Anything to encourage more writing!

I got this idea from Janie at the Well-Trained Mind Board - she made some neat half-sheet writing paper with the picture of a sailing ship behind the lines. You can see it at her blog, Seasonal Soundings. She was inspired by the How To Use Dinah Zike's Big Book of Projects Video (scroll down a bit on the page to find it).

Since we all seem to have gone horse-crazy around here, I decided to make one with horses. Let me know what you think. I'm hoping that the girlies, Emma especially, will be inspired to write a bit more voluntarily if they have cool paper to work with. Let me know what you think!

Upon Completion of Pony Camp

Today the girls finished their very first week of Camp Cheval, or pony camp. I was calling it horse camp, but the girls both corrected me very quickly after their first day, because they rode ponies, not horses.

They had such a good time! They went Monday through Friday from 9am-12:30pm each day, and learned lots of great stuff about horses - colors, markings, breeds - along with basic riding skills and horse care. I'm impressed with the program and am so glad they had their first horse experiences there. Both girls talked nonstop about everything they learned, argued about who would get to tell me stuff, and corrected each other constantly all week long.

Emma rode an Arabian pony named Pharaoh all week - he was the tallest pony, and she was definitely the tallest girl! He is called a "flea-bitten grey" because his markings are little dots that apparently look like flea bites. She loves this pony, and cried today when she had to say goodbye.

Abbie rode a pony named Ollie on the first day, and on the second day switched to a pinto pony named Toby, who she rode for the rest of the week. Toby is so old that he would prefer to sleep all the time, with occasional breaks for eating. He needs a whip to keep him going, so Courtney, one of the counselors, led him while Abbie was riding.

Today, we got to go watch the girls demonstrate their new riding skills for us. They decided to show us trail riding, so we followed them on a little walk around the farm and went to see a brand-new foal who was just born on June 21 - the first day of summer, so her name is, quite appropriately, Summer. My friend Michelle, and also my friend Jenni and her three girls, came to watch the girls ride. Summer came over to the fence to see Michelle, and all of Jenni's crew were able to get up close and touch her, and seemed enchanted with the sweet little horse. The littlest one, who is almost two, was quite impressed by all the "horsen" and seemed to think Summer was just her size. I think we may have at least one new recruit for horse camp next year from Jenni's girls (not the toddler - only the oldest will actually be old enough)!

When we got home, we had to deal with lots of horse (excuse me, PONY) camp withdrawal. Emma was told that "her Pharaoh" is the next pony on the list to retire, and he will go back to his owner. He used to be a little girl's show pony, and apparently he's going back to her within the next year or two. Emma was just heartbroken to think that she might not be able to see him again. In order to help her, and Abbie, feel better, I printed off some of the pictures I took and put them on a ribbon board, along with their camp certificates of completion, which we will hang on their wall.

The girlies, of course, can't wait to get back on a horse. Macnair's, the barn where they went to pony camp, will be issuing invitations to take riding lessons to all the kids from camp. We're talking about signing them up, but with "Schmooey" coming along, we will probably have them wait until spring. The good news is that they do have a "Saddle Up" program, which would allow the girls to go ride sometimes without committing to a lesson schedule. We might be able to swing that a time or two in the interim while they wait to start "real" lessons.

I believe pony camp was a huge success. We definitely wanted to see how the girls would like being around real live horses before signing them up for lessons, and it looks like this is something they'd like to pursue.

This week at our house....

We had the girls' first standardized tests done this week. We went to a friend from our homeschool co-op, who does Woodcock Johnson testing. It's a one-on-one test with lots of oral parts, and seemed like it would be a much more relaxed environment for our first testing experience.

Abbie's scores were amazing. My friend, Michele, commented on what a hard worker she is, and told me that she tried lots of questions that were far above her level. She got most of them wrong, but got some of them right, and wasn't afraid to try anything. If there was a question to be answered, she wanted to take a stab at answering it!

And then came Emma. Emma, she reported to me, was quite the dramatic test taker. When asked to spell a word, she would get the first letter, but wouldn't try any further and would complain that she didn't know how. She wouldn't even try any vertical math problems - it's not as if she hasn't done them that way, so I don't know if there were problems with more than two numbers, or what. She got very upset and cried when asked to write a sentence (even though she does this at home at least twice per week).

