Yesterday, I was thrilled to photograph a “Cecropia Silkmoth” (thanks to coolmomofeight for figuring out what it was!!). The moth was dangling off a small branch on the edge of our yard, in a shrub. I wrote yesterday, when I posted the photos, that I said a prayer that God would give it the best life it could possibly have.
WELL . . . . . . . .
I would say things are going rather well. Wouldn’t you?
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir
Good evening! Rich had to go downtown for something (he told me, but I can’t remember. . . .) and I have some extra time to show you some pictures that I took today of a lovely discovery God showed me.
It happened this afternoon, after a very busy day of watching those big digging machines and making sure little boys didn’t get run over by them. Little boys can disappear quick, you know. Rich came home at lunchtime (thankfully!) to talk with the guys and then he worked from home on his laptop. When I put the kids down for rest time, I went out for a walk. I was not going to take my camera . . . .which is too funny because I only lasted all of about five minutes before I noticed a little bird making warning noises at me. I stopped to talk to him, when my eye caught something else~ a big moth or butterfly, hanging from a branch, with it’s empty cocoon just above it.
I ran back up to the house to get my camera. I am not sure what the name of it is. It’s something I’ve never seen before, and I haven’t been able to research it yet. Looking at it reminded me of the book, Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter. The girl in the book collected butterflies and moths in the Limberlost forest, and she loved it. I can understand a little bit of the obsession now, it is almost like finding treasure when you see something like this!
Just look at this thing of beauty that God created~
It might sound silly, but I was praying for this dainty but exquisite creature as I took the pictures. . . . .that it would have the best life it could possibly have!
It only lasted about 5 minutes but it was like an injection of joy into my heart.
It was a much needed gift.
Look
for a
lovely
thing
and
you
will
find it.
~Sara Teasdale
David found this Robin’s egg on our driveway, it had fallen from a nest.
We admired it and then put it back.
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Recipe for a Lovely Pie. . .or two:
Raspberry Cherry Pie
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 T. quick cooking tapioca
2 c. fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 cup pitted tart cherries (fresh, canned or frozen)
1 tsp. lemon juice
For filling, in a bowl, combine sugar and tapioca. Add the raspberries, cherries and lemon juice;
toss to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, make pie crust:
3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. shortening
1 egg
5-6 T. cold water
1 tsp. vinegar
Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder; cut in shortening until crumbly. Combine egg, water, and
vinegar. Gradually add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork until dough forms ball.
Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one portion to fit a 9 in. pie plate. Place pastry
in plate; trim even with edge.
Spoon filling into pastry. Dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie. Place top crust over
filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in pastry.
Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.
If one pie is not enough for your family, try this one as well:
Chocolate Mallow Pie (VERY chocolaty)
1 (for one sky-high pie) or 2 (for two thinner pies) store-bought oreo cookie pie crusts
FILLING:
2 packages cream cheese (one 8 oz, one 3 oz)
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 (8 oz) carton cool whip, thawed
2 cups mini marshmallows
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and chocolate syrup until smooth. Beat in melted chips.
Set aside 1/4 cup of whipped topping for garnishing the pie later. Fold marshmallows and
remaining whipped topping into chocolate mixture. Spoon into crust. (there is a lot of filling, you could
buy 2 pie shells for a thinner pie. That’s what I will do next time.) Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
(I froze it for about 4 hours and it was fine). Garnish with reserved whipped topping.
(The kids didn’t like this pie, it was too chocolaty for them. I liked it.)
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. ~Nadine Stair
My babykins will never say that. . . . .they are already going barefoot as often as they are able.
I went outside yesterday *not barefoot* and decided to take some photos of Grace, my little girl who is growing and stretching out waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fast for my liking. The four boys jumped on the trampoline while I asked Grace to sit still just for a moment (please).
I only got a couple pictures
bare feet
laughter
and then this happened
“Mom! Turn around and look! Take a picture, quick!”
We had a pair of mallard ducks on the pond. They came for a visit.
Here is Mr, sporting the classic orange footwear that seems to be the trademark for ducks.
Patches, our mighty female cat hunter, was quite provoked. I did a blog about her last summer, in which she actually was catching frogs out of the pond. Looks like she would like some duck, too.
Patches, they are as big as you, dear little cat!
But this is as far as she would go (haven’t seen her swim yet). . . . .
(Just a bit ago, Patches took a flying leap up to the computer desk and slammed into my camera. She’s so reckless. She just wanted to purr at me, “good morning”, now she’s curled up tight on the rocking chair. . . .my cat Spot is frisky, he’s batting at and rolling around with an easter egg.)
