Because I am in denial and have done a bunch of calls this morning..

I'm doing the meme that Jacqui tagged me with

Six Little known/weird things about me.

1. I have had my rabies shots. I was years old when I little furry dog crossed the street and bit me on the leg. The owners were out of town and the dog's careperson could not be found. The dog went off for testing and I got shots in the tummy.

2. I was once allergic to chocolate. Same age, I sat down and ate a one pound bag of M&M's in about an hour. (To keep my brother from eating them) It resulted in an impaction, a stomach pumping, and a sensitivty to chocolate that lasted for years. I could only eat white chocolate (not really chocolate) that you only found at Easter. I was so happy to see those little white bunnies every year.

3. Although I will touch/hold all manner of 4 legged, 2 legged, and no legged animals. I am totally skeeved out by anything with more than 4 legs.
Irrationally skeeved out about them. As in I won't step on the critter because I can't handle the crunch. And don't get me started on grubs. I have had grub nightmares thanks to some very old firewood.

4. I am afraid of heights. Open heights in particular. I created quite a scene at Grandfather mountain, Home of the tallest suspension bridge. Not only would I not cross it, but I stood at the entrance panicking because Zoodad had taken my children across.

5. I have extra teeth. Freaky. The women in my family tend to do this. I lost a set of molars twice.

6. Every dog or cat I have had in my entire life (10 total) has been an abandoned animal. They have all been found or rescued. Two cats were rescued by others. The other 7 animals were found by my family.
Our perpetual puppy was found on our wedding night. He had Parvo and we postponed out honeymoon by 2 days until we could get vet care.

So what about you?
I'm not going to tag anyone but you're welcome to tell me your little known oddities here or on your own blog.

Not-so-good-stuff at the Zoo

I'll have to be cryptic. But we got some pretty bad news here at the zoo this weekend.

I won't be posting much for the next few weeks until we get all our ducks in a row.

We in shock and denial but trying to prepare while hoping that it's just a false alarm. (I think that's the denial part.)

I'll post the whole deal once we notify all the people who need to know first.

I can't even make a prayer request yet. Except maybe for strength, peace, and us to open to whatever God has planned for us.

I would blog but the zoo has been boring.

Seriously boring.
Nothing at all of interest or even funny.
MIL had a stint in the hospital. Same issue as the previous times, same battery of test. They still can't find the problem.
She spent the night and then we took her back to the farm on Wednesday. That gave the boys a chance to chase goats, fed the pony, and blow dandylions. (or as J did by accident, inhale them.)
Thursday, my mom and great-nephew came over for a visit while I began my yearly "Oh heck, what program do we want to use next year. I'm throwing it all out and buying Abeka" planning.

Today we did school stuff and I pulled weeds.
Big fun here at the zoo.

I also made a about a dozen phone calls about A's medicaid status and the ITBS testing that I'm coordinating.

And I'm wearing my old glasses. Everyday. All day.
My new glasses haven't come in yet. I'm kind of bummed about that but it's good in a way. It's gives me a chance to get used to wearing them before I get the stronger lens.
My ophthalmologist appointment is April 3rd. My sister has to accompany me (That's her job. She's always the designated driver.) because my eyes will "dilated like crazy and monitored in case my pupils lock."
Joy.

Well I fear I've made enemies with the new family.

I put up a sign to handle the constant visits.

The little guy was coming down to play at 12:30 on a school day. That's just a bit too early.
So I put up a sign so he would know when play time was and when we were still doing school or family stuff.
That's been working out fine.

But today I yelled.

We have two dogs. One, Stamper, is our "baby." We found him in the road, on our wedding night. He had parvo virus and was slowly dying. He lacks any normal dog sense and lives in perpetual puppy-dom. He's and part chow. But he has also inherited a shepherd's hip displasia. One hip was operated on and the ball was removed from his femur. The other hip is only 20% in socket but we couldn't put him through a second surgery. He's also an old dog. He'll be 12 this year and he's getting arthritis.