When I got their scores, they pretty much told me what I already knew - Abbie is up for anything, very smart, and very competitive so she tries her best at everything. The tester told me that her "Story Recall" and "Delayed Story Recall" scores were pretty much off the charts. She said we should never discuss anything in front of her, ever, because she would remember it until her dying day. And truly, if you've been around Abbie at all, you know this is true. She remembers everything. All of her other scores were at least average, and most of them were "average to advanced."

Emma, however, gets her perfectionism from her mother, and along with that a fear to make a mistake and an unwillingness to try something that might possibly be difficult. Her "Computation" score, for example, was very low. However, her applied math scores were fine, and as Michele explained to me, you can't apply the concepts if you don't understand them. Several of her other scores were also falsely low, she felt, because there were so many things that Emma simply wouldn't try.

What does all this mean to me? It certainly didn't yield any surprises about their personalities. I know Abbie will do just fine with whatever we do, because she loves to do school, and everything else for that matter, to the best of her ability every time.

Emma, on the other hand, has some character issues that we need to address. I am working with her to understand that the only thing she needs to do is her best, not anyone else's best. It doesn't matter if the older girls in her tap dance class have a better grasp on some of the steps; she just needs to participate in the class. It doesn't matter if she writes everything perfectly; what matters is that she writes. Math is something everyone has to learn, and it's OK not to get every problem right the first time. And, Mom can't walk her through every single thing she has to do - she needs to learn to think for herself. Intelligence is certainly not an issue - just the willingness to try.

This leaves me with some questions about how to approach school from now on, but we've already talked about "the rules," which they've known from the start, really, but apparently need to be stated more clearly and more often:

1. School comes first. We will not do anything fun, like play dates or going to the pool, until school is finished. If we don't finish school in time, fun activities will be cancelled. If school takes all day, so be it.
   
2. No whining or complaining allowed. If they feel the need to do either of those things, they will be sent away from the school table until they can come back with a better attitude.
   

I have a couple of ideas that I know work for Emma, and I need to be better about implementing them. One thing that is quite effective is to use a timer. She has a certain amount of time to finish an assignment, and if she doesn't get it done, we move on and it becomes homework for later, when she could have been playing. Another thing is to send her to work by herself, away from me. She is quite good at working independently, and gets a lot more done when she can't pester me about every question. The issue there is that she tends to do sloppy work, but she will just have to redo it if that's the case.

We haven't been as good about these rules since we moved the school room upstairs to the office. We have a better setup downstairs, with an extra table where either girl can work when I need to focus on something with her sister. Upstairs, we just have a round table where we all have to sit, and that's not working out so well. We do need to get everything out of the office for the nursery, and the plan is to do school in the bonus room, so we will have to carefully consider the design when we start doing that - which will hopefully be soon since the baby is due in 3 months.

On a side note, I had an OB appointment today, and the baby was not cooperating, so the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat with the Doppler. We got to take a peek at him with the ultrasound machine. He was facing completely sideways, asleep on his tummy with his wee bum up in the air. Abbie used to sleep like that. It was terribly cute. :-)

Don't you love productive days?

OK, so we haven't done school - yet. However, so far today I have:

• Gotten a file folder frame for my portable cart for our school stuff, and gotten everything in it organized. (Woo hoo!)
• Scheduled Emma's pediatric dentist appointment
  
• Called the OB to schedule an appointment to discuss my gestational diabetes.
• Rescheduled my chiropractor appointment so I can go to the previously mentioned OB appointment
• Scheduled the replacement of the windshield on the minivan - the crack has been go\rowing since October and we decided we would rather not go on vacation with a big crack through the driver's viewing area

This has been a big day, can't you tell? The cleaning ladies, bless them, have also been here and a friend came to pick up a Mary Kay order so we went to lunch.

I know most of it was phone calls - I have been putting them all off for a very long time and I'm feeling quite as sense of accomplishment today.

Random Funnies

This week, we started decorating the ceramic piggy banks that Aunt Leigh and Uncle Jeff sent for the girls' birthdays. Emma had me trace her name in a bubble alphabet in yellow, and then she colored it in with orange. She said, "This is the antique part." Abbie said, "Yes, Emma is a real antique." Emma responded that she was not a real antique, as I sat there and giggled. They asked me why I was laughing, and I asked them if they meant "artist?" Of course they did - but I got a big kick out of "antique."