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My husband is crazy-busy at work. I haven’t seen him much this week (he leaves for work before 6). Not sure when he’ll be back tonight, I don’t even ask. . .just expect a long day and if it happens to be short than I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Today I am taking my children to a homeschooler’s outing. We’re going with a group from church, to a park, to see maple syrup being made.
On the way there, I’m going to treat myself to a Starbucks Honey Latte. I had a sip of my friend Karen’s the other day and it was yum. I have a gift card around here someplace for Starbucks.
Am I rambling?
Seems like I could share a quote or something more substantial. Hold on. Let me look.
How about a hymn? Thinking about spring makes me hum praise hymns to myself. Here’s an oldie but and very very beautiful:
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen sound from His people again:
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
~Joachim Neander 1650-1680 (his heart must have been soaring when he penned this hymn, did y
ou notice all the exclamation points? What a beautiful testimony of praise!)
I hope you enjoyed the ducks. . .we sure did. Grace came downstairs this morning and immediately went out to see if they were still there—they are!
“There is just so much to laugh and cry about” . . .just read this “Anne” quote in a comment that was left in my last post.
Isn’t that the truth, especially for overly sentimental folk, like me? (can anyone relate?)
This morning I am aching for my home. . not this one, this one is wonderful. . but, I’m talking about home–mom and dad and family back home in NY. I wish I could *snap* my fingers and transport myself and everyone else to Mom and Dad’s on a Sunday afternoon. I loved those days, of coming home from church all together and bursting through the door to be greeted by the warm smell of Sunday dinner. My mom was so good at making a big Sunday dinner—chicken or a roast with all the fixings.
We would all get changed and then Dad would turn on football. The sound of the football games is still so soothing to me. *sniff, sniff*
AHHHHHH, What am I doing to myself????
I talked to my mom last night on the phone for a while. . telling her all the little stories from my days here at home, she laughs so hard when she hears what the kids have been doing and saying. We talked for 40 minutes. Tomorrow Mom and Dad leave to go to South Carolina for a vacation. They will be back on the 22nd and we will all be at their place for Easter dinner, Lord willing. I can’t wait.
(By the way, honking geese just flew overhead.)
I made pancakes for the children this morning. “Yay!!!!” Part of the pleasure of pancakes is pouring some of our 1 gallon of pure maple syrup (from Costco) into these dear little Homer Laughlin China Co. pitchers. They are much easier to handle that the big jug. . .and I always warm the syrup. It’s not good to pour icy cold syrup on a steaming hot, perfect pancake.
Aren’t they so sweet? I like the taller one better, because of the dark-ish pastel color to the flowers. I picked these up for next to nothing at an antique store. They are made by the same company that makes Fiestaware.
When I came back into the kitchen after snapping the photo, I found Caleb had parked his trains under the pancake griddle. They were all happy and toasty warm. (Except Diesel, he’s always grumpy.)
I find these guys all over the place, parked in “tunnels” of all sorts.
I was so blessed by this Scripture passage yesterday:
“It is of the Lord’s mercies
that we are not consumed,
because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning:
great is Thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul;
therefore will I hope in Him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him,
to the soul that seeketh Him.
It is good that a man should both hope
and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:22-26
These are overwhelmingly beautiful and comforting words, aren’t they? There is so much to think about here–God’s mercy, God’s compassion, God’s faithfulness, are all abundantly given to us. God is more generous than we can imagine! And I am encouraged, to wait for Him, and to seek Him. The whole idea of seeking. . .I almost feel as if my seeking soul is like a magnet being pulled to Him. . .I can’t resist Him. . .and, there is that word, HOPE again! (word of the year)
“And the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in droughts,
and make fat thy bones:
and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.” Is. 58:11
Guess what?
The long pond is free of ice! The ice has all melted, as of this morning. I looked out the window, and rushed outside to take a picture. . . .
The other, smaller pond still looks like this. All ice, except for the ring around the outside.
As you may have guessed, I’m in no big hurry to start school this morning. Yesterday we got started so early that we were done before lunch. Consequently, we had about 9 hours of free time until Daddy came home (at 8). Not good. Too challenging for me to keep the children busy doing constructive things.
Right now Jacob, Ethan, and Grace are outside and David is sitting here with me. I guess I better go get them dressed. . .time with just the 2 little ones is rare so I want to take advantage of it. Maybe we’ll pick up their room and do some reading.
Attached is a link to the book
that I’ve been singing (yup, singing) to the children all week, several times a day. They LOVE it. It’s a library book.
What wonderful comments you all added to my post from this morning, thank you SO much!