So when I saw a 7-year-old boy sitting on him like he was a little pony, I lost it.
I sent the little friend home and the older boys had to go upstairs to clean their room. They should have had the sense and the fortitude to tell their friend not to sit on their old pet.
(When I told ZooDad of the incident, he asked, "And what was Stamper doing? He was just taking it, wasn't he. He'll be limping tomorrow."
Yeah, the sweet, dumb boy was just taking it. He would never dream of complaining.)

As a precaution, I warned all the boys in the yard against sitting on the cat, hamster, and fish. It was a "Don't eat the daisies" moment.

I'll have to damage control, I'm sure.
But if you ever come over to play, please don't let the kid sit on my poor dogs.

Oh WOW, oh wow, oh wow, wow, wow, wow!

My college roomie is coming to visit next week.
This is my ultra funny roommate who tolerated my college antics for 2 years.
We haven't seen each other in more than 10 years. He parents live about an hour from me and she is coming for a family event and then driving to visit me and all my men.
She's going to be a hit with the boys. She works on the Cassini project for JPL (the Mars Rover people.) And rehabs seal and sea lions in her spare time. She plays a mean flute too. Cool huh?

Now I just have to get the house all ready for guests and get psyched up for the visit.
Oh my gosh! I am so excited.

So I can't see

I'm far sighted. I knew that. I have an astigmatism. I knew that too. But apparently, I've been cheating my eyes for so long that I am losing my far vision also. Or so my eye doc says. I've got new glasses on order, but they aren't the strength I really need. My eyes can't handle the correction I need so this in the middle ground for the next year or so.

Oh, and I am at risk for developing acute angle glaucoma. So I can't do a full dilation and have to see a ophthalmologist to see if he wants to do a pre-emptive iridectomy. My mom also has this. She's also had iridectomies on both eyes. Usually, if you are prone to this eye problem, it develops as you get older. It's a fast acting glaucoma and you can lose all eyesight in 24-72 hours if the pressure gets bad.

But my iris already has a low angle and last week I was having eye "headaches" bad enough to make me feel nauseous.

Joy.

But I have cute new glasses on order.
****It's not a state of denial. Some people are worriers. I prefer making a plan. As long as I have a plan and know what is going to happen, I'm all good. I'm in the "do what you can and then don't worry" camp of people. Plus stress increases eye pressure.

I'll give him a week.

Then we'll have to start setting some limits.

We have a new little boy in the neighborhood. He can see our driveway and front yard from his yard. He's also an only child so my 4 boys are like his first trip to a candy store.

Oh and he's homeschooled too.

Yeah.

He's been over every day since Saturday. Some days, twice. I'm assuming he gets finished with his work a lot quicker than my brood does, because he's come over right at 2:00 once.
The boys like playing with him though. It's just that we have a very busy life. Monday we have baseball from 4:45 to 7:30. Tuesdays are speech at 10 and 11 and then scouts from 2:30 to 4:30. Wednesdays we go to OT and leave the house at 12:15 and don't get back until 3. Thursdays, is OT at our house for an hour and then more speech Monday morning.
That's not even counting our support group activities and field trips, visits to my mom's, and school. We're not just homeschoolers. We are van-schoolers, waiting room-schoolers, mom's house schoolers, and sitting on the grass outside the public school-schoolers. We're flexible but I do like a little privacy.

I haven't met mom yet.

Update: Two balls hit over the fence into the brambles of the woods today. One lost yesterday. I can't afford to buy 3 baseballs each week.

Remind again why homeschooling is a bad thing?

This is long so draw up a chair.
Yesterday, we had one of those unfortunate encounters while A and M were at therapy.

Yep, some well intentioned fellow therapy-getter asked, "Why aren't you boys in school today?' For one brief moment I thought the following diatribe: "Excuse me. Do you see me... the mother of these children, sitting here? If you have any questions about my children, you should direct them to me only. I have taught my children about the dangers of strangers and YOU, being well aware of all the things going on in the world, should know better than to try to undermine my parental authority by tempting them into conversation with a stranger. And while we are on that point, why should I and my children have to answer questions about our private business. I would never dream of asking you why you weren't at work today. I would assume that you were a responsible adult and capable of making decisions for you own and your families wellbeing."

I'm a fast thinker.

