Bear of a Day and Recovery Tuesday, Nov 28 2006

Yesterday was a bear when it came to homeschool. One thing I know about Alex is that the key to getting him to work well is consistency, so taking an extra day off threw him. Then Hubby was home on vacation so he taught History and Science which was great until I sat down to do Math and Language, and Alex started to balk. Big time. Long story short he had a burst of downright disobedience and thereby lost his legos. We managed to get through the rest of what we had to do and then the rest of the day was okay. I am amazed that even after such a rough day I still could say that this is the right thing to be doing, the benefits are so obvious and compelling. I knew the next day would be better and it was.

Today, Hubby took Sam to and from preschool so Alex and I had quiet all morning and got everything done we needed to get done without any fuss. (He earned his legos back).

Tonight, we went to our zoo for the big Christmas light display they have. It was beautiful. Our secret is to get there early-around 3:30 or 4:00, wander around and see the animals in daylight and then work our way back through the zoo when it’s dark and leave while every one else is just getting there. It was a good time, but we’re all a little tired.

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For all you Snakes on a Plane Fans Monday, Sep 25 2006

I took Sam to the zoo this morning. I love going in the fall during the week. No crowds. Beautiful weather. And very active animals. Sam’s favorite today were all the chipmunks that were running all over the place gathering food for the winter.

But he also wanted to check out the reptile house so we headed there. There was a docent there holding a ground boa snake. You could touch it if you wanted. The docent also told us about the very large burmese python they have. I guess she’s been feeling a little grumpy because she’s getting ready to molt. (Don’t ask me how you know a snake is grumpy.) So they had to remove her new roomate. They had just recently acquired a male burmese python. His name….Samuel L. Jackson…in honor of the…uh, star… of the movie.

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Delightful Day Out. Thursday, Jul 6 2006

Brian had given me a gift certificate for a massage for our anniversary. I scheduled that for yesterday evening and then scheduled a needed haircut for the same morning and lunch with friends that same day. So it turned into Jennifer’s day out. I got my haircut and hit the mall for some shopping, headed up to meet my friends for lunch, then headed to Dublin to hit my favorite quilt store, grabbed some books at the library, grabbed a yummy bowl of clam chowder for dinner and got my massage, came home and cuddled up on the couch with book and glass of wine. Brian joined me and we reviewed our days with each other.

He spent the whole day with the boys. He made it a day all about them…made them pancakes for breakfast, took the to COSI to see the Star Wars exhibit, watched a movie with them and got pizza for dinner. They had a good day too.

The massage was wonderful, but I really think my favorite part of the day was hitting the Red Rooster Quilt Store. I got to spend two whole hours there. No kids. Just browsing to my heart’s content. I finally found a backing fabric for Sam’s bunny quilt and then I picked up the 15 needed fabrics to make small American Flag quilts. I bought enough supplies to make two-one to keep and one to sell. I am hoping maybe I can start selling a few creations to help support my fabric habit

Thank you, Hubby, for a wonderful day.

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Sam’s Request (or a fabulous trip to the park) Wednesday, May 24 2006

A couple of weeks ago Sam chose as one of his rewards to be a trip to our local nature preserve. We couldn’t go at the time because of weather, but we let him make another choice and told him we would still go to the park as soon as the opportunity arose. Well, we (all 4 of us) made the time to go today because Sam was still requesting this trip daily.

We had a blast. He loves to go down to the river (the Olentangy if you want to know) and throw rocks in the water. Both boys do… let me rephrase…all three of them do. Me, I like to look at the nature. We were all very well rewarded in our pursuits.

Spotted today:
-Lots and lots of wildflowers
-A snail about the size of a nickel. His shell was transluscent so you could see his body tucked up inside.
-Tons of rocks and shells and lots of water in the river and lots of trees.
-Shelf fungus-big mushrooms on dying trees that look like shelves sticking out.
-Deer, raccon and squirrel tracks in the mud
-A squirrel just across from a little bit of standing water. He was rooting and eating and didn’t much care we were there.
-Two downy woodpeckers going back and forth to a neat hole in a dying tree. And there was much chirping coming from inside the hole. I’ve seen these kind of woodpeckers before, but never seen a nest and certainly not seen them going to it.
-A baltimore oriole and its cup shaped nest high high up in a sycamore tree.
-A wren poking in and out of it’s nest in a dead tree right on the river bank.
-A red bellied woodpecker on a tree.

We had a great time and are going to try to go back again more often.

Here’s the oriole…look for the orange and black spot.