Today was a better day, the best day I’ve had in a while, as a matter of fact. I slowed myself down and made an effort not to be rushing from one thing to the next. We had a very nice day of school. I have some older school books that I have picked up from library book sales and we used one today to read lines from a play. It was about Robin Hood and Little John. The kids loved it. Guess who seemed to be the most natural actor? ETHAN. I sat with Grace and re-explained her math skills, using beans to show her exactly what she is doing when she multiplies and divides. After lunch (we had spaghetti w/sauce and David threw his *third bowl of it*around! Jacob vacuumed it up and it went up the vacuum just fine LOL). . anyway, after lunch we all bundled up and went outside. It was much colder today than it was yesterday but it did us good to get out in the fresh air. Grace, David, and Caleb jumped on the trampoline. Jacob and Ethan walked ran the dog, played near the stream and gathered some chunks of ice.
When we came in, Caleb watched a Thomas video and fell right asleep on the floor.
The kids finished up their school work and then they went upstairs to read/play quietly so that I could have my hour and a half of rest time.
After they all got up, they watched a video and I went for a little walk. I was gone for about 20-25 minutes, within hearing distance of the house. I found a bright yellow feather and put that in my pocket. I went to the bird forest but didn’t see any birds so I came out of the woods to the stream and then noticed a whole flock of cedar waxwings and one robin up in a tree, in the bright sun. I had so much fun sneaking as close as I could and I took a lot of pictures.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures and thanks again for being so kind to me here on xanga. Have a great evening!
A happier day
my handsome son Ethan
best friends, standing together in the middle of the rushing stream
Crazy Ethan, balancing on a rock, pulling out some ice
in the middle of frigid icy water.
The prize! Ice!
Caleb got good and tired
after all that fresh air
and fell asleep while watching
a thomas video.
The Cedar Waxwing Photos
they were busy eating these berries
There are three in this next picture, can you see the one in the background?
Do you
see the one and only robin on the far right side of this next photo?
“Oh Master, let me walk with Thee
in lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret;
Help me to bear
the strain of toil,
The fret of care.”
~”Oh Master Let me Walk with Thee”, W. Gladden
~a hymn the kids and I have been working on all week long.
I was out the door this morning at 7:15. The sun was just starting to shine on the face of my house, through the windows, and it called to me. I asked Jacob to watch Caleb in the house and I meandered down to the woods. As I walked, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something sprinkle gently down from the trees and fall to the ground.
What was it? I made my way around muddy puddles and slick leaves, keeping my eyes to the ground.
I found feathers! Small downy feathers, perfectly dry. I looked up up into the trees and saw nothing. There was no sign of tragedy. So, what was it? Why did feathers fall down from the tree-tops on this chilly but sunny February day in New England?
Maybe one of my bird-loving friends will have a suggestion.
My camera battery died before I could get the golden morning pictures I was looking for. But I was still glad that I went to the woods when I did. The feathers felt so warm in my hand, and I felt like I had a treasure in my pocket when I came home to show the children. I have something new to add to my nature journal.
I saw feathers fall like snow this morning. I love that. God gives us wonder in such interesting ways.
Good morning! Breakfast is over and the three older kids are in the basement. They made an office down there. They take down chocolate milk and pretend it’s coffee and I’m not sure what they are actually doing but I do know that they are listening to a Focus on the Family Radio Theatre cd.
I wanted to share a few photos from my weekend. Rich came home on Friday with roses for me and Grace, which was a great start, I thought. There was one for me and one for her of the darkest red. Very dazzling.
On Saturday, we went to the library. The kids checked out about 30 books, LOL, and I found 3 that I thought looked good. I already finished one of them and the link will be attached to this blog entry.
(I just had to get up to help David and Jacob was up getting another drink of milk so I asked them what they are doing downstairs. “Oh, we’re riding bikes. . . but, right now we’re trying to catch a mouse.” (said very casually) “Is there really a mouse down there?” I asked. “Yes! We all saw it!”) OH GREAT.
UPDATED February 3, 2013 (They just told me that they caught five on this day. There was a blind one. They found one in a shoe, & one in a Cheerio box. They said that the dog ran after them, stomped on them and ate them. David played hide and seek with the blind one, but it got away.)
Back to the weekend. Where was I? Oh yes, the library. I didn’t take any pictures of the library stop because there are already pictures here somewhere of the library. Our next stop was Panera. Rich’s idea. It was fun except don’t order their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your 2 year old. We got that for Caleb and it oozed everywhere. Rich looked so handsome and I thought it was so funny to see our little messy Caleb sitting there next to his dapper Dad. Rich would flinch every time Caleb was about to touch him. And Panera also has those yogurts that you simply suck out of a tube. . . yeah, not so good for a toddler. But, he loved it. David sat next to me and wasn’t as messy. Jacob, Ethan, and Grace sat at their own table and guess what they did while they ate? Read books! I’m so proud of them, they are just like me when it comes to reading.