But I didn't say any of that. I just grinned because my 10 year old, who was very busy doing his math work when the person interrupted him, answered..."I am at school. I'm homechooled."

I knew immediately from the pursed lips of the stranger that this was the worst answer my son could possibly give. Thankfully, my son had a question about multiplying multi-digit numbers with decimals and the explanation lasted until the annoyed person was called back to therapy.

Yes, I know that many people have problems with homeschooling.
My children will be sheltered.
My children will not learn what they need to know.
I can't teach them what they need to know.
My children won't learn how to deal with bullies.
My children will miss out of school friends.
My children will be socially awkward.

Homeschooling is not at all what some people think it is.

It's impossible to shelter children these days. And I really don't try. They watch the news so they have some idea of atrocities that occur around the world. They listen to mainstream music, though I do seek out music without profanity and overt sexual references. But I don't protect them any more than a parent should protect a child.

They aren't missing anything academically. Well, I take that back. My children are unversed in most of the political correctness and dumbed down curriculum that is rampant in our school system. My 10 year old has read MLK Jr's "I have a dream speech" instead of being fed bits and pieces of it by teachers who may not have read the whole thing themselves. (I'm still reeling from the "I have a dream that you will learn your math facts." poster that is still on the wall of the school. I just find it so offensive.)
We have this wonderful opportunity as homeschoolers. I get to teach to mastery. That means, if my kids don't learn it...we don't move on until they do. No child gets left behind at our house. There are no cracks to fall through. They get individualized private instruction in all areas with programs tailored to meet their needs.

And I think I can teach them what they need to know. Let's just pretend that I didn't have degree in Biology and a minor in Organic Chemistry with all the math classes that a science degree calls for. Let's also pretend that I don't have any experience in teaching children ages 5 through 16. School was not that hard. I mean really. not. that. hard. I managed to graduate from high school with what I would have to assume was enough high school knowledge to make it in the world. If I did not have enough high school knowledge...I shouldn't have that lovely blue and orange diploma. I should know enough to impart that hard won wisdom upon the shining faces of my numerous offsrping.
Ok, ok, ok...assume I didn't learn enough. We have access to libraries, internet, magazines, and other educated people. If my children can't figure it out and I can't figure it out, I think we can manage to find someone who can.

My children do learn how to deal with bullies and pushy people. We get lots of experience in dealing with them in the waiting rooms, grocery stores, and other public spaces. But they don't learn how to deal with these annoying people by watching other children (who don't know how to deal with bullies either.) My children get to watch how I and my husband handle these people who have overstepped their boundaries. They see us stand up for what we feel is right. They see us hold our tongue when pushed and apologize when we loose our composure. They get to see the ways to respond before they are put into the situation. They never have to fend for themselves.

As for the rest...the socialization problem...it's not a problem. My kids have friends. In fact, they keep too busy sometimes.
Right now my "unsocialized and awkward" children are in the front yard playing with 2 friends in the neighborhood. Currently, there are 6 boys and two girls who just stopped by to join the game of basketball. Everyone is playing wonderfully even though my children are ages 10 through 2. The brothers are looking out for each other and their friends are OK with that. Sometimes they even bring their siblings along too. In our yard no one is allowed to exclude. You play with everyone or you go home.

So I have 4 boys who have great friends, some of which live in the house with them. They have sports and scouts to round out their experiences. They have an education that meets their individual needs. They get to learn how to handle the ills of society by observing from a safe distance and modeling behavior. They get to spend time with family on our own schedule instead of one dictated by the state.
And none of them has a desire to wear designer clothes.

And homeschooling is a bad thing?

I'm done.

I have suceeeded on my goal.

I am done with the massive hat. I have reached my Olympic goal.
UPDATE**
Pictures are now on my knitting blog. The link is on the right, if you want to take a peek.

Those 10 days went flying by...

***Updated because I found my flash card reader.***

Ok, let's see. Recap of the last ten days. Think of it as a Cliff notes version of life at the Zoo.
I and 2 of the kids got and got over a cold and stomach issues.

