Mockingbird Nest

Phoebe and I found a mockingbird nest while trimming our trees/over-sized-bushes. That put a stop to all the trimming, but we enjoyed the growing birds. When we found the nest, one bird was just breaking its egg in half. We visited the nest daily for short videos to record their growth. It took 10 days for them to hatch and leave the nest. Amazingly fast!

Rice Cat

Mel in Florida made a rice box for her son instead of a sandbox. Brilliance on her part! Last month, Rita visited and brought 100 lbs of jasmine rice straight from Hoppe farm for us to enjoy. We have already put down about 15 lbs! Such good rice, but I digress...
I was left with about 25 pounds of medium grain that we weren't too fond of eating-too sticky for our/my palates. It was put to great use in our rice box along with some wild grains for fun. Here is that ricebox being put to full use by the girls and Baby Cat.

Lexicographic Funnies

Okay, this might not pertain to dictionaries, but lexicographic is a fun word all on its own!
The latest great app for my phone is Dictation. It is there along with Dragon Naturally Speaking which is a great computer program. Dictation does a great job, but as with all voice recognition programs, falls short on some things. Tonight, it fell short with Worcestershire Sauce writing out instead "work worse this year sauce." It was a tasty meatloaf and proved that I didn't work worse this year with that sauce.
Long ago, I had a wholesale scrapbooking business and I mainly dealt in eyelets. I thought myself quite the linguist with my two lines: Theme Addict (thematic) and Assorted Affair (a sordid affair). Those lines might come back again for another business. Wait and see!
Some other funnies that I have been stock piling from Phoebe & I. Actually, I can only take credit for the first one, the rest are hers:
care o' scene (kerosene)
sword of (sort of)
insect aside (insecticide)

Slow it goes

I have been dedicated to braille and finishing up gifts for the holidays. I am on lesson 16 now and am awaiting approval on the text I will transcribe for my final lesson.
Phoebe has been helping me with amigurumi. She picks the critter and I crochet it. Since she saw the word "crochet" she keeps saying "croquet." I giggle every time.
Renée turned 1 year on Thanksgiving day. We had a lot of fun dragging the activities throughout the day. Here we are opening her new drum. Since Phoebe is doing drums at school, we thought it appropriate for the sisters to bang it out together.

Clothes Alterations

Phoebe is off of school and we worked together making clothes for Renée. Read all about it along with a picture on Phoebe's blog, Clementine.
The sewing was a snap and thank goodness Phoebe had a band-aid. I can't apply snaps without drawing blood.

Phoebe's blog

Phoebe started a blog to share her interests and fun online stuff. Check it out at http://pokemonpheaux.blogspot.com/

School goals

Phoebe and I are working on some goals for this school year together. She wants to beat the current school goal of most points earned in a single school year. That will be 822.7 points. This is a huge undertaking for her as last year she got a smidgen over 500. The really big pointer books are the Harry Potter series and she has already earned those. Some of the other books that she can read have content I am unprepared to talk with her about at this time. Huckleberry Finn, Diary of Anne Frank, and Gulliver's Travels are some that she marked as ones she would like to read. I will need to some time to build up to those. Until then, Wind in the Willows will suit.
To help her along the way, I have untaken a goal myself. I will read all the Hugo Award winners through the years. They started awarding them in 1953, so I have my work cut out for me also. Granted, I have already read some of them. I thought I was going to win a pass for 1966 since Dune is a favorite of mine. Alas, there was a tie that year and I will need to read This Immortal by Roger Zelazny. So it goes.
Wish us luck!
Do you want to read along with us? Did you just say you don't have time to read? How about you try to finish one book with us by the end of the school year. You can do it! Leave a comment and tell us what goal you have to accomplish by the end of the school year.

Playground

Yesterday morning was cooler and there was a breeze; perfect for watering the landscape and a trip to the playground. Renée had so much fun! Her first time in the big swing was a huge hit and Phoebe riding down the slides with her was some of the cutest!

They are so much fun to see together. You can see their love for each other.

Boat

I made this boat out of Arby's roast beef sandwich wrappers. I originally made a boat for Renée that had 2 motors on each end and no oars and no seat. Then, I thought of making oars. So, I went to the third bedroom and used another Arby's wrapper and made oars out of strips. I thought it needed a seat and I took another strip and measured the height and width of the boat end. I took the strip, marked the height twice the size, folded it down, and glued it in. I twisted the end of the boat to make the keel. To make the platform, I put together a rolling laundry basket and a folded mesh laundry basket. Ta da! Finished boat ready to launch!

-Phoebe

Reading Nanala's letter

Little Sister must do as Big Sister, or else! Renée's cranky sessions
are typically spawned from things being taken away that she insists
are hers! Thank goodness for envelopes!

Who's happier?

Heather and Casey went on a little vacation and I was to help transport their schnauzers to the kennel. I went to their house and opened the kennel and the two dogs stayed in the kennel until I asked them to come out! They behaved really well and are mannered very mildly. I got them into the car, started it up and Heather called. I asked if we could keep the dogs instead of taking them to the kennel and here we are! Friday to Wednesday dog sitters.

Phoebe was excited as all get out when she returned home from school. Who is happier? Phoebe says she is, but Schneebar seems pretty doggone happy!

Renée loves to watch them walk around. The cats are interesting, but she wants to grab onto them. The dogs, though, she doesn't want to touch. They are for watching only.

We are also in the throws of teething big time; swollen gums, crankiness, pain, ice, lack of sleep. I can't wait for them to break the surface. It isn't "real" until you see the whites of those teeth!

