Nature - Window to Seeing God's Glory

As I've alluded to before, I've been quite taken with the book, Last Child in the Woods. I've so enjoyed the fresh inspiration to get my boys out into the glorious outdoors to experience and connect with nature. The ultimate WHY cannot be found in that book however. At the recommendation from a friend, I recently read Al Mohler's thoughts on this book and was reminded why I love nature so much and why I consider it so important for my boys. It is because "a child who experiences the sense of wonder in the face of creation is learning, not only about nature, but [ultimately] about the glory of God."

Here is an excerpt from the article. The rest of the article can be found here.

"There is a great loss here, and not just to a child's sense of wellbeing or knowledge of nature. Christians celebrate the fact that God created the cosmos as a display of His glory. A child who experiences the sense of wonder in the face of creation is learning, not only about nature, but about the glory of God.
Put simply, the child is not going to have that experience while sitting in front of a digital screen. No video game can replace the wonder of a mountain sunset, a cascading river, or a spider's web covered with morning dew. As the Psalmist declared, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" [Psalm 19:1].
In the closing chapters of the Book of Job, God speaks to Job about His Lordship over all the earth. The Creator exults in goats, donkeys, wild oxen, ostriches, and hawks. The Creator expresses His good pleasure in the fact that the "majestic snorting" of the horse is terrifying and in the eagle's ability to set its nest so far above the ground.
Children (and adults) who have no contact with the outdoor world are robbed of devotional knowledge, not just of natural interests.

The secular world increasingly sees "nature-deficit disorder" as a therapeutic problem. Christians should see it as a theological problem. Don't let the summer pass without spending some serious time in the natural world -- and teach your kids to see the supernatural meaning of nature all around them."

Nature has so much to teach us about who God is and his glorious creativity. May my boys always be enthralled with and recognize the Master's handiwork!

Finding Neverland...

One of my favorite movies is "Finding Neverland". I love how it portrays the imagination and the importance of imaginative "adventures"! It always brings back such wonderful memories from my own childhood and an anticipation of being able to watch my boys enter into this magical phase as well!

Much to my delight, Alexander has come under the spell of Neverland. He recently found a book on Peter Pan and has become enthralled with the story. He talks almost non-stop about Peter ‘M’an, Neverland and flying… In order to foster his leap into this wonderful imaginary world, we made a Peter Pan hat for him. Xander and I went to the fabric store a couple of days ago. The beauty of this project is that it took me about 10 minutes. I just measured around his head (20 inches), added 4 inches to this measurement. The height of the hat, was 1/3 the length. So I cut a rectangle 24 inches by 8 inches. I folded the long side in half and then cut out a triangle. I proceeded to sew down that line that I had just cut. I turned this inside out, cut a small slit for the feather which I glued down to the had and ta-da – he has a new Peter Pan hat! If I was a little more patient or didn’t have a sewing machine, I could have just used fabric glue instead.

Now he is flying around the house and fighting pirates to his hearts content!

Dancing

Being a mom of small children means I don’t have a whole lot of extra time. So in order to get some exercise in during these HOT summer months, I’ve taken to dancing with Xander. Now dancing is really not my thing, but the beauty of young children is that no matter how bad you are, they think you are great! Ahhh the perks of being a parent... What a fun way to play with my boys as well as get some exercise in as well. WORD OF CAUTION: Unless you’re gifted in this area, make sure husbands or anyone else over 10 is not present. Trust me on this. ;)

Little Grocers

Today for Learning Day, we had a tour at the local grocery store. We were so pleased with how the tour worked out. Our host took us to the bakery where we got to watch a cake get decorated...
...and a pizza being made.


We also learned about the Butcher's Shop and got a sneak peak at the produce and dairy refrigerators. The boys were pretty enthralled. After letting each of them pick out a fruit and purchase it on their own (with a little guidance from the mom's), we were surprised with a gift of the pizza and cake that they watched them make/bake.

We then left to go back to my house and eat our yummy lunch and play "store"! A friend lent us a little cash registar. Xander and I had fun taking turns shopping and then coming and paying for the items. It was a wonderful opportunity to work on our counting as he paid a play dollar for each item he bought. Although, I'm really missing my shoe rack (er, make shift grocery holder), I will probably leave this up for another day or so before reclaiming some of my items. The boys also really enjoyed the crates that I tied onto the push toys to make carts.

Sadly, poor Xander learned a difficult lesson when I put Nemo in the store as our fish item...

Since we had so much fun, we would love suggestions for other fun (preferably free) places we can take our boys!