Baseball camp:
J had a baseball camp with 3 minor league ball players. He really enjoyed himself and learned a lot. I found out that a. the boy can hit a pitched ball better than a machine pitch and b. it takes about four hours for a frozen behind to warm up again.
5 hours out in 40 degrees, windy, overcast skies shows true dedication as a parent. I spent the time working on ZooDad's hat and wearing Mom's hat to stay warm.

7 speech and OT sessions:
Going well. A had a high holy duck fit when the new pre-school therapist showed up at the house. It was nice for someone in school authority to see that side of him. Open defiance is rare for him but BOY is it ugly.
St Linda had an episode at one session and miraculously fixed herself once again. Chrysler Dude and I may have uncovered the cause but it's not a fixable issue. Crazy van.

Valentine's day: I got a skin for my ipod video from the boys. I also downloaded a whole bunch of chick music and podcasts.

House: Was clean but now I have a mountain of laundry to fold. Carpets are clean though. I had Duraclean come and do them. Those people are wonderful. $100 and two rooms, two halls, one set of stairs and the top landing are all sparkling. All the UCS's (Unidentified carpet stains) are gone.
This is so much better than me doing it.

Knitting:
ZooDad's massive hat had a catastophe due to my figgling around with the pattern but I think I may have pulled that one out. I should finish it in the next few days. I've had to rewrite the whole pattern to accommodate thinner yarn and a bigger head. This is the same Cascade Quatro yarn from the last hat. #8 needles in the round. This will eventually have two jester's braids with tassels.










I started sock class with Penny. I'm working on a new sideways sock with some wild purple variations.

This is Lorna's Laces Watercolor and some funky purple. That's waste yarn from a provisional cast on. Thankfully that lovely yarn will go away. #1 DPNs. ONES!!! They are ridiculously thin. If I get through these socks without breaking a needle...it will be a miracle. I hope to get the other sock panel done before class next week. I have two skeins of the watercolor, so I can work both socks at once.









Cub Scouts:
Oh my. Pine wood derby was Saturday. (We made the cars Thursday and Friday. I stuck the wheels on Saturday morning.) Both boys won first place in both of their dens. J won second place in the whole pack and M took third.
I was shocked. All the parents just looked at me. Thankfully, all I really did was polish the axles. You can tell by the boys' cars that I did not make them for them. They weren't exactly pretty but they sure were fast. M was especially ecstatic. His goal for this year was to just make it over the finish line. His first car had some clearance issues and got stuck on the track. J's car is the alligator. He carved it himself. M's is the red. He did all that sanding and painting. BTW...The green circle is Uranus. Ha, ha, ha, ha.

Cake making:
My great niece's party was Sunday. She wanted a princess cake with pink and purple butterflies. So imagine if you will (until such a time when I can upload pictures.)a small wedding cake with flowers and candy butterflies...all done in Barbie Pink and Purple. M's only comment was, "Ugh....too girly." The birthday girl was thrilled beyond words. All she could do was gasp and smile.
All the other great nieces and nephews have put in requests for their own cakes. (There are 7 of them and one niece on ZooDad's side.)

Why children are fabulous entertainment

Baby S is 2 years and months old.
He talks.
He really talks.
He carries on full conversations, sometimes with just himself.

He was upstairs while his brothers were outside playing. Apparently, he was watching everything that was going on outside.
I heard him upstairs yelling:
"Hey Brothers. Hey, What you doing?
Hey Angel. (The dog)
Angel, you eat a dog bone?
Stamper! (The other dog)
Stamper, you eat a dog bone.
Hey Stamper, you eat it all.
Stamper! Stamper!
You done?
Hey Stamper.
I know you hear me Stamper."

I finally suggested that he go outside and speak with the dogs directly.
"But I have no shoes. I have no socks. I have on my pants though. Hey....I stink too. You change my diaper? No...no...It's just gas."

He is currently beside me playing with little Rescue heroes as I type. Full running commentary.
"walk, walk, walk
Nope, still too far to go.
Pshooo (shooting noise)
I got the silly bad guy.
You dead Silly bad guy?
Oh no, a space ship.
Help, help
Yeah space ship you hear me saying help.
Help me get down. It's too far to walk.
Pshoom, pshoom. (space ship noises)
Thanks for the ride.
Do you know the way to the mountain?
You fly right over that mountain
You'll see the silly bad guy.
I shot him.
He's dying, dying, dying.
He won't get better."

