Spring!

Spring
by Celia Thaxter

The alder by the river
Shakes out her powdery curls;
The willow buds in silver
For little boys and girls.

The little birds fly over
And oh, how sweet they sing!
To tell the happy children
That once again 'tis spring.

The gay green grass comes creeping
So soft beneath their feet;
The frogs begin to ripple
A music clear and sweet.

And buttercups are coming,
And scarlet columbine,
And in the sunny meadows
The dandelions shine.

   And just as many daisies

As their soft hands can hold

The little ones may gather,

All fair in white and gold.

Here blows the warm red clover,

There peeps the violet blue;

O happy little children!

God made them all for you.

Johnson Woods State Nature Preserve

I love to walk in the woods.

 

There's just something about being among the trees and wildflowers, walking along the boardwalk, that just makes me happy.

Nature truly inspires me and I love it. 

I love the wonder of it.

I love the beauty in it.

I love being with it.

Last week we drove to Johnson Woods to see if we could catch the spring wildflowers.

As you can see, it still looks a lot like winter here as of last Wednesday.

Spring has been slow in coming.   

There are some signs of spring wildflowers to come though.

Peeking out from under the fall leaf clutter are some yellow trout lily.  This is the only bloom I saw, but lots of new leaves unfurling, so there should be plenty to see in the coming weeks.

There are also trillium emerging as well.  These trillium plants are being protected by a wire enclosure to keep the deer from eating them.  They are native to this forest and Ohio's state wildflower.

Johnson Woods is an old growth forest.  It is claimed that many of these trees are anywhere from 200 - 400 years old with the largest trees being oak and hickory.  We saw some pretty large beech trees as well. 

As you walk along the one mile boardwalk, fallen trees are everywhere.  

We will be heading back to the woods again this week.   

I'm hoping to have some beautiful trillium pictures to share.

Happy Spring!

CU Choral Concert

Last weekend we drove north to Grand Rapids to visit LittleA at Cornerstone University, and to see her spring choir concert.

We had a beautiful day, enjoyed a walk around the campus, went out to dinner, and heard some wonderful music from the concert choir, the university chorale, and the symphony winds.

Did you figure out where she was?
Here's a closer view.

 Front row, left, just to the right of the accompanist. 

They sang beautifully! 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Spring Break!

First Signs of Spring

  

Little J found an umbrella in the closet and
thought he needed to bring it along.

Today was the first full day of spring.

And it wasn't raining, or snowing, or sleeting. 

We had partly sunny skies and a high of 69*F, and only a light wind.  YAY!  The front door was opened to let in the light, and the windows were opened to let in the fresh air.

I couldn't let the day pass without doing a nature study walk, so the boys and I headed outside to look for signs of spring. 

Sign #1:  The grass is beginning to look green instead of brown.

Sign #2:  The trees are budding, but no baby leaves could be found yet. 

Sign #3:  The daffodils are up, but no flowers yet.

Sign #4:  The crocus are in bloom with gorgeous color. 

Sign #5:  Preschool boy finds the sand pile and starts digging.

We had a nice afternoon and can't wait for more.

HAPPY SPRING!!

Happy Birthday LittleJ !!

We celebrated LittleJ's birthday this month, and he was very excited to be turning 4 years old.

He chose a cherry chip cake with cream cheese frosting, and LOTS of red and blue sprinkles.

Yes, it was very yummy!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE J !!

My Booklist This Year

I've decided to keep a running list of my book reading this year and I thought this would be the perfect place because... I can't lose the list! 

     At the end of last year I started reading The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.  A classic children's fantasy novel published in 1872, but really a story for any age.  I greatly enjoyed it and it's sequel, The Princess and Curdie.  After that I chose to read The Complete Works by George MacDonald.  I don't think I finished the last few stories before needing to return it to the library, but some of my favorites were Little Daylight, and The Light Princess.  If you like fantasy and want something enjoyable and light, these would fit the bill.

Since starting to work on organizing our home library, I decided to read one I had picked up in a library sale several years ago.  Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is a Newberry Medal winner from 1956.

       A great children's historical fiction/ biography novel about Nathan Bowditch and how he changed the world of navigation.  If you are looking for something inspiring and historically based, then this would be a fun read.

     Now, just so you don't think I only read children's stories, I'm currently reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.  

I am very much enjoying this Dickens right from the beginning, and I only say that because last year I read The Tale of Two Cities, which took about one third of the book before it was really interesting. I'm only on Chapter 8 of 53, so I'm sure I'll be here for quite some time, but so far it's been quite enjoyable.