Also, Abbie informed me that she's quite jealous because Emma can read Kurdish. This would be a true miracle, since I've never even seen Kurdish and had to look it up (if you happen to be a language geek like I am, you can check it out here). Abbie told me that she would like to learn to write in Kurdish. Come to find out they were talking about cursive - phew!

This just in.......

"My mom can't drink caffeine when she's nursing the baby," says Emma Hollmann, age 7. "It makes the milk all fizzy and bubbly for the baby."

Twelve Years Today!

Today, Todd and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We had a beautiful spring wedding in Michigan with quite a crowd - around 400 family and friends. The funny thing about marriage is that sometimes it seems like we've been together forever, and other times, it seems like it hasn't been long at all.

It's been an interesting 12 years. We bought our first house in Michigan just before we got married, and we loved it there! We lived in a little ranch house on an acre of land on a dirt road, and it was perfect. We thought we'd live there forever... and surprise! We moved to North Carolina from Michigan 9 years ago, and I've been pretending we would move back "home" ever since. I think I've finally accepted that we will be here for at least a wee while longer, though, and we've started painting things. Heh.

Emma joined us in March of 2000, and Abbie joined us in March 2001. "Schmooey," who will probably really be called Isaac, will join us sometime in August of this year. His impending arrival was a bit of a shock, but we're so glad he's coming and can't wait to meet him.

Like all married couples, we've had our share of tough times. I have come to believe that staying married is only possible through the miraculous grace of God. I don't see how else it could happen. I can remember being quite sure that I would never like him again, wondering how we were going to stay married - but now, we like each other better than ever, our love has certainly grown and our commitment deepened.

I remember being told that marriage is a lot of hard work. I had no idea what they - my parents, grandparents - were talking about. I guess you can't know what that means until you experience some tough times. Then you realize that sometimes, the hardest thing about being married is staying married when you don't want to. When you get to the other side, though, you will be glad you did.

Horse Camp!

Today we had to drive the girls' applications for horse camp to the horse farm to save our spots. The girlies are so excited to go to horse camp, they can hardly stand it! We even got to see some horses walking by, much to our delight. They're going to camp at Macnair's Country Acres, if you'd care to see the website.

The very nice lady, Debra, who signed us up for camp, told us the names of some of the ponies that the girls could ride. Emma decided that she would like to ride "Toby," and Abbie would like to ride "Lacey." I had to break it to them that they get to ride ponies based on which one is the right size for them rather than which one has the name they like best.

We also got to go to the Tack Shop and get their helmets, riding boots and riding pants. They're allowed to ride in jeans, but the riding pants are nice and thin and since they're going to horse camp in July, I thought it would be kinder to let them have the cooler option. Emma got a pink helmet, which made her quite happy. Abbie, naturally, was between sizes so she got a (far more expensive) green helmet - her choices were green, blue and gray. The helmets make their heads look huge. I will try to get a picture of them in their riding gear.

Love Notes

This week while I was getting ready for the day, the girlies made "love notes" for their daddy and me. They are so cute. Emma wrote "Emma L. Hollmann" and "Mommy" on hers. Then she used a bunch of heart stickers to write "I Heart Y" all over the picture.

Abbie wrote on hers, "Abbie G. Hollmann" and "Mommy Hollmann" with a backwards "y." I got such a kick out of the Abbie G. - I tried to tell her later that her middle name is really Ruth, and that her first name is Abigail - not Abbie Gail. She glared at me and clearly did not believe that I was telling her the truth. I think she knows her name is Abigail Ruth - I call her Abbie Ruth quite often and I know I've heard her call herself "Abigail Ruth Hollmann" before. Today, however, she was not buying it.

I told Emma that usually people would write "I Heart U" on notes like that, but she explained to me that it's the way the sign works for "I love you" - it's a combination of I, L and Y. We sign it to each other all the time. I thought that was pretty darn smart, to figure that out! Aren't the notes cute?

