Winter Scavenger Hunt {and we need to love one another}

Inspired by the latest issue of Tend, my children and I ventured outside for a winter scavenger hunt. I thought I would share a few of our finds with you and maybe inspire you to go on a nature scavenger hunt of your own. My children had a blast and are currently planning a winter themed scavenger hunt of their own to take Kevin and I on.

See if you can find:

…berries on a branch.
…a cone from an evergreen tree. Can you identify it? Pine Spruce

We kept the tree identifying simple for this walk due to our Idaho tree book not containing the trees we were seeing. (They were all planted on base by the government and many don't appear to be native.) Also C's main lessons will be focused on spruce and pine trees coming up in the next week or two. We'll be going out on more detailed walks then.

…an empty bird’s nest.
…a seed pod that still has seeds inside
…tracks in the snow, and see if you can identify what animal they came from. Dog tracks!
We don't have any snow at the moment so a track in the mud will have to suffice. And wait a minute. Dandelions weren't on our list. Hmmm... perhaps we had it all wrong and we were really on a spring scavenger hunt!

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A few years ago, K's very wise kindergarten teacher gave me some sage advice. I know I won't do it justice but I am going to try to share it: I don't remember what was going on at the time, and we didn't own a TV (still don't), but something I heard on the radio or read in a paper was really upsetting me. She told me that while I have young children in my house, it is best to avoid the news and other forms of media that will upset and distract me from my purpose in life. Even if my children do not know what is going on, I am bringing this mood of fear or anger into my home (without even realizing it). It is hard to show my children that the world is good when I am left feeling like that is the furthest thing from the truth. What she said really resonated with me and I made a vow to no longer follow the news, or at least not as regularly (I'm not for sticking my head in the sand either). I want to believe the world is good. Unfortunately now in this day and age, the news seems to invade my home via social networking.

I am personally not a fan of debate. I avoid confrontations and really consider myself rather shy and quiet, but there is something I just have to put out there...

As if the "Mommy wars" weren't already bad enough, the current media hysteria is dividing parents even more. It breaks my heart to see so much hate and anger before my eyes. What does anger and/or hate resolve? Nothing. It only brings about pain and suffering. Do we really want to waste what little time we have on such emotions? I feel that we need to just love one another, lift each other up, empathize and encourage. Perhaps even agree to disagree?

love,
Nicole

Winter Scavenger Hunt {and we need to love one another}