This weather recently has been beautiful! Sometimes winter feels like cabin fever around here. Even still, the kids would still go outside regularly just to get a bit of fresh air. (Ok...I'd bundle them up and make them: "Outside time kids!") Fresh air is good and we've had a mild winter anyway...
Side note: Another thing I don't say a whole lot in the winter is, "Oh, we shouldn't go outside because it's cold out..." Next thing you know you have a child who's whining about everything because it's "cold" and they never want to go outside just because it's a tad cold. Here's something I've learned: Kids don't really care. They can put on a coat, gloves, and hat and dress warm. Unless it's bitter cold or windy, etc... then that's fine, we can stay in the whole day. But they did go out quite a bit - they loved wearing their snow pants and boots (even if there wasn't snow on the ground, haha)!
But since the weather's been breaking...
We've been outside a lot. Ronan's first encounter with grass...
Teresa playing in the sand...
I had to need to show the kids up in a race...
Reading books outside, doing school outside...outside! Outside! Outside!
It's important to Bill and I that the kids develop a love nature and the outdoors. As I do this with the children, my appreciation and wonder for God's creation grows.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all you his angels;
give praise, all you his hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all shining stars.
Praise him, highest heavens,
you waters above the heavens.
Let them all praise the LORD’s name;
for he commanded and they were created,
Assigned them their station forever,
set an order that will never change.
Praise the LORD from the earth,
you sea monsters and all the deeps of the sea;
Lightning and hail, snow and thick clouds,
storm wind that fulfills his command;
Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars;
Animals wild and tame,
creatures that crawl and birds that fly;
Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all who govern on earth;
Young men and women too,
old and young alike.
Let them all praise the LORD’s name,
for his name alone is exalted,
His majesty above earth and heaven.
[Psalm 148:1-13]
All of creation is God's gift to us and pointing it out to our children will help them understand this.
"Look at the beautiful red sunset God painted in the sky for us!"
Or, when laying on your backs looking up into the vast blue sky, wondering amazement with your children about "how great and big God is" and how "the entire sky and world is His!"
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. [Psalm 19:1]
In fact, I think kids pick this up quite naturally. Being closer to nature brings us closer to the Lord. All throughout the birds, the sky, the trees, the beach, the grass, we can see God's majestic Fingerprints all over it. What a masterpiece! We should look for natural ways of pointing this out to our children for it is a most clear "sacrament" that tangibly communicates God's goodness towards us and manifests His glory:
Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental truth: "The world was made for the glory of God." St. Bonaventure explains that God created all things "not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it", for God has no other reason for creating than his love and goodness: "Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened his hand." [Catechism of the Catholic Church, #293]
Recently, the kids and I were outside getting a kick out of watching the activity of the birds in our backyard; we had scattered some pieces of bread in hopes of seeing them come a little closer. As we were sitting on the back patio watching and waiting, I heard the singing of a bird from what seemed to be the very top of one of the trees. So I looked up, up, up following the sound, and then I realized: Wow, the bird was right on the gutter above my head! I pointed it out to the boys and we watched in awe as the little bird sang.
"Mom, he's singing to God, huh?" Joseph said.
"You're right, I think he is!" I responded. (Took me years to understand how all of creation sings to the Lord, but my son seems to get it pretty naturally...Oh the things I humbly admire in my children!)
Then John-Paul shuffled through our Field Guide to Birds to try and "match" the bird. We figured out it was a simple house sparrow. The more we watched the activity of the birds this past week, we came to realize that one little bird has been taking the lint from our dryer filter to use to build his nest!
Getting into hiking...
Hiking is starting to become a new favorite tradition of our family...
Big boy climbing the humongous fallen-down tree
Looking for water snakes (Bill's idea)
Giving this tree climbing thing a whirl
Nothing brings out a sense of adventure in a boy the way the outdoors does...
Proud papa bear with his cubs
How I do this with Ronan...
The kids just love nature. Joseph has a 1,000+ rock collection going (Everywhere we go he's on the lookout for rocks...). I am not kidding when I tell you that most often when I do laundry, I almost always find rocks in the bottom of the washer. Between him and Teresa, rocks are stuffed in pockets, pants, purses, boxes and bags...(it's either that or food).
By the way, if you're interested in spending more time hiking in the South Jersey area, here is an excellent website called South Jersey Trails. It's actually a blog run by a man who goes hiking with his two boys (about3 and 5 years old I suppose). He's been over 100 different places, has mapped it all out for you, shares pictures and various highlights and information on trail heads. It's excellent. I highly recommend it!
This spring/summer we're aiming to go on one hiking/nature walk a week and God-willing plan a couple hikes that are a little further away (like in actual semi-mountainous terrain as opposed to flatland south Jersey).
I'm also venturing into gardening (raised garden bed going on this weekend!). I have a black thumb, so this should be interesting. But as I learn to appreciate creation more and more as God made it, I'm becoming more drawn to doing things more naturally and closer to the way the Lord probably intended it to be. I've delayed this for a few years out of a fear of the unknown! But my intentions starting out are to just do it enjoyably with the kids so we can watch the plant grow, learn how to care for it, and then enjoy the "fruit of our labor" (literally) by picking the food right off the plants. Yum! (That is, if I don't mess it up...which might be likely). We will see!
But for now, it's back into the great outdoors! Closer to nature so we can be closer to God! Hope you're enjoying the warming weather!
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.
[Psalm 19:1]