Roses and Brambles

Ouch! & Bravo!

2010-12-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

T poked his eye Friday night. Hard. That's the ouch in this blog entry. Apparently, he leaned down while playing with Bandit and a stalk poked him in the eye. After sleeping almost the entire weekend and flushing his eye several times Saturday and Sunday, he decided to see the eye doctor on Monday. The eye is healing well and there's no infection. He should be 90% healed up by this weekend. For now, he's still walking around with that eye shut or covered with a patch most of the time. I'm really glad he's going to be okay and doesn't have any permanent vision loss but I've gotta say the eye patch is a good look for him.

Now for this post's Bravo! Sunday morning, the children presented their Christmas musical at church. M had one of the main parts - you might say the main part. It was a new experience for her on two levels. First, she had never had a speaking part in a play before. Second, she sang in a small group with 4 other girls. She did great and really enjoyed it! People complimented her performance and commented on her singing voice. I can almost see the little wheels in her head turning. It won't surprise me if she tries a duet or solo soon. I love that she has enough confidence to explore her interests and test herself in healthy ways. A & S were part of the chorus and took on angel roles for the nativity story. I must confess: I bribed S with the promise of a "special treat" in exchange for "cheerful cooperation" during the play. For a couple weeks leading up to the play, she tried everything she could think of to get out of the play. She was great at dress rehearsal and did everything she was supposed to do during the play. I baked a chocolate cake Sunday afternoon. Originally, I was thinking her treat would be a trip to the movies to see Legend of the Guardians which is playing at the $2.00 theater. T's eye injury ruled out the movie.

The Billy Graham Library

2010-12-08T08:17:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night, the girls and I went to The Billy Graham Library with some of our church family. The girls were excited about the possibility of a carriage ride. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for the carriage ride or for story time on the patio. It was still a fun trip for everyone. If you're planning a trip for Christmas At the Library with little ones, go early or skip the tour completely if you live close enough to return later and do the tour. The tour took approximately an hour and ten minutes. While I thought it was interesting to hear how God has used Billy Graham, the kids had trouble relating to some of the things discussed. My sister and her 3 children toured with us; the oldest of the 6 kids is 11. Bessie's Brainteasers kept the kids occupied during the tour and netted them a prize when we were finished.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2010-12-06T04:16:00.000-08:00

Nothing wakes me up like walking a mile on a cold morning. As I type this, the girls are sharing a seat on the elementary school bus and the sun is peeking through the trees. Normally, they get a ride to the bus stop and wait inside the car until the bus comes. This morning, that wasn't an option so we all bundled up and I walked them to the bus stop at the end of our road with a flashlight. The flashlight is a comfort object for the youngest who thinks the dark woods are creepy. Our road snakes through the woods for a bit and we started our little journey before 7. The walk home was all uphill. Seriously, one of the hills would be awesome for sledding if it wasn't right in front of Mr. Grumpy's house. It's one of those 'get off and push the bicycle' hills according to my husband. Me? I do good to get myself up the hill; I can't imagine pushing a bicycle up even in warm weather. It's certainly not warm today. The weatherman says it's 23 degrees right now with a predicted high of 40 today. The predicted overnight low for tonight is 19.

Now that I'm awake and starting to warm up, I may as well tackle my long to-do list. First up is laundry. As soon as the washing machine finishes, I'll be making another foray into the cold to hang out the girls' clothes. My hands get cold just thinking about it. Maybe I should actually start shopping for a new dryer since mine hasn't worked in months. It's funny how I only miss it now that it's freezing outside.

North Carolina Aboreteum

2010-12-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

The North Carolina Arboretum is adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 393 inside Pisgah National Forest near Asheville. Parking fees are the only charge for visiting. We thought the fee of $8/car was fair when divided by the number of people in the vehicle. In our case that was 5 so we basically paid $1.60 each to visit this 434 acre public garden. Commercial vehicles and buses pay more for parking. According to the website, parking is free the first Tuesday of every month.

This place is magnificent. We visited in late May for S's birthday because she's very interested in plants. The main thing she wanted to see was the quilt garden.

The Bonsai Collection fascinated the girls. The Mountain Laurel pictured below was the overall favorite.

You really don’t want to forget your camera when you visit the North Carolina Arboretum. There are terrific places to pose the kids for photos…assuming they cooperate. We got some wonderful pictures of the girls during the few hours we were there. The whole place is gorgeous and there are benches everywhere.

The North Carolina Arboretum offers more than 10 miles of hiking and biking trails. We didn’t take any of the trails on our first visit since we had combined the Arboretum with our visit to The Western North Carolina Nature Center. (You can find my review of the Nature Center here.)

