What We Did...(April 2015)

April is one of the best months of the year to get out and see what's in nature.  I'm planning a new mushrooms post with newly-sighted and identified mushrooms, but you can also see many other new nature pictures with newly caught-on-camera species in my April's Gifts of Nature post.

I also became a [not-so-active-in-selling] consultant for Usborne, because I bought a huge order of Usborne books, and it was simply cheaper to first buy an Usborne kit, so not only did I get a great discount on the books I ordered afterward, but I got many additional books in the welcome kit, including at two books that I was going to buy, anyway.

We also enjoyed a nice visit with family, and of course the kids worked diligently on their schoolwork throughout the month.


Arkansas Trip

Spring Sing!!!!  I've wanted to take my kids to Spring Sing for years.  I attended Spring Sing on a few different occasions on school field trips in my elementary years.  I always loved it.  If you've never been to Harding University's Spring Sing, then you really should put it on your list if you happen to be in or around Searcy, AR during that week each spring.  Harding is a Church of Christ school, so things are a little religiously-charged, but in my opinion, it doesn't take away from the amazing talent the drama students display.  The theme for this year was "Famous for Fifteen" ("fifteen," as in the year 2015).  Though uploaded videos do not come close to doing this program justice, you can get an idea of how the show works by searching on Youtube for some video clips.  If you love music, this is especially for you.

In my last post, I explained how I'd gone to a student percussion recital at the University of Arkansas so that I could write one of two music essays required for my music appreciation class.  I wrote my second essay based on Spring Sing. 

 I think Liv was upset she wasn't sitting by her cousin. There's my beautiful mother on the end.  

 Two monkeys eating bananas at Nana's

 My Love worked hard on re-framing his dad's bathroom, building wheelchair ramps, etc. He did a great job.

Trusten loves the friendly Bud, my father's-in-law dog.

Dentist

 Teen waiting room.  William had to get a primary tooth pulled, as it had not fallen out on its own, yet, and his permanent tooth had already come through.

Usborne

 Education? Yes!  Knowledge, knowledge, and more knowledge.  Ah...it's so good!

 A peek into what I received as part of my welcome kit that I bought

 Is this paradise?!  Well, no...because they're not outside. But these are great!

The pictures added to the books are fantastic, too.  I got additional books to the ones shown, because there were two or three discontinued, so I was able to pick out others.  I already owned one of the Greek myths books, so I've got an extra.  It's so great that I've got the Norse myths now, as well as stories from the Arabs.  So. much. fun. reading with the kids. ;-)

  

And...

Date balls!  I hadn't made these in a loooong time.  When I say long, I mean several years.  That means, of course, that most of my kids hadn't ever eaten a date ball.  What is wrong with me?!  Well, I think it's because they're honestly a pain to make, in my opinion, because I don't like to form sticky balls in my hands with hot goo, before rolling them in dried coconut flakes.  But I will say it was worth it, because the kids loved them.  I was satisfied with eating just one.

 Elizabeth's first time holding a snake.  Northern rough green snake (Opheodrys aestivus aestivus)

One of those days when the kids all come into the bedroom with me to do schoolwork or play

 If I ever needed a reminder that there's love and goodness on this earth, I would need only to look at this precious girl.

Until next time...  

April's Gifts of Nature

We enjoyed many of nature's wonders in the month of April.  During one walk, we happened to hit the jackpot with several never-seen-before or rarely-seen specimens.  There, of course, was also the expected beauties, like:

Review time!  That's dead nettle (Lamium maculatum) on the left and henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) on the right.  Both are edible and nutritious.  Flower nectar is sweet.  Leaves are rich in nutrients.

From the edge of our yard, I peeked down the creek.  I love seeing all the redbud trees (Circa canadensis) blooming!

Violet! (Viola sororia)

A view of part of our front yard

This was exciting for all of us!  This is a rarely seen—I'd never seen one before—Eastern gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor).  It's in the gorgeous gray phase; they can also be seen as green and brown in order to be camouflaged with their surroundings.  The reason they're not often seen is that they tend to stay high in treetops, but they can sometimes be spotted lying on low branches during mating season.  We had walked past this gem. I only saw it when sneaking back from where we'd come to look for a turkey we'd flushed.  More on that later in this post.

A yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor flaviventris), an aggressive, but nonvenomous snake

I got a picture of a tiger beetle (one of many species in the subfamily Cicindelinae, family Carabidae).  We love whenever we're able to see one of these spectacular green iridescent beetles.  It was amazing it stayed around long enough for me to get a picture.

Carpenter ants (Camponotus sp.), not sure of species, going in and out of the hole

Wild plum (Prunus americana) with shelf fungi covered by webbing

I honestly do not know...yet.  I've seen one before, I think.  Anyone know?

Believe it or not, there is a turkey in the above picture.  I blindly shot pictures in its direction, knowing it was about to fly, just hoping I might luck out.  Wild turkeys are so difficult to sneak up on.  They're rarely even seen.

All the above pictures are a select few from one day and one walk.  Below are pictures from other days.

A walk down the road

Rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides), ranging from white to periwinkle

If I remember correctly, this bird of prey was a red-tailed hawk. Judging by its feathers, I'd bet it is.

It was a delight to watch this squirrel in our yard, with a walnut.  These pictures were taken through a not-perfectly-clean window, though.

Because it stayed mostly hidden while I was taking pictures and video, I can't be certain, but I believe this is most likely an orchard oriole or a Baltimore oriole.  I'd almost bet it is an oriole of some sort because of the beak.  The other black birds with orange do have shorter, straighter beaks.  I've been comparing the sounds on the video footage I took to sounds online and am not certain about anything as of yet.