This girl loves the great outdoors

I have been one grouchy, grouchy mama lately.

I’m not proud of it but I’ve got a good excuse.

It’s called

insomnia.

Yes, a week of very little sleep will leave a mama in a not so great mood.

It’s sad, but true.  (I’m only human.)

And how do you cure it?

Well, obviously get some sleep but

then we’re back at that insomnia thing…

vicious cycle, I tell ya.

For me, there is a great pick-me-up.

On the morning after the worst night of sleeplessness in history, I headed out to a place that brings me joy, peace, and energy.

The Woods

We all felt so at home in the woods as we

explored,

worked,

and played.

And even though I was bone tired, I lost my grouchiness (and I’m sure my kiddos were quite relieved) as we walked back and forth along the long road between the deer stands.

We had some great talks on that road about

temperate forests (what we’ve been studying in science and now we were walking in one.  How cool is that!),

animal tracks,

and

(we can not forget our talks about) scat.

That’s poop, by the way.

Evan pointed out every little bit of scat he saw along the trail.

And don’t worry, he’s not touching it above.

He’s hovering right above it and I’m saying,

“Evan, please don’t touch the poop!” 

But I do keep a little antibacterial cleanser around, just in case.

The guys worked hard getting the stands in place for the hunting season

and

building hopes of a season of getting some food for our freezer.  (Me too.)

I chased littles around and helped out when

one fell with his candy on the ground

and made faces while we listened to the radio and tried to escape the heat for a while.

(The girls took these two pictures of each other…)

We left the woods and we were

happy,

hopeful,

peaceful,

and

tired.

Tired, did I mention that?

And I think we all found the cure for insomnia

and

an escape from the cares of the world that sometimes lead to insomnia.

And that’s one (of many) reasons why this girl loves the great outdoors.

 

Taking our school outside ~

The weather has been so nice lately that it is hard to stay inside and focus on school work.  So when we can, we take our school outside!

In science, the older kids are learning about animals.  Last week, we were talking about worms so we headed out doors to search for worms.

We searched in the usual places where the worms tend to congregate.  We were even successful in finding a few annelid friends.

We even found a few more discoveries…some of the creepy crawly nature and some not…

 We aren’t really sure what this is…yet.  :smile:

 Rolie Polies are always a favorite to find.

 

 As we were digging for worms, we found this old car buried in the ground.  It looks very old and since our house is old, we wonder if it is from some children who grew up here in the 50s or 60s. 

While we’re outside studying nature, we also fit in a little P.E. and recess…

 Could this be considered physics?  {smile}

We love taking our school outside!

 

Computer problems…

I wanted to add a little note to let you all know that I’m having some computer problems.  For some reason, I can not view some of your blogs.  I get a “This page can not be opened” message.  We thought we had the problem fixed and then it happened again this morning.  So if I’ve been absent from your blog, that is why.  I am really missing reading some of my favorite blogs!  I’m hoping to be able to chat with some of you again soon!

Our trip to the mountains ~

 

We live in a state that has very few hills.  If my memory serves me correctly, the only mountain that we have is around 200ish feet.  So when we went north this past weekend, David and I were excited that our children would get to see some mountains. 

 David and I made this same trip a few years ago for an anniversary trip and we found this park that had a mountain to hike and a beautiful stream that you had to cross to get to this mountain.  We hiked this same mountain with Sunshine Girl in a carrier some four years ago.

 

 

 

After we hiked up the mountain a while, we came back to the stream and everyone just played and played in the cool water.  I really think that we all had just as much fun at this park as we did at the theme park.  Actually, I know that we did because they keep telling me how great of a day it was. 

I splashed around in the stream a bit but mainly followed everyone around with a camera & helped people climb around on slippery rocks.  And now, I’m going to subject you to tons of pictures!  :-)

~ My nature loving girl ~

~ My littlest nature explorer ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Watching the little fish swimming in the clear water~

~A bridge that begs to be the backdrop of pictures~

~ The older boys have told me that we have to go back again~

~I can not tell you how badly I wanted to join them as they swam~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Sunshine Girl loved the water too~

 

~ A mom & her Flower Girl ~

~ Before we left to come home, we headed up to the lookout over the city~

A trip to MawMaw & PawPaw’s house ~

I love going to David’s Mom & Dad’s house (MawMaw & PawPaw to my children).  Ms. Sheryl, my mother-in-law, has a wonderful sense of style.  Her home has touches of beauty that you would see in an old farmhouse or on the pages of Country Living magazine.  That’s my kind of beauty!  I snapped a few pictures this weekend when we were there to pick up the kids from their stay with MawMaw & PawPaw. 

 

I am amazed at the beauty of so many things that are natural…things made by God.  Sure, man can make some pretty things but God is the greatest artist ever.

A simple little row of peaches sitting in the windowsill brought a smile to my face.  They are such pretty little fruits with the different shades of colors blending together.  

 

 Thanks, Ms. Sheryl & Mr. Travis, for letting me take some pictures at your house!  :)

~On an unrelated and somewhat related note…

When we left MawMaw & PawPaw’s house this past Sunday, we stopped at a convenience store.  The kids and I sat in the van while David ran inside.  My children witnessed something new to them…

~A Dustdevil~

I happened to have my camera in my lap and tried to capture a picture of the rather large dust tornado.  The above picture is the best that I could get as it was moving very quickly.  We felt bad for the ladies standing outside getting snow cones when this dustdevil blew through.

  I love going home because as we get closer to home, we can see the vastness of the sky.   That’s something that I miss due to living in the city.  I love to see the wide openess of the beautiful sky!