I smell a sci-fi channel screenplay. I guarantee it would be better than that English made were-wolf movie they showed last year.

The flame

Opening ceremonies.

Oh how I love the Olympics. ZooDad hates the Olympics. He has a special hatred for Ice dancing and Rhythmic gymnastics. Thankfully we have DVR and I can just record everything and then watch it when ZooDad is at work.

I love the opening ceremonies best though. All those athletes, so proud to wear their countries' colors. Full of hope. Dedicated. All set to do their very best for themselves and their countries.

Most of these proud men and women won't ever see the medal stand. They knew this before they even arrived in Italy. But they still came to do their best. Citius, Altius, Fortius. That's all they are shooting for. A medal is just gravy.

One more...

J had a birthday a few weeks ago. I totally missed my chance to wax poetically about his birth 10 years ago. But frankly, I don't remember much of it and what I do remember is hysterical and a total 180 of a natural homebirth. So I will spare y'all the details.

The kid turned 10 and much fun was had.
And we had cake.
A dragon cake to be more specific. J had requested a black dragon but I have already learned the lesson taught by black food coloring.
So we compromised on a chocolate dragon.
And here he is.

Now just look at this dragon.
He has quite an expression on his face. He looks a bit morose or it might be a case of indigestion...as if he is saying with his sad dragon eyes..."Wow! I can't believe I ate the whole herd."

Now don't be fooled by the small picture. You can't appreciate the scale of this cake. That body was made from a 10" pan cut in half. His eyes are full sized cup-cakes. His scaly armor is made from candy melts. and those pupils are M&M's.


He was a mighty cake dragon. And we ate him all up. If I ever make another dragon cake, well let's just say I learned quite a bit from this monster.

More knitting

So you might wonder. Why does the woman have a knitting blog while she still posts all that knitting junk here instead. It would be because I am inherently too lazy to have 2 blogs. I can't really compartmentalize my crazy life enough to have two separate blogs. It all kind of runs together. Case in point: This is supposed to be a homeschool blog and just how much homechooling do I actually talk about?

So bring on the knitting.



Here's Mom's finished hat. This is what she asked for. Brown cotton, plain Jane, roll brim hat. After much cajoling and me attempting to photograph myself, I finally got one of the boys to model the "girl's hat."

So there it is ...in all it's brown, rolled brim glory. In fact it has a serious brim on it. My Mom could actually unroll it down to cover her chin if she were so inclined. I kind of got crazy with the stockinette.
Specs: Two strands of Tamany Tweed cotton done on #8 DPNS. This is the hat that I was doing on #5's and then frogged it all out because it was the hat that would not end.




Same kid, different hat.

(sidenote: All of my kids have these blue eyes. It's rather shocking. The baby's are almost crayon blue. I have golden hazel eyes and ZooDad's are like chocolate. Gotta love those recessive genes.)

Here's ZooDad's hat that is way too small for his massive head. It stretches like crazy but it's just too snug. So J has commandeered it and I am knitting a new hat (my Olympic challenge) for ZooDad in the exact same yarn.

cascade Quatro on #8's. I love the #8 don't I? This yarn knits up so easy. Even the dark colors are easy to see the stitches.

So there's all my knitting news. Tomorrow, the knitting Olympics starts and you'll be overrun with knitting news.
Just what you wanted right?

My Possessed Van: Part Three...Linda is Back

Back in October and November, I told the tale of my van and its...um...odd behavior.

The van has had a history of unusual problems. First of all, there is the automatic door that might or might not close when you want it too. The same door has a habit of not giving the right away to people when it is closing. Like some Detroit Chicken game, the door just decides that it is closing regardless of what obstacle is in its way. And let me tell you, it can use its 20 pounds per square inch of pressure in the most efficient way. Most times the door loses, but every now and then, I am forced to concede that it is just too powerful for me.

