A Muskovy (as in from Moscow, even though they actually are not, it turns out. But it makes my tale more interesting) drake appeared to be drowning his mate. He was repeatedly pushing her head under the water for uncomfortably long periods of time. I finally realized it wasn't, in fact, a technique of gleaning information from an enemy combatant. Just a little mating ritual. I got home and googled it. I feel like I should get extra points for #11 (Muskovy duck). I'm also very relieved Robert McCloskey left this detail out of Make Way for Ducklings.
I have not yet started painting my Big Year birds. I thought I might begin today, but instead I have washed all the sheets, cleaned the bathtubs, swept the kitchen and the bathrooms, and washed the bath rugs. Plus some school work. Granted, two thirds of the kids are still wearing their pajamas at 4:31 pm. Also, Hudson played at least an hour of Mario Brothers on the wii when we finally finished a reading lesson.The good news is, I think I probably burned some calories with all the cleaning. I do think about it. Scrubbing the toilet? Triceps! Scrubbing the tub? Biceps and core!! Putting sheets on the bed? Abdominals and biceps and some quads too, I suspect. I try to do lunges while I vacuum. I also try to smile and not scowl while I am cleaning. I think it helps my attitude a little. This is starting to sound like a workout dvd, is it not? Has it already been done? How to simultaneously clean your house and work out!! Think of all the money you'd save! Ditch the cleaning lady AND the gym membership!! I call trademark.
In some family news, the husband asked me to pick up a Monopoly game at the grocery store yesterday afternoon. We played for a couple of hours when I got home and everyone had a grand time. Hudson owns all of the railroads and is something of a magnate (it's all the Ayn Rand bedtime stories) with over $2,000, even though he only owns one other property. He rolls really high numbers and wants his money counted anew each time he passes GO or accepts payments from the rest of us. The husband is almost bankrupt, though he owns extensive properties. Harper is about to buy her first house. Helena and I acquired Park Place and Boardwalk early on, and just bought our first houses. Keeping Helena from moving the pieces indiscriminately around the board and also handing out our money to the other players is a bit of a trick, but I think it's going pretty well. I never really enjoyed board games as a kid, but I think it's a good thing to cultivate in a family.
We have found a church at last! I am going to attempt to make it to the women's Bible study at FIVE (dark) thirty in the A.M. tomorrow morning. I need to get myself in bed at around 7:45 to make that happen. Here is a picture that has nothing to do with anything except that Helena got a fairy costume from the Grandparents Pate for Christmas and she wears it every day.
10 comments:
So fun! My mom and sister introduced A&T to said game over the holiday. A likes to be the banker, but doesn't enjoy playing. I think game playing is integral to a tight knit family. My family did it all the time, especially on vacation. No need for a special night! Monopoly rocks because you can leave it set up and come back to it for 20 or 30 minutes at a time for days on end, especially in that awkward time after dinner before bed! My husband's family never played a game together and you can see how that turned out! ;)
We decided to write down how much money we each had and our property so we can pick up where we left off. The game may go on for weeks, but we don't have it strewn all over the coffee table. I am just glad the kids are beyond wanting to play Candyland and Shutes and Ladders because I just found those so mind-numbing. Other than learning to take turns and be good winners and losers (which, granted, are important) I couldn't see the point of those. I always thought our time was better spent reading good books out loud.
UNO Attack is fun, too. Pretty fast paced and somewhat different from regular UNO.
-Carrie
I read this aloud to Reagan tonight and we both laughed out loud. Zero Duck Thirty. Love it!
Also, we got a game called pentago which is AMAZING! I *like* playing it. It's a 2 player game, like a fancy tic tac toe played with marbles. Great for logical thinking skills and A is just now old enough to play with T. But for maximum benefit kid vs grown up is good. Seriously, it's so fun I ask them if they want to play. I think Jodey would really like it.
We have Pentago! Jodey bought it about a year ago and he and Harper play occasionally. When she and Hudson play, I think the rules are followed only when they are in her favor. I try not to intervene unless Hudson starts threatening to throw the marbles in the trash.
Ah, throwing the marbles brings back memories. My brother and I used to play War. Inevitably when the game ended, Matt would ask, "Smoke or fire?". If I said smoke, he'd hurl the black cards at me (usually followed by the red). If I said fire, the reverse would happen. If I refused to answer, he'd hurl them all over the room (which was a harder clean up) and then take off, threatening some sort of harm if I didn't handle the clean up.
Little siblings must be desperate to keep putting ourselves in such situations to have the droppings of attention we long for from such older ones! Good times.
We went bird watching at White Rock Lake yesterday. We saw a tree full of ducks!!! I thought we were watching a safe distance away, but were completely sprayed (Izzy managed to escape the shower of poo). So gross. Then we cleaned up w/ wipes and peeled off the outer layers and got to see a blue heron, gulls, cormorants, and coots.
Off topic, we later went to Target, where a perhaps sick raccoon was cleaning himself on the walkway outside the entrance. To add to a day of excitement, a truck full of flattened soda cans had emptied itself all over the road on the way home. It was an odd day. At least something happened to tell about for the cousins Flat Stanley project.
It almost sounds like a day with Mary Poppins! We saw coots on Wednesday..
You found a church! But, eww, five-thirty a.m. Your reference to the McCloskey book makes me want to read it again, and perhaps skim Trumpet of the Swan. I miss Louis.
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