There are Discovery Day Packs available for loan from the Baker Exhibit Center and Education Center. You’ll need to leave a drivers license or Arboretum Membership Card with them while you use the day pack. Packs are free to borrow and include a notebook, binoculars, insect net, magnifying jar, seasonal activity and kid’s guide to discovering the arboretum. We didn’t use one on our visit but I wanted to point out the availability. There’s also an interactive learning space on the ground level of the Education Center.

Although it has been 5 months since our visit, S still talks about the NC Arboretum. I think she wants to spend her birthday there again in 2011.

Quick Update - Bullet-List Style

2010-12-01T18:35:00.001-08:00

*The trip to the beach got canceled. We had to replace our car.

*S was not eligible for EC Services but is still being monitored. Testing revealed that she has above average verbal skills and vocabulary. Her attitude about reading has improved a little and she recently told me she likes realistic fiction and nonfiction best.

*Since my last post WAAAY back in June, we've taken a couple trips that I should write about here.

*All 3 girls are in Girl Scouts this year and loving it.

Go Wild in Western North Carolina

2010-06-03T17:03:00.001-07:00

The Western North Carolina Nature Center isn’t hard to find thanks to all the signs in Asheville. It’s a small place with a great blend of elements.

There’s an area where kids and adults can touch things like snake skin, bear or wolf fur. Items can be examined under microscopes and the life cycle of a frog can be observed in a series of small aquariums.

Paved trails and wooden walkways lead visitors by habitats where they can see animals native to the Southern Appalachian region. Coyotes, red and gray wolves, black bears and otters are just some of the animals visitors can observe. I was impressed by the habitats and particularly liked the boardwalk that takes visitors over the black bear and white tailed deer habitats. The otters were a lot of fun to watch.

We arrived at the contact yard ten minutes after they closed down for the animals’ afternoon break. I was glad the girls weren’t upset they couldn’t pet the donkey, sheep and goats. Since we had already been through the center, we didn’t want to hang out until the contact yard opened again two hours later.

One of the highlights of our trip was the brief program we attended after hearing it announced over the loud speaker. During that program, we were introduced to Arte.

Arte, the barred owl, was hit by a car in 1999 and ended up losing his left wing. He now lives at The Western North Carolina Nature Center and is part of their education program. He’s not on exhibit so if we hadn’t attended the program, we wouldn’t have seen him. The man who did the program was very patient with the little kids who asked him the same question other kids had already asked.

We spent around two hours exploring the Nature Center then had a picnic at the park nearby before heading to another spot for a few more hours of family time.

Find more great places to explore by visiting The Talking Trekaroo's Spotlight Thursday!

Catching Up

2010-05-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged much lately. It's been busy with birthdays, End of Grade tests and the other stuff that goes along with wrapping up a school year and an AWANA year at church. Not to mention the writing I'm doing. That's going well and I'm excited about it; I just don't want to "talk" about it too much.

This past Sunday, T and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. The girls stayed with a family from church while we went out to lunch and browsed in the newly-opened Mighty Dollar. We're planning to go hiking on Memorial Day if the weather is good - just the two of us. The girls have school that day as a snow make-up day but both T and I should be off work. I know for sure I am since the library is closed but they haven't posted it at work for T yet. Sunday was also AWANA Awards Day at church. S got the Sparky Award for completing all 3 books on the Sparks level of AWANA. M got a 'good friend' award and A got the 'Care bear' award in T&T. All three girls got participation awards. They've worked hard this year and two of them will continue working in their books over the summer.

Saturday, we spent the day in Asheville enjoying some family time and touring both the Western North Carolina Nature Center and the North Carolina Aroboretum. That was an early birthday trip for S since I have to work on her actual birthday. I'll devote a separate post to each of those places. We also went strawberry picking at a local farm recently. The strawberries were delicious and disappeared quickly.

M had art work on display at the Hickory Museum of Art as part of the annual student art show earlier this month. It's the second time she has been selected for the honor.

A and M both had End of Grade Tests last week. We know they 'passed' since they are not currently doing remediation to prepare to retake the tests. A is actually helping other kids in her class get ready for the retests. Her teacher told her she "passed with flying colors." The teacher isn't known for being lavish with her praise so I'll assume A did very well on the tests. She was nervous since this was her first time taking them.

M is currently finishing up an independent study project. She's comparing and contrasting the Harry Potter series to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. We've had some interesting conversations about that. I'm just starting to read the Percy Jackson series and M has done an excellent job of not giving me lots of plot details while talking to me about her project.

Catawba County Museum of History

2010-04-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, the girls and I spent a few hours at a local museum of history with a friend. It's a small museum devoted to local history but that's what made it so interesting. My genealogy research indicates my ancestors settled in this general area about 200 years ago. While only a handful settled in Catawba County, many were in counties nearby (Alexander, Caldwell, Burke, Wilkes and Watauga).

