My Bird by GroovyGirl

On New years one of my plans was to buy a bird. I was able to get one that same day! My brother and I had already picked out the name Kiki (named after the bird in the Enid Blyton children's book series). As you can see from the pictures, Kiki is a cinnamon opaline violet parakeet. Kiki was unusual because he became tame the first day I had him.


Now he is incredibly tame for a parakeet, letting me pet him on his back. But he is young. I am not sure of his exact age but I know he is under 3 months old (a bar head). I am hoping to teach Kiki how to talk and do tricks soon. Kiki is pretty quiet, but some times he squawks to get attention. He is crazy about millet spray. So far Kiki has been a delightful pet and he is very friendly.

Christmas

For some reason I did not take any "formal" Christmas Day (or even Christmas week) photos of the children. There are a few pictures of them opening their stockings and presents but nothing with them all Christmas-fied...

But here are some photos from the week of Christmas.

One tradition we try to follow each year is to spend an evening looking at Christmas lights and then go to DQ for a Blizzard. We reversed things this time and had a Blizzard first (the DQ has a fireplace so we enjoyed sitting directly in front of it) and then went looking at lights. Usually we do the lights and Blizzards on Christmas Eve but since we were going to be at the farm on Christmas Eve – we decided to do it all the Wed. before Christmas.

One of our favorite light displays is Dan’s Emerald Forest. His front yard is completely landscaped with a train scene…he hands out candy to the kids and on the weekends (which we missed out on this time) there is hot apple cider and hot cocoa.

We headed up to the farm Thursday afternoon. That turned out to be a great idea since there was a lot of snow that fell in the wee hours of Friday morning. When we looked out the window in the morning – the farm was covered in a beautiful white blanket of snow!

One of the first things on the mind of the children was to go play in the snow! The snow was of the perfect variety for making snowballs and snowmen. The kids and mom first went sledding out in the cow pasture. Going down was fun – climbing up wasn’t so much…but the exercise was good for those of us (well one of us) that needed to burn off some Christmas Holiday calories.

Of course everything didn't look so pure and white after the top layer of snow was lifted!

After our sledding adventure – the kids played outside for about another hour and a half! Even though it was snowy – the temperature was mild. They came in soaked but happy!

A Little Catch Up

Well as usual I'm behind on my posting - but better late than never...if I don't post some photos of the kids now they won't be recognized by their Canadian kin when we visit this summer.

The girl wearing her father's farm coveralls as the snow arrived before I purchased her a new pair of ski pants.

These are a couple of photos from our first "real" snow. Maybe just a smattering of snow by Manitoba standards - but enough snow for the kids to have fun in.

Cookie Decorating Party

A couple of weeks ago we had our annual Christmas Cookie Decorating Party. I think this was our 5th year.

Along with decorating regular sized gingerbread and sugar cookies - for the past few years I've also made a GIANT cookie for each child to decorate. One year it was a giant gingerbread person, the next year it was a giant Christmas tree and this year it was a giant rectangle. Rectangle??

The girl came up with the idea months ago. What if we were to make cookie sheet pan sized cookies that we could "draw" on - kind of like a large sheet of paper? It sounded a bit odd to me but decided to give it a try.

A week or so before the party I did a trial run on the gingerbread cookie recipe I had, to make sure that it would bake OK in the pan and not fall apart when I took it out. It worked fine - but I still decided to make some foil covered, cardboard "trays" to place under the giant cookies as they were being decorated and moved around - so as to avoid any disaster.

The boy's goal was to just get as much candy on his "paper" as possible - thereby creating some edible abstract art (shall we say).

The girl designed a scene with a house and snow.

The kids and I have already talked about ideas for the GIANT cookie next year...it's a bit too soon to make that decision - but I'm open to ideas - any suggestions???

New Addition to the Menagerie

Here is an addition to the girl's menagerie.

Samson was found over Thanksgiving weekend.

The girl (and her dad) believe it to be a garter snake...I'm hoping they are right!

He was named Samson b/c of his strength :)

He arrived just in time as the menagerie has been thinned out a bit with the recent demise of the three bullfrog tadpoles found back in August :(

I'm sure the girl would LOVE a visit to this place.

Judging a Recipe by Its Magazine Photo is Like Judging a Book by Its Cover

A month or so ago I saw a recipe for a delicious looking "tart" in a Martha Stewart magazine.

The recipe looked complicated (to me) and included lots of unhealthy ingredients like sugar, whipping cream, chocolate, and peanut butter... and even an ingredient I had never tried before - creme fraiche ("Crème fraiche is a delicious, thinner form of sour cream first developed by the French. It has a slight hold and tanginess because it contains bacterial cultures. But the amounts of cultures are minimal as compared to those in sour cream. Crème fraiche can be used as a topping, in sauces, or in a variety of other applications, and many prefer it to the standard and more commonly available sour cream because of its creamy texture.")

But it looked absolutely wonderful! I can't pass up a combination of caramel and chocolate. It reminded me of a ramped up version of Peanut Butter Pie (a family favorite).

I put away the magazine but came across it again last week. And this time I decided that I was going to try and make it.

I easily found the creme fraiche at Trader Joe's but could not find the chocolate wafers - so I ended up using a pre-made Oreo-crust pie pan. Other than that I pretty much followed the recipe - even using heavy cream for the mousse and full-fat cream cheese (usually on the Peanut Butter Pie I use fat-free Cool Whip and reduced fat cream cheese).