Those Funny Girls

This week is our "H-h Horse" week with our My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum. On Monday, we go to go to my friend Shawn's house and groom her quarter horse, Sunshine. The girls had a wonderful time. Abbie walked right up to Sunshine and groomed her with a soft curry brush. Emm, of course, had to wait a minute to make sure Abbie wouldn't be eaten or anything, and then she joined in too. Abbie got to comb Sunshine's mane, and Emma got to brush her bangs. I know that's not what they are called on horses, but the real name escapes me right now.

I had so much fun doing school with my girls today! We got our math done, and they both had spelling dictation, so I started with Emma while Abbie colored a picture of a horse - pink and blue, I'd like to note.

Emma's spelling words involved the sound "ew" like in flew, and long "o" spelled "o_e." She had to choose which column to put them in.

Emma is an excellent speller, but every now and then she gets it into her head that she just can't spell something. That happened today when we got to the word "drew." She had spelled "new" and "flew" just fine, but she could not seem to hear the "r" in "drew" and wanted to write "dew." She started to get upset, so I told her we would come back to it - unfortunately, the next word was "grew" which presented the same problem.

Abbie knew that Emma was missing the "r" and was just itching to tell her. (They like to give each other answers.) I looked at her and told her that she was NOT to give Emma the answers today because she needed to figure it out for herself. So, she looked hard at Emma, and then started drawing little "r's" on over her horse picture, a few at a time. Then, she would look at Emma again, who remained clueless, and turn the "r's" into circles and color them in. She did this several times, while I tried (and failed) not to giggle. Emma kept asking what was going on, but I told her if she didn't get it I wasn't going to tell her.

That Abbie Ruth is so much like her daddy sometimes! Tell her she can't do something, and she will find a back door - she's not doing exactly what she's not supposed to do, but she accomplishes her goal.

I did tell her after we got the spelling words straightened out, and we all laughed. They never cease to amaze me.

And we're having.....

A BOY!

Today was our level 2 ultrasound, which we got to have because I will be 36 when "Schmooey" is born. The girls and Todd came to the appointment with me, and we were all excited to see the baby. It was incredible - they measured the baby's head, stomach, arm bones, leg bones. We saw all 4 chambers of the heart. (To be perfectly honest, he kept looking at things and telling me what they were, and I thought most of them were the baby's head.)

We got to see the tiny little spine, and watch the little bugger beating up on the inside of me.
The ultrasound technician asked if we wanted to know what we're having, and of course we said yes - did he really think I was lying there for any other reason? :-) He said, immediately, "You're having a boy."

I said, "No, really."

He said, "No, really, you're having a boy," and pointed out the very clear evidence to me (once I knew what I was looking for).

Todd and I were nonplussed. We were both expecting another girl because, well, we have girls and an attic full of pink clothes. The girls both cried because they wanted a little sister. The poor ultrasound tech and the doctor were quite surprised at our reactions. They thought we would be a little more excited by the news that we were having a boy after two girls, I think. They printed a picture of the baby's wee bum with an arrow pointing at the important parts, labeled "BOY" so I would remember, I suppose.

On the way out of the office, we started discussing what we might name a boy, since we'd been mainly talking about girl names. Abbie piped up with, "I think we should name him Herman!"

I said, "Herman, huh?"

She said, "Yes! Herman DeeDee Hollmann!"

I tried hard to keep a straight face and failed completely. Herman Hollmann - can you imagine? What a funny little nut my Abbie is.

I don't think we will be naming him Herman.

Fun day at the Park!

This morning, the girlies and I took their bikes and the dog over to a small nearby lake with a walking trail around it. I've been resisting the idea, because the last time we went was a couple of years ago - it was hot, they were little and they did walk the whole way, but not without a lot of whining. I was not sure it would be any better this time, even with their bikes, but they really wanted to go and take Toby, and my sister encouraged me that sometimes we just need to bite the bullet and actually pack up and leave the house for these kinds of things.

We stopped and bought cheap bread and store-brand cereal, with which to feed the birds. We saw a Great Blue Heron several times, once up close enough to see his black cap. We saw lots of geese and gulls, and some mallard ducks - even a swan. We saw lots of turtles, too; big ones, medium-sized and little ones, all stacked up on each other on the logs, enjoying the sunshine. We even met another lady with a little dog who made friends with Toby, and they got in the water and then rolled in the sand with great delight. They were completely disgusting when they got done, but they certainly enjoyed themselves!