I used the "manner/museum" setting on my new camera to take pictures without using flash or sound inside the museum. Several of the pictures blurred.

The museum is located in the former Catawba County Courthouse, built in 1924 in Renaissance Revival style. The courtroom itself is beautiful but the girls really enjoyed the marble staircase

We spent time looking at the two antebellum parlor reconstructions and exploring a 1920s doctor's office

and a 1930s jail cell

They found the Clinton Cilley Civil War Collection interesting, especially the portable field desk and the surgical kit.

M is fascinated by weaving so she really enjoyed the gallery of looms and spinning wheels.

The favorite room was the Pioneer/Native American Room with the Native American village model, things to touch and activities to try.

The girls want to go back to the museum and spend more time in the Native American/Pioneer room. That was the last room we visited Sunday and we left a short 10 minutes before the museum closed for the day. We'll keep that in mind for a rainy weekend and perhaps combine it with another activity nearby.

Moses Cone Memorial Park

2010-04-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday's forecast called for gorgeous weather so we took our first hiking trip of 2010. Our destination was Moses Cone Memorial Park, a place we had hiked once before in autumn. It's early spring with bright green leaves popping out on trees around my house but spring is just now sticking a toe in the door up on the parkway. As we drove up, we could see damage from the heavy ice the Boone/Blowing Rock area endured for a good portion of the winter. Many trees had jagged light brown spikes at the tops where limbs had broken under the weight of the ice. Small branches and pine cones littered the carriage trails we walked.

Our chosen route took us from Flat Top Manor to Bass Lake and back again. The girls were delighted to see the manor in the distance from different vantage points.

We walked long enough for the girls to get tired.

The trails at Moses Cone are popular horse trails and the weather was perfect so we saw several beautiful horses. Other than horses and dogs, we didn't see much wildlife just some waterfowl.

We're thinking about heading back to the parkway and Cone Park in a couple weeks to walk "The Maze" and visit the Apple Barn.

Dyslexia

2010-03-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

My youngest has really been struggling this school year, particularly with reading fluency and comprehension. Her teacher has tried various strategies and we've been working extra-hard on things at home. I even took all of her stuffed animals except 1 away from her a couple months ago. She has been earning them back at a rate of 1 per week IF she reads to me, her father or one of her sisters 5 nights in a week. That helped with motivating her to do the nightly reading assignments her teacher sends home without a literal meltdown but it wasn't helping the fluency or comprehension.

While researching different things, I discovered that she exhibits a number of warning signs of dyslexia. Earlier this week, I sent a letter to her teacher detailing what I've discovered and officially requesting that my daughter be tested. The day I sent the letter, I received a hand-written note from her teacher and the next day I spoke with both the school counselor and the EC Program Specialist/Instructional Coach at the school. We have a meeting tomorrow morning with the EC Specialist and S's teacher to go over parent rights and do the paperwork necessary to get the testing process underway. Unfortunately, the school system won't diagnosis her, they'll simply test to determine if she qualifies for EC services. There are only a few certified testers in the state of North Carolina thought it may be possible to have her screened at a private school for dyslexics in Charlotte. It's something I'll be looking into more thoroughly in the near future.

People with dyslexia are generally very bright people who are unable to read, write or spell at grade level. Personal bias aside, S is a bright child. She often surprises me with her observations and insights. She can identify a number of plants and in many cases knows specific things about them such as "sassafras has a citrus smell when you remove a leaf from the tree or cut the branches. Tree pulp has been used to make a paste to treat pink eye and some people drink sassafras tea." She retains information and her teacher says she's usually one of the first to put her hand up to answer a question.

Here are some of the symptoms she exhibits:

*reads in a choppy cadence rather than smooth phrases (she pauses after every word)

*directionality confusion with certain letters: b-d confusion is a classic warning sign (she gets the b and d mixed up daily; I find b-d mistakes on homework when I look it over and she often asks which way the b points. Everything I've read says it's common for kids to do that up to age 7 or 8; she'll be 8 in a couple months and this isn't getting any better)

*transposes the order of letters when reading (she mixes up who-how, saw-was, & on-no often)

*can read a word on one page but not the next

*unusual pencil grip often with the thumb on top of the fingers i.e. fist grip

*may put their head down to watch the tip of their pencil while writing

*knows phonics but can't - or won't - sound out unfamiliar words (She stares at the page until we prompt her to 'tap it out' when faced with unfamiliar words)

*easily distracted by sounds (she complains if the refrigerator is running, if the dryer is on, if I'm typing, if her sisters have a TV on or are playing their hand held game systems in their bedrooms, etc. We hear "I can't concentrate!" a lot.)

