tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50145079852972420592024-02-21T11:55:19.724-05:00Mother of the Year NOT!!Therapeutic sarcasm for moms and mental health professionalsellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-41090766354628898542012-06-23T18:20:00.001-04:002012-06-23T18:20:43.745-04:00returning to workSo I am slowly returning to the working world. I work from home for about 20 hours each week. It's summer, so guess who is home with me <b>all day! </b>Yup you guessed it, the small terrorists (although one of them is growing- I know this because I was taken to a store and forced to purchase pants for her). But in relation to the most adults they are still small. The problem is just the boundless energy with which to torture me...and of course I am a sitting duck stuck behind a computer in this house where they take turns. Their incessant chatter, fighting, mess making, dirt tracking, question asking activities leave me in a tizzy.<br />ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-18825445980279971582011-08-01T15:18:00.003-04:002011-08-01T15:25:14.950-04:00VacationingThe small terrorists have allowed me to transport them to CT to see their G-ma. They do however keep me under watchful eye- if I go near the door they immediatly question me about where I think I might be going. They are all on constant guard for small infracttions. They have determined that wearing me out keeps me to tired to escape so the game is to ask me dozens of questions and order me around. They eat small amounts at home but gorge themeselves at restaurants, where they force us to pay the bill.<br />Violet has been sucked into her books this trip and Jay brought his legos but that KT, she is constantly wanting entertainment. I'm going to try to suggest the beach to them, then when they get deep into the water I can escape. I may get free this time.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-46825176412410253332011-07-02T08:48:00.004-04:002011-07-02T08:58:55.081-04:00BTGKT is flying off to grandma's tomorrow. She is a tad anxious.<br />But the truth is, we need a break from eachother and my mother needs a<br />slow introduction into my household. Grandmother will be staying with me during a<br />15 week internship I have to do. And all three kids at once for 15 weeks is a bit much even for the most masochistic.<br />So I figured if I sent her just KT for a few weeks she could get a good idea on how to manage her because she is the most exhausting child for me.<br />Now if you meet KT you will be immediatly enthralled with her 'big toothy grin' as my mother puts it- we'll just call it BTG. <br />Now the issue with KT is that she is addicted to attention, good or bad. So you scold her and you still see the BTG. We also know that when the BTG appears that the brain has shut down. <br />example<br />Me: "careful don't drop that !!"<br />KT: BTG...some inane response like 'I won't!!!"<br />she drops it<br />KT: "oops" BTG<br />and that little saga plays itself out all day long from 'don't touch that, to 'don't do that,'<br />'to stop doing that'. Just change the words, and the same situation.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-77423188243462280842011-06-26T03:06:00.001-04:002011-06-27T12:54:45.716-04:00A girl and her IPADTalk about Oprah Winfrey's favorite things...IPAD has got to be it. OK don't get me wrong IPAD has lots of things to work on. But the idea of it!!<br />There is an App (application for those of you who have not been blessed with an I something or other) for everything. And when I say blessed, I mean I got mine as a a gift from Grandpa L (and it wasn't an occasion either...bless that Grandpa L). So here's are some of the Apps that I have downloaded:<br />App for GRE<br />App for learning Spanish<br />App for Tarot card readings<br />App for reading pdf files and editing them<br />App for the latest research from the American Psychological Society (APA) I just love this one<br />(I know, I know I am geeking hard!)<br />App to turn your IPAD into a phone/texting device...however this one costs 10.00 a month and I usually only get Apps that are free so I don't have this, ok occasionally I will pay the .99.<br />So any way what I was thinking is that they need to create a App called 'Iparent.'<br />Now here's how it would work: You program in all the things that you constantly say to your children:<br />"don't touch your sister"<br />"close your mouth when you chew"<br />"no shoes in house"<br />"no running inside"<br />"watch what you are doing"<br />"put your stuff away"<br />etc etc Now you set your IPAD up in the kitchen and the little camera monitors what your little people do....and when they see running or something on the list, a loud alarm comes followed by a recording that says "No running inside!!".