Winton Woods

There are some beautiful and fun parks in our county with walking tails, lakes for fishing and canoeing (we can’t wait to take our canoe out when it warms up a bit more), and playgrounds.  A couple Saturdays ago we took the kids (all but Em, she was on a little trip to Tennessee with one of her friends) to Winton Woods. The highlight of the trip was definitely feeding the ducks and geese. While we had tons of fun, we sure missed our Em.

3 Little Birds

At Paul’s Aunt’s cabin at the beach there is a mother bird who regularly makes her nest there. Upon our last visit there we had the pleasure of observing three adorable baby birds huddled in a nest above the back door.

This was my lucky shot – just as I took the picture the momma (or poppa) flew in with food for the little tykes.

Random Friday

I finally have a random Friday post!

I was driving the otherday with all the kids in there car on our way to ‘who knows where this time’ (heh). We drove through a neighborhood with a lot of new development and the kids were glued to the windows watching all the men and different machines at work. Suddenly Elizabeth pipes up, “Look mom! A straw house!” I knew she was thinking of the ‘Three Little Pigs’ and figured she was just goofing off when I saw she was serious and pointing out the window. Confused I slowed the car down and looked trying to see where this straw house was hiding. Then I started to laugh. She was pointing to the compressed wood boards they use for building. I definitely could be mistaken for straw, I sure hope those houses hold up should a wolf saunter along. heh 🙂

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I have been walking daily (week days) now for a long time, I average about 3 miles a day and some times I get in 4 if time alows. I start off in the morning by walking the two older kids to school, then I just continue on my own walk from there. I walk past the school and then down the road behind the school passing the playground. The first time they did it, it caught me by surprise. The girls decided to lie in wait for me, crouching down at the bottom of the fence. As soon as I reached their spot they popped up, giggling and laughing, and raced me to the end of the field. Shouts of “Hi Mom!” (from multiple kids, not even my own), “Hi Julia!”, and “I love you mom!” filled the air as I watched their hair streaming out behind them, often times their hands joined forming a chain. It became quite the game and I always looked forward to racing my kids and their friends the length of the fence, but now they aren’t allowed to anymore. *sigh* I’ll miss my little fan club. They do wave to me still, and I can still hear an , “I LOVE YOU MOM!” floating above the playground chatter and squeals. 🙂

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I was driving, again, I do a lot of that, but this time I was alone, down a main highway on a very beautiful sunny day. I noticed that a short distance in front of me was a dark shadow cast by ominous looking clouds. There was a distinct line, a precipice, I almost felt like I was plunging ahead into unknown darkness and wanted to hold my breath. I didn’t want to surge into the storm, but linger peacefully in the sun. I drove into the shadow and here and there I could see the sun trying to peek through. I couldn’t see the end, but I knew if I drove long enough I would find it. I thought about life, it is a lot like life. I decided that I would rather face a storm head on than to let it creep up behind me and catch me unaware. I would rather move through a storm, rather than waiting for it to move away from me.

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We have a dog. Well, really it’s my parents dog, but we take care of her now. She is a Corgi and her name is Susie. She is very sweet, but has one major defect. She is way to hairy and sheds a ton! I never knew so much hair could come off one little dog. During this time of year I need to brush her daily, so there is a constant supply of dog hair all over the back yard and on the deck. Yesterday I watched a little bird as it hopped across the deck. I hadn’t filled the bird feeders lately, so I was curious to see what it was up to. I snuck up to a window and watched quietly out of sight. I was rather fascinated as I watched him hop from place to place gathering dog hair in his beak, no doubt to build up his little nest. He flew off to some corner in the yard and a minute or two later he was back, gathering the hair. Something so simple, so much beauty, I was entranced.