A Day of Discoveries!

As I did my routine walk around the garden this morning to see what was growing, what was blooming and what was on its way out, I noticed some very distressed robins.  I quickly realized I must be walking too close to a nest, becuase they were quite agitated and refusing to leave the area.  I did a quick searh and found it right at eye level nestled in some climbing plants on an arched trellis. Inside were two perfect blue eggs.

And then I got the heck outta there, they were not happy. My daughter Noorah had been watching me, and was curious about my quick exit. I explained to her that the mama robin was mad at me because I was too close to her eggs, she was there to protect them. Just I am there to protect Noorah and her baby brother Zayd. I explained that if the mama gets to scared, she will leave and the eggs won't hatch or the babies will die.  I promised her we would go look really quickly, and that would be the only look she would get, becuase after that we had to leave them alone.  She was amazed by the shrieking robins, and she loved the beautiful eggs.  And then the mama got REALLY mad, i looked up just in time to see her coming straight at us, we ducked as fast as we could and she barely missed us. We ducked so fast that Noorah and I clunked heads, and we ran quickly into the house.

I reminded her that was the only visit to see the eggs, we couldn't go again.  So we decided to build our own nest, and fill it with "eggs" that we could go check on every day!  She used a Chobani yogurt cup, and glued ribbon to it, then she filled it with even more ribbon.  Then she went outside and found several rocks that were egg shaped. I was so proud of all her hard work on the nest!

  Then we found the perfect spot to put our nest! In our dining room is a tin wall hanging of a tree with several birds flying in it! Our eggs now have a bunch of guardians! And we can check them everyday without a fear of leaving baby birds as orphans, or having our eyes pecked out....its a win/win.

Later we went for a walk and found two dead squirrels, one very fresh and another in an advanced state of decay.  Noorah looked at them both and compared, saying "This one looks like he got hit by a car, but not this one.  He's not flat".  She went on speculating about the squirrels as we walked along, and warned the others that she saw to stay out of the road. I don't think they took her seriously.  Zayd was just excited to watch the cars. 

For dinner, we decided to try something new.  We made pasta from scratch, using just eggs and flour. Noorah loved rolling it out, and we found out that her toy rolling pin worked better than my big one.  Then we made a spinach and ricotta filling. We made lots of big raviolis, using a fork to smoosh the edges.  We made a creamy garlic sauce using thyme and winter savory that Noorah picked from the garden(her favorite chose is picking herbs!) It was so much fun watching her help and learn. Honestly theres no difference nutritionally between fresh homemade pasta and store bought.  Nor are there any preservatives in storebought and its definitely not expensive to buy pasta.  But I think its important for kids to know how food is made, and what goes into it.  Personally, I know I don't take it for granted when I know what went into creating or growing it.  So many children (and adults) these days are so detatched from their food.  They put no thought into it, and thats why they can just inhale thousands of calories without a single bat of an eye.  When food is too easy, people dont care.  When it takes work, time, thought and energy to grow a garden or create a meal, we think twice before we just sloppily toss food around.  Food is precious, it is a gift to nourish our bodies and keep us healthy. If it can't do that, then what is the point?  Okay, I'm done preaching now! And I forgot to take a picture of the ravioli! I guess that just means I'll have to make it again (no complaints from this girl...it was yummy)