Winter Wonderland

When we had some snow flurries on January 21st, the kids were excited but disappointed at the same time because it didn't stick.

Last night when it started to stick the kids were ecstatic! It looked like sand piled up on the deck it was so powdery.

As it kept accumulating the boys went out in the moonlight sledding down the front driveway.  The neighbors came over just as excited to see so much snow and joined in the sledding.

In the morning we woke to a Winter Wonderland.  
Clearly this would be a snow day from indoor school work but before they started to play I did have one lesson for them.  I sent them on a quest to discover different animal snow prints.  They found quite a few and even discovered where two deer had clearly slept the night in our woods.

Then I released them to have fun!  Even the girl got into playing; making contemplative snow balls and eventually sledding down the side hill with Lance (after thinking he wanted her to push him, lol).  

The dog on the other hand wasn't so sure about all this white stuff (wimp).

The boys discovered three different and exciting hills for sledding around the yard.  

Our new yard was officially declared the coolest house ever by the boys and Chris.

Carnival of the Animals

Back on January 4th we made our first trip to downtown Raleigh.  We ventured there to attend the NC Symphony.  The ride was an easy 20 min. (just like everywhere else).  The facility was absolutely gorgeous, they have a separate hall just for smaller concerts and their children series.  They even had booster seats for the kids, Titus made sure to get a green one.

Before the concert they had an "Instrument Petting Zoo", the boys were tickled to try out everything; violin, flute, french horn, clarinet and trumpet.  Remarkably they all managed to make sound on them all.  They even had me try out the flute, it had been many years and I have totally forgot the fingering but it didn't sound too terrible.  In fact, after hearing all the respective instruments played by novices I must say the flute would be the most tolerable to live with during the learning phase.  Maybe after the boys improve their piano playing we'll get one, or maybe I'll just get one for me (I think they lean toward the louder instruments.)

The concert itself was extremely well done.  The conductor was jolly with a great dry humor.  After the initial pieces were played the main event was accompanied by a narrator and dancers to tell the tale of the animals.  We had chosen front row seats in the upper balcony (we thought it was more important that they have a clear view than a close one).  We were so high up and the wall rather low, that some were hesitant at first to get in their seats.  However, in the end the seats were perfect and Chris said we should always sit there.  The concert actually lasted an hour and fifteen minutes; about 15 minutes too long for Titus but he still did very well.  We look forward to attending more of the Children's series in the future.

On an aside....We have been listening to a lot of classical music this year.  There is a wonderful classical radio station in town that plays very upbeat classical music with minimal talking and no advertising.  We listen to it in the car and we even got a radio for the kitchen so we can listen to it throughout the day.  I really do believe music is powerful.  Whenever we remember to turn on the music first thing in the morning our days seem to go much better, the boys are better focused and more patient with eachother.  Amber appears much calmer as well.

Bird Crazy

Our new year started with the spotting and identifying two new birds at our bird feeder:

Bluebird (one of my favorites)

 

Blue-winged Warbler

I guess that really got everyone excited about birding.  Since then we have spotted and identified six more species of birds at our feeder, bringing the total up to 22!  On my birthday I took out the long lens and have being trying to get good pictures of them all.  The boys have joined with me in my quest and are having fun filming and identifying the new visitors to our backyard.  In an attempt to keep track of our discoveries I've added a new page to my blog called "Bird Watch".  Here we will list any new species we see and from this page you can follow the link the photo gallery of the visitors to our backyard.

We are working not only to identify the birds but also to learn about their behavior and songs.  We recently checked out the book "Backyard Birds of Winter" by Carol Lerner. I thought it was really neat how many of the connections and behaviors we had already observed and how many of the birds mentioned in her book we had already seen at our feeder.  

We went walking in Hemlock Bluff again last weekend (we need to do so more often its so close and peaceful) and the boys started another line of identification with Chris, trees, they've found in our "forest".  The boys have been working diligently to clear out the scrub each weekend with their father.  By spring I think we'll have quite the backyard.  Now I just need to find more books on Fauna LOL.