<br />Now just like that famous study Dr. Watson did with little Albert and the rat, the children would condition themselves not to set off 'the alarm'. Yes, yes I know the whole experiment was highly controversial. But I am thinking that Apple could make millions on this before some controversy made them take it off the market. Somebody get me Apple's developers on the phone....ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-83336620917050002822011-06-25T14:20:00.002-04:002011-06-25T14:30:45.067-04:00Nail biting sagaOccasionlly my neighbors tell me interesting stories about my children. The latest is a conversation Mrs. M had with Violet. To paraphrase (and use my poetic license- which I paid .25 cents for at Sears) A discussion about the grossness of nailbiting commenced. Violet's friend Mary Patricia recently broke her habit of nail biting after a visit to the pediatrician. Now Mrs. M's discussions over the years about germs from boys who potty and don't wash their hands was not enough to disuade Mary Patricia from her highly coveted nail tips. However when the pediatrician told Mary Patricia about a true case where a child ingested nails and then perforated her own stomach and had to have surgery and now has a huge ugly scar from it, she ceased all nail biting behavior (even the toe nails). This story was then relayed to Violet, whose response was: " I don't swallow them."<br />Well now that we cleared that up....do I want to know where she puts the highly covedted nail bitten tips?ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-16215250885145032422011-06-24T20:28:00.003-04:002011-06-24T20:40:26.790-04:00Finch EncounterIf you know me at all, you know that small creatures end up in my house all the time. From baby ducks, cardinals, wrens, turtles, tortoises, to purchased creatures such as geckos, hamster, and a tarantula. Well somehow I ended up with a zebra finch. This bird was not hand raised so it's almost as wild as the cardinals outside. He (McFinley) has been living in my bathroom for the past few months (about 3). Now when I say living in my bathroom, I don't mean in a cage. He has a cage of course, but he fails to use it. He prefers flying around my bathroom, flirting with himself in the mirror, making nests on top of my shower wall, and sitting on his perch in front of the bathroom window so he can watch the wild birds. Luckily I have found effective ways to deal with birdie droppings, not that there is that much. JP says that mcfinley's droppings are smaller than his buggers ( I know you just had a visual-boys are so gross). <strong><em><span style="color:#cc33cc;">Anyway the most amazing thing happened today</span></em></strong>. McFinley landed in my lap so he could eat some good seeds (hunger is an amazing motivator to get over fear). He must have sat there for 5 minutes eating. Then later when he was on his perch I lifted up his food dish and he landed on my <em>HAND</em> and ate two seeds. Taming the untame is a very exciting thing. This did take an amazing amount of time. I think I sat in the bathroom for 2 hours waiting for it to happen. It was worth every minute!!!ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-77966594072903719052011-06-21T10:23:00.003-04:002011-06-21T10:36:29.609-04:00Why I have more than one childSo here's a conversation I had with Violet the other day.<br />Back story:<br />KT was at a friends house, and she and Violet had been not getting along anyway.<br />But apparently arguing with your sibling is a pasttime at Casa de 'R' and when there isn't anyone to argue with, boss around and boss back meloncholy sets in.<br /><br />Violet: I'm Bored, I wish KT was here to play with.<br />Me: It's not KT's job to entertain you.<br />Violet: Yes it is, that's why we got her!!!<br />Me: ROFL!! (litterally)<br />Violet: Why are you lauging?<br />(puzzled look on her face)<br />Me: ROFLLLLLLL (and she still has no idea why I am laughing) more ROFL<br />Violet: What is so funny?<br />Me: (through tears of laughter) ...I couldn't explain it to you so you would understand how funny it is to me. (but I know my friends are going to bust a gut over this!!!!)ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-37248825885127512822011-06-20T20:23:00.002-04:002011-06-20T20:26:41.718-04:00I liedI lied when I said I was feeling confident about returning to blogging. I was feeling confident but not about blogging. These days are so crazy. And although I can tell people have visited and read, I don't get near enough comments to compel me to write often enough.<br />So you shy people out there, please write a comment.