*misreads, omits or adds small function words such as a, an, the, for, from

Those are just some of the symptoms I've noticed in my daughter. There seems to be a family link. When I talked to my husband about many of the symptoms, he was surprised how many of them fit him. He uses a fist grip and puts his head close to the paper to watch the pencil tip when he's writing. When he was in school he was often told he could do well if he just applied himself and was frequently labeled 'lazy.' He reads slowly and generally avoids it whenever possible. He told me he's never read a novel cover to cover.

Walking in the Woods

2010-02-24T18:58:00.001-08:00

Sunday was a gorgeous day but The Princess Trio had an evening event with church so instead of hitting a trail in one of the nearby parks, we explored the woods at home. I took my new camera and played with it. We walked at random through a maze of pines, holly, some deciduous trees I didn't bother to take the time to identify, and thorns until we stopped at a stream.

The water level was up because of all the rain and snow we've had this winter; it was nice to hear the stream singing a happy melody to us. There were still patches of snow in the woods and we saw nests high up in the bare trees. Soon those nests will be hidden by green leaves. Bring on Spring!

Spring really is just around the corner; we spotted a butterfly on our little walk.

This tree near the stream caught my attention

Here's a closeup I took to test out one of the settings on the camera

Cloud accompanied us on our walk through the woods. We don't usually take cats hiking with us but he was determined to go. I was glad he didn't jump in the stream the way he jumps in the bathtub.

Vacation Chatter

2010-02-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, reservations were made for our families first ever overnight vacation. T and The Princess Trio have never seen the ocean and I, myself, haven't been to the beach in over a decade. We typically take day trips to hike in the mountains so this vacation will be a big change for us. A week long vacation requires a lot more planning than a day trip.

As the planner & researcher of the family, I had devoted some time to finding us a place to stay. I knew I wanted access to a stove and refrigerator so we wouldn't have to eat out all the time. I finally settled on a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo across the street from the ocean in Garden City, South Carolina for around $600. Checkout maid service and linens are included. With the condo, we'll have a full kitchen, a pool and a short walk to the beach. I've heard the beaches in Garden City are less crowded than Myrtle Beach; I hope that's true. We'll be a short drive from Myrtle Beach so we can still visit some of the attractions there.

The attractions the girls are most excited about are actually located closer to Garden City in Murrells Inlet. They want to visit Brookgreen Gardens and spend a day at Huntington Beach State Park where we'll tour Atalaya. A dolphin cruise is a possibility, too.

Sew Fun

2010-02-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my sister's birthday. When her work day was over, I treated her to a late lunch at Longhorn. She rarely goes out without one of her three kids along unless she's going to work so we extended the outing with a little post-lunch shopping. I bought a sewing machine and an accessory kit with 165 pieces. I had researched sewing machines a while back and one of the top candidates was on sale at Target so I sent T a text message to clear the purchase with him before checking out. I like to check-in when I'm spending more than $50 on one item.

The Princess Trio is thrilled, particularly M. She's really developed an interest in needlework over the past year. I find scraps of cloth sewn together in the dirty laundry at least once every week. Her hand sewing has improved with practice; she's probably better than me by now. It took longer to set the machine up and get it ready to go than I expected and M was in bed by the time it was working correctly. I'm not ashamed to admit that T was ultimately the person who got everything set just right so the machine would work.

This morning before school, M did a "practice piece" on the sewing machine. She didn't want to wait until after school and homework. They missed the bus so T took them to school. He told me M talked about the sewing machine and what she's going to learn to make the whole way to school. Doll clothes. Blankets. Purses. Skirts. She has big plans.

After school, I let each daughter wind a bobbin. I talked them through the process as a first step to learning more about the machine. After we finished doing that, A did her first practice piece. S opted out of the actual sewing for now but she thinks winding the bobbins is a lot of fun. M and A took turns practicing for a while this evening. I think they tried out all of the different stitches. They cut large squares from clothes that M had claimed for scrap cloth and sewed the squares together. I gave them safety instructions and then left them to experiment while I did things in the next room. When I heard them talking about why it wasn't working correctly, I waited for them to ask for my input. They didn't need it. A pointed out that M hadn't lowered the presser foot and asked if that could be the problem. They cleared away the mess, got everything ready and tried again with the presser foot lowered. It worked so they now believe that's an important step to take before beginning.

Trekaroo KidsMobile -- Charlotte, NC

2010-02-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

I was invited to participate in Trekaroo's KidsMobile Blog Carnival. Who doesn't love a blog carnival?! When you pair the blog carnival with Trekaroo...well, that's just spectacular.