Re-usable Art

A couple of days ago, Alexander tried out our new finger paints. Previously, he’s been very intent on keeping neat while painting and hasn’t really gotten the hang of finger paints. The boy has figured it out now though and thoroughly enjoyed painting his masterpiece. We really enjoyed being able to make designs with his fingernails (or asking mommy to) and then smudging over it.

Today, I was preparing to through his little piece of art away since we’ve used up our “display space” when I remembered a cool idea I had seen on another blog. This family makes their own wrapping paper each Christmas. Inspired by that, we decided to use his painting as wrapping paper for a little gift we had for Opa. Since we were out of town on Father’s Day, we had him over for dinner tonight to celebrate! Alexander was so proud to give Opa his gift this time around. I’m thinking that this form of wrapping paper might be used more often. One less thing that we'll have to pay for and of course a creative way to display it (and then discard - unless you are a grandparent).

Future Firefighters!

This week we enjoyed a fieldtrip to the Hall of Flame museum. Although much of it was WAY over their heads, it was still a very fun trip. There was several interactive exhibits which were fun, even for the toddlers. And one the best parts - all in the comfort of good old AC. I can see this becoming a future popular summer haunt for us!

Here are the boys enjoying crawling all over a real (old) firetruck. They learned important lessons about taking turns at the steering wheel.

One of the highlights was the little junior firestation. Here everything was just their size. All 5 kids enjoyed playing around the firetruck.

Here's a video to prove that the boys (specifically MINE) didn't quite get the hang of the whole sharing thing. Poor Caden was just trying to help Xander, before both boys have a mini meltdown

Keegan and Zoe having fun!

Caden and Erin enjoying a ride together.

Playing with trucks inside the fire-house.

Hooked on Nature!

I've been freshly inspired of late after reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder to make sure that my boys have plenty of time enjoying and exploring the outdoors. Unstructured time to explore nature is a critical childhood experience. This book is a powerful plea for people to take the healing power of nature seriously – for kids, and also adults as well. The latest research demonstrates that when children have hands-on experiences with nature, even if it is simply in the weed lot at the end of the street, they reap the benefits. Researchers cite diminishment in levels of ADHD, fewer incidents of anxiety and depression, improved self-esteem, enhanced brain development, higher levels of curiosity and creativity, and a sense of connectedness to the community and the environment. I know for me, time out in nature continues to have a powerfully calming effect. It is where I unwind, relax and have sweet communion with God!

As a child, one of the ways, we enjoyed the great outdoors was by going to the zoo almost weekly. We live a little further from the Phoenix Zoo than I did growing up, so I've been trying to make it there at least once a month. Due to the cooler weather this last week, we made it twice in four days.

The boys and I enjoyed going on Wednesday before we picked up Evie from the airport! The weather was beautiful and we explored the Children's Zoo. We ended our day playing in the creek at the front of the zoo. They have an amazing little park area with a cool tree house, several tunnels and bridges and a shallow creek. Xander just loved taking his shoes off and wading in the creek looking for rocks, sticks and BUGS!

The boys are checking out the Amazon River Rays on our way into the Zoo!

Pretending to be Wallaby babies!

Playing in his creek!

We enjoyed ourselves so much and talked to Daddy about it almost non-stop that evening, that he suggested we return on Saturday morning! It was a little bit warmer, but well worth the trip. The giraffe's were right up close and the cheetahs were more active than I've ever seen them. It was a real treat. But of course, I think the highlight for the boys (and I mean ALL of my boys) was the creek play area. Rich loved playing with Xander and was quite enamored with the tree house!

Another wonderful resource that a friend of mine just sent me is The Green Hour. It is affiliated with the National Wildlife Foundation. This site has many wonderful ideas about how to help your children engage with the nature. This same organization publishes Wild Animal Baby, a magazine for toddlers that MiMa sent to Alexander as a gift last year. Each issue is always among his favorite reads...
If anyone has any creative ideas on how I can help my boys experience nature more, especially since we live in the confines of the city, I'd love to hear them.

Hospital Learning

I've been so negligent about posting updates on our wonderful "Learning Days". Today we had a field trip and Mrs Nora showed us around the hospital. Only Caden and my Xander made it today. Erin and I were delighted at how captivated the boys were with the tour. Nora did a fabulous job of engaging them and bringing it down to their level. As one the hospital dieticians it included a visit to the hospital kitchen and the snack room where she let them each pick out a juice and snack! Here she is with her two proteges.

After his nap this afternoon, we proceeded to play doctor and I was sent repeatedly to the hospital. We took turns arriving by ambulance, helicopter and car! :)