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-22255960698915498092011-01-04T19:01:00.004-05:002011-01-04T19:14:19.542-05:00Birth of a social WorkerWell I have been away, it's true. Between school, piano lessons, physical therapy for both girls, car pool, homework (mine and the kids) dinner, cleaning, Facebook, email, research, my new ebook reader and holidays my inner blogger was a miss. But I am starting to feel confident that I could possibly pick it up again.<br /><br />The latest development in my life was being accepted into the school of social work at some obscure university that I will not mention for fear of retribution after I criticize them for some inane detail such as marking the parking lots with the letter E. E for everyone right ???<br />Apparently E is not for everyone it's for faculty, faculty starts with an 'F' but you will not get a bunch of academics to agree to have an 'F' on their parking lot when they have spend their entire education, all 20 plus years avoiding that letter. So their alphaphobia (which is a serious OCD condition where certain people are terrified of particular letters) resulted in me getting a parking ticket. OK OK...I made up alphaphobia, but it was almost believable wasn't it. OK OK I didn't get a ticket, I got a warning. It's just as scary, but not quite as expensive.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-20050976328088301352010-07-02T16:20:00.001-04:002010-07-02T16:21:59.508-04:00collegeI have been taking a college course at the local university so I haven't been here in a while. Keep checking though!! I'll be back soon with tales of my tots!!!ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-75620014004326271062010-04-04T21:40:00.003-04:002010-04-04T21:52:15.954-04:00newest obsessionMy newest obsession is gardening, much to my husbands chagrin. I just have this thing with if I can plant it I can get FREE organic food. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">OK</span> not free, there is the soil, the plant, the water, the plant food, the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">neem</span> oil, the gardening tools, the raised bed itself, the garden storage box for all my goodies and the fact that some of them don't survive. But the sun...it's free, and sometimes the water is free and apparently ALL the labor. I mean why spend 25$ a week on fruit and salad if I can grow it myself ? <br /> It all started with those stupid bunnies. They have to have fresh greens daily. Kale is like .99 a bunch and they go through it in 3 days. But a Kale plant is 3.00 and it just keeps growing and growing. So those foolish bunnies were well fed on organic herbs and kale....herbs are easy to grow and they are prolific!<br /> So anyway I thought 'that KT of mine is a fruit monger', the girl must eat 20$ in fruit <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">every week</span> all by herself. So I ordered a concord grape vine...I figure it will grow enough that I can say, 'your snack is outside, go pick it'. Although with all that free access to fruit we may have some <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tummy aches</span> in our future. <br /> I also ordered an olive tree, the olives will ripen at the end of the summer to black. All three of my kids love black olives, and most critters don't appreciate them so I won't have to chase Oscar (the local 'coon) away from them. That's a definite plus!!ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-21500760241237893632010-02-07T11:50:00.004-05:002010-03-07T15:30:02.646-05:00The KettleIn honor of my grandmother, I am using my kettle this week. She actually reads my blog so maybe she'll see this (I love you gram!). I remember the kettle was always hot or about to be hot...the rumbling of the rolling boil of water, the sound of the whistle when it was ready, finally! I was never very patient. The water always made my hot chocolate too hot, and we never did figure out the right timing/milk/water combination to get the perfect temperature hot cocoa. I would always wait, impatiently, for it to cool...staring at the chocolatey concoction having to be patient was a real test of my self discipline, which wasn't very strong and so I always burned my mouth. Sometimes she would distract me with a game of rummy, thank goodness for cards. I remember playing 'Mary and May' I was always Mary, gram was always May. We pretended to be servers in a restaurants with difficult customers. This was probably good practice in dealing with my grandfather!!!