Going Buggy!

Today we celebrated "Bug Day."

I started the celebration by cleaning the floors and kitchen. Ian happily played at the kitchen table with books, a puzzle, and his imaginary friends (his hands). Zoe found the bin I have in the kitchen with activities to do at the table. All on her own, she opened the container and tried to get paper too! Can I say that this made me so happy to see her creating a masterpiece?! She is such an artista! :)


During nap time, we read the African tale, "Why Flies Buzz in People's Ears," and I was amazed at Ian's skills of story prediction. His imagination is wonderful! I love to read with that little bookworm.

Next, we headed outside for a "bug walk." The tall lawn grass was amazing for this adventure! Our garden also held an abundance of interesting species. But, this dragonfly was breathtaking...almost as big as my hand, and probably flying at Mach 3...Maybe he could fly a little lower and give Ian a much needed haircut? :)


We had the best bug discussion ever. Cats are not bugs. Cars are not bugs. God made bugs. Some bugs have wings, some crawl, and some bite you! Bugs are really a certain kind of insect, but we can call all creepy crawly things bugs. When we started discussing that some bugs were helpful to people and others were harmful, Ian suggested bug "jail." I like this idea, and think he's on to something.

Of course, out of all the bugs around, the ant will always be one of the most interesting to me. Ian definitely shared my enthusiasm. We spent many minutes bent over the ant hill, watching the activities:


The ants brought to mind a Bible verse, Proverbs 6:6, where Solomon basically says, "Look at the ant, you lazy bum, and think about how hard she works and learn something." (The actually terminology was "sluggard," but I know what he meant!). It's been a long time since I stared at ants, and I forgot that they never stop moving! Ian was definitely mesmerized. Ant TV...in full color (I know we can all agree the black and white version of ants marching is very poor programming indeed).

We came inside and watched some videos about bugs. One of them was about an ant hill that definitely put into perspective the industrious nature of ants. I know I have not shared outside links before, but you really should check this out. A group of scientists poured cement down the ant hill and then excavated the resulting mass: Ant Hill Excavation

Raiding the recycle bin, and tossing on some googly eyes for good measure, we also made our own bugs. We had so much fun playing with them. Ian is truly hilarious.


Finally, we sat on the bed and colored bugs of all kinds.


Ian looks at me with earnest eyes, "Mommy, I have an idea. I'll color ALL over the picture." He even recounted this information to Daddy when he got home. Matt asked him, "What did you draw?" Ian blinked, "Daddy, I colored ALL over the paper. Just like that."


Color selection was very elaborate. Bugs can be pink, but never blue.


I love the look of concentration. He is my precious boy, and I love going buggy with him! :)


P.S. Zoe was not left out of the fun entirely, but today I spent nap time focusing on some Mommy/Ian time. We ALL need a little personalized attention sometimes! :)

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. -Proverbs 30:24-27

Precious Moments

I often think about the fact that there are so many moments I would love to capture on my blog...and I never seem to have the time with which to do it. Of course, I can take comfort in knowing I am living my life and enjoying the time with my children. There certainly is not enough time to both experience life and chronicle it simultaneously (only the human brain is amazing enough to capture much of this as memories).

I know also there are moments of frustration as a parent that lead to new discoveries and growth in all of us. What should I write about on this blog? What moments do I want to be sure to capture in writing?

So, I think about my blog and it's purpose again...to update the family and friends, but also to leave behind a legacy for Ian & Zoe. After all, I wonder about my childhood from the perspective of my own parents. They remind me that I was a "good kid," and have certain memories, but I still wonder! I wish they kept a blog!

I hear stories from other parents as well...and they seem to be extremes: the AMAZING family vacation or the HORRIBLE tantrums, arguments, and challenges. Honestly, mostly I hear about the latter! What about the in between? What about the day to day mundane that make up who we are as a person? What about how wonderful your children are to you, and how much you enjoy them?

So, what are your musings? I'd love for you to share things you wonder about your childhood. I'd love to capture things that Ian & Zoe will be curious about later in their lives.

Mostly, I want to focus on the fleeting beautiful things in our daily lives. Tantrums, frustrations, and challenges are fleeting yet somehow permeate our brains in different ways. Those happy and uplifting moments sometimes get lost in history. A bad habit and tendency of human nature is to focus on negatives, and define our lives by our hardships. Really, it's what we find joy in that defines our character.

I can listen to someone complain for hours, and never understand them...but in an hour of play, the true heart of a person is exposed.

I'm digressing! The point of this post was the re-examine the reason for blogging and to gather feedback. What would you be interested in hearing about our lives? What memories from childhood do you wish you had, or had a more complete picture? These precious moments are ripe for the picking! :)

Savannah Roundhouse Museum

We have made some wonderful trips as a family last weekend, and there are many pictures to check out in the June Picasa album, but I thought I would share some highlights!