After lunch we went to the mall. I won’t get into too much description, I’ll just say that it was packed with people but we found some awesome sale prices on the Land’s End clothes for the kids at Sears. I’m so thankful, we bought 3 beautiful, well-made winter coats for E, J, and C for next winter. I bought Grace 3 prs. of pants, a jean skirt, and 3 dresses. I bought Caleb 3 shirts and J and E both got a new shirt. I bought G a pretty pink fleece blanket for her bed, perfect for a small girl to curl up under with a good book. All these things were on clearance, plus another 50 percent off!! After Sears we left the mall, we just didn’t have the desire to walk around with the kids, too hard to keep track of them all and push the stroller. LOL
As soon as we got home, I went for a walk. David was already outside. I guess we were both thinking the same thing, ENOUGH of crowds and shopping, let’s get outside! Everything was still covered in snow and it was icy snow, so hard that I had to be extra careful not to fall down. I could actually walk on top of it! Our house sits on the top of a hill and look what David was doing when I came out to join him. He could go fast!
We made our way down past the ponds, looked at our flooded and rushing stream for a while, and then went into the woods. It was cold outside, but the dappled sunlight gave us moments of warmth. David found a fallen down tree and asked me to take a picture of him:
Just after taking his picture, I turned and saw some birds tucked away in the evergreens, I just love coming upon life in the woods. These birds, I believe, were cedar waxwings. There were about four of them together and they were eating berries. My picture isn’t very good, but you get the idea. I couldn’t get very close to them. It’s one thing to see a wild bird at a feeder, but quite another to see them in the woods, in their own “neighborhood”. This is quite close to the same part of the woods where I saw all that Robin activity a few weeks ago. I think I will call it the bird forest. Not very imaginative, but I’m not Anne of Green Gables. LOL
Okay, this next part is hard to explain. Near our house is what we call “the dam”, and it is a watershed area. These pictures will give you an idea what I mean. Here is David, walking up the big hill. (there is no water, just the stream, which goes through a tunnel under the hill). The dam was built just in case there is a major flood.
It’s probably about a 45 degree angle! This side gets more sun, there was no snow.
I must insert this picture of the dog, who enjoyed nibbling on some grass. It shows how BLUE the sky was.
When I got to the top of the hill, this is what David was doing, sliding fast down the hill! (the cold side was still covered with snow)
Before I knew it, I plopped down and tried it, too!
Like I said, the snow was hard as ice and we were able to “sled” right down the hill on our back-ends. LOL It was so very steep, quite exciting for me, I screamed and squealed all the way down. DAVID WAS VERY IMPRESSED. The only way back up was to dig our toes into the hill. Here I am, about to go back up! I went down a total of 3 times.
David went down and tried out another hill. I could not believe he was going down head first! Oh my!
After our sliding around, we walked over toward the woods again and we found some extremely slick ice. I love finding spots like this, I imagine that there are wood-fairies who enjoy ice skating in the moonlight on their very own lakes of ice. (I do have some “Anne” in me, as geidlbots pointed out, 
) It was so so slippery, David fell down about 3 times. I thought we would get the chance to go back with skates, but we didn’t.
We came out of the woods and stood on the road to look at the stream. It was busy and noisy, glittery. ALIVE!
I read somewhere that if you don’t like New England weather, just wait 10 minutes. Isn’t that funny?
Today, outside my windows, I see this:
Bye-bye snow! I’m trying to convince myself that spring is here. Wishful thinking. (read quote about New England weather again.) 
Yesterday morning I didn’t make it to church because our power went out. Once it came back on, there was only time for Rich to get his shower and get dressed. He went with Grace and Ethan. While they were gone I MADE HOMEMADE SOUP, SOUP, not SOAP, SOUP. LOL LOL. It was a Taste of Home 1st place recipe. It was a chicken soup with squash, carrots, onion, and kale in it. It made a HUGE pot and I’ll be eating it all week for lunch. We all went to church last night but I didn’t get to visit with any of my friends, except Tammy, because I was working in the toddler room (with Tammy).
I feel great today. I feel happy and content and ready to tackle the day. David doesn’t have speech because it’s a holiday and Rich is coming home in time to take Jacob and Ethan to their music lessons, so I don’t have to go anywhere. (I love not having to go anywhere, LOL)
SORRY THIS IS SO LONG!!!!
Have a wonderful day!
Good to be Home 