<br /><br /><br />Evelyn Irene Vezina<br />1918-2010ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-85582423674627782302009-12-24T12:53:00.003-05:002009-12-27T09:04:51.251-05:00deciphering the codePresents have been purchased and wrapped for a few days. With three kids we can't keep them all in our room, nor can we trust them under the tree. So JP had this great idea of putting them in code. The gifts are addressed to Alpha, Beta and Charlie. The children are desperately trying to figure out the code, especially Violet. She somehow thinks she has cracked a small portion- she says Charlie must be KT because the last part of the word is 'lie' and KT lies a lot. It's so funny to hear them strain their brains, to figure out what the parents are up to. Ahhh....that is the way it <strong><em>should</em></strong> be.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-26562088887084003822009-12-20T19:54:00.002-05:002009-12-20T19:59:42.766-05:00Piano hiding in my garageI am not sure how else one hides a christmas piano except for in the garage. It's been there for a few weeks with a painting tarp over it. Violet finally inquired as to what "that large item was against the wall, in front of the freezer, where her dad parks" and I told her it was a tread mill for her dad for xmas. I figured that a tread mill still in a box and a box on it's side could be disguised as a piano, so why not. Don't uncover it, I don't want Daddy to find out what it is. Not so sure how to handle "mom, where's the treadmill for dad" but I'm thinking of "oh honey, it didn't work very well so I returned it".ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-22932487025628039592009-12-13T21:50:00.004-05:002009-12-13T21:54:59.677-05:00college?So how does one go to college to get an advanced degree while being the main care giver of three not so small people? I do not know. But I would really like to find out. Millions of women do it everyday, so I know that it is possible. It just might be a lot of sacrifice and hard work. I'm not real big on the hard work thing, that whole burning the candle at both ends is not my strong suit. Sacrifice....well as long as it's not sleep I think I can manage. Just imagine how interesting my blog will be if I can share some really crazy stories from school....ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-30313141990990410152009-12-03T19:21:00.000-05:002009-12-03T19:22:11.248-05:00The Girl effect<a href="http://www.girleffect.org/">http://www.girleffect.org/</a>ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-1244562384517908352009-11-23T19:54:00.003-05:002009-11-23T19:57:58.209-05:00Sarcasm....I think, due to recent events, that I have temporarily lost my snarky edge. Dr. Phil says sarcasm is the lowest form of humor....but I think that he might actually be wrong about this.<br />So here's the debate: If sarcasm is used to make someone feel bad, or has said affect on a person then it is low.<br />but if sarcasm is used to poke fun at self and life, and media, and politics, and your children, then why is it low??? Somebody tell me.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-68909946735475944522009-10-29T17:57:00.004-04:002009-10-29T18:23:26.184-04:00MY three stooges<p><object style="WIDTH: 330px; HEIGHT: 237px" width="330" height="237"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TG4BjZP-pDE&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TG4BjZP-pDE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>I had this bright idea how it would be so fulfilling to read under the stars with the fire going. Camping in your back yard. My small people brought blankets and pillows and then they started to read their little books. It was all so touching for about 5 minutes, then it turned into utter chaos.</p><p> </p><p> </p>ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-9707543937629283892009-10-24T22:25:00.006-04:002009-10-26T17:45:47.174-04:00sewing machineToday I whipped out my Singer. Whipped is an exaggeration because actually it was quite an event to pull it out of it's tight space and then get it to open. I haven't sewn anything in over a year, not because I don't like to sew but because it was inconvenient to get at and I still haven't hung any pictures on my walls of the house I have lived in for over a year so when would I have time to sew.<br />The point of what I am saying is I know how to operate a sewing machine and to sew by hand. And when my daughter Violet asked where did I learned how to operate a sewing machine I told her about Mrs "D" and Home Ec class in 8th grade. I fondly remembered the sewing room and my classmates Liz and Julie. I remembered making stuffed animals and chit chat. Then I remembered I am sending her to a school for the " <em>Arts</em> " they don't have Home Ec. Then it hit me <em>No one is going to teach my child to sew!!