Unbe-leaf-able

More severe storms rolled in last night and they brought with them heavy winds. Many trees and branches are down in our neighborhood, as well as a few fences. My heart is sad for my neighbors who suffered loss. Our power went out again in the middle of the night, and this time it stayed off until about 10:30 this morning. I wish I had my thinking cap on early this morning, but that particular apparel item rarely makes it "on" until late morning at best. Some days, it never makes the ensemble at all. Anyway, we were up and at 'em early, in the dim light, rushing to get ready for my son's 8:30 tutoring session. I had the baby fed and the troops gathered at the back door when it struck me that neither the garage door opener nor the electric fence across the driveway would work without electricity. There were clearly no light bulbs going on in my house OR in my head. :) Shouldn't my handy children have reminded me? The same people who had already tried using the ice maker, the microwave, the toaster, and the blow dryer?

I took a brief walk outside to see how my neighbors had fared during the storms. I saw this sweet little dove and her baby in my yard. I could not locate the nest, and I'm hoping this little groundling is old enough to fly. I went out later to check on him and he was gone.

In homeschool news, we have been very pleased with the Apologia science curriculum for middle and high school. Hannah is nearing the end of her Biology book at this time, and her project these last few weeks has been to put together a leaf collection. Too bad I forgot my camera when we went to the park collecting leaves. Everything was so green and fresh, and some of the fields were even blanketed in wildflowers. I wish you could have seen it! (Is this light bulb just off, or un-installed altogether???) Last night we sat down to sort and mount and type out all her classification notes. I was glad she let me help because I really enjoy those kinds of projects. We were knee deep in field guides and a trillion kinds of oak leaves. A trillion? Maybe it was more like....five. Anyway, the finished project turned out great and we learned a bit of botany to boot!