I was kicking myself for leaving the camera in the car, especially when we saw the heron, and then when the geese would eat out of our hands. But, we'll go back, hopefully with grandparents, and take pictures then.

The trail is 2 miles long, I think, and I was not sure how the girls would do - they ride their bikes with me sometimes when I walk in our neighborhood, but it's very hilly and they have a hard time pedaling the whole way. They are getting better every time, of course, but still, this was twice as far. They did great! It's a relatively flat trail, until about the last 3/4 mile - I did have to push them a little bit up one long incline, but mostly I just had to try to keep up with them.

It was a great morning. We were there for almost 2 hours! School today turned into nature study at the park, and we will have to buckle down for the rest of the week to get our work done, but it was well worth it. We even saw an old friend there who walks the trail at least a couple of times a week, and we might start joining her for the exercise. We are all very glad we went.

What a wonderful day!

Today I had the privilege of being involved in a Spa Day, sponsored by my church, for the women of New Bern House. The New Bern House is a really neat place. It's not a homeless shelter, exactly, but it's a place for families to live when they would otherwise become homeless. I don't know if that makes sense, and I can't find any information on it right now, so that's the best I can do.

Anyhoo, a wonderful woman from our church put together this Spa Day to pamper these ladies, who certainly deserved a day of special treatment just for them. We had Mary Kay ladies (myself included) there for makeup, hair stylists, nail people, and massage therapists. We had many women who volunteered to be hostesses, so that each woman who came in had a personal escort. My favorite part was the food - we had a wonderful woman, Kari, who does catering and hospitality as her business, and she coordinated wonderful food for the day, including a chocolate fountain! And strawberries to dip! Also, we took each woman's picture and printed it out on the spot, put it in a frame and sent it home with them. I had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed every woman I worked with.

Now, as a Mary Kay consultant, I am not supposed to touch people - the whole goal is to teach people to do their makeup themselves. This was particularly important today, when we were training ladies how to put on makeup appropriate for job interviews, etc.

When Miss Maggie sat at my table, though, I had to make an exception to the rules. She was the sweetest woman, and apparently quite blind and deaf, as she could not see the product on her tray (moisturizer and such) to put it on; I had to put her fingers in it. When she tried to put on her eye color, she put it on her forehead. When she could not see which end of the mascara brush to use, I decided to take matters into my own hands. She looked so pretty when we got done!

The most amazing thing about today was God's provision for the event. We had service providers who sacrificed income today to bless these special women, and organizations who donated everything from nail polish to limousines and champagne! We had enough Mary Kay product donated by local units that we were able to put together 35 looks, enough to send each woman home with full-sized product that she will be able to use for quite some time. For those who were "makeup gals," we were able to pull out some extra things and really make their day.

And you know - I am not sure who was the most blessed by this event: the women who received the services, or those who gave them. I know that I will carry this day in my heart.

Ants have names?

We got the ants for our ant farm this week, and the girls are SO excited. I have never really thought that having ants in the house on purpose was a good idea, but they are delighted. Abbie has named some of them - Lila, Mira and Twylan being the names I can remember. Apparently Lila is a "very sweet ant, and ran right up and gave Abbie a kiss" through the wall of the ant farm on the very first night she was here. And, wonder of wonders, Abbie can "tell the ants apart." She tells me frequently "who" is climbing up the wall and tunneling, etc. It's quite entertaining. She is, of course, the child who told me at age 3 that I had killed her best friend, when I squished a Japanese beetle grub in the driveway.

On a side note, I really don't like the ant farm. I do not believe it's humane. All right, they're ants, and stinging ones at that, but still - don't they deserve to have their life in the wild outside like everything else? Could be the pregnancy hormones talking, but I haven't felt very good about this since I saw one at Learning Express. The ants just have to die in there. Somehow, it does not seem fair. At least with the butterflies, you can release them outside.

And, in case you're wondering, I am not crazy about zoos, either.

Snow Day!

