New Neighbors!!

In our bird studies, we recently learned about cardinals. They are quite the songbirds! In fact, the ones in our backyard keep us awake even at 2 at night! For most bird species, only the male sings, but for cardinals, both the male and the female serenade each other. They are red because of food they eat when they are developing (kind of like flamingos!). The males are bright red while the females have reddish areas on their tails, their beaks and a little on their wings. They are brownish gray everywhere else. We learned that they like to build their nests in tangles of vines and branches, not usually more than 8-10 feet off of the ground.

Well, we have tangles of vines and branches around 8-10 feet off of the ground near our house! In fact, right on the fence by our driveway! So, we began to wonder if the cardinals we would see and hear in the tree behind the garage might be planning on nesting somewhere near. And, our guesses were confirmed last week when, as we pulled into the driveway, we saw the female sitting on a nest in the vines. The van proved to be a good viewing spot, because she was less concerned about us and we could see her pretty close up!

So, here she is (as taken through the van window)! Look closely and you'll see her red tail to the left and her red beak to the right (she really does blend in pretty well!).

And here is what Matt (with his height advantage) saw today!

Yippeee!!

A Darsie Drawing

We were really impressed with Darsie's placement of the instrument stickers and the way she drew the people playing them! So, of course I had to take a picture before she could give it to Rob and Katie. :)

Rainy Day Fun

I had forgotten what fun a box of barley and an assortment of shovels, buckets, tractors and dump trucks can be! I don't think we've played with this since Darsie was about 2 or so, but today has been a very relaxing day because of it! Liam played with the barley box for about 45 minutes or so until nap time, driving his trucks, filling the dump trucks and then dumping them, feeling the barley run through his fingers and using his shovel to fill his buckets. The girls have now been playing with it with their polly pockets and other people for about 2 hours now, nicely sharing the box and its contents. I am sure I will have a great sweeping job to do when we put it away, but it has been nice to have something "new" for them to enjoy!

This Day...

Darsie Foreman

In case you can't read her caption: "Jezuz did on d coz fr r siz." ("Jesus died on the cross for our sins.")

Another Nature Experience

This time with no threatening weather! We took Matt's parents with us to walk at Heinz yesterday and had a great visit! We saw lots of birds: mallards, canada geese, barn swallows, tree swallows, robins (of course!), house sparrows, cardinals (heard these), great egrets, great blue herons, red-winged blackbirds. We got to see a snake up close, as he sat coiled for a little while watching us before slithering off to escape. It was just so nice to be outside and enjoy the weather and enjoy God's creation! I only wish it was easier to capture the beauty with my camera!

For the Birds...

We headed to Home Depot this month to build window birdhouses. We have yet to mount them, but that it more because I am concerned about how to secure them (I don't really trust suction cups, especially when they come with a free project!). I am fairly certain, however, that our house sparrows will take them over!

Nature Experience

We got a call from our friends Michelle and Al on Sunday afternoon asking if we wanted to join them on a nature walk at the Heinz Wildlife Preserve, and it was such a beautiful day that we agreed and quickly got our things together to meet them there. Did I mention that it was such a beautiful day? We didn't even need jackets!

We saw and heard lots of red-winged blackbirds, egrets, herons (we think) and barn swallows twisting and turning to catch their dinner. Snakes slithered away from the path as we walked along (Michelle swears Al actually stepped on one, and it was certainly the biggest one we saw there!). You could even hear frogs in the marshy areas, and the kids had fun picking out the turtles sunning themselves on logs and rocks!

As were heading back towards the cars, we looked up and noticed weird clouds rolling in to our left. Some of the strangest clouds I have ever seen. It looked like all color was being swallowed up in grayness. At the same time, Al and I had begun to discuss the rumbling overhead, which to that point I had assumed to be airplanes (it is very near the airport and we had already seen several planes fly overhead) but which we began to think might be thunder. Suddenly, big drops of rain began to fall, so we called the kids and began to run towards the cars (about 1/2 mile or so to go). Then, after one or two glances, we realized that, not only was it raining, but it was now hailing, too! Like the size of small pebbles. Hail! So, by this time we were all sprinting for the cars. I had Liam in the jogging stroller and made Katy hold on to the side while we ran. Joel was up ahead of me and it was all I could do to keep him in my sights, especially after a boom of thunder. Poor Al and Michelle had to unbuckle Sam from the umbrella stroller and fold it up, one of them running with the stroller and Susie and the other with Sam. Matt had Darsie by the hand. We were all flying. And then there are the thoughts...hmmmm...what do I remember about tornadoes?....look at this tree-lined path...what if a tree falls?....it's hailing more now...hmmmmm......

Joel made it to the cars first, with Katy, Liam and me a close second. We waited in our van for the others, then we all huddled up in our vans until it stopped (only a few minutes). A few minutes later, it was an amazing transformation. The sky cleared and was bright blue again. And, arching fully overhead, stood a double-rainbow, a full arc! It was breathtaking!

Thoughts on our experience:

• It's always good to check the weather channel before heading out!
• It's not so comfy to be completely drenched and soaked from head to foot, especially when you are wearing jeans!
  
• It's pretty scary being out in a storm, especially when you are with your kids and know you couldn't shield them all from whatever might come after them!
• God is amazingly powerful! That storm was mighty and fearful! And God made it! He is in control of it! Not one raindrop or one hailstone fell to the ground except that He commanded it! We talked with the girls about God being a fearful God (quoting Lewis, "Aslan is not a tame lion!").
• God is good! We were utterly at His mercy, and He proved Himself faithful to protect and provide for us! He delivered us from the storm, all safe! I was thankful for the Bible verses that we had recently learned in the kids' Sunday school class and reminded Joel and Katy of them while we sprinted - "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." "When I am afraid, I will trust in You, In God whose Word I praise."
• We are not in control of our lives - we could die at any moment! I need to be OK with that.
  
• A rainbow, especially after a storm like that, is a powerful reminder of God's promise to never destroy the earth again but instead to provide a rescuer for us, to take upon Himself the destruction we deserve!
• Worship is the only appropriate response to God's great mercy and grace! We worshipped in the car afterwards!

BEFORE: Ominous clouds, colors eaten up by grayness.

AFTER: God's faithfulness proven and announced in the skies!