under mighty oaks

Mighty Oak
Stand tall oh mighty oak, for all the world to see,
your strength and undying beauty forever amazes me.
Though storm clouds hover above you,
your branches span the sky,
in search of the radiant sunlight you
count on to survive.
When the winds are high and restless and
you lose a limb or two,
it only makes you stronger, we
could learn so much from you.
Though generations have come and gone
and brought about such change,
quietly you've watched them all yet still
remained the same.
I only pray God give to me the strength he's
given you,
to face each day with hope, whether
skies are black or blue,
Life on earth is truly a gift
every moment we must treasure,
it's the simple things we take for granted
that become our ultimate pleasures.
Kathy J Parenteau source

this poem is such an inspiration to me.
oaks are an important part of our towns natural history.
i'll be copying it & posting it where it can encourage me daily.

today was spent with friends.
under mighty oaks.
in the warm sun & clean fresh air.
it was such a good day.

our winter break is winding down.
we've been checking lots of fun things off our winter to do list.
we've been working hard cleaning, purging & reorganizing.
we've also been enjoying lazy days just kicking back by the fireplace, reading, crafting & being home doing all sorts of slow happy to be staying home & having nowhere to be kinds of things.

it's been a nice, quiet way to say good bye 2012 & hello 2013. 

feeling too SLUGGISH to do laundry



the laundry will just have to wait(again).

 

this morning Miss A informed me that she has a new pet slug & that he has been living in a teeny little container since Tuesday. so i suggested that maybe it was time to make him a more comfortable home (instead of doing chores...of course).we did a little slug research & headed outside to get to work on his new habitat.

we both agree that he looks much happier in his new place munching on that fresh green leaf. (can you spot him?)

*our fave slug fact: they love one our fave foods...KALE!

learn how to make your own comfie slug home here.

nest notes{seasonal favorites}

seasonally flavored teas are one of my fave things this time of year! during these cooler months we seem to have a hot mug of coziness in hand thru out the day. cozied up on the couch, knitting, snuggling, reading (esp a cup of herbal Honey Vanilla Chamomile in quiet after the girls bed time) watching a movie, etc...the brownsugars & i have tea in the afternoons sometimes with a sweet treat & maybe a little cream. if visitors stop by i love to have a hot cup of tea to offer.

last year i became obsessed with the Nutcracker Sweet tea but couldn't find it again this year. i tried the Trader Joes Vanilla & Cinnamon black tea & was super surprised that it came pretty close in flavor!

the very next day of course...i found my teas at my fave local grocery store & stocked up! {bummed i didn't realize the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea wasn't gluten free & didn't get to try it...was so looking forward to it!}

*testing out mobile posting with the new update :)

Gold Rush at Riley's Farm

Riley's Farm. Oak Glen, Ca. 11.1.12

a few weeks ago a friend invited us on their homeschool charter's living history trip at one of our fave local places 

Riley's Farm. 
it was on our fall to do check list, so we packed our stuff up last minute & hit the road early in the morning!

my mama made the brownsugars costumes a few years ago when we visited the Colonial Farm Life trip
& luckily they worked again for this Gold Rush trip. 
(because really what better way to experience a living history field trip than being in costume!)
check the Riley's Farm link...it's absolutely beautiful & they have so many many fantastic things to offer! 

our guide giving the group a history lesson & the laws of the land.

mining in the gold field.

to enter we had to make a deal with the claim owner.

our deal was to pay 30 percent of the gold found. 

the kids mostly calculated their negotiations themselves.

{these pix are out of order...oops}

searching for nuggets by hand in the sluice boxes.

afterwards the girls decided that maybe it would be better to invest some of their hard earned gold mining money on a {highly} price inflated mining pan.  

 at the bank they converted all their gold into paper money.

there was even a bank robbery!

 the miners also had the opportunity to try to earn extra money by doing other chores if they could find any.