</em><br />I really don't understand why not either, I consider sewing an art. But apparently the Creation Foundation (founders of my girls school) do not. That means I have to teach them to sew. Can you see<em><strong> me</strong></em> teaching <em><strong>KT</strong></em> how to <strong><em>sew</em></strong>? Let me draw you a picture for those of you haven't had the pleasure. KT is my ADHD kid, she can't go upstairs without hurting herself, she <em>can't</em> get through a meal without spilling her drink, she can't sit still or sit straight, and I am going to give her a <em>needle</em> ?<span style="color:#000099;"> </span><em><span style="color:#000099;">Sure, if I want her to poke her eye out!!<br /></span></em><br /><br /><span style="color:#330033;">I think not!!</span> I will be paying those fine folks at <em>JoAnn fabrics</em> to teach her to sew, and believe me they will earn every penny!!!ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-5858755050312626152009-10-07T07:18:00.005-04:002009-10-07T12:19:02.649-04:00Halloween REALLY!!Halloween is my favorite all time holiday!!! And I am very defensive of it's reputation.<br /><br />I love all of my <strong><em>very</em></strong> Christian friends. However my <strong><em>anti</em></strong>Halloween friends need a little history lesson.<br /><br /><br /><br />Over time certain interpretations have become inaccurate. Halloween, which I believe, is the most misunderstood holiday of all time needs a little fact fixing. Yes Halloween was a pagan holiday (love to all my Pagan friends) it dates back to ancient celts. The idea was to celebrate the end of the harvest season. The scary costumes were to scare away the bad spirits so the next harvest would be healthy. All that scariness was to ward off evil. <strong><em>Sort of</em></strong> like Christian metals, and crosses, and holy water. I realize this is not exactly the Christian purpose of wearing a cross, or using holy water, or having a St. whoever metal but it's <em><strong>similar</strong></em>. It makes christians feel safe and closer to god. Pagans chose the other route, to scare off evil to be closer to god, to have healthy crops, to have a prosperous year. Because this was the end of the crop season the grasses and hay were becoming short in supply, this lead to moving livestock and slaughtering some farm animals and salting them to eat a later date, and to have at their big celebration meal. These were not 'animal sacrifice' or gifts to gods, but a necessity to avoid starvation of farm animals. The holiday Samhain, was a little like Thanksgiving. It was a big feast, a family gathering, a bonfire, a start of the new year etc. It was also a day believed to be where the spirit world and our world came very close to one another. Some left soul cakes to help our ancestors on their journey. There is nothing satanic about Halloween. In the Celtic world there wasn't a satan or a devil. Only mischievious spirits that some called evil.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.halloween-history.org/"></a>ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-63637968008408098972009-10-03T09:33:00.002-04:002009-10-03T09:50:53.138-04:00Snoring in Music classMy girls are taking singing classes at Music Matters. They are learning to read music and use their voice to hit notes. The teacher thought it would be a great idea to record their voices on tapes and then let them take the tapes home so they could listen to themselves. Except who actually owns a tape player? Well, not me. So I decided to purchase the archaic technology and the problem there is I am too cheap to spend 25.00 on technology that has such few uses. Instead I decide to use our mini digital recorder and send it to class with them. Digital recorders are small and very useful. For instance your child can read a story and then listen to themselves and see how they sound. They can verify if the story sounds right, meaning they said the right word and didn't just pick a word that looked right, and they can check their own pronunciation of sounds. Another use is proving to your spouse that he sounds like Chewbaca when he sleeps. In fact that was the first thing I used it for. <br /> On Wednesday miss KT took the digial recorder to her lesson. After a brief lesson with the recorder we thought she could operate it. After KT sang her heart out her music teacher hit the play button and what they hear ? Chewbaca!!!ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-86446795510370487172009-09-29T01:57:00.004-04:002009-09-29T02:11:19.411-04:00Dorm fees?Isn't it funny how a benign conversation about one thing can lead to another and then we have a problem? So Violet and I are having this conversation about money and it starts like this:<br />"Mom, can I take money out of my savings for my Halloween costume"<br />"No, that's dead money, it's for educational purposes..." I go on to tell her about the uses for that money. One of my examples was dorm fees. which lead to<br />"what's a dorm?" Which lead to me talking about my dorm and the fees which I think were like 800.00 a month or something. That's when it struck her, "What ? How am I going to save enough money for that? How much is 800 x 12? How am I going to pay for my cell phone bill and my computer?" And then tears came. She was so stressed out...and she's 9!!<br />I went on to tell her that she could live at home while she goes to the community college so she would have only two years of fees. She says she wants to go to PHCC for 4 years. So I explain that right now PHCC is only a 2 year college. Her last comment is that she hopes that in few years it will be a 4 year college. Then she closed her eyes and crossed her fingers and mumbled something. I think she was praying (her first prayer) to have the local community college be a four year college. Not that I think that's a bad prayer, it's just not what you expect from your 9 year old.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-80147166905660085802009-09-25T12:46:00.003-04:002009-09-25T12:48:02.759-04:00long timeI know I know it's been a long time. But my mommy is here and we have been visiting and so I have not been blogging. Real soon though, I will get back to blogging about the zoo.ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-71262683974552766742009-08-26T18:52:00.004-04:002009-09-02T13:49:29.125-04:00The science experimentViolet will be 9. Some days I feel like she is going on 29. She can really be an odd duck. For instance my little biologist wanted bugs for her birthday. What kind of kid wants bugs for her birthday? Mine of course. And not cute little butterflies either, no she wanted millipedes. Millipedes. I might as well open up a lab in my house. Hope I can get a discount on that mass spec. I think they are like 100 K. Maybe she can start small with a stereo microscope and some pH strips. I think I saw a soil testing kit at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lowes</span>. It's really tough living with these little scientists, you really have to think out of the box. Last night we dissected a sunflower. It all started when I established a bird feeding station in my yard. Through birdie taste tests we determined that our birds (cardinals, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">chickadees</span> and tufted titmouse) like the black oil sunflower seeds the best. So then came the question, 'where do sunflower seeds come from?' "From sunflowers" I said. She said, "<em>I know</em> but where are the seeds <strong><em>in</em></strong> the sunflower." I tried to explain but she just had more questions so we decided to plant the birdseed so I could demonstrate. I told my honey the next day about the conversation, but he had never plucked sunflower seeds out of a sunflower and didn't know what I was talking about. Fast forward a few months when the seeds finally flowered, it was sort of a thrill for him to see how it worked too. I guess not everyone has these experiences. I guess not everyone does science exploration. I figure Violet is a walking science experiment. She'll probably make me go broke in the process of filling up that noggin of hers (millipedes are 39.00 at Carolina Biological-which is where we order all her 'specimens' ie meal worms, crickets, darkling beetle, painted lady butterflies, and lady bugs). But still, I can't wait to see what she does for this world!ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014507985297242059.post-4970397508526056282009-08-20T20:39:00.002-04:002009-08-21T00:32:21.661-04:00Back to school!!It's coming!! Just hang in there. All will be right with the world when the small people get back on their yellow busses and disappear into the morning. Not a single peep until the return at the end of the day, piled high with papers and books and stains on their clothes. Ode to minivan meetup where excited munchkins pile into your car with their backpacks and complaints about lunches, mean kids, and teachers who play favorites. <br />How I will miss sleeping in. How I will miss my two hour coffee break on the swing outside my house.<br />It's back to the grind: cold cereal, packing lunches, a.m car loop, bus, pm car loop, homework, play, shower, dinner, clean up, bed.<br /><br /><em>Sleep fast wee ones, for we will do this all over again tomorrow.</em>ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411558954614641962noreply@blogger.com1