What's Trekaroo? Only the neatest site around for sharing/reading reviews of places to go with kids. A Mommies group fundraiser introduced me to Trekaroo over the summer. I love it! Yesterday, I found some promising places to add to my Destinations Notebook. I keep information (place name, address, phone, url, price, activity, maps) about places I think the family would enjoy visiting in page protectors in a 3-ring binder. When we have a chance to take off for a day, we always have lots of options. I do a lot of my research on 'stay home' days like the ones we just had compliments of a foot of snow. When the weather is pretty and the family is ready to go, go, go; who wants to waste time trying to figure out where to go?

Trekaroo -- Kids. Trips. Tips.

Wanna know something really neat? They just launched my home state of North Carolina. The KidsMobile Blog Carnival stopped in Charlotte, NC which gave me the opportunity to share a list of places to hike with kids around Charlotte.

Trekaroo just launched in North Carolina! Here are quick links to the wonderful recommendations from Trekaroo Families and those of local North Carolina bloggers who jumped on board the Trekaroo KidsMobile during it's stop in Charlotte, North Carolina

* Best Activities for Kids in the Piedmont Triangle – voted by Trekaroo parents

* Places to Hike with Kids Around Charlotte, North Carolina by Roses and Brambles
* Cheap Things to Do in Charlotte, NC with Kids by Charlotte on the Cheap
* Kid-friendly Hotels in Charlotte, North Carolina - Carolina Nomad
* Fun for Dudes, Both Kids and Bigs Near Charlotte, NC by A Dude's Guide
* Snow Tubing and Sledding Hills in North Carolina by thelees3

Read all about Trekaroo's KidsMobile Stop in Charlotte, NC

Other Resources for the Piedmont Triangle in North Carolina

* All 273 Activities for Kids in and around the Piedmont Area (Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh)
* Kid-friendly hotels in and around Piedmont Area (Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh)

Next stop for the KidsMobile Blog Carnival - Orlando, Florida

The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while 1) expressing their unique point of view. 2) getting a web of link exchanges. Jump on board!

The Long Trip Home

2010-01-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

The forecast had been saying we would get a winter storm. We were under a Winter Storm Warning from 6pm Friday until 6pm Saturday and that warning had been issued on Thursday...maybe even Wednesday night. Snow started falling just before 4:30 on Friday. I was at work as I usually am on Fridays. We closed at our normal time (5pm) and T arrived just a few minutes later to pick me up. Normally, we're home in 20 minutes. Thirty if the traffic is bad and an hour if we decide to stop at the grocery store or pick up dinner on the way home. T told me he had received a call from my sister saying the main road we usually take was a mess so he picked an alternate route.

We were on our way and would have been okay except the van in front of us started spinning on the side of a hill. We had to stop which is never a good idea. T is very resourceful and was determined we weren't going to be stuck there. He got the ice scraper and dug around the tires down to the road so he could get some traction. After about 15 minutes of scraping and trying, he had turned the car around and we were on our way again.

It was slow going but mostly uneventful. We decided to check the main road my sister had said was bad to see if the traffic snarl had cleared up any. It looked fine. Sure, there was a long line of tail lights ahead but the traffic was moving. We didn't want to go around the back roads we had traveled the last time it snowed because we had such a hard time on that one hill. We decided since the traffic was moving on the main road, we would take that. After we passed all turnoffs for alternate routes, we hit a snarl that left us sitting in a line of traffic for almost 4 hours as snow continued to fall.

Finally just after 9pm, we were on our way again and dreading the road to T's mom's house where The Princess Trio had been since getting off the bus at 3:30. As we expected the road was virtually untouched. We could see where other vehicles had traveled earlier but those tracks were filled with fresh snow. I held my breath when we crossed the narrow bridge and started up the hill on the other side. We almost made it to the top before we slid to the side. Again, T was out of the car digging around the tires with an ice scraper. Hard as he tried, the car just wasn't gripping the road. Someone else who lives on the road stopped and kindly offered us a pull. He pulled us to an area that's mostly flat and then followed us to be sure we made it to my mother in-law's house okay.

By this point, we were sure we didn't even want to try bringing our Plymouth Breeze up the road to our house. It's a private gravel drive with a couple steep hills. T parked the car at the end of his mom's driveway off to the side a little so his brother could get in and out. We got the girls and walked the mile from mother in-law's house to our own house. It was a cold walk and I was thankful for the flashlight T took from the car. When I walked through the door a little after 10:00 Friday night, home was the best place in the world. I probably ruined my shoes because I walked home in the shoes I had worn to work that morning. Unlike last time, I hadn't put my sneakers and extra socks in the car.

That long trip home is an experience I do not wish to repeat but I know it could have been much worse. I can't imagine going through that with the kids in the car and I'm very glad God answered my prayers and sent a helping hand so we didn't have to walk any further than we did.

