News Release on Youth Birding Competition

This is the official press release from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources:

http://www.gofishgeorgia.com/node/2136

I can't stand myself; I am so proud of my kiddo and his friends!!!

Chaotic Kestrels Win!!!

Tonight, we are celebrating! DS12s birding team won 1st place in the Georgia State Youth Birding Competition, locating and identifying 100 species in 24 hours. I am one very proud mama!

From left to right: Gif Beaton (author and event judge), Ethan Hatchett, Daven Hayes, Tim Keyes (Event Coordinator), and C.J. Armour. Not pictured is my hubby, the exhausted, but very proud couch who is currently snoring on the couch!

The Chaotic Kestrels

Isn't this a handsome bunch?  It's the Chaotic Kestrels in the front row (DS11 is in the middle with friends CJ and Daven) clutching their new field guides.  Behind them are Gif Beaton, Georgia author of wildlife books, and Tim Keyes, Wildlife Specialist and originator of the Youth Birding Competition in Georgia.

They placed third in the Elementary School division for the state!  Way to Go!!!

Chaotic Kestrels Rule!!!

It's official!  Our team won 3rd place in the state of Georgia for their age division!!!

Not bad for a team of 3 kids with only 1 experienced member.  I can't wait to see what they do next year!

I will post a picture if hubby emails me with it.

Oh, the suspense!

Today is the day when all of the little Georgia birders compete in a 24 hour competition to see which team can see the most birds in Georgia.  It's the Georgia Youth Birding Competition and it is a wonderful use of our tax dollars in action.

Right now, the contestants and coaches are at Charlie Elliot Wildlife Center having a banquet and finding out who their winners are.  There is no cell service there.  Hubby can't even call me and tell me how it went.  He can receive a text, but can't send one out.

I do know that DS11 along with two of his friends (the Chaotic Kestrels) saw 63 distinct species at last check in today.  Last year, they only found 56, so that is good.

But, how did the other teams fare?  Was there a huge turn out?  Is the t-shirt design cute???  Inquiring Moms want to know!!! 

This patience thing is for the birds :-)

Lecture with Richard Louv

Those of you who know me and hubby are aware that we are hopeless nerds.  Last night, we had an adults only evening of dinner and a lecture by author Richard Louv, who wrote the book, Last Child in the Woods.

Of course, when I excitedly told a friend that this was "date night," she asked if I couldn't do any better than a lecture series!  I got a big kick out of that one!  I love learning things.

Dinner was good and at a restaurant that I had never tried before, which is nice.  Please note that the restaurant did not have a drive through window    :-)

Hubby had been reading Last Child in the Woods and I am waiting for him to finish so that I can get started with it.  I am familiar with the learning style of "naturalist" and how children often need to feel connected with something larger than themselves and a video screen.  I think it fosters closeness with the Creator of our universe, but I realize that since not everyone is happy calling on our God the Father, that he doesn't mention it much.

But, I don't see how anyone can be in nature and not be drawn to God (even if one doesn't know that it is God in the beginning).

Regardless of this personal epiphany :-), the lecture was wonderful and Mr. Louv is a passionate and dynamic speaker.  He reminds us adults that we can often remember a transcendent moment in nature that we keep in our hearts forever.  That memory can provide such a sense of peace and centering that we come back to it for years to come.

This generation of children (and many of my own generation, I fear) don't have those memories to use as self-comfort.  For some of us it involves animals, for others, wide open places, for others a park or other green space in a city.  But, fear of human predators and crime have hindered parents from letting kids have access.  Single parents often work so much that kids are home alone, locked at home with a tv or video console.

I want my kids to have those memories.  It's easy with DS11, he loves to be outside watching bugs, dragonflies, butterflies, birds, lizards, and other critters.  He competes annually in the Georgia Youth Birding Competition and goes to help researchers do bird banding in middle Georgia.  He's easy to engage in outdoor activities.  Lately, he has become interesting in geocaching and Volkswalking.  We'll see where those lead.

