Thoughtful Thursday

A Prayer: Living and Dying
By: Augustus Toplady (1740-1778)

Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee!
Let the Water and the Blood,
From thy riven Side which flow'd,
Be of sin the double cure;
Cleanse me from its guilt and pow'r.

Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone:
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring;
Simply to thy Cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the Fountain fly;
Wash me, SAVIOUR, or I die!

While I draw this fleeting breath -
When my eyestrings break in death -
When I soar through tracts unknown -
See Thee on Thy Judgement-throne -
ROCK of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee!

Why Kids Love the Zoo

I don't know about your kids, but my kids love the Zoo. Why you ask? Great question! Let's explore that a bit shall we?

Last week when my fabulous sister-in-law, Christy, had the idea to take the kids to the zoo she invited us along. My kids absolutely adore her kids so we immediately said yes. We met at the zoo at 9:30am and promptly discovered that the zoo didn't open until 10am (I have been going to the zoo for years and had no idea that their hours vary depending on the season). So, after killing some time we finally entered the zoo at 10am.

We get our zoo maps and ask the kids, "What do you guys want to see first?" 

A chorus of answers breaks out:

"The train!"

"The carousel!"

"The playground!"
"The mushroom house!" (this is what they call it; I'm not sure of the actual name)

Christy and I look at each other...we know the drill because this happens every time we visit the zoo. You would think by now we'd have learned our lesson and stopped asking them where they want to go. We both want to shout above the cacophony, "Kids, this is the ZOO! We came to see the animals," but instead we say, "Let's head over to Australia and we will see if the carousel is open on the way."

For the kids the zoo is less about the animals and more about the fun things to do at the zoo. Don't get me wrong, they like seeing the animals, but after looking at said animal for approximately 47 seconds they are ready to move on to bigger and better adventures like climbing on the manatee statue or riding the zoo train.

Here is a peek into a typical morning at the zoo:

Head toward Australia (under the bridge)

Stop for 57 second flamingo viewing

Stop to play and pose on shark statue next to flamingos for 2 minutes 37 seconds

Stop at Aquarium for 1 minute 14 second viewing of fish, sharks, etc.

Play on ramp and benches in Aquarium for 5 minutes

Stop at Manatee exhibit

Look at manatees for 52 seconds and ask 1 question

Play on manatee boat/video display for 8 minutes
Play on mantee statues as we are leaving the exhibit

Pass carousel on way to Australia and note that it is closed (the horror)

Approach Australia entrance and get distracted by colorful insect themed playground

Explain that the playground is closed for the season and will open in spring

Field cries of "I'm hungry" (10:30am)

Forget about Australia and head toward gorillas

On the way to the gorillas stop for 59 second viewing of leopard

View gorillas (and an adorable baby gorilla) for 1 minute 21 seconds

Play on gorilla statues outside exhibit for 4 minutes

Have lunch at 11am

Head toward North America section for train ride and mushroom house

On our way back past carousel discover that it is now open, and you know what happened next...

(Who could say no to that face?)

Arrive in North America and head straight to mushroom house - spend at least 12 minutes

(hence the name)

Continuing further into North America we encounter the train and, you guessed it, go for a ride

We saw a few more animals (not pictured), stopped at the dinosaur

playground (which has been changed and is not really fun anymore),

and finally headed home from our zoo adventure around 1pm.

And there you have it folks! Just a few of the reasons kids love the zoo!

Thoughtful Thursday

New weekly post featuring a worthy thought, Bible verse, quote, or whatever strikes my fancy!

God understands our prayers even when

we can't find the words to say them.

Stratford Ecological Center & Maple Syrup!

On Friday our Homeschool Group took a field trip to Stratford Ecological Center (a non-profit organic educational farm and nature preserve) for a Maple Sugar and Farm tour. This was our family's first visit to Stratford and the kids really enjoyed it.

Our visit started with a quarter mile hike through the woods to the Sugar Shack (I had to carry Corinne most of the way there and back because she was a bit tired and getting grumpy). Along the way we learned how the maple trees are tapped and the sap collected in buckets. Our volunteer guide told us that the best and most abundant sap flow occurs when day time temperatures are above freezing and night time temps dip below freezing, so the trees are typically tapped in February and sap collection continues into March. Once we arrived at the Sugar Shack we learned how the sap is poured into a big outside container attached to the building and a long tube leading from the container carries the sap to the boiling stove. The stove is heated by a wood burning fire and the sap is continually boiled to evaporate water from the sap as it progresses through the stove. Once the sap reaches the final part of the boiling stove a thermometer and hydrometer are used to measure the temperature and sugar content of the syrup...sap becomes syrup when it reaches 66-67% sugar content at 7.1 degrees F above the temperature of boiling water. Our final and favorite part of the Sugar Shack visit involved a taste test and we all agreed that it was the best syrup we had ever tasted (except Corinne who refused to try it and by the time I carried her back out of the woods I was a bit tired and grumpy myself).