Garden Planning with S

2010-01-24T18:47:00.000-08:00

When gardening catalogs arrive, I have to hide them from S until she finishes her homework. As soon as she sees them, she grabs a snack and a pen and settles herself at the table. I hear lots of "Oh, Mommy! Look! We could grow this!" and a little "Aww, that's really pretty but it's not in our zone." I only told her about USDA Hardiness Zones once. She asked what our zone is and I told her 7. Since then, she's looked for the hardiness zone of any plant she thinks is interesting. Spring isn't here yet but S already has a few specific plans like red geraniums in terra cotta pots on the porch "'cause that's pretty and hummingbirds like red." She's a few months shy of her 8th birthday and I'm afraid I've already taught her everything I know about plants and gardening. It's going to be fun to learn together.

M Tuns 11

2010-01-18T22:20:00.000-08:00

I have an 11 year old daughter. Oh. My. Gosh. She’s a tween! No, really. I’m not panicking about it though 11 does sound a bit awkward.

We celebrated M’s birthday yesterday. Her favorite phrase is “I’m happy!” so T put the candles on her cake in the shape of a smile. She loved it. The birthday girl chose red velvet for her special cake so we also had white cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Since the birthday was celebrated on the same day as A’s baptism, A decided the cupcakes were her “baptism cupcakes.” M thought that was perfect.

M asked for knitting needles and yarn for her birthday. She got a lot of sewing stuff from cousins, her aunt and her grandma. She also got supplies and a craft lesson from her great grandmother. T and I deviated from the craft theme and gave her ramen noodles. No laughing! M is a big fan of Naruto who happens to talk about ramen a lot. She’s been asking for ramen so she could try it. T also gave her the Zune he had been ‘trying out’ for the past few months.

Today, we hung out at home. The girls had a day off school and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. They played in the woods practically all day. M said it was a perfect birthday.

Special Moment

2010-01-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

This morning at church, we witnessed the baptism of our middle daughter.

I laugh when I look at this picture. The pastor gave her a candle to symbolize being the light of the world. A doesn't like fire so she blew it out almost as soon as he put it in her hand. She brought the candle home and put it in a place of honor but she doesn't want it lit.

Carolina

2010-01-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Country singer, Eric Church, released his second album titled Carolina almost a year ago. I kept meaning to give it a listen. After all, I remember seeing him in the hallways at high school. I'm pretty sure my little sister had a crush on him during those days. I also remember him singing at the Festival on the Square in Granite Falls while I walked around with T.

Well, I finally checked it out of the library and listened to it. I like it. Enough to buy it. T, who poked fun at Eric Church's singing at that little festival, also likes the album. He says, "He couldn't sing those old Garth Brooks songs but he does pretty good with his own stuff. There are a bunch of good songs on here." T usually says something is 'alright' so for him to use 'pretty good' is indeed a compliment. Even more telling than his words is the fact he took the CD with him when he left to run errands today so he could listen to it in the car.

2 Hour Delay

2010-01-08T21:17:00.000-08:00

School was delayed two hours today. I heard so many parents question it or call the decision stupid. Honestly, that annoys me to the point that I want to shout "Think, people!" The decision was made for the entire county. Sure, the main roads were fine but there were enough rough patches on the road when I went to work before 8:30 to make me very grateful for the delay. My kids normally get on the bus at 7:10. Their bus then travels over roads with lots of shady hills, curves and bridges. There are places where the 'shoulder' is barely big enough for a car tire to sit on and then it drops away to nothing. Last month, when we had snow and ice a car landed in the creek not too far from our house. They slid down a hill and missed the bridge. The bus carrying my daughters and their schoolmates travels that road. In fact, to get to my house, that road must be traveled. I'm talking about one bus route in particular but I know there are many other buses who travel those same roads or roads like them. Just off the top of my head, I can think of one road that would be one continuous ice patch. It's curve after curve with a gradual climb or descent depending on the direction you're traveling and it only sees sunlight in patches. The road snakes by dozens of old homes in what used to be a mill village. Tall trees shade the road from both sides. I wouldn't want to be a bus driver assigned to travel that road with below freezing temperatures following ice/sleet/snow. The parents who normally take their kids to school sometimes forget about kids who ride the bus and the fact those kids start their journey to school a lot earlier. I know kids who are just rolling out of bed at the time my daughters are getting on the bus.

Decisions to delay or close school are made for the SAFETY of the children not the CONVENIENCE of the parents. Yes, it can be a pain to make those last minute arrangements but I'd rather do that than get a call telling me my children were in an accident. While it's true accidents happen every day, it's also true that the number of accidents spikes when there's ice on the roads.

