The eagle had landed

We saw a pair of bald eagles on our way home from school. I spied the male sitting atop a power line pole, couldn't be sure I wasn't hallucinating, took the next exit, and looped back around at possibly unsafe speeds. We took the minivan off-road to get closer, and confirmed that this was, indeed, the symbol of our great nation taking a little rest in Sugar Land, Texas. Then we scrambled out as traffic whizzed by at 70 mph. I got out my awesome telephoto lens and got this National Geographic-worthy photo:

 We got pretty close before Mr. Bald Eagle decided we were taking liberties with his personal space. Just as he flew off, Harper-the-keen-eyed spotted his mate fishing in a pond about 50 yards away. Squint carefully at the far edge of the pond at the white and brown blob. Again with the stellar nature photography (how do other people manage actual good pictures with an iPhone?? Also while terrified that their kids might get flattened by a passing 18-wheeler??) Know that in real life, she was majestic and in-focus:

It was all very thrilling and fun and slightly dangerous, especially getting the minivan from the hilly grasslands and back onto the racetrack/tollway after the eagles had taken flight. The kids were cheering and encouraging me to "peel out NOW Mommy!" Ornithology: better than a theme park.

The finer things.

Yesterday Hudson got in the car after school and said, "Tate and I were making food into insults today! For example, I would say STRAWBERRY! At him in a rude voice, and he would say, "CHEESE!" Back at me in a rude voice. It was AWESOME and hilarious." Then he started naming some of the other "food insults" and there was HOT DOG and SALAD and MEAT LOAF and SANDWICH and ORANGE and then, BUTTER BOURBON.

Me: Wait, what?
Hudson: "Or maybe it's butterSCOTCH?" He is unsure.

 Clearly we need more exposure to candy and less exposure to spirits at our house.

Mind the gap.

Helena lost both top front teeth within 48 hours two weeks ago. The first one came out with Daddy's help, and the second one came out with help of a conversation heart from her Valentine's candy. She was pretty distraught, but then the Daddy told her that the Tooth Fairy gives FIVE dollars when you pull a tooth yourself a mere day after losing another tooth. After the kids were in bed, the Tooth Fairy let the Daddy know that she did not actually have FIVE dollars, and neither did the Daddy, so he spent some time digging through an old stash of loose change and Helena was the proud recipient of twenty quarters. I should also point out that when the first tooth had fallen out, the Tooth Fairy wrote a note and put a dollar in it, but then forgot to take it upstairs and switch it out for the tooth. Which meant an elaborate explanation (via another letter) that involved The Hobbit. So, three letters later, Helena was having such a delightful time with Tooth Fairy (or "Toofe Fairy" in Helenese) that she began leaving little trinkets and pictures in the Tooth Fairy pillow (they all use the one I made for Harper because I have a crafting to-do list that is buried somewhere under the pile of felt I bought in 2012 to make a Christmas tree skirt) and expecting elaborate responses every single night. I finally had to tell her that Tooth Fairy loved her very much but had been called away for Tooth Duty somewhere in Southeast Asia and would return next time Helena actually lost a tooth.

The little space left behind by the two teeth looked exactly like the top of a heart, but then I forgot to take a picture until one of the grown-up teeth started peeking out. It is still very cute.

 

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I want to put it here in the written record that all 3 kids had separate parties at 3 different homes in various and fairly far-flung regions of the greater Houston metroplex on the same day. They all had a terrific time, but getting them to and fro was MADNESS. I did not have any love left in my heart at the end of that day. My conversation heart would have had a little black cloud on it and maybe even a bad word.