After our trip to the Sugar Shack our guide took us on a tour to see the rest of the farm:

calf

corn snake (it was in a cage)

cows

greenhouse

hen

lamb (she was sooo cute)

rooster

sheep (don't judge her - she is an expectant mother)

Carson on the tractor

Jordan on the tractor

Please note: In addition to refusing to taste the syrup Corinne also refused to get on the tractor, pick a leaf of spinach in the greenhouse, turn the tree hole drill, use wet sandstone to paint the back of her hand, and go in the chicken pen. She did, however, pet the lamb and touch shedded corn snake skins - go figure!

Super Full Moon

We just took a look at the 'Super Moon' and it is beautiful!

From NASA Science News:

On March 19th, 2011, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.

Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee). Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.

"The full Moon of March 19th occurs less than one hour away from perigee--a near-perfect coincidence1 that happens only 18 years or so," adds Chester.

The best time to look is when the Moon is near the horizon. That is when illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars! ~Psalm 148:3

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the stars. ~Genesis 1:14-16 

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor. ~Psalm 8:3-5

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

We are so lucky to have a great zoo close by! The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is about 35 minutes from our house and we absolutely love it. The kids all love animals, but Carson is especially interested in animals and can already spout off hundreds of random animal facts. Our favorite program at the zoo is the Home School Adventure Series which, as the name implies, is for homeschool students. Each month is a different topic and each class session consists of a very cool presentation, an activity, and animal visitors (or a visit to an animal exhibit).

Here are some pictures of our adventures with the animals:

Sloth

Aquarium (the worm like thing is a Garden Eel)

Aquarium fish

Tarantula (ewww gross!)

Pencil Urchin

Chocolate Chip Sea Star

Snail - in the brown shell; the orange part is the snail

(the white shell is empty - the snail that made it died)

This is an amazing video we watched during our last class

See the full clip HERE

Amur Tiger

Monkeys (HA!)

I will add to this post as we collect more photos of our animal friends!

Snow

Seriously, it is snowing now. You've gotta love Ohio weather, so here's to the snow...

THE MORE IT SNOWS
by A.A. Milne

The more it

SNOWS - tiddely-pom

The more it

GOES - tiddely-pom\

The more it

GOES - tiddely-pom

On

Snowing.

And nobody

KNOWS - tiddely-pom

How cold my

TOES - tiddely-pom

How cold my

TOES - tiddely-pom

Are

Growing.

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Rain

A poem in honor of recent Ohio weather...

RAIN

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The rain is raining all around,

It falls on field and tree,

It rains on the umbrellas here,

And on the ships at sea.

The Cowboy

These pictures were taken by my sister last fall when all the kids went to the farm and pumpkin patch together. Of the four grand kids Tyler (my nephew) and Corinne are the closest in age (10 months apart), and they have always been so cute together. Tyler is the older of the two and he is such a little man with her, always helping her, taking care of her and watching out for her. Most of the time Corinne is receptive to this and goes along with it, but sometimes her independent streak kicks in and she wants everyone to know that she is perfectly capable of doing anything and everything by herself (emphasis hers). 

Here we will focus on a time when she was being sweet and cooperative because it is so darn cute, and because I wanted to make up a dialogue about what they were saying/thinking.

 

Tyler: Hey there little lady! Mind if I walk with you? This cornfield terrain can be mighty rough.

(and I am a cowboy after all)

Corinne: Why thank you sir, I would be honored to walk with you!

(I never could say no to a boy in a cowboy hat and boots)

Tyler: Right this way doll and watch your step.

Corinne: My this corn is high!

(I sure am glad I have a brave cowboy to escort me)

Tyler: No need to worry, I know this field like the back of my hand. You will be safe with me.

Tyler: Maybe I should take your hand so that if you fall I can catch you.

Corinne: Oh certainly, how very thoughtful of you.

(he is such a gentleman)

Then they rode (walked) off into the sunset!

THE END