Yesterday, we got about a half inch of snow where we live in North Carolina. The girls really wanted to play outside, but the last time we had a little snow, they got cold and wet so quickly that they really couldn't enjoy it. This time, though, I discovered a treasure in the coat closet - SNOW PANTS! When we went to Michigan a couple of years ago for Thanksgiving, my parents picked up some snow pants for my girls, since we don't have a need for them here and honestly, they're hard to find. I don't remember bringing them back home, but there they were. Miracle of miracles, they still fit! The girls thought I was a bit loony for suggesting that they wear such odd clothing, but it really made all the difference in the world for their fun in the snow.

The first thing they did was go out to gather some snow for snow ice cream. They managed to find some that was relatively clean, so we stuck it in the freezer for later ice cream making. Then, they went outside to slide down the hill in our front yard on their sleds.

Then, they decided to make snow angels. They were really more like sludge angels, because by the time they got outside, it had stopped snowing and started raining, but they made an entire chorus in the yard in what was left.

They grow up so quickly.....

This week we went to the toy store to do some last-minute Christmas shopping; I had to get some Groovy Girl Mermaids, you know, or Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas. Naturally I had to take the girlies with me, and my saving grace is that in Learning Express, there is so much stuff out for them to play with that it's easy enough for me to shop covertly.

This year, for the first time, we decided to let the girls choose gifts for give each other. We've kinda done it with birthdays before, but last year I think they ended up both wanting the same thing while they were shopping with me so it wasn't a surprise. This year, though, Abbie chose a very cool nail polish/makeup kit for Emma, and Emma chose a Jasmine pocket-doll set for Abbie, because she knows that Jasmine is her favorite princess.

I am so proud of them! They each put real thought about what their sister would like into their gifts. In the past, Emma has seen something she would really like and chosen it for Abbie, and then pretty much takes it over. Abbie lets her, which is entirely another issue, but you see how it goes. Typical kid stuff. They're growing up into such wonderful women-to-be. It does my mother's heart good.

Christmas Carol Fun

I recently updated my iPod with all my favorite Christmas songs, and the girls and I have been listening to them throughout the days. One day this week, Emma came to me and told me that her favorite song is "a desert song, and also one from the place to where the boys wear skirts." Er... that narrows it down....

I assumed (yes, I know what that does, LOL) that she meant one of the songs from Celtic Christmas or Celtic Christmas II, thinking that she had identified the Celtic sound with kilts. We went through every song and not one of them was the one she meant. Desert songs? For Christmas? What?

This morning, we were listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's "Music of Christmas" album, and when "Carol of the Bells" came on, both girls said, "That's it, Mom! That's our favorite song!"

As far as I have been able to translate, "desert song" means acoustic guitar in a minor key. I'm still wondering what "the place to where the boys wear skirts" means in their little punkin heads.

Presenting Thumbelina

The things I do for love.....

Last week, Emma came in and told me that she found "something like a snake" in the yard. I thought, surely the child would not approach a snake, and if she had, she would be screaming, so I said, "You mean like a big worm?" And she said yes, kind of like that. So, I went outside to see what it was, and she had, indeed, found a small snake in the yard.

I said: "Oh, look at the cute little snake!

I thought: "Dear God, they found a snake. What if it's poisonous? There are a lot of poisonous snakes in North Carolina, aren't there? I can't make them afraid of snakes. I am going to have to pick it up. What if it's poisonous? Okay, I don't think it could bite me if it wanted to, it's head is too small. I am touching a snake. Please, someone, pinch me and tell me this isn't really happening."

I did, in fact, pick up the little snake. It was a strong little bugger! They don't have any hands, so how on earth did it hold on to the grass so tightly? I had a hard time getting it - I didn't want to hurt it, and it, of course, was trying valiantly to slip into the grass and disappear.

Once I got it, I looked at its eyes, thinking "I can tell if it's poisonous by its eyes, right? How does that work again? Why don't I have a snake book?" It had nice round, yellow eyes, not poisonous looking at all. Actually, looking into its eyes, I sensed no animosity. I have an odd connection with reptiles - don't ask me why. They just like me. Isn't that a disturbing thought?

When we held it with two hands, it was quite calm. It reached up and sniffed my hair and my glasses. The girls each held it - Abbie went first, of course, because Emma wasn't quite sure she wanted to touch it. (Emma lives by the motto, if Abbie doesn't get hurt, then I might try, too.) But, once she saw that it wasn't dangerous or slimy, she held it too.