Then there was the window incident where the window would not roll down and then spontaneously fixed itself. Oddly enough the same door had a lock issue. I never mentioned it...or maybe I did. I know I grumped about it quite a bit in Real Life. Anyway, the "unlock" button stopped working. And you had to either unlock it with the key or reach over. Either way it was a pain in the butt.
That fixed itself too. One day, it just stopped working and then one day, it just worked.
Weird? I think so.

Oh and we can't forget the day it stopped parking. That one was fun to explain to ZooDad and the guys at the Chrysler Fix-em-up shop. No one believes you when you say your van just won't park.

And I know for a fact that I didn't even bring up that the thermostat just froze in the open position leaving me with a van that never warmed up (the little engine pointer stayed on "C.") and lacking all manner of heat. It took the guys 2 trips to the shop to figure out that lovely little problem last week. Even after I told them that it was the thermostat.

So, just imagine the look on my face today.
At speech at the school as usual on Tuesday mornings.
With the boys doing school work and listening to SOTW on CD.
Just imagine my face when the CD player went dead after 20 minutes.
Dead.
No power.
Then I instinctively turned the key to hear... "click, click, click, click."
It was all I could do to keep the flood of profanity from erupting from my mouth.

It was Deja' Vu. I had lived that very moment. Heck, it hadn't even been long enough for me to get my oil changed again.

I got out of the van and stomped and flailed my arms, scaring the dickens out of the custodial worker taking out the trash. (Crazy homeschool mom.) Then I called ZooDad who made me do the whole "start the van" thing again. (Didn't work.) Then called my guy at the Chrysler place, (They know my voice. They know my van. They know my children.) to let them know that I was returning once more with my van ASAP and that I was not happy.

By the time, ZooDad arrived to rescue me....the van started right up.
Yep...another Chrysler miracle. If my van were a nun, she'd be a saint by now.

But I wasn't falling for it this time. I took it straight to the shop, straight to the manager and had a loooooooong discussion about the fact that my van stops working and the fact that is miraculously and disturbingly starts working again.

They think they know the problem now. Some regulator from the battery to the rest of the van. It should be ready by lunch tomorrow. I sure hope that's it because my van will be paid off next month and I plan on driving that bad girl into the ground.
Even if the face of Jesus fogs up in my rear window.

Saint Linda...Patron Saint of the mini-vans.

Swatched, designed and all ready to go.

I'm all set for the Knitting Olympics. (I know this should go on the knitting blog...but I clicked this one, so there ;P

I'm making another hat for ZooDad. I finished his first one and even with the massive amount of K2,P2 ribbing, it barely fits his massive noggin.

So I am starting a new hat, designed just for him.
I planned to do the Rebel, Rebel hat from the Lion Yarns book of hats. (picture to come later) That's the one hubby picked out. It has cables up the sides that turn into knitted braids that end in two (like pigtails) tassels on the top of the hat. It will be absolutely ridiculous on ZooDad's head.

The problem was that I didn't have any chunky weight yarn that ZooDad liked nor did I have #10.5 DPNs. My hat plan was foiled. (I have too significant of a yarn staff to justify buying more yarn right now.)

So I swatched a few rounds of Cascade 220 on #8 circular needles to determine how many stitches I would need to go around ZooDad's head. (104 with a little stretching on the ribbing) Then I swatched out the cables to see how to do it and rewrote the whole pattern to accommodate the smaller yarn and increased amount of stitches.
Now I am all set to go.

In fact, the project seems that it just might be a bit too easy. I mean, this is supposed to be a challenge. Something that is to push us to go beyond our level of expertise.
So I have a back-up Olympic challenge. I have cable socks (Never done any patterned socks) ready to go too. I plan to knit them on 2 circular needles (which I have also never done) at the same time. (New for me too.) I've already swatched that yarn and rolled two little balls.
The swatching went well. I'm right on gauge. The rolling of the little balls was a fiasco. I need a ball winder.
Since I don't have one and had never made two balls from one...I pulled out the whole skein. (Picture that mess)
And then folded the two ends and made one ball with two strands. Cut the end and unwound the ball into two piles. (twice the mess) And finally wound each ball separately.
Next time I will just buy two skiens and make two pairs of socks. It was bad. The yarn made it through but my nerves were shot.

