Bird and Little Bird

The Weather Watcher's Handbook.

Many months ago, I had this idea: I thought that it would be fun to write a nature guide of some kind. I wanted it to be for families, and to have lots of really practical and accessible information. But I also wanted it to be fun, and to have experiments that would bring the facts to life by letting kids get hands-on and maybe even a little bit messy. And, I thought that Dawn should probably be my proverbial partner in crime on the project, because she knows way more stuff than me and is also very good at keeping me from getting um, unfocused. She said yes, and before long that one project turned into about twelve, some of which took on lives entirely of their own. It turns out that we work really well together.

Some of those projects are still in the works, not yet ready to share. But today, we do have something to present to you all: our first e-book. The Weather Watcher's Handbook: A Family Guide to Weather Science is a family-friendly guide to the wild world of weather and the basic science that makes it all work. It is full of bright and beautiful photographs, fun facts, and activities and experiments that show the science in action. If you are raising kid scientists who are curious about the workings of the natural world, this is the book for you.

You can find out more about the book by visiting the Mud Puddles to Meteors blog, or by visiting the pretty new page that we made for the book here.

 

 

On Tuesday Afternoon.

The days seem to be getting shorter quickly. It is easily dark by the time I put the toddler in bed in the evening, and the sun is often still not up before he is. I am finishing up the sleeves on my sweater (yes, finally!), but keep finding myself distracted by the thought that it is time to knit mittens again. There is a lot humming along behind the scenes around here these days; some of it wonderful, some of it challenging.

All of it is life, of course, in the way that it shows up at your door unannounced and wants things from you. Flexibility. Grace. The ability to make the changes that allow you to rise to the proverbial occasion and be your best self in spite of you know, your other self. All of which you are theoretically capable of. It's just that you were busy doing other stuff, right?

All of this is to say that there is a lot on my mind these days, but that I am mostly glad to find it there.

Shark Teeth in a Box.

Our nature exchange package from Ginny and Co. arrived yesterday and I have to say, it is pretty spectacular. My girl was absolutely thrilled when she opened it up and started unwrapping the little tissue bundles to find fossilized coral and shark teeth of all varieties. Ginny and the kids send us some really fun and special things, and getting to read through all of the labels identifying the different specimens was very cool. Our own package to Ginny's family is en route, and hopefully will arrive in Virginia today or tomorrow. I hope that they will like it as much as we like ours!

The sign-ups are still open for the Mud Puddles to Meteors nature exchange, if you'd like to share some treasures of your own with another family (and receive some in turn, of course). You can check it out here.

Oh, and happy weekend! I am, as always, surprised to see it roll around again so quickly.

Farm Trips and Nature Boxes.

Yesterday afternoon, in the hours between toddler nap and dinner prep, we made a trip out to Drumlin Farm. A combination of working farm, animal rehabilitation center, and nature sanctuary, Drumlin Farm is just the kind of mixed bag of an outing that my people tend to enjoy. We picked carrots and flowers, ogled a very attractive fox, and Z. yelled joyfully at the resident bunny for about fifteen minutes without taking a break. There were sheep and pumpkins and weird bugs and the gift shop has a good price on my favorite series of field guides. An all around good time was had.

In other news, we are organizing a super fun family nature box exchange over at Mud Puddles to Meteors. If you would like to swap some of your local nature finds with another family, hop on over and check it out.

Thoughts on a Wednesday Afternoon.

This past weekend, we made our first trip back out to Walden Pond since the end of summer. Even though fall is later to arrive here than what we were used to in Vermont, early October there does indeed look different than what we saw in August.

It seems lately that the weekends just keep rolling back around, with the weeks in between passing in a near blur. The week days just keep dissolving into this routine of walks to and from school, naps and laundry, making dinner, and reading bedtime books. No complaints per se; I'm just always amazed at the way that life appears to pick up pace as the school year gets going, I guess.

Mariam read her way through The Invention of Hugo Cabret in the first couple of evenings this week, and was completely mesmerized by it. The first night, she actually came downstairs about an hour after bedtime to ask me to come up and take the book away so that she wouldn't be tempted to continue reading. I had to laugh because I remember trying to hide books from myself at that age when I couldn't put them down at night but couldn't keep my eyes open either. It didn't work then, and it usually doesn't work now, either.

A good problem to have, I suppose.

(Oh, and for more about our trip to Walden Pond, check out this week's installment of "Hitting the Trail" over at Mud Puddles to Meteors.)

Alphabet Glue: Volume Fifteen is Here!

Good Monday, all! It was a busy weekend, and I have high hopes for toddler napping and couch knitting in the next little while here, but I did want to poke my head in to let you all know that Volume Fifteen of Alphabet Glue is officially available.

This newest installment is full of all kinds of good stuff related to the height of autumn and the coming of cooler weather and shorter days. You will find fun projects and printables on such themes as natural history, weather science, and bringing the outdoors in as the seasons shift.

 

Hop on over to the shiny new Volume Fifteen page on the Alphabet Glue site to find out more about this issue, to get a sneak peek at some of the projects, and to download a copy of your own!

Already know that you're all in? You can also download the new issue using the button below:

Alphabet Glue, Volume Fifteen, $4: 

So It Goes.

You know that bit that everyone always launches into when they see you with a tiny kid? The one where you get reminded of how very quickly it all goes by? How before you know it, the tiny kid will be six feet tall and sending you email from their semester abroad in Ecuador and you will wonder where the time went and how you ended up with a no longer tiny person who is so independent and capable?

 

Well, I'm starting to think that there is a fairly straightforward reason for the fact that even strangers in the grocery store feel a strong compulsion to give this speech to bemused young parents when they catch sight of a toddler riding in the front of the cart.

It's because it's true.

The Boston Nature Center.

Last weekend, we were lured to South Boston by the promise of close proximity to birds of prey. I am, after all, the sort of girl who braves traffic and distance for things like sea urchins and feathered predators. But we were predictably slow in actually getting out to the Boston Nature Center, in part because the previous week's schedule of work, school, and sick had left us a little lacking in oomph. By the time that we actually got there, it looked as if the visiting birds had been put back into their travel compartments for the return journey to the sanctuary where they actually reside.

Not easily deterred, the big kid and I hung around the bird table for a few minutes, asking general and seemingly casual questions of the guy working there. Eventually, I innocently inquired as to what might possibly be inside the boxes behind the table, and we were, in short order, rewarded for our curiousity with very, very close-up views of a couple of good looking owls. The screech owl, for her part, seemed to have a bit of an attitude problem. But what are you going to do?

After our owl viewing, we tromped around the woods a bit, and then headed home via a Chinese grocery store near downtown where we picked up fresh rice noodles and a hunk of taro root the size of my head.

Not a bad Saturday at all by my flexible and somewhat unusual standards.