4 1/2 week countdown quote

"Boys, I may not know much, but I know chicken poop from chicken salad.” - Lyndon B. Johnson

Getting Bigger!!

I had a doctor's appointment today. The girls came with me, so I measured their heights. Ve is 44 1/2" tall. She grew 1 1/2 inches in the time she has been home.
Tuks is 40 1/2 inches tall, nearly 3 inches taller than 10 months ago. WOW!!

As Tuks always says .. "We are getting bigger"

Hair8

Our weekend was over in a blink of an eye. So we had bathes Sunday night and I wanted a quick easy hair style for Ve, and since puffs are on the calendar for this week, I put 4 in. Her hair is getting long enough to almost put two puffs in. A few weeks longer I think. She liked it!!

Open House at our University

After church, the girls and I went to an open house at the University, specifically the College of Natural Resources and the Art building. We attended a raptor show, saw arthropods, bird mounts, reptiles, made a t-shirt, listened to music, and viewed an art exhibit from local artists. Both girls were amazingly good. It makes it easy to want to keep bringing them to events like this in the future.















Anybody ever see this before. Paint a side of a carp and then leave an impression on a t-shirt. Never saw it before but they loved it!!



Ve's shirt. Looks like a fossil.


Tuks' shirt...design that is left for the viewers interpretation.

5 week countdown

“We can see a thousand miracles around us every day. What is more supernatural than an egg yolk turning into a chicken?” - S. Parkes Cadman

Spring birds

I chaperoned a field trip to a nature center today. I saw these two new sightings:

Sandhill Crane:


The Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) is one of only 15 species of cranes in the world and is one of just two crane species native to North America. While the Whooping Crane, our other native crane, is highly endangered and restricted to only a few areas of the West, the Sandhill is more widespread and in most areas is more abundant. Once nearly eliminated from Michigan, Sandhill Cranes have made a comeback and now are becoming one of the state's most popular watchable wildlife species.

Cranes are tall, stately birds with a heavy body, long neck and long legs. Standing four to five feet high and possessing a wing span of six to seven feet, Sandhill Cranes are Michigan's largest bird. Long, skinny legs and neck give a false impression of size; the males weigh an average of about 12 pounds and the females around 9-1/2 pounds. Except for this size difference, both sexes look alike.

After molting their feathers in late summer, Sandhills are gray except for white cheeks and a bare reddish forehead. Bustle-like feathers further add to a distinctive appearance. The intensity of red in the bald forehead varies depending on behavioral stimulation which controls skin capillaries by restricting or relaxing blood flow. A brighter red forehead is associated with stressful stimuli; on the other hand, a less conspicuous forehead signals submission. Sandhills frequently preen with vegetation and mud stained with iron oxide. Consequently, during most of the year they appear reddish brown rather than gray. Only the hard to reach areas of the upper neck, underwings and head will lack the rusty coloration once the process is completed. This unusual behavior aids to camouflage the nesting birds. Immature Sandhills appear similar to adults except that they are brown in color and the forehead remains feathered until early winter.

The Sandhill Crane is often confused with the Great Blue Heron. Both are large wading birds with pointed bills, long necks and legs, but they do have some major differences. Herons fly with the head and neck tucked back to their shoulders in an "S" while cranes fly with their necks outstretched. The rapid upstroke of the wings is a good field mark for cranes in contrast to the slow steady flap of Great Blue Herons. Cranes nest separately on the ground, while herons nest in large colonies in trees called rookeries. Finally, cranes have a loud trumpet-like call, while the Great Blue Heron utters low hoarse croaks.


American Kestrel (a falcon)

American kestrels are often seen sitting on telephone wires or hovering perfectly still as they hunt for their insect, reptile, and small mammal prey. Occasionally they will hunt small birds, which is why they used to be called "sparrow hawk". Nests in cavities.

We're going on a bear hunt

Ok, as I was writing the previous post, I hear talking upstairs in the girl's bedroom. I sneak up the steps, Ve is sound asleep and Tuks is sitting up in bed "reading" the book "We're going on a bear hunt" word for word from beginning to end. It was so cute to hear her "read" the book. She finally noticed me, asked me what I was doing and I told her that she is a real good reader, and that I like hearing her read. I then asked her to lay down while she read in hopes she will slowly fall to sleep.

