A morning to remember

This morning as I was still lying in bed I heard some geese, nothing unusual, I hear geese often.  But then I heard some more and some more, and it wasn't going away.  Sam finally asked "Mama, what's all that noise?"  I said "We should check it out".  So I opened the blind and was amazed!  There were hundreds of snow geese in the air and in the field behind our house!!! Of course I ran to get the camera!  This is the first photo I got.

After watching for awhile I noticed that smaller flocks kept coming in and would circle before landing.  They also seemed quite skittish and it wouldn't take long and the whole flock would take off. They would start circling and then start to land again.  Here is one of some landing.

This one was just as the flock was spooked by something on the left and they all started to take off.

And one of what the sky looked like as they were circling. 

Soon the sun came up more and the sky changed to a beautiful blue!  I love these ones!!

This last one is not zoomed, I could hear their wings flapping and I even got pooped on!  Quite a morning!

But you need to hear it too!  The quality of the videos is not great but the sound is what I was really after. Truly amazing!  The first one is after they had been spooked and were circling.

Then I captured them as they were starting to land after they had been circling.


And finally I captured when they were spooked and started to take off.   Unfortunately I missed the first few seconds of it. There was absolutely no wind, so the sound you hear is not wind in the microphone, but the sound of them all taking off at the same time!  I just stood there and turned as they circled around me.

I was completely in awe of God's creation this morning, it was quite an experience and in my own back yard!  You sure can't get this in the city and I am so grateful to live out in the country!!!

hmmm, I wonder if they will be back tomorrow?

Updating

Still updating... I am still trying to post some updates of things that happened over the last couple of months. You know things like Ben & Carlee's birthday and Sam's birthday! Anyway, I am going to date the posts close to the date the photos were taken so make sure you scroll down to see any posts you may have missed!

Better yet, go to the Blog Archives over on the right and click on Oct, Nov, and Dec to see if there are posts you have not seen yet. I have posted lots of photos and even some short videos that you don't want to miss!

How to Reach Your Full Potential for GOD by Charles F. Stanley

How to Reach Your Full Potential for God
Never Settle for Less than His Best
by Charles F. Stanley


On page 12 I read “have you settled for a settled-for life”. It is a sentence that captured my attention and made me want to learn more about how I can “be more passionate about life” and “experience all God has for me”.

Another sentence that jumped out at me was on page 27, “Your ultimate purpose is to bring Him glory by the way you live”. For me, this sentence set the tone for the rest of the book, in what ways can I bring glory to Him through pursing each of the 7 essentials that the book is divided into:A clean heart, a clear mind, using your gifts, a healthy body, right relationships, a balanced schedule, and taking God approved risks.

These essentials are all very practical and useful. I will use this book often, referring back to it for a long, long time. For most people, reaching your full potential will not happen overnight. It takes time and effort. I am blessed by this book because it has helped me to refocus and I what I need to work on first is finding a balanced schedule!



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

What are you doing?

Sometimes during meals the kids tell us stories or jokes and I often get out the camera, because you never know what they will say. On this day Sam told a couple funny stories. I do not know where he comes up with stuff, but I suspect Daddy may have encouraged one of these.



Sometime between those stories and this next video Daddy had started to give out dessert that was jello with marshmallows and sprinkles on it. This video is only about 30 seconds long, at the end I had to stop because it was so funny!

Cannot sit still

You know how a picture is worth a thousand words, well a short video can say it all!  Ben is definately our child who cannot sit still for even a moment!  Here he is when Daddy turned on the radio to a kids radio station. Sam and Carlee sat and listened quietly, not Ben LOL

Kids at play

For the last year or so we have really noticed a trend.  We find that Sam & Carlee are quite often playing quietly together. Meanwhile Ben is off on his own, usually getting into trouble.  In this photo Sam & Carlee are looking at books quietly.  Notice the little hand wrapped around the bannister?

Well, that was Ben.  He was swinging, something he is not supposed to be doing! Check out that definance in his expression!  Also notice the big bruise on his forehead and the scratch under that!  What a boy!

The other side of the story is that having a sister seems to bring out the mothering side in our boys!
Safety first for that baby! Ben was determined that the baby be strapped in, but what you can't really see is that he has another baby shoved in the bottom of the stroller.

Here Sam is pretending to be Carlee.  Of course her favorite color is purple so he had to match with the baby's purple clothes!  I totally intend to use this photo when he is a teenager!  LOL

The majority of the time our kids play very well together. Of course they are kids and have their moments, but generally they get along quite well. They can be very creative and imaginative, especially when the three of them work together. With virtually no toys they can still play for hours. In this picture, they have hauled boxes and various other things into the living room and made themselves a train. Then they moved things around to get other vehicles like a truck, a helicopter and a submarine! Notice all the blankets on the floor behind them? Well those were all hauled out of the trunk for a lengthy campout complete with stargazing and ghost stories with real ghosts!