DS12 is another story.  Because he is an Aspie and has notoriously weak muscle tone and poor balance, he is afraid to get out of a predictable environment.  He will sit on a porch or deck, but won't venture out onto uneven ground, etc.  He will play with animals for ages, and that is his best contact with nature right now, but it's an unbalanced one as it doesn't really look at natural things in natural settings.  It's sad really because he used to be the kid who wouldn't wear shoes and you'd have to catch him to carry him inside on a summer night for a bath and bedtime :-)  Now, he can't remember the feeling of mud or grass between his toes.

That definitely has to change.  He has been interested in cooking lately and I have told him that the best cooks use the freshest ingredients.  He hates veggies, but that is another story.  So, we are going to start a limited garden that he will have to "help me with."  Hey, it's a start.  The garden can't be inside :-)  With my foot issues, I can milk it long enough to make him really take a role in this.  Hopefully that will help him to loosen up outside a bit.

Anyway, I highly recommend hearing Richard Louv speak if you ever have the opportunity.  Check out his book at the local library if you have a chance.  He even talks a little bit about how families need to be out of doors in parks, etc. when the economy is bad.  A game of catch is fun and much more frugal than movie tickets.  You won't be disappointed, I promise.  It is very thought provoking!

A quiet day and a few thoughts

All was quiet here today as DS11 and hubby were out practicing for the annual Georgia Youth Birding Competition. They took DS11's friend with them to begin his training for the big day. This will be his first year. He is really excited about it.

The friend can only hear via a cochlear implant. Often he depends on lip reading to augment the sounds he hears. DS is able to speak to him and be lip read and he is a trooper in making absolutely certain that his friend gets the information presented. I am proud of him.

Nothing happening on the quilting stuff. My itchy, watery, allergy plagued eyes were really blurry and sore today and I didn't want to accidentally cut a border wrong, or worse, wonky so that it doesn't lay in a nice, straight line. I figure that it's best to wait a day or two and make absolutely sure that it is correct.

Patience may be a virtue, but it is not one that I have developed. I am the queen of finding a pattern that I can put together quickly and then finishing the whole thing out, pronto.

I think it is a combination of knowing how little time I have to work on a project compared to my drive to complete it. Ugh! I am very disorganized at home and easily overwhelmed, so if I start something like this, I want to finish it so that I know it won't get lost in the shuffle somewhere.

I truly would love to do the Suzy Homemaker thing and stay home and make lovely things and have an immaculate home (well, maybe not immaculate....). But, that is not in the cards for us right now. I do enjoy teaching and I love to watch the kids really dig deeply into the material we are covering. I love knowing that I set the bar high and that they really are learning.

I also love knowing that my boys are right there in the same building with me and if there is a problem, I am the one handling it. That is especially important for DS12 (my aspie). DS11 would thrive no matter where he was at. He loves to learn and is so naturally curious and friendly. Life is not so simple for his older brother. Without the consistent, enforced interaction with kids, he would not have come as far as he has over the last three years.

I had always wanted to homeschool my children, but DS12 has so many other issues going on and needs to be forced to socialize. I just couldn't provide that at home, even though I am a Certified Teacher and had all of the academics under control. DS11 was a dream to work with. I only had to make sure that I stayed ahead of his curiosity.

I spent some time embarrassed that I didn't have what it took to deal with DS12's issues and learning disabilities (and just the little quirky stuff and excessive emotional outbursts) that I couldn't do what I felt was best for him. Looking back, maybe God just moved me out of my dream of fullfillment and toward making DS12 the fullfilled one.

I still miss some of my Little House on the Prairie (didn't you just love those books when you were a kid?) fantasies and can't sew and can and garden and decorate and cook fabulously (which I can't even do with unlimited time) full time, but I can be okay with that.

Family time is less stressful as I am not imposing impossible restrictions on both him and myself. He loves school, DS11 loves school, and most days, I really do, too!

Honestly, if I didn't work, I would have very little money to spend on all of my projects and crafts, so it balances out a bit, I think.

This isn't the road that I would have necessarily picked for myself, but it seems to be the road which allows BOTH of my children to thrive. And, that's what's most important after all.

