The Love Of Birds and a little Music

  Hi Friend, 

 Hope you had a wonderful day today!

I woke up to our newly four year old, franticly saying come to the living room mom and see the birds at the bird feeder, mom you've got to see this!!! Their are so many birds on the bird feeder and I don't even know their name. What a sweet boy! I love him so much.

  I never thought I would be a bird watcher.... Ever... But this last year the sound of birds singing by our window had been so beautiful, how can you not be so blessed by their lovely song?!!  Maybe it was just a long winter for me, because I was so excited to see a spring bird and to hear the new sound of hope, spring is around the corner it would chirp at me... So, first things first we got a bird guide and some bird feeders, we started to visit our local Metropark to get to know the birds at there feeders. And now our children as well, as our daddy enjoy watching the lovely birds at our window. 

 This post was actually ment to be about music.. And here I am talking about bird love. 

 I will mention, that we had a great time visiting the Cleveland Orchestra with our two older ones today, and we all really enjoyed ourselves. To see their faces enjoy the orchestra brought warmth and joy to my heart. 

   I love music and I appreciate good music. Music that lifts you up and has a history about it.. Anyway a little ramble about our day. Hope you have a spectacular day tomorrow! 

  I leave you with a poem by Victor Hugo

  Be Like the Bird

 Be like the bird, who

Resting in his flight

On a twig too slight

Feels it give way beneath him,

Yet sings

Knowing he has wings. 

Photo update of our adventures!

              

As we visited our local farm, I couldn't help my self, but admire all that was around us! Including some lovely Beehives. My dream one day.

   John my husband had taken a few days off of work this week due to a small burn on his fingers. It's a lot better now and the salve I made a month a go came into good use!! 

Anyway,it was nice to have him home so I could catch up on a few things I needed to get done. Like clean out all the winter clothes. Fun job!!!! Just kidding.. My least favorite thing to do. But it needed to be done.  So a little field trip  after cleaning was a must. Plus we were out of eggs! 

      

      

 Alex enjoying this lovely baby chick. 

    

 

       Teaching Benjamin to be gentle.

He loved every minute with these babies.

   

   New life!! So precious. 

   

    This beauty was found on our Mother's Day trip to the metropark.  It really warmed my heart to see this male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Watching the kids explore in the creek and watching my husband enjoying nature was the greatest gift any natural mama could ask for ;)

      

   Look at this! Breathtaking, isn't it?!

  

    Follow the leader.

  

   They insisted on a under bridge photo.

  

      Exploring is what they know.

      

    The Majesty of My Lord!

      

       Observing the world around her.

  Beehives at our local farm! 

  So that was a little picture update of our weekend. Can't wait for this coming weekend! I'll be sharing more pictures and sharing what we have learned along our journey.

   I leave you with a fun poem called 

   The Optimist

   By: Anonymous

   The optimist fell ten stories,

 And at each window bar

He shouted to the folks inside:

Doing all right so far!

         Blessings to you my friend.

The Love Of Reading

Hello Dear friend,
  I have been away for some time, and am happy to be back!
Since spring is officially here. We have been busy gardening and reading and exploring spring life!
  I am learning more new things about my Favorite Charlotte Mason, my book study is going wonderful and I'm so blessed to have ladies that are also so eager to learn about all the wonderful things that Miss.Mason suggest. If you haven't read my past posts, I started a Charlotte Mason book study group. We are going through the book by the lovely, Karen Andreola. A Charlotte Mason Companion. This year, since I have been reading lots about Charlotte Mason I have been wanting to implement some of her ways in our school days. We started with Living books. And it's such a blessing to us. Even my little guy who is 20 months old loves books. It's a wonderful gift to give to your children.The love of books that is.To share with them GOOD BOOKS. I recently was asked by an Instagram mamma how do I read with my little ones? Well, I love to be very Enthusiastic, and sometimes even a little theatrical. Now, I would be a little Embarrest  to read like that in front of other people, but the children enjoy it and it gets their attention. Another thing that helps is the books that we read. I love real living books, Biographies, character building books, such as the Lamplighter series. Books about real people. I find that my children can relate more to these types of books. They will say things like, I can't believe that so and so would do such a thing to Mary. Or can you please read one more chapter. The older children can sit through a great deal of chapters when I read, the other two little ones fidget and sometimes interrupt, I then stop and find something quiet for the little ones to be busy with while we finish with the older two. We also read one on one. I sit down with a book to each child's ability and I follow each word with my finger as I read a few sentences and then my child,  also following with their finger. I help at the words that are difficult for them to read. 
  Reading has been a big struggle for my oldest who will be ten in July. I can say with joy that this year has changed so much about how he feels about reading. We still struggles at times,but we see much improvement and it's all glory to Our Lord. I am so so blessed to have such wonderful writings and teachings by Charlotte Mason. It is truly a gift and a breath of fresh air. 
   
 We also love Audio books and poetry. 
 So far this year reading had been our focus, even though we worked on other things, such as math and writing ect. Reading was something that needed much work. I have great plans for the upcoming school year and want to implement a lot more of the lovely Charlotte Mason way. Tell me about your reading story, have you always loved to read? What kind of books do you read?! 
  It's always a blessing to share a little of our joy with you.May you be blessed. Happy Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mamas!
   
All Things Bright and Beautiful 

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
     
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruit in the garden,
He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood, 
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water, 
To gather every day.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small, 
All things wise and wonderful:
 The Lord God made them all.
          ~ Cecil Frances Alexander~