this bandwagon, but are there any other good live streaming animal channels you like? I think they'd be good for nature study on rainy days. We've already learned so much about hummingbirds because Lia is truly interested in them now.



Live Video streaming by Ustream



Live Broadcasting by Ustream

2011 Kids' ATC Swap

Abbie emailed me yesterday about the 2011 Kids' ATC (Artist Trading Card) Swap yesterday and I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. Lia is going to do this for sure! A kid can never get too much mail, you know? Check out the link above to get more information and to sign up.

Happy Friday!

Scribble Art by Maryann Kohl

I have been trying to do an official "art project" with Lia every Wednesday during Eden's nap. Eden is 2 1/2 now and into EVERYTHING. She's like a busy little raccoon, leaving a trail of torn paper and crumbs wherever she goes. Anyways, it's nice to spend some time with just Lia, and the baby, and do things that would be difficult with busy 2-year-old hands in the mix.

I checked out several art books from the library at the beginning of the year and fell in love with "Scribble Art" by MaryAnn Kohl. The projects in it were perfect for Lia because they focus on the process, not the product. There were several that I vaguely remembered from my childhood that I loved but couldn't remember in enough detail to replicate. Our project yesterday was especially successful, and Eden was even able to join in when she woke up.

SALTY WATERCOLORS

For this project you will need:
Table Salt

Shallow dish or tray
White Glue (Elmer's)
Watercolor paint (Prang works well)
Thick watercolor paper or matte board (It needs to be thick enough that it won't bend and crack the glue/salt after the painting is dry
Paintbrush and water

Step 1: (Optional)
I cut our watercolor paper down to 9" x 6" and then 4.5 x 6 so that Lia could do several projects without me feeling like we were burning through all our watercolor paper.

Step 2:

Make a design on the paper with the glue.

Step 3:

Place paper in tray and generously shake salt over the top. It's important to make sure all the glue is covered. Shake excess salt off and place paper back on table.

Step 4:

This is really magical. Load your paintbrush with water and paint, then very gently touch it to the design on the paper. The paint will spread a bit through the design. Repeat. Seriously, I wish I had more time to do this myself. It's really fun.

I actually bought Scribble Art brand new from Amazon, and I almost never buy new books. It's that good.

Captain!

I loved reading all the name suggestions! We just decided yesterday on the name Captain. The girls have a pirate ship (mound of dirt) in the yard and they had been calling the pup "Captain" while they were playing. It seemed to fit, and we finally had a name that everyone liked. So Captain it is. He is such a good pup!