Hello Friends,
Are we tired of our winter boots yet? It has been a rather longish winter so far and you east coasters are getting even more snow!
Here in Pittsburgh it has been more cold than very snowy. We haven’t even exceeded 6 inches in a single storm yet though the ground has been snow covered for about a month.
Our kids favorite cold weather activity is to blow bubbles outside when it is 10 degrees or colder. The bubbles freeze and then shatter, hours of fun there. They also like to mist things with spray bottles and coat them with ice (excluding steps and other vital structures of course).
I am home today ( I am fighting a bit of a cold) and taking some time to work on a new project. Pittsburgh Urban Christian School, an incredible K-8 school here in Pittsburgh where all our kids have attended at some point or another, has hired me to work on a implementing a grant to create an outdoor classroom for the school.
As you can see from the above picture, unlike many suburban schools, PUCS doesn’t have acres to work with, but two years ago while doing an all school unit on the environment they cleaned up their “backyard”, built raised beds and installed a rain garden. At that point all four of the kids were there and they all helped with those projects.
Since then PUCS has been planning on getting the Outdoor Classroom up and running in the “backyard”. Unfortunately their first choice of partners, Audubon Society, ended their program that helped schools set up Outdoor Classrooms. I am really excited about this and will be working on it through to the summer. Pray for me to have wisdom as I seek to tailor the space to PUCS and steward the grant monies with great efficacy. I am looking forward to putting my gardening, education, and community garden planning experience to work here. I also plan on tapping Mike’s design and construction expertise to help discern what will meet the Outdoor Classroom’s shelter and storage needs best.
Another project that I am working on is utilizing Ann Voskamp’s website http://www.aholyexperience.com/
free webtool- The Jesus Project-scripture memorization for the rest of us to memorize verses from the book of John. I am getting together with two friends, Sima and Cindy to pray and review the scriptures that we are working on.
There are these cool print outs of the scriptures for the project and I hung them up to keep them before me ( and the family) each day.
I am excited to have the privilege to be in God’s word and to grow during this time of uncertainty about what we will be doing next. Because I CAN be certain about God’s love and care for us.
Stay warm and dry, God’s blessings upon you all,
Nicole