 

after the claims & the bank closed for the day

we were served a miner's lunch that consisted an apple, jerky meat, cornbread, a slice of cheese & lemon aide

before the auction in the big barn

(where of course you get to spend your hard days work earned pay).

the auction was such a great educational lesson in supply & demand (as the supply of objects to bid on decreased, the bidding price on the remaining objects increased significantly).

at the end of the auction the guide discussed supply & demand in further detail as well as other valuable educational & historical info.

one of our fave tidbits was that he pointed out that the same people owned the claims, mines, the goods & supplies for purchase, the bank, the auction, pretty much everything involved

& they made a fortune off (US) the desperate miners!

i'm not giving it all away,

but fall at Riley's Farm is a beautiful time of year to visit (as any actually)...check out the Riley's Farm link to see why!

visiting our local pumpkin patch

a few weeks ago i surprised my brownsugars with a last minute field trip.

we started a pumpkin unit, needed to add some fall to our house (even though as you can see it was still hot!) &needed new seeds to add to my garden pumpkin patch that dried up in the hot weather.

we needed pumpkins! i couldn't think of any better place to get them than to pick them from the vine at our local pumpkin patch ourselves.

ps playing blog post catch up since blogger was not letting me upload pix & with the new mobile app update its still a little wacky! grrr!

 

Elfin Forest Hike...kicking off our hiking season

 

elfin forest unit

acorn naturalist

plant identification cards from the kit

crossing Escondido Creek

 

 

Elfin Forest Interpretive Center
Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve 10.27.12

 

yesterday kicked off hiking season for us (we are wimps in the summer heat).

even though we are currently experiencing the warm dry October Santa Ana wind weather, our weather starts to cool off soon after.

we've been here about 6 years & this was our 1st time hiking the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve & the brownsugars & i had such a great time doing it with our homeschool co-op group.

 

i purchased a unit study specifically for the Elfin Forest from one of my fave resources, Acorn Naturalist & brought it with. along with the parents guides, it was a very handy resource. i'm loving that the kit is reusable because aside from hiking the Elfin Forest again, our area is filled with similar local chaparral & we can easily reuse the kit to expand on the hike & finish some of the activities we didn't get to.

 

the hike was fun & very informative, the kids were super excited about spotting a coyote down by the creek BUT the preserves amazing Interpretive Center was by far the highlight! we could have spent hours!

it was beautifully done inside & out. the displays caught & kept everyone's attention. there were so so many FANTASTIC hands on activities but i will just mention a few (A MUST SEE).
the microscope with camera & TV screen set up was def a fave. we were able to collect & view samples of the Escondido Creek water we crossed on our hike & discover some of specimens that were present in it such as fresh water flatworm planaria, algae, mayfly larvae & more. there were also other samples prepared for viewing.
the center provided owl pellets to dissect, tons of real-life or realistic habitat specimen samples were on displayed which helped identify what we saw & what we missed, beautiful art work, fantastic docents...a very rich real life educational environment for all ages.
way too much to see & do...we cannot wait to go back!

 

nest notes {perfect cheeseburger soup *pseudo socal fall* weather}

 

Source: tasteofhome.com via brownsugarhoney on Pinterest

i haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately. BUT yes, we've been busy quietly doing stuff & living life.

this week we've been having what i call "pseudo" socal fall weather in that it has been chilly hoodie, hot tea & snuggly blanket weather. complete with perfectly chilly mornings & nights & actual thunderstorms. combine it all with football & me having my 1st pumpkin spice latte of my fave season...
i'm in fall-loving-happy-girl heaven!

i have been anxiously awaiting the perfect weather to make this Cheeseburger Soup & last night was it!
i made a few changes such as:
substituting ground turkey instead of ground beef & i browned it with the veggies.
i used real cheddar instead of Velveeta.
i added other seasonings to taste(onion powder, celery salt, etc...)
i would have also substituted plain yogurt for the sour cream but 
i had neither sour cream nor plain yogurt & it was still delish.
i would also add broccoli next time.

my fam LOVED LOVED LOVED this soup!
i was a huge HIT & even better today for lunch!!!

*i decided the *farm notes* thing wasn't working for me & that *nest notes* fits me better. i think it gives me more room for a wider range of topics & inspiration.