Keeping the Winter Doldrums at bay....

This time of the year can be the most challenging for me as a homeschool mom as the combination of cold weather and time indoors can get us all a little stir crazy. Thankfully, we have had the privilege of skiing several Tuesdays over the past 6 weeks(pictures forthcoming!) and the Lord has provided little diversions for us over the past few weeks.
For months, we have been watching a hornets' nest hang precariously high from one of the trees towering above our yard. Recently we had high winds and guess what blew into our yard?? There we were at 8am poking at this marvel of nature. Don't worry --all live critters have long since abandoned ship. Incidentally, there is another one hanging from our neighbor's tree...my hubby has been dubbed the official 'nest remover' but has not gotten around to it yet. I'm sure they'll be a crowd as everyone curiously inspects the nest we watched all last summer. We all warned our kiddos to dare not throw a basketball anywhere near this buzzing marvel of nature...we could only imagine the disaster that would result!

This hive picked the right yard to drop into!!

It's a little easier to fully appreciate how amazing this really is now that it is no longer humming with little stinging creatures!!

A few days later Odesco was screaming about something bloody out on the lawn...that definitely got my attention!! Sure enough, there was a large hawk perched on our front yard devouring an early evening snack...amidst the comments about how disgusting this was, G reminded me to snap a picture.

Not the best picture since it was through the window glass...

Just look at the lovely present Mr. Hawk left us!

Gross, I know, but I was amazed at how speedy and thorough this hungry hawk was in cleaning all the meat off the bones of his victim!

From the skeletal remains and the feathers dotting the yard, I'm guessing it was a pigeon, but Mr. Hawk sure didn't leave much evidence to be examined!

I almost forgot to mention the morning we woke up to a winter wonderland:

This was the view from our kitchen window (laden with snowflake clings)

The kids were begging for a 'snow day' but since we had been skiing the day before they had to get their work done before heading outside...nothing like a little motivation to prevent dawdling!

SNOW ANGELS! L opted to sit on the heater vent and watch the fun through the window from his cozy perch:)

It's also fun to 'skate' around the backyard on our very own 'rink' with our dear friend, E... (this slippery mess was the result of an ice storm)

Brrr! Nature's popsicles found hanging off our picnic table!

Then there was the day it was warm enough to dig in the dirt and get muddy!

Mercy was very proud as she 'planted' some weeds and a tuft of grass in our blah brown backyard

So, that's what we've been up to lately.Our Homeschooler's Day Out classes begin in 2 weeks and we have our final ski excursion this coming week....that means that spring is coming!!!
I'm grateful for these little sanity savers which serve as reminders of His handiwork all around us~
~MamaB