Just sayin'

Flower Seeds from Santa

2009-12-27T12:55:00.000-08:00

My youngest daughter loves plants. She's the only 7 year-old I know who has a favorite tree (Tulip Poplar) or who can identify things like Sassafrass and Yarrow. She's careful to say "White Oak" rather than just oak and she knows what flowers we have planted in the yard along with whether or not they are said to attract butterflies and/or hummingbirds.

Her letter to Santa included this line.

I want flower seeds.

She was thrilled to find 3 packs of seeds in her stocking on Christmas morning.

December Snow

2009-12-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

While it's not rare to get snow here, it's unusual enough to be fun. Mostly. Our county doesn't have a fleet of slag trucks so some of the rural roads may not get attention for a couple days. Friday, we got what forecasters like to call a 'wintery mix' that later became snow and then went back to ice. By the end of the day, we had 6 inches in our yard. Other people in the area reported up to a foot.

Friday was supposed to be a half day for the kids with dismissal at noon. School actually dismissed at 9:45am because the storm system moved in sooner than anticipated. Roads started getting nasty right away. One of the major roads between this county and a neighboring county was closed for several hours due to multiple accidents. I've heard that a car ended up in the creek on the rural road closest to our home but the driver was not seriously injured. It's not the first time that's happened as the creek is in a valley. It would be easy to start sliding on the hill on either side of the creek and just plunk your car in the water. When my husband and I went over that bridge around 8am on Friday, there was already ice on it. When school dismissed our daughters rode the bus to their grandma's house like always. As the day wore on, several co-workers left early so they could get home before the roads got too bad. I was at work until my husband picked me up and his company tends to frown on leaving early due to weather. Still, he left a bit early in order to pick me up when the decision was made to close the library at 4:15 instead of 6:00pm. What is normally a 20 minute trip took the better part of 2 hours. The girls and I ended up walking the last 1/4 mile up our private, gravel road after the car slid into a ditch. No injuries, no damage to the car so it wasn't a big deal but the car had to be parked at my mother in-law's, a mile away. My brother in-law brought T home in his SUV.

Saturday, the girls spent a bit of time sledding in the back yard. A neighbor scraped our road with his tractor. The roads were still bad enough that church was canceled today. I'm off work until Wednesday and will be staying home because that's what I normally do anyway. With the temperatures they're predicting I'm betting we still have snow on the ground Christmas morning. Normally, any snow we get melts within a few days.

Our front yard always looks so pretty with a blanket of snow

Feather found on Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

The girls were playing in the woods beside the house when they found this feather. The youngest brought it to me and asked me to see if I could find out what kind of bird it came from. I narrowed the possibilities to a hawk or an owl but that's as far as I got. The feather measures just under 10 inches from tip to tip.

Chestnut Knob Trail

2009-10-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

October 25, 2009
South Mountains State Park
Burke County, NC

South Mountains State Park website on NCParks.org describes Chestnut Knot Trail as "very strenuous." The first part of the trail (about half a mile) is a steep ascent. There are plenty of timber steps along this section of the trail.

At the top of that ascent, there's a sign indicating you can visit Jacob Fork River Gorge Overlook. The side trip is recommended for great views including distant views of High Shoals Falls.

After taking the side trip to the Jacob Fork Overlook, the Chestnut Knob Trail follows the ridge line for a while. This part of the trail is easier than the first part but it's narrow in many places.

You do a little more climbing when you get close to the overlook. The views from Chestnut Knob Overlook were gorgeous. When we arrived at the overlook, other people were just leaving so we had the place to ourselves for about 5 minutes. The overlook is a large outcropping of rocks. We sat on the rocks and soaked up the views while enjoying a snack.

Take A Child Outside Week

2009-09-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Take A Child Outside Week is September 24- September 30, 2009.

The program is "designed to help break down obstacles that keep children from discovering the natural world." An initiative of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences with partner organizations across the United States and Canada, the goal of Take A Child Outside Week is to help children across the country develop a better understanding and appreciation of the environment in which they live, and a burgeoning enthusiasm for its exploration.

Many of the children I know already have an enthusiastic love of the outdoors. My own children love hiking. The youngest is interested in plants and can identify many different plants. (I may have to post about that in more detail sometime.) Still, I wanted to do something to acknowledge the week.

This morning, T and I had Children's Worship which means we got to hang out with the kids during the worship service. The rain of the past couple days ended so we took the kids on a walk around the church yard and ball field. As we walked, we stopped to check out mushrooms and spiderwebs. We named some of the trees, checked out the walnuts that had fallen from their tree and spent some time looking at (and sampling a few) grapes that were growing along the edge of the ball field. The children received the appropriate cautions and reminders about not eating whatever they happen to find growing on vines or trees. During our walk, I encouraged the children to gather leaves so we could use them for an art project. When we returned to the classroom, I demonstrated how to make a leaf rubbing using a leaf, a crayon and sheet of paper. The kids enjoyed making rubbings of the leaves they collected on our little walk and I came home with gifts from kids other than my own. I had borrowed some tree identification books from the library so the kids could look at those. Before we left for church, I plucked a few sassafras leaves from the trees in our yard because I didn't recall seeing any near the church. After we identified and did rubbings of the leaves, I broke the stems and had the children smell it. Sassafras has a citrus-like scent. The kids loved it and the leaves I had taken with me went home with different people.