From 06.2010 - MISC

Built in the 1830s, the roundhouse was the latest cutting edge technology and the center of Georgia railways. In the early 1960s, the roundhouse was left in the dust with a merger between two rail giants. Twelve locals banded together to save the site, and since then the city has become involved in major restoration efforts.

The site is full of wonderful reflections on the time, especially from a mechanical/technological perspective. The site was designed to be a one-stop-shop for everything required to build, maintain, and repair trains. EVERYTHING could be done at this site!

The kids really enjoyed the enormous model train layout.


It was definitely an impressive sight, with amazing fine details. There was a man fishing under the bridge, a car accident, and intricate details to the "local" homes, just to name a few! Oh yes, I will admit it...I'm definitely a geek.


Of course, the kids were less impressed with the machinery, but I find it simply amazing that everything was done on-site. Isn't this just unheard of nowadays? Things are shipped in from all corners of the globe and assembled with cheap labor. This was a start to finish (and everything in between) facility. Amazing!


There were some interesting architectural points of interest too. Not only are the buildings big enough for a train, but all of the pipes and works to power a steam-operated plant that was later converted to electric.


Zoe loved exploring the grounds. She's nearly fearless with such adventures!


Ian enjoyed holding Daddy's hand and hearing explanations for everything. We can relate to his desire to climb on the trains (in time, buddy, they're being restored).


Patience is a virtue, and we finally got to ride a train!


Ian was so cute handing all of us our tickets (he was a very good conductor), and beaming with joy at the prospect of riding the rails. It was too hot by the middle of the train ride (the tour guide stops and tells you much about the facilities), but I'm glad we went!

Digital Scrapbooking

As you notice, the blog is updated! A lot of my friends have updated their blogs using various templates or designed their own. I was thinking more and more that I would like to personalize our blog, and stop changing default templates on Blogger.

I did some searching online trying to find something that would incorporate colors I liked and the ability to add in my own photos...I was overwhelmed with choices! When I finally thought I found something, my usual perfectionist self would find something that just HAD to be changed, and I was on to the next choice. Of course, I decided this was a complete waste of my time after about 10 minutes!

Ok, so I could do it myself, right? How hard could it be to design something for my page? I started out trying to research the coding, and pulled up a blank file on Photoshop. Too complicated. Too many choices. Too hard. Too much time! Maybe another time I would consider this option again, but for now I was moving on to other things on my to-do list. (Catching up on reading blogs).

It was a good idea! I noticed my friend's blog was updated with an amazing new header. It was perfect, and it reflected her blog exactly...and the kicker? She did it herself! I was inspired to start my search anew.

In case you were wondering what the process of design entailed...

1) Downloaded a free digital scrapbooking kit (just like the real ones!) with "papers" (backgrounds) and elements. It was a trick at first to figure out which sites had free ones that were the correct format. I also had to narrow down the search to find a theme and color palette I liked.

2) Open Photoshop Elements and get to work! This involved a little more research to determine the correct size for a website header on Blogger. Ok, not really...I just downloaded a free banner, cleared it out, and started designing mine in it's place.

2b) Spend constructive time learning the ins and outs of Photoshop. Maybe this isn't a necessary step for everyone, but I'm going to consider this project a very productive lesson in using my program. Everything I learned can be directly applied to photo editing. The best way to learn something is just do it!

2c) Rearrange elements and photos to your heart's content. The best part of digital scrapbooking is I can size and resize everything! No more wondering what it would have looked like if I had left the paper bigger, or that I would accidentally cut or rip something. And, the cat can't knock over what I'm doing right in the middle of it. Did I mention I am also saving trees? Wow, this really has its perks!

For those of you wondering even more how this process works, each element and background is its own file. You choose which graphics you want to use, and resize them, layer them, rotate them, etc. until you achieve the desired look. The main difference between this and using physical materials is you can size them any way you like, and are not confined by the designer's ideas of how to use the elements. For example, if they provided a "frame" element that was portrait orientation, it could easily be stretched as a landscape. The backgrounds are also able to be used as a full size, or partial size. There are so many more options. I didn't even scratch the surface either! Even more layering can be achieved using opacity settings. Ok, I digress...

3) Upload photos to the blog, and set coding. Because I did my "research" ahead of time, all this involved was cut/pasting my code into my blog's layout for the sidebar, and directly uploading to Blogger for the banner. Wow, that was so easy! I think the hardest part was deciding on which photos to use! (Does this really surprise you?). :)

Maybe my steps need a little work here, but you get the idea. What do you think?

I hope you enjoy the final product. I think it's safe to say I'll be leaving the blog alone for a while now (the design portion at least)! Perhaps I'll be too busy digital scrapbooking! :)