The girls named their reptilian friend "Thumbelina," and they talked to "her," and had a grand time checking "her" out. They really wanted to keep "her," but I didn't know what to put "her" in, and there is NO WAY WE ARE KEEPING A SNAKE IN THE HOUSE EVER but I didn't say that part. I told them to tell her goodbye, so they each had one more turn holding this little snake, kissed it goodbye (!), and we let it go back into the flower bed.

Honestly, it's things like this that make me so glad I homeschool. We've met Thumbelina the snake, and gotten to see a baby robin that was just learning to fly. We've had birds build a nest on our front door wreath, and seen them grow up and fly away. And let's not forget Hoppy the grasshopper - Abbie took him to preschool last year, and now every time we see a grasshopper outside, we say hello to "Hoppy." We find bird nests and leaves and pretty rocks, and bring them home. I have so much fun, I think I might be homeschooling for ME.

Meet Dumplin'!

This is Dumplin, a little Bantam hen and our neighborhood chicken. Never heard of one of those before? Neither had I, until a couple of years ago. A chicken showed up one day, and my neighbor Chrissy adopted her and named her Henny. She had a little hen house in Chrissy's yard, and pretty much free rein of the surrounding yards. She was quite entertaining, if not particularly friendly.

Then, when Chrissy moved, Henny disappeared. There were no "remains," and I think someone had her trapped and taken to a nearby farm (maybe the one she came from in the first place).

Well, Mr. Dave (of the infamous pine tree incident posted previously) decided that he liked having a chicken hanging around. He has a friend who raises chickens, and brought home two - Dumplin, and Biscuit. Biscuit has since relocated herself a few streets over - we don't know why. Maybe she got chased there?

Anyhoo, Dumplin is still here. She's a strange little bird. She doesn't like it when you try to catch her, but if you give up and turn away she shrieks. Sometimes she sounds like a duck. Since Mr. Dave works all day and we are usually home, she likes to hang out with us. We like to feed her birdseed - she eats out of our hands. We leave the garage door at least cracked, if not open, during the day so she can come in - she spends a lot of time there when it's raining or particularly windy. She likes to roost on top of our cars (which are outside), even though I am sure there are warmer places for her. She seems so cold in the mornings now - it's been getting down into the 30's at night. This morning I found her standing on one leg, trying to keep her other foot warm, I guess. I thought about knitting her a little chicken sweater, but I can't figure out how to go about it. At the suggestion of some of the very knowledgable ladies from the Well Trained Mind boards, I think we're going to try to build her some kind of nest box this weekend, so at least she has a place to snuggle in if she wants.

If you have any suggestions for our little chicken - even if it's just to tell me to leave her alone because she's perfectly able to take care of herself - I would love to hear!

Pine Boughs Keep Falling on My Head....

I was awakened from nap today to the - ahem - sweet sound of power tools. I didn't think much of it; my husband had mentioned that he was going outside with our neighbor, Mr. Dave, and when those two men get together, power tools are usually involved. Like the time they built the catapult in Mr. Dave's driveway, and used it to shoot his dead Christmas tree to the top of the hill. (In case you're wondering, we do live in suburbia; it's not as if people aren't around to notice these things. I did tell Todd that they would not be allowed to play together very often - between Dave's creativity and Todd's engineering mind, they could cause a lot of trouble!)

After we were up and about, the girls went outside to see what was going on, and Emma rushed in to tell me that I had to come outside, right then. Out I went, to discover that the boys had decided to cut down the rather large Loblolly Pine tree that stood between our houses.

I knew this day would come; we've often talked about the need to remove that tree. It dumped loads of pine needles in our gutters, and was generally a nuisance where it stood. Usually, though, I get some kind of forewarning that these little projects are going to take place.

The girls and I went out and harvested all the pine cones we could find, and we got a 30-gallon garbage sack full of beautiful cones! We can make angels, bird feeders, wreaths.... whatever comes to mind. And, if we are so inspired, the branches are in the back yard for more gathering.

When I asked my husband why they decided today would be "the day," he responded, "Mr. Dave lost his satellite connection."