Here’s the squirrel:

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Momma’s Taking us to the Zoo today…. Monday, Apr 24 2006

I did. I took the boys to the Columbus Zoo this morning. It’s getting to be field trip season and that is the worst time to go to the zoo. Thousands of children and fewer parents. Craziness. So we snuck in early this morning. We visited the flamingos, the aquarium, the manatees (and had to find the turtle that lives there), the kangaroos, the lorikeets (though we didn’t get to feed them…that is a hoot!) and the australian nocturnal animals exhibit (lots of strange animals you’ve probably never heard of) which included bats! It’s dark in the nocturnal house so the animals are active. They must put the lights on at night so they have their days and nights mixed up. What else did we see…Um, lots of turtles, snakes and lizards at the reptile house, the African grey parrots, and the lions.

On a whim we went to McDonalds for lunch. The closest Mcds to the zoo is actually near Hubby’s work. So we called him on the cell phone and he came to meet us for lunch. We all enjoyed getting to see him midday. I’m not good at doing things on a whim, but this one sure worked out well!

Just for fun here’s a picture of the last time I fed the lorikeets. You get a little cup of nectar substitute and the birds just come and eat right out of your hand. Not a good thing if you don’t like birds.

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Mmmm, Farmer’s Market Saturday, Jul 9 2005

I worked out this morning and then went to our closest Farmer’s Market down in Worthington. This works out because the library we use is down there too so I could make two stops in one. I didn’t pick up too much-green beans to go with fish dinner, beets (which I’ve never made myself, but I’m going to try), a cucumber for salads, tomatos and a half pint of raspberries which weren’t quite as sweet as I’d hoped. Maybe next time I’ll try their golden kind.

I have fond memories of red raspberries. My maternal grandfather had a huge patch of them. I could eat my way through them. Oh, so sweet and sun warmed. He had so many that they would make and bottle raspberry juice. It was almost like a concentrate.
He was an amazing gardner. He had two very large gardens-one at his home in town and another at his cottage in the country. I don’t remember what all he even grew except beans, dill and gooseberries (eww). It is unfortunate that I lost him before I learned to love gardening. I’m sure he could have taught me so much. He had so many that they would make and bottle raspberry juice. It was almost like a concentrate.

I lost my grandmother, too, before I was old enough to appreciate her gifts. They died within 6 months of each other-her first.
But she was a seamstress. She was Polish and was trained there to be a wonderful seamstress (a gourmet cook too, though that was a talent she gave up when she married my grandfather who only liked the peasant food). She ran a bridal shop when my mother was young. Her name was Kazmiera. Her friends called her Casey so it was Casey’s Bridal Shop. She made dresses and did alterations to ones there. She was beautiful when she was young-I have a picture of her with her hair in braids, twisted up on the sides of her head, working in the shop. Somewhere around here I have a matchbook from there too. It was closed when she her heart became too sick. She had one of the first open heart surgeries back in the early 60s, but she was never quite the same after that. Depression, mostly.

But, this morning was about sunshine and friendly vendors who work hard and lovingly to produce what I bought. And then I went to the library. I returned some things and picked up a few more things. I love being able to reserve books on line and then they are waiting for me to check out. But I also wandered around looking for a few other things on my list. I have my husband concerned that he is going to come home to find a bee hive in the backyard as I brought two more books on beekeeping today. Also, some other things. Alex, 5, has discovered Beverly Cleary’s Henry Huggins, so I brought home a couple more of those. Hubby and I are grateful for a break from all things Redwall. We just finished reading him book 7. They are wonderful books, but they all have very similar plots, lots of animals who talk with different accents (Moles say things like “Burr, Okey. Oi’d liken me sum a dat deeper’n'ever pie.”)
It’s wonderful to come home with so many goodies and only have spent a sawbuck.

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Wissles, Wissles Saturday, Jun 25 2005

Which is how our 2 1/2-year-old son says “whistles.” We went on a “field trip” tour of the American Whistle Factory. They are the only American manufacturer of metal whistles. They make about a million whistles a year in a very small building here in Columbus. The owner took gave us the tour and even ran a couple of the machines to show us how things work. Very neat. My dad used to work in steel mills and the die presses looked very familiar. I think it was neat for Alex, 5, to see something made from start to finish-even packaging. Sam, 2, liked the vibratory-a big bin filled with green plastic hershey kisses that vibrate to buff off any extra solder. Hubby was most intrigued by the unique machinery designed by a 7o something man especially for the needs of this company. And at the end of the tour everyone got a whistle, a safety tip and a lanyard in the color of your choice.

One fun story from the tour: The owner had an idea a couple of weeks before a Superbowl. He thought that if the winners get their gold rings, shouldn’t the officials get gold whistles? So he managed to get a call into the head honchos of the Superbowl and gave them his idea and they agreed. So now the officials get gold whistles in a beautifully carved box at a banquet the night before the game.

Their next project are gold plated whistles embossed with a rose and set with a cubic zirconia diamond. The ultimate safety whistle for ladies. They’re working on a deal to sell them on a shopping channel.

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