A surprise from the Youth Birding Competition

I forgot to blog this at the time, but about a week ago, a package was delivered by UPS for hubby. Inside it was a note from Tim Keyes, with the Georgia Youth Birding Competition. The note said that they had received more donations than they had anticipated this year and so he had a prize for each member of our team, the Chaotic Kestrels, as they were 3rd place statewide in their age range.

Both DS9 and his friend received a very nice pair of binoculars donated by Eagle Optics (which makes excellent optics and lenses) for them to use as they continue birding. These are easily on par with the pair that hubby uses as a Master Birder for Audubon Atlanta. The binoculars usually sell for significantly more than I am willing to pay for a child to use (hubby found DS9s at Radio Shack last year on sale for for $14 and they really pretty good). They are thrilled (of course) and are making plans to practice for next year's competition.

I am so thrilled that both boys are enjoying this. There is no better use for my tax money than this program which shows children about our wonderful natural resources and to be good stewards for future generations. All told, each boy received, a lovely ceremony and meal at the end of the event, a training day, a t-shirt, a book on Georgia birds, a chance to meet the author (DS9 has taken classes from him) to get the book autographed, and now some fancy-dancy binoculars. I am SO very impressed with this program and how it is shaping these children into the next generation of nature lovers, amazed by God's creation.

Update on Georgia Youth Birding Competition

For those of you who know us, you'll recall that hubby and DS10 participate in the GYBC in the spring (this is the second year they have participated). DS10 and his best friend make up the team, "Chaotic Kestrels." DS11 has always been welcome to participate, but declines. They always have a blast and saw more birds this year than last year. Everyone comes home exhausted and happy, usually with a t-shirt and autographed birding book that is specific to Georgia (freebies from the contest). It's probably one of the best uses of my tax dollars in action that I have ever seen as it educates children, promotes conservation and responsible hunting practices, and keeps kids busy! Plus, future generations will benefit from what these kids have learned as they teach their kids and grandkids. It's one of very few governmental programs that I can simply find no down side to.

Well, the official rankings were announced yesterday afternoon and the Chaotic Kestrels earned 3d place in their division, state wide! Woo Hoo!!! They even identified 7 birds in addition to the number they found last year--all new species for them. I am so proud.

Birding Rocks!

Well, one tired adult and two totally tuckered-out younguns returned to my house after the 24 hour birding extravaganza. But, you'd never see happier faces as they recounted the 51 species that they had seen and heard. The winning team saw 101, so next year, the quest is really on--complete with a camping start at the Georgia coast (according to my competitive hubby). The boys are already talking about what they will do next year.

This is a really wonderful event. The boys got beautiful t-shirts and a great book that outlines all endangered species in Georgia and where to find them, etc. They didn't win any raffle prizes, but had dinner with the Executive Director of Audubon Atlanta (okay, that one probably meant more to hubby than to kids). Hubby and son are also going to be interviewed for a special podcast about the event. Pretty cool!

This is one instance where I can say that my tax dollars are truly well spent. The more kids who enjoy the out of doors, the more effective our conservation efforts will be.

Georgia Youth Birding Competition

It's a good day. Hubby, youngest son and a friend are heading out to be a part of the Georgia Youth Birding Competition. It's a 24 hour event where kids of different age ranges compete to identify the most species of birds within the confines of the state.

The kids are so excited on their first big-time birding event. Upon return to home base (for videos and snacks) I am informed that they met another birding team up from LaGrange. Imagine that, someone else is actually birding! Wow!

They just darted inside from going out to try and hear the call of the whiporwill and a Chuck Will's Widow (they did). They are going out even later still to check on our resident owls.

They saw a blue heron catch and swallow whole a fish that appeared to be two times the diameter of his throat. It doesn't get much cooler than that.

Of course, when you don't have to compete with video games, tv shows, and other mindless drivel, you can actually enjoy the wonders of God's creation. It's a kind of moving meditation just talking with a friend, listening, planning, watching.

Birding with kids. It's worth doing.