What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

What's new Pussycat?



Along with our other schoolwork, I have been trying to focus some time on Nature studies.

It has been very easy to do so, what with our Nature tree on the other side of the window! Much of our time has been spent on birds, so imagine my delight when The Heart of the Matter had a whole Birding Nature Study write-up with links! Lots of great stuff there, my favorite was the downloadable coloring book.

I love Cornell. Perhaps it is because Matt went to school there. Perhaps because he worked there for a time. Perhaps because it is well known. Or maybe because it has a GREAT ornithology department. The guy who made the drawings for the coloring book was a native of Ithaca, and a Cornell alum. Anyway...that was a bunny trail!

I printed out the pages (many) and then let Corynn sift through them all to find the birds that frequent our feeders and tree. There are many! We are working on those first-coloring the pages with the details we see on them as they flit around our window.

When we finish the 'common' birds, we will use our much-loved bird book to help us give the unfamiliar birds their colors.



It was hard to stop Corynn off at two-she had so much fun! She kept begging to do more. (May I just say how fabulous it is to hear your child begging for more learning?!?) As you can see, she also drew a picture of a cardinal...with a surprisingly good likeness.

Perhaps it is because she has been inspired lately? ;-)



Finally, a while ago I mentioned I had another Valentine's project up my sleeve but couldn't talk about it until is was received? Well, it was received!

I made a heating bag for my sister, who is getting migraines with pregnancy. Inside is scented rice using lavendar, vanilla, sage, and mint (some herbies I had dried) and some essential oils. It is an odd combination but smells pretty good, I think. I made a flannel cover, removable (and washable) with straps and I made it twice as long as normal, hoping that it might help with delivery pains later on.

Corynn chose the fabrics and suggested the heart. ;-)


In other news:

It's official. Six little ears have infections. A man once said to me (no joke) "you have such cute little mouse ears!" I have always had ear problems, and they always have to use the pediatric ear-things for my ears. So yes, mine are the ones included in that number.


And we still have the noses, coughs and droopy eyes...



But nothing that we can't handle.



And that is the latest and greatest.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That last picture is just adorable. I pray you all feel better soon.

Julieann said...

OHHH, the pictures of your little one is just precious!

The bird is beautful.

Julieann

:::Waiving :::: Hi Rebecca!!!

Dana said...

Love, Love, LOVE the cardinal photos! If you ever decide to sell prints of them, I just might have to buy one!

Hope y'all are feeling better soon. It stinks when your kids are sick and there's really nothing you can do.

Blessings--
Dana

Kelli said...

I'm praying you all are feeling better soon, Rebecca. I had an ear infection a few years ago and it was awful. The cardinal pictures are beautiful and Corynn did a wonderful job on her drawings!
Hugs,
Kelli
P.s I sent you an email a few days ago, did you get it?

Full of Grace said...

I JUST LOVE the Heating Pad Rebecca- I'm sorry I haven't posted anything on my blog about it yet, but as you can see if you visit, I haven't had the chance to post anything about anyone's latest and greatest gifts... Hopefully this weekend I can play catch-up, but in the meantime THANK YOU! Samuel loves it too, sometimes he brings it over to me, just to say "mama, smell this- it smells good!" :)

Andie said...

I made some similar heating bags a few years ago using beans instead of rice...I'm sure the rice is better...how do you add the essential oils? I'd love to make my mother-in-law one, I think she still uses the bean bag!
I'm sorry you ALL have ear-infections, that's no fun! Praying you are all healthy again soon!
Blessings-Andie

Rebecca said...

Dana~ sometime if I get a GOOD photo of a cardinal, good enough to sell, I will make sure to contact you! ;-) hehehe Trust me, THESE were emergency, "QUICK! THE CARDINAL IS HERE" snap.

Kelli~I emailed you! Thanks for the heads up!

Elizabeth~so glad you liked it. That is so cute of Samuel. Little ones say the cutest things!

Andie~ I don't think it matters all that much whether you use beans or rice...or corn. Whatever! As for
the essential oils, I just added a few drops and stirred it around for a bit. The herbs I added directly to the rice.

Abigail said...

In case you've not seen it, Cornell has a wonderful site where you can listen to the bird calls and see detailed info.

It's a treasure trove, and I love Cornell for it. Oh, the link.
Go here.