Juice

Juice, it is a wonderful thing. So full of flavor and healthy goodness.  No, I am not talking about Tropicana.  Actually, I use to think I hated orange juice.  That all changed the day I made real orange juice!  In my quest for better health I have learned the joy of juicing.  At first I hated it!  I would gag down the nasty stuff and call it good.  Then it happened.  My taste buds changed!  I started liking it.  I know crazy.  Today my juice was parsnip, sweet potato, spinach, apple, grape, and orange.  A little on the sweet side, but I was using what I had on hand.  One of the best parts is watching the kiddos fight to be the next to get a drink.  So, how about you?  Do you juice? Do you have a favorite juice?  Or do you think I am down right crazy?  Here is to juicing and all the goodness that comes with it!

The things they say

I really love the cute things my kiddos say.  Sometimes it's just the way they say a word.  For instance boy parts in our house are called peanuts.  Not cause we wanted a cute code name, but because that is how the boys said it and it stuck.

Or how on certain days I will ask Isaiah what kind of pants I have on and he says yogurt.

 

The boys don't have l's yet.  It makes for some great words.  Lotion is potion around here, yellow is yedow and this list goes on.  Some times it will be an entire quote.  Which I try to add to the side bar of this blog.  Like how Caleb told me that he had a germ that was giving his head a tummy ache!  Oh, how I love these days and how soon they will be gone.  Bittersweet will be that moment.

Birdies!!

This has been the call heard throughout the Doyle house lately.  No, we aren't crazy.  We are studying birds.  How fun it has turned out to be!  The boys have turned into wonderful little bird spotters.  Even Isaiah has been enjoying himself and told his dad all about the peacocks we watched on the iPad.  Melia has decided that her and Kellina are going to make feathers and decorate themselves like a bird.  Then they will move around like that bird and we will have to guess which bird they are.  She was inspired by birds of paradise.  Google them if you haven't before.  They are truly amazing!!  I didn't realize how hard it is to identify a bird if you had no clue what it was.  Thank goodness for google.  We have been keeping a list.

Keeping track with photos.  When I can snap one quick enough.

And even enjoying the non flying visitors.

The two favorite local visitors to our feeders were the Varied Thrush and the male House Finch.  Sorry no pictures, but I highly recommend goggling them.  They are beautiful.
My personal favorite project so far was examining chicken bones and then trying to figure out which bones they were!

 One of the things I love most about home schooling is how much I learn right along with my kiddos.  Go out and learn!  It really is fun! 

The thrill

You know my kids enjoy a good ride. It turns out, I enjoy a good run.
This new love is one that somewhat baffles me. When I was in high school they use to torture us with fitness tests. Many wonderful ways to cause me to hate P.E. even more then I already did. One of the tests was running the mile. Four small loops around a track that seemed impossibly long to me. I didn't run a step of those laps. I would watch the other jockey kids and think you are NUTS! Not only did I not run, I strolled. You had twenty minutes to complete your mile, I never made it in time. Now people, twenty minutes is plenty of time to complete a mile.
 Well, I am happy to say I have changed. Yesterday was beautiful and I couldn't stand NOT running. Kellina hopped on her bike and off we went. How much I enjoyed the sun, the sights, encouraging my daughter to conquer the hills(yes I jogged while pushing her up a few), and the peace. I can't say how far I ran, but it was more then a mile. Yesterday has my whole self trembling with anticipation for more nice days, for more trail runs, for more fun with kiddos, for more living.....