April Fools Prep

A couple years ago I made an April Fool's meal for the kids, and they loved it. I didn't have time to do anything last year, but this year I tried to plan ahead. I planned out a couple things and left today mostly free so I could put everything together. I don't think the kids will be fooled by anything this year, but I think they'll have fun with it. Danielle's been talking for days about what mom might do this year. No pressure.

Breakfast: (Don't worry - I won't really let them eat all this before school!)

Bacon

Eggs

Orange juice

I have a couple more "tricks" planned and will post more pictures tomorrow.

Spring Has...Sprung?

These pictures are from today. Sadly it looked a little more like Christmas than spring.

According to the hummingbird migration map that I check in the spring, the hummers have returned to our state. Although "my" hummers don't usually make their way back until early May, I hung my feeder out a couple days ago, just in case. It's just wrong to see a hummingbird feeder covered in snow. I hope the little guys can find some place warm and cozy to wait out the white stuff. Unfortunately I think they're predicting more snow this Friday. Hopefully that will turn out to be an April Fool's Day prank.

Planting Yarn

Danielle made a yarn & ribbon nesting bag for the birds this afternoon. The idea is that the birds will pull various pieces of yarn out to use as they're gathering materials for their nests. We originally put the bag in a tree but decided to move it to the bed on the patio, close to one of our bird feeders. We scattered some yarn in the beds, too, and joked that we were planting yarn. Hopefully the birds will use some of it.

We have had a wonderful spring break so far; however, we've already accomplished everything on my spring break "To Do" list and still have 2 days left! I'm hoping inspiration hits tonight. Today we went ice skating and out to lunch with some friends. We enjoyed the almost 70 degree temps this afternoon until a cold front blew through.

That cold front brought some rain, thunder, and a lot of hail! The hail wasn't huge, but there was a lot of it! I'm glad my car was in the garage!

A 1/2 Birthday & Some Misc Pics

Yesterday was Tyler's 1/2 birthday. With all our salamander hunting, I didn't have time to make a cake until yesterday evening so we "celebrated" today. Once again, we sang 1/2 the birthday song while Tyler blew out 9 1/2 candles from 1/2 a birthday cake. (9 1/2 !?! Waaaay too close to 10!) We also saw Yogi Bear at the $1 theater today. It was the kids' first 3D movie (outside the Disney parks). They enjoyed it. The acting was, uh, stellar.

And here are some random pictures I haven't posted yet. Today's Groupon deal was for a significant discount for a photography class. It's only one 2 hour class, but the price was right and the time commitment was minimal, so I bought it. The class is in a couple weeks, and I'm looking forward to it!

Salamander Success

After lunch with Mamaw, we spent our first day of spring break exploring a metropark with Uncle Ron. We found lots of goodies today.




An American toad





























We finally found some salamanders! In all, we found 13 red-backed salamanders. These weren't the specific type we were looking for, but any salamander is better than no salamander! In fact, in all the years I've lived here, I've never found any type of salamander in this state. These guys were much smaller than the ones we were hoping to find. Unlike most salamanders, they don't live any of their life in the water. They also don't have lungs. They breathe through their skin, which must be kept moist all the time.
























































We also found a snake. Reptiles are just starting to make an appearance now that the weather is warming up a little. I think this is a northern brownsnake. Northern brownsnakes "never bite" and give birth to live young. They don't get very big.

























We also found lots of centipedes, millipedes, colorful bugs of various types, and a few snails. We were all dirty and sweaty by the time we were done. It was a fun afternoon and a great start to our spring break!!

The Zoo

Tyler and Ron attended a Cub Scout activity at the zoo today. Danielle and I rode along and then walked around together while they were in their workshop. We had a very nice afternoon together. The boys had a good time, too. Here are some pictures from our outing.

Since I didn't have to pay $4 x 2, Danielle got the rare perk of riding the pony.

He's happy it's spring break!

A Mental Health Day & a School Performance

I think this week has probably been one of the most difficult weeks of school for both kids. And I think it's probably my fault. I prayed for wisdom, so I guess I was given some circumstances in which to use it. The dust hasn't settled yet, so I don't know the final outcomes, but I have to admit that I feel like God has given generously, just like He promised. I was just hoping the occasions to use that wisdom wouldn't be so difficult.

After asking the kids to shoulder as much as they possibly could, I decided they needed a break from the emotional stress. I gave them a mental health day and kept them home from school. We went to the park, looked for salamanders, and played on the playset. Then we went home and had a picnic in the family room while we watched a movie. We hung out and took it easy, and I hope it helped. I realize I can't shelter them from reality, and they have to learn to deal with stressful situations; however, they are 7 and 9 and have tried their best to cope. There are times when we all need a break from the world. In my opinion, just because they are children and don't have to worry about paying bills or dealing with a boss doesn't mean they don't need a break sometimes, too. If you don't agree, don't tell me.

This evening was the 1st grade "Informance" - a program to show the parents some of the things they've learned in music this year. This evening also happened to be one of the nicest evenings we've had since last fall. Attending was painful. In fact, Tyler was pretty sure it was going to kill him. Danielle did a good job and the kids were cute. The program was too long, though, and the kids were all fidgeting by the time they were done. I took a video of the last song and caught Danielle mouth "watermelon", which is our trick for looking like you're singing when you don't know the words or don't want to sing. She was looking at me and smiled afterward, so I'm pretty sure that was for my benefit. She was tired and stopped singing after that. She did the motions, but that was it.

When we asked her about being tired afterwards, she said that in addition to being tired, she was annoyed. She said the boy beside her kept farting and kept warning her - "be prepared, it might stink in a minute".