Sister visit

What a whirlwind of fun!
Lori and her girls came to visit and we had a blast. She even introduced me to a new restaurant on the riverwalk downtown that won't break our bank: Casa Rio. I enjoyed my flour tacos and the guacamole was as it should be. Phoebe ordered tamales and they just weren't up to snuff. She started out with the first few bites enjoying them, but then told me they weren't like she wanted. I ate some and they were dry and bland. Come on! Tamale meat should be flavorful to combat the masa!
I hadn't been a big fan of the boat ride on the river, but I have changed my mind. Nothing like visitors to open your eyes to what is around! Next time we are taking in an IMAX or movie so we can get validation.
The girls were so much fun! We made I-spy bags. They picked out a thread color to embroider their names, made so many Perler bead things that there is finally a dent in the 11,000 bottle of beads, and entertained Renée. Phoebe was a marvel with them! She was so gracious and loving. It is a joy to see our children at their best and demonstrate such good qualities.
Their trip was short, but we are going to see them this summer! Perler Bead Action part deux coming soon!

Egg dyeing

We now have an egg dying tradition of getting out masking tape and small blades to create resist designs on our Easter eggs. We each need a very special egg with which to pacque. Phoebe and I worked on our special eggs. She chose a female Pokemon Pikachu for her design and I went with my tried and true Crawfish/Hot Sauce.


This next photo shows our eggs with the masking tape applied prior to dyeing.

After some serious bath time, my egg is sporting nice, tight outlines and a rather close color resemblence to Tabasco:

The opposite side of my egg had the bottle design. Some brush strokes with green and we're ready to hit some eggs!

I can't say enough about vinyl gloves for this activity. Too many years have seen me with nasty nails and dyed dry skin for days. As for our two champion eggs, they remain in the fridge. We still can't bring ourselves to mess them up just quite yet.

Oh no! Finding her thumb

So, here I am wondering if I should continue to encourage Renée's use of a pacifier or give in when she uses her thumb. My sister sucked her thumb and revealed her inner grossness that she ever did that. You know, the whole thing about how "you don't know where that's been!" She learns mostly with her mouth, isn't it okay for her to know her thumb personally?

She is developing rapidly in some areas and so slowly in others. Her little reflux issue has somewhat resolved, but it is like we are back to square one with tummy time! Physical development is slow-she could care less to even attempt to roll over. It is all groovy since each day is something a little new, but I am finding it difficult to keep up! Seriously! She is only 4-1/2 months old and I get plum tuckered out! What is going to happen when she walks?

Okay, there is some exaggeration there, but also some truth. With all the EC, teach your baby to read, interact and sing, introduce music, tummy time, colors, shapes, PBS, belly sugar, if I don't utilize every second to expand her sponge-brain, am I a bad mother? Visions of her graduating from Harvard Magna Cum Laude, yelling at me that she could've gone Summa if only I had taught her more words by the time she was 5 months old haunt me! Oh, the horror!

Puh-leeze! I am getting over it. I have so much time with her and don't want to miss any of it. What do I do? Create drama so I capitalize on every second. I am entitled. Phoebe is 8 and those years have gone by in a whirlwind of pink, purple, and now blue as she learns to ride her bike. It is all good.

Future Wii Champ

Post reading excitement: Indiana Jones on the Wii.

Sisterly reading time

Renée is going to be so smart with a big sister like Phoebe.

Multiple uses for the Bumbo

Helmet to fight off the enemy or to pretend you have a big nose!

Mangosteen, more, please!

You heard it here first folks! The new rage in fruit goodness is the mangosteen. First seen as fabric, then made up into crafty and utilitarian projects, now it is the must have nectar to complement your noni and acai juice. Ahh, refreshing.

Can't tell you what it tastes like as the other juice flavors were present. Phoebe was desperate to get a bottle of this stuff, though! Geez, kid, no you can' have the $16 a bottle juice. Let me get you a nice 59 cent super-caffeinated Pibb Extra.

Phoebe's Potato Fantastic

On TV, I saw a recipe I wanted to make. I remembered how to make it and wrote down the ingredients. My mom got them and we made it.
I altered the recipe from TV. It is very similar to the one on TV. Here is how we prepared it.
We boiled potatoes. After they were fork tender, Momma cut them into bite size pieces. We put them in a bowl. I added cheese, butter, salt and garlic. After that, we put them in a frying pan and added bacon bits and stirred them together. We then waited 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes was over, we flipped it over bit by bit. Momma let the other side brown until Poppa came home. Before Poppa came home, I smeared sour cream and parsley on the potatoes and bacon. Momma and I were very excited to finally try it because it looked so good. It tasted really good.

I am sure it will be something I will make for my children.

Bread Bowls

I have blogged about making artisan bread and the cost of each loaf. No more library waiting time, no more floury notes-I used my Borders 40% coupon and the book is mine! Mwah hahaha! Having book in hand, I upped my game and made bread bowls to serve chili. Oh, what a tasty treat! I got so stuffed that the bottom of my bowl was left uneaten. Phoebe loved the insides. Mike was happy to have me so happy over bread. Tim was visiting and he ate the entire thing! I will take that compliment, thank you very much!
Phoebe and I made four loaves from a batch of Boule basic. You can see the shaped loaves, my opened book, stash of Girl Scout cookies (do you need any? Let me know!), and the lid to my container. I wrote the basic recipe on the lid so I wouldn't have to keep referencing the book. Currently, a very, VERY messy corner. I will have to do something with all those cords.
You can see my chili setup along with my yeast that I keep in the freezer in a vacuum bag.
Finished loves! I just cut the tops off, cut a circular shape out, used a large serving fork to loosed the inside bread without mashing it, and filled with chili.
This was so good and easy. It did take some scheduling, but the results were dynamite!
When you visit, let me know if you want some tasty goodness in bread!