The Dandelion

"A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We love dandelions at our house. What's not fun about blowing the seeds of a dandelion all over the front yard? I decided to find out about this common wild flower, and was surprised at how little I knew. For instance, I never knew that the flower head changes into the white seed head and can do so overnight!

We are always on the look-out for something unusual when we are outside. Chloe won this time by finding this dandelion seed head. Look how fat its stem is!

I have pictures of all my kids when they are little blowing dandelion seeds. I was almost too late getting a picture of little Chloe! We took care of that today.

Signs of Spring Bonus Challenge

The weather here has alternated between snow and spring for several weeks now, but today was one of those "spring is coming" kind of days. We decided to combine cleaning up the backyard with The Handbook of Nature Study's latest nature challenge. Living in a desert climate, we weren't too hopeful we would see much color, but we did find these dandelions growing!

And, we discovered that the trees are indeed beginning to bud.

The sun was bright and warm, and Grant learned the value of hard work!

As did Abby!

Way to go kids, and thanks for the help!

We did not record in our nature journals today as we are too tired! But check out the Handbook of Nature Study blog for a great journal page for this challenge.

Also, Barb, who blogs at The Handbook of Nature Study has just put together an e-book for spring nature studies that you might check if you are interested in a little guidance to spending time with your kids outdoors this spring. Check it out for yourself here.

More Signs of Spring

Robins are visiting more often! And, we can see the buds on the tree behind this one.

I love the robin's eye as well as the fact that robins don't seem to mind me outside taking a few pictures of them.

The temperature reached around 70 degrees outside today. The sun's warmth felt great!

Isn't Spring Here Yet?

A little snowbird

Winter time has been a hard time for us to stay motivated to observe God's creation as a part of our school day. It's too cold! Just this week after a week of warming temperatures, we woke up to more snow on the ground. Sigh. I have to admit, as much as I want spring here and the snow gone, the snow was beautiful!



Grant took this picture of his feet/tracks and places in the snow where bird seed had dropped.
Snow in Albuquerque doesn't stay around long. You can see it already starting to melt in this picture.
I found a great site that I've been reading through to help me get motivated about nature studies again. Jimmie's blog is wonderful, and her Squidoo lens on nature study is fabulous as well. Be sure and check it out!

Sunset

This week has been beautiful and spring-like outside. Even the sunsets have been pretty.

Looking for Signs of Spring

I love living in the desert, but the winter here is the hardest season for me. The cold weather, and the lack of anything green makes me long for spring. As soon as the calendar flipped to March, we all got spring fever, so we took a trip to the park today for a short walk to see if we could find any signs of spring.

We can still see snow on the mountains. But, the sky is wonderful blue color today!

The grass is still brown and dead looking.

Brown sand, but fun for digging in!

Even our favorite pine tree is still looking a little dry and brown.

Allison brushed away the brown pine needles and found a patch of green clover!

Chloe found some sap dripping from our favorite pine.

We found our park mostly dry and brown, but the best thing about today was the promised high of 59 degrees! Mr. Sun still seems a little far away, but we could feel the warmth of his rays today--a perfect day for climbing trees!

Book Review: Rascal

Our current read aloud for history is Rascal. The book takes place during WWI and has given us a picture of what life was like around 1917. I decided to post the book here because it has given us more of a wonder for raccoons and outdoor life than it has for the first World War. Rascal's author, Sterling North, takes his readers through a year of his own life as an 11 year old boy when his brother fought in the Great War and Rascal becomes his pet. North's charming descriptions of his raccoon endear his readers to the ring tailed animal, and almost made us wish we could have our own pet raccoon! If you are looking for a good read aloud about animals for about 4th grade and up, try Rascal!