Boy, Three year olds are tough, they switch from totally adorable and huggable to complete bears... can't help but love 'em though.

not such pleasant evenings

Tuks is tantruming bad again this week. If she doesn't get what she wants when she wants it, she falls into a full blown tantrum. I thought we were done with this stage, but now it is back with a vengeance. PLUS, Ve is mimicking Tuks. Partly, I think she is just testing me more to see what I will do, and partly because she thinks this is the normal way to act...she even talks sassy like Tuks does in her 3 year old sassiness. I have had to put my foot down quite a bit in the last few days. Meaning I am not the most popular Mama on the block. Our night time routines have gone awry because of Tuks crying due to something or another and then Ve following suit....Makes for not pleasant evenings...

Proud Mama

Ve's gym teacher has this to say about her:

" Ve has tremendous athletic abilities in comparison to her peers"

makes a Mama proud!!!

5 1/2 week countdown quote

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.” - Frank Lloyd Wright

yeah, yeah I know I am weird.......but I am ok with it...LOL

Raining

Raining nonstop for two days now. Ve went on a field trip to a nature center and acreage today, yes even in the rain, and she said she had a good time. Go figure!!! Me, I was worried sick all day , kept checking the weather in fear that she would get soaked and hate the whole out of doors experience....Parenting is rough. LOL

NOT.

I am back at work this week.
I. AM. NOT. LIKING. IT. !
The girls are crabby from getting up 2 hours earlier than when we were off,
I had a doosie of a meeting with a student's parent...WOW..talk about aggressive women.......
All I can say is PLEASE LORD, NEVER let me be a parent like the one I met today....
The best way to work with your child's teacher, is to WORK with them, not attack them...The thing is I REALLY, REALLY LIKE THE KID, just not the mother AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(that's me screaming)....OK, enough whining!!!!

Windy, Sunny afternoon at the playground

As soon as we arrived, they both jumped out of the van, and as they were running to the playground I heard "Oh Thank You, Mama" times two.....

Hair7

Alternating parts and braids with snaps. I now realize what I need to do to perfect tight braids and thin enough for beads. Unfortunately I didn't totally understand this until the back of her hair. My other problem is her dislike of sitting still for the whole process. Since our communication is getting better and better all the time she will sit for me, and understand what I want her to do, but she still gets antsy.

We had a break though in church today. Initially I thought there wasn't a class for Tuks so I brought her in church with me and she danced to the worship music and kept busy and quiet through about 1/2 of the sermon. I was impressed. Eventually the kids will be able to stay with me in church. A day I look forward to.

Oh I forgot

another new sighting this week on my morning runs. Not as beautiful as some, but definitely worth noticing. BTW, I have decided to use my blog as a wildlife notebook as well. Since I have been blogging for several years, it is fun to look back at the spring arrivals and see how close in dates the birds arrive and mammals wake up. I must say too, they are close...Nature is so cyclical, so beautiful and so amazingly inspiring, sometimes I can't get enough of it.

The Common Grackle is an opportunistic feeder, varying an insect and grain diet with crayfish, frogs, mice, and both the eggs and the young of small birds. During courtship, it jerks its body, lowers wing, tail, and head, and squeals. It also exhibits its long, conspicuous tail in display flight. In some northern areas it congregates by the thousands during migration as well as in winter roosts. This species is smaller and lacks the strong sex differences of the Great-tailed Grackle.

description 12" (30 cm). Jay-sized. Long, wedge-shaped tail displaying a longitudinal ridge or keel when in flight. Appears all black at a distance but is actually highly iridescent, with colors varying from blue to purple to green to bronze, depending on the light. Bright yellow eyes. Female duller and somewhat smaller than male.

Practice makes perfect

While the girls practiced riding a tricycle handed down to us from friends in temperature about 20+ degrees cooler than 3 days ago,

Little too small for Ve, but it works for now since she doesn't have the hang of pushing with alternating legs


Tuks is doing much better than last year and I predict I will have two bike riders before the summer is out.
I planted my vegetable seeds. These included: summer squash, acorn squash, bush cucumbers, red cabbage, broccoli, peppers, regular and cherry tomatoes, peas, yellow and green beans, carrots, radishes and two types of lettuce. If you wonder how they all transplant, I assure you it all went real easy and well last summer...that is until I over fertilized, which WILL NOT happen this summer. LOL

inhabitant of North America

I knew it (my resident chipmunk) was out and about several days ago due to my hyper-active pooches reaction to it. Today was the first that I was lucky enough to have had my first glimpse.