Linville Falls

2009-09-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

September 13, 2009
Linville Falls
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Erwin's View Trail approx 1.6 miles round trip
Moderate

The trip to Linville Falls was a delayed birthday outing. We began our hike shortly before 10:00am on Sunday morning because we had heard the trails/overlooks can become crowded. There are two ways to access the trails to the falls. We chose the United States Forest Service access area just off Hwy 183 near the town of Linville Falls. For a paved parking area, flushable toilets and a small gift shop the access area along the Blue Ridge Parkway is recommended. The girls had fun with the tree stumps along the trail; they even used one as a 'hiding spot.' We were glad we started early. When we started our hike there were only 3 other cars in the parking area; when we finished the parking area had filled up a lot and more people arrived while we enjoyed our picnic lunch at one of the two available tables near the parking area. There are trails to the gorge but T and I weren't sure we wanted to take the girls on those trails.

Erwin's View

Looking into the gorge

Upper Falls

South Moutains State Park

2009-09-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

August 30, 2009
High Shoals Falls
South Mountains State Park
Connelly Springs, NC

This park is a short drive from our house so we've hiked this trail many times over the past few years. In fact, this was the trail we chose when we took our very first family hike. We decided to hike to High Shoals Falls after nearly a week of rain to see the waterfall with a 'fuller flow.' We were thrilled to see the recent rains had water tumbling through and over rocks for a symphony where the trail normally appears to be just a bridge over a rock bed. The girls pointed out and photographed lots of different fungi while we were hiking.

Boone Fork Trail

2009-07-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

Julian Price Park
Blue Ridge Parkway
North Carolina

Boone Fork Trail is a strenuous 4.9 mile loop trail with a number of stream crossings, plenty of rocks and lots of roots to trip over. The trail head is just past the restrooms in the picnic area at Julian Price Memorial Park (milepost 297). The trail passes through the campground (where we saw a doe) and through a pasture that is still in use. We saw evidence of beavers.

Riverbend Park

2009-05-12T09:32:00.001-07:00

May 11, 2009
Riverbend Park
Catawba County, North Carolina

Easy walking with the family for Mother's Day
This was T's first trip since breaking his ankle in December
He was ready to hit the trail to High Shoals Falls at South Mountains State Park but I wanted to do something less involved to test his ankle.
We started off on the green trail, passed a couple meadows, saw the pond then switched to the red trail to go along the riverbank.
Animal sightings: frogs, lizards, a box turtle that wouldn't come out of his shell, a green snake, and butterflies
As we walked, the girls identified trees particularly the tulip poplars and cedar trees.

Bakers Mountain Park

2009-04-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

April 18, 2009
Bakers Mountain Park
Catawba County, North Carolina

Moderate hike
Just mom & the girls hiked this one
Visited two old home sites then looped back to park office
We heard woodpeckers but didn't manage to catch a glimpse of one
No trip to Bakers Mountain is complete until the girls get to visit "Slithers" an Eastern King Snake living as a pet in the rangers' office

Dogwoods in bloom

Standing at the threshold of one old homesite

Memorial placed by Boy Scout Troop 351 honoring A.G. Clark, who grew up in the cabin that once stood here. A.G. Clark was KIA in WWII. The girls were fascinated to learn he's buried in the cemetery at our church.

The other old home site

At one time Mica was excavated on the mountain. We wouldn't have known we were at the excavation spot if the map stand hadn't been there. No photos of that but we did get a photograph of some quartz in the trail

Moses Cone Memorial Park

2008-10-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

October 12, 2008
Moses Cone Memorial Park
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

Easy hiking along carriage trails past cemetery and up to the observation tower, also known as Flat Top Tower, then back out again.
Animal sightings: cows in pasture, horses and dogs on the trails
It wasn't really as crowded as we anticipated. We were there the week before the official 'peak' of color.

The Parkway Craft Center is housed at Cone Manor. The house is gorgeous and the views are beautiful.
We'll go back.

South Mountains State Park

2008-08-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2008
South Mountains State Park
North Carolina

High Shoals Falls Loop 1.5 miles
The wooden steps can be challenging
After we finished the Falls Loop, we made our way along another trail to a spot where the girls could play & cool off. They spotted a crayfish in the water and had fun watching him for a bit.