Just letting you know

According to the official Zoo Schedule, The following dates in February are free (not counting our regular school stuff): 9th, 20th, and 27th. Every other day is booked up. Some are double booked.
Yep...To quote the Veggies..."I'm busy, busy...dreadfully busy."

I'm looking at the calendar and wondering how it's all going to happen.
sniff...sniff
I smell a challenge.
I Loooooooove a challenge.

I know it's big

It's really big. I'm sorry.
Photobucket is having some sizing issues and I'm too lazy to go upstairs and fire up the Harrier so I can use Photoshop.
Just scroll past the family. But while you are doing that, please notice just how close to the water my family is standing. We saw two alligators that day. TWO! One was about 25 feet from the location of the sign.

Thankfully, we didn't feed any alligators and came home with all four kids.

The kid has surpassed me

We have several bird feeders on our deck, right outside a bank of kitchen windows. I love having little feathers friends and I'm a sucker for a pretty brass bird feeder. Our yard also backs up to a Wetland habitat with a large open field that draws lots of non-bird feeder types.
So the Boys have grown up watching our daily visitors. A couple of Christmases ago, J was given an Audubon Bird Guide and the NG Field Guide to Birds. These really help cement a love for casual birdwatching. And they made it much harder for me to let the feeders run empty.

Both books are lacking front covers now and the two oldest boys have become quite proficient at picking out the important details needed for identification. My MIL has watched in wonder as 6 pairs of cardinals have perched all around the deck. (She never gets them on the farm and they are her favorites.) Lately, we've had Red-Bellied Woodpeckers at the feeders and picking at bugs between the deck boards.
It's quite entertaining to see a big woodpecker trying to perch on a feeder that the Cardinals barely fit on.
One morning we awoke to a Blue Heron in the back yard. We often see Turkey Vultures riding the thermals in great packs. We occasionally have a family of Canadian geese stop by but none live in the wetland. Red Tailed Hawks search for rodents, as does Max the Cat...but he seems to specialize in moles. Fat Mourning Doves sit on the Deck Rails waiting for food to drop. They've learned that they are just too awkward to even try to perch on the feeders.
We see Robins hunting for worms, Little Black-capped Chickadees hopping nervously, and Field Sparrows have claimed our front porch as prime nesting real estate.
Thrashers, Warblers, Sprarrows...all eating and fighting around the back deck.

So today I looked outside and spied something I hadn't seen before. (or so I thought.) I yelled for J to come and see this new little bird with black on the top, white on the bottom, and an orange stripe under its wing.

"Mom...It's just a female Tufted Titmouse. They come all the time."

Shoot. How could I miss a Tufted Titmouse

The sword has shifted slightly

It's still hanging up there but the position has shifted slightly.

Edited to add obscure lyrics to relate to the obscure mythical reference: "Oh Woe is me...My life is a misery." 100 ZooPoints to whomever can name that particular song. 50 for the mythical reference.

The school system has decided to provide OT/Pre-school readiness services to A one hour a week. AT HOME! Woohoo! And if the school person feels his need is too great, they will add services from an Occupational therapist...AT MY HOME!

No added running around. So we're back to just running around on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'm so happy. Happy that he will get services and happy that they will come to me. It's a big relief.

Here's a bit for my "A cracks me up" file.
The other day he told me that when he's a Dad, his children will pick out their own names. I was kind of heart broken for a moment. Don't you like your name? It was my Daddy's name. It was a wonderful name and one to be proud of. Why don't you want to name your own children names that are special too?
"But I don't KNOW any names. So they can just name themselves."
Hee, hee, hee.

When I asked him what he would call these children until they were old enough to actually name themselves, he replied, "I'll call them Baby, Little Man, and Boo." (Our terms of affection for the boys.) Everyday, he talks about his "children that will have to name themselves." The speech therapist even brought it up. When I explained it to her, she didn't even try not to laugh.

You should hear his plan for their rooms, wall colors, and TV situation. He's got it all planned out...except names.