I love these guys!!!!

FYI:

This interesting little inhabitant of North America's eastern forests and fence rows can be quite endearing to humans; if unmolested, the eastern chipmunk soon becomes bold enough to accept food held out to it, much of which is hoarded for the future.

Chipmunks eat a wide variety of seeds, fruits and nuts. They are particularly fond of corn and sunflower seeds. In the autumn they may store as much as 7 litres (2 gal.) of food for winter use. In recognition of this practice, the Greek word for 'steward', which is Tamias, was chosen for part of the scientific name of the species. Chipmunks have special, expandable pouches in their cheeks that they can stuff with food in order to carry it back to the larder. Each pouch can hold up to 33 kernels of dried corn.

Chipmunks construct extensive burrow systems, often more than 3.5 m (11.5 ft.) in length and with one or more well-concealed entrances. In addition to the main chamber, storage tunnels are constructed to accommodate the winter food supply. The sleeping quarters are kept scrupulously clean—shells, husks and feces are stuffed away into refuse tunnels.

Chipmunks retire to their burrows during winter. They become torpid for varying periods but are not considered true hibernators, often waking up to eat and move around below ground.

Chicken Countdown Quote

Twelve weeks to the end of the school year

Six weeks to the arrival of our chick babies;

thus a chicken countdown quote:

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” - unknown

My Mum

I have just been involved in a heated discussion on the Haitian yahoo group. What is wrong with me, I rarely if ever get involved in one of those since there never seems to be any compromising on people's position. I must be fed up with this whole adoption process and just want Mim home to be done with it all. I will be dropping out of most if not all those groups once Mim is home because it can drive a person batty and I have frankly heard enough...OK, just had to get it off my chest!!
__________________________________________________________________________________

Today I showed Ve a picture of her birth mom holding Ve when she was first brought to the O. I asked Ve if she remembered her Haitian Mum. Ve said "No" while trying to hide behind my chair. A sure sign she was not liking the situation. I asked her one more time and she said no again. Then she went to a picture of me and said "my Mom". I said "yes, I am your Mum, whiling giving her a hug and kiss. OK I would say pretty well bonded, but also like I have thought. She seems to have left all of Haiti behind. When looking at a picture of herself, she says "Ve", using the American name that I have given her. She identifies with her new name and not with any part of her Haitian name. She has even forgotten some of the names of the kids at the O, where as a few months ago she could easily rattle them off...What to make of all this, I really don't know.

She seems very happy, and seems to show fear that anything relating to Haiti means she will be sent back (my interpretation). So I think I will not bring it up again in conversation unless she does it first.

SLOW

Just read on the Haitian adoption yahoo group that the process in Haiti is currently going real s l o w. I was a little hopeful that Mim may be home sometime in April, now I am not so sure....I guess I better hunker in for a bit of a wait...to be positive it will just give Ve and Tuks more time to solidify their bond before Mim comes and rocks their new found world.

Surprises

With the last few days in the high 50's and low 60's it had been difficult to initially convince Ve that it was indeed warm enough to go with out hat and mittens most days and even a coat some days. I imagine with her shock of 100 degree difference the first week of her arrival in December, she doesn't trust the weather here at all. Boy will she be surprised once summer hits...with insects and all.....

The Mud Hen

Watching these two today, brought back a true story I had written about me and my Mom when I was only 10. I had written the story for a college class. I try hard to be like my Mom was with us, but I do fail miserably many times. My adult side wants to put a kabash to the child-like joy in all things, but my girls are helping me remember the unabashed joy of being so young.
So without further ado...The Mud Hen..................



It was a warm spring day. I think it was a Saturday sometime in April when I was around 10 years old. It was one of those days that was just warm enough to go without a jacket. I felt free again. I could feel the warm breeze brush across my arms that had been imprisoned all winter long. I loved those days! I enjoyed spending all my time outside exploring the outdoors, especially in the spring when it was all wet and mushy. Life was springing up everywhere. Even then I seemed to understand that mud and water were some of the foundations of life.




