Thursday, March 31, 2011

Breaking Ground

Before dad plowed the garden, the kids decided to gather dried okra pods.
They spent quite a while gathering the seeds and putting them in a container.

Oh joy, fresh dirt!  I know they're thinking about how dirty they're about to get.
It was to cool for water, so they had to pass on their annual mud baths, for now. (no kidding!)


He packed the dirt with spit to make a "brick" like the Ancient Egyptians, and put it in the sun to dry.

"It feels so cool and wonderful between my toes."



This was hours of enjoyment on a nice spring day.  Waiting for dry
 weather so we can spread that big manure pile in the background and till the garden.


We also pruned the apple trees.  Instead of dragging the limbs to the field, 
I came outside to find they had piled them around a tree to make a fort!


The first set of chicks for the year, hatched this week!


We are thankful for spring!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Murfree Spring

We went with some friends last week, to Murfree Spring Discovery Center.





Lunch Break!


Mallards

Wood Duck

A muskrat poked out of his den to munch    on some green leaves..



Ahhh, that sun feels good!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Cedar Ridge Farm

We met up with some fellow home school families and enjoyed a beautiful, educational day, at Cedar Ridge Farm.

Mr. Todd leads the way... 


Looking for salamanders....

Doing what boys love to do.....

an exciting bone collection...


There is a common misconception that children who are home-schooled, are some how "isolated" and "unsocialized."  Moments like today, remind me of how fortunate we are to watch our children grow, learn, and discover.  What I see, is FREEDOM!  The many wonderful experiences,  making new friends, and simply, being able to enjoy childhood.



A Honey Locust pod we found in the creek.



Hanging out...

I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was having so much fun learning about everything around us.  We really enjoyed having someone to walk along with us, answer questions, and tell us the names of all the different things we found.  It was such a beautiful day and we are thankful!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Spring is Here!

After several weeks of rain, we've finally had some beautiful, warm, sunny weather.
We are enjoying every bit of it!







We are finding all the spring blooms and learning the names.  It is so beautiful, right now...and there is      more to come.  We are so thankful for the sunshine!





Yes....to bike rides, picnics, and lots of outdoor play!