On this particular day I found myself exploring a big mud puddle located between the pole shed and corn crib. Farms are an especially easy place to find mud puddles! I was fingering the mud, noticing how it resembles the clay that I had so often used in my art classes. I became so excited that I started grabbing handfuls of mud and squashing them together into balls.


I was squatting over the edge of the mud puddle at this time in my creation...


I started hollowing out the interior of my balls. They started to look like bird nests.


The more I created, the closer my bottom sunk, getting closer and closer to the water logged ground. Soon, I wasn't squatting anymore, I had become one with the earth.


Since I was totally unaware of the change in my position, I noticed that the nests needed eggs. I again gathered more and more mud, transforming it into long eggs, short eggs, fat eggs, and skinny eggs. My creation was moving fast now. I had around 10 -11 nest complete with their own eggs. I had lost all track of time, when all of a sudden I heard "Aves, come and eat" It was my Mom. I put the finishing touches on my master pieces. I gently placed them along the edge of the mud puddle, to be baked by the warm sun rays. I knew that the nests and eggs would need the sun to bake them to ensure a long life.


It was at that moment that I stood up,and felt my pants sticking to me along my backside.


I knew my Mom would not like this. I walked slowly to the house, trying to come up with a good explanation, or find a way to sneak past her before she would notice. When I arrived at the house and opened the door, Mom was standing right in the doorway. I was already late and she was beginning to wonder what had happened to me. She took one look at me and asked "Aves, what have you been doing?" I told her all about the wonderful mud puddle, the bird nest and eggs, and how the mud is just like clay when molded in your hands.



She just smiled, and told me to go in the basement, take a shower, change my clothes, and then after lunch, I could show her this incredible place that I had discovered.

Okalee aand Whistle Songs

This morning I heard on my run:

Okalee Song (o-ka-lee') 1. Given by males in spring. The song is given on territory. Its purpose is to warn other males off the territory ("This is MY piece of this marsh") and to attract mates ("Check out THESE cattails!").

and

Whistle (downward slurred "Jeer") Given by males in alarm situations ("Look out! Here comes a human!")

My sister M & niece N came over last night for a short visit, then the girls and I took Heathcliff for a walk. Today, kind of a repeat of yesterday, except the carpets upstairs are on the cleaning list. Last night the girls kept telling me "Thank you" for doing such a nice job cleaning the living room. I guess the pet hair, which is horrific at this time of year, is getting to them too. I shaved Einstein yesterday, and today it is Heathcliff and Watson's turn. If only I could shave the cats too, then we wouldn't have anymore hair sage brushes in the corner of every room on a daily basis.

Spring

Went for my morning run, Tuks heard geese migrating over, and I saw a robin. The girls are at Angie's school so that I can shampoo carpets today. I may even drop them off tomorrow as well so I can get more cleaning done. A walk is scheduled for this afternoon. Once the work is done, the rest of the week will be for fun, games and relaxation for all of us.

No Hair Update

No hair update this week. Spring break for us is this next week so I just put Ve's hair into puffs that I have had in before. As I was taking last weeks style out, I realized after I had started that it had held so well and still looked soft and together that I probably could have left it in one more week, Oh well!! I was even thinking of going fro all this week, but didn't know how bad we would pay with snarls every morning and I didn't want to put Ve or myself through it.

Thew last two days have been in the high 40's and low 50's, so we have been getting out for walks. I have been taking one dog with us each time so that I could re-work their obedience in and start working with Watson a little. The girls are also loving having me teach them how to take a dog for a walk on the leash. I will have to get pictures of the dogs and them together.

Other plans this week are minimal; plant my vegetable garden seeds, shampoo the carpets, and attempt to go for a run every day, and keep the walks going every afternoon.

Duck Feeding Frenzy

Neighbor A took the girls feeding the local pond of ducks today. Such a simple activity that brings so much joy to the girls. We went right after church and they had a blast. BTW, this was the man that I had many discussions about his racist attitude. He felt he had minorities all figured out (sterotypes, of course) since he had grown up in Chicago. Now look at him. He loves the girls. It shows that people and their attitudes can change.