This afternoon the girl and I put together Martha's Peanut, Caramel and Chocolate Tart. It was pretty simple - but I don't really like recipes with multiple steps.

Now the tart (I'd call it a pie) is still in the fridge cooling - but of course I had to have a taste and you know what? I don't really care for it :( I tend to think something is going to be wonderful when the name Martha Stewart is attached to it...but I think next time I'll just stick to Aunt Jackie's Peanut Butter Pie.

Sometimes simpler is better.

Now if I was to try this recipe again, these are the changes I would make:

- I'd use Aldi caramel sauce rather than make it - I did not like the sourness that the creme fraiche added (and either add zero peanuts or break the peanuts into small bits)
-I'd use my traditional Peanut Butter Pie filling for the mousse
-I'd use milk chocolate in the chocolate ganache rather than semi-sweet

I guess I'll have to see if the rest of the family likes it or not...

A Cautionary Tale - Why You Should Never Stick Your Hand in a Hole

This afternoon the weather was too beautiful to stay indoors, so after lunch I took the kids out to the park.

This is a park that has a large lake that the kids enjoy wading in and trails we enjoy walking on.

We crossed a bridge and walked along the sandy beach trying to catch frogs - well the girl was. On the way back over the bridge we headed on down to the water under the bridge. There is a trail through the woods next to the water and as we were passing we heard a funny noise.

The girl thought it was a frog but to me it sounded like the cry of a kitten. She could hear the sound coming from the edge of the water under some tangled vines under the turf that was overhanging the water (if that makes sense). She looked under the vines into a hole and saw a frog.

"It's a huge bullfrog!" "I think he is stuck." She put her hand in and tried to gently coax him out of the hole but couldn't see too well and she was worried she might hurt him.

"Are you sure it's a frog?" I said, feeling a bit wary. "Yes it's a frog!" she relied rather exasperatedly (b/c of course she knows what a frog looks like). The boy agreed as he also got a glimpse of it.

The girl used an empty plastic cup to try and scoop him out of the hole with. After awhile with no success, and wanting to continue our walk, I said "Just use your hands." But as I said she didn't want to hurt him and since his leg was stuck on a branch or something she didn't want to pull and end up with part of a frog in her hand.

After a little more tugging there was a quick motion, a scream and I thought I saw the frog fall into the water. I figured she was a bit grossed out by the GIANTNESS of the bullfrog.

But it wasn't so.

She screamed because, yes there was a frog. And yes he was stuck. Stuck in the MOUTH of a snake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She had been gently tugging when all of a sudden she, and the boy, saw the snake with his mouth on the frog's leg. And not just a itsy bitsy snake but a very large snake. I saw something too - just not sure if what I saw was the snake or the frog as it was so quick.

We're not too sure how much of what she was feeling in there was the frog and how much was the snake! How creepy is that??!

All three of us left that area rather quickly. I felt terrible that I had been encouraging the girl to just reach in and grab the frog. Everyone knows you should never stick your hand into a hole you can't see into!!!!!!!

As we were walking away the boy said, "It was the Providence of God that that snake had its mouth full of the frog." (meaning the snake couldn't bite the girl with his mouth already full).

At first the girl said the snake was a water moccasin, then she said maybe a copperhead. I'd say that due to it's location it was probably a water moccasin - but she said it wasn't black - so who knows!

What also totally creeps me out is thinking of that odd sound the frog was making - making b/c it was being eaten by a snake....aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Chicago Museums on the Cheap

Husband, kids and Sue

Yes I know I haven't written much lately and this trip happened a few weeks ago - but that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about writing a number of times.

We've wanted to visit Chicago with the kids, for a long time. A couple of things hindering such a trip was that we wanted to wait until the kids were old enough to really enjoy things and that they would be up to all of the walking. A lot of walking. Also the cost. Did we really want to spend upwards of $500 to see some museums? Then we heard about the museum free days.

A number of museums in Chicago are required to have 52 "Free Days" per year (you can check their websites to see which days - usually they are in the off season) - so we scheduled our trip around the free days. The free days are NOT just for Chicago residents as some might think.

We drove up Sunday afternoon and came home late Tuesday night.

In that short span of time we were able to visit: Frank Lloyd Wright's studio/house (outside only) and neighborhood, The Shedd Aquarium, The Field History Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry and Ikea.

We had a great time. Except for the traffic. And our sore feet/legs.

Our first stop was early Sunday evening when we stopped at Oak Park to visit the area where Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) lived and worked.

FLW designed house

Since the FLW studio was closed when we got there - we just walked around the buildings, peered in the windows and walked down the street which contained a number of cool houses and a church that Frank designed. Any of those houses on the street, even the non-FLW houses - I'd be happy to live in.

We only had about an hour of daylight left when we arrived in Oak Park, so our tour was unfortunately brief.

We stayed at a Motel 6 about 20 minutes from downdown (well 20 minutes if say you were flying - but about 90 minutes if you were driving during rush hour, as we were).

Kids and sea creature

Monday morning our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium. It was incredible to see all the beautiful and unusual fish and other aquatic creatures…we saw some beluga whales – fun to watch them being trained. The girl loved the aquarium especially and was often heard saying “Oh” and then “it’s a ___”. She’s pretty good at identifying creatures she likes – and was happy to be able to see things up close – she has wanted to go to an aquarium for a number of years and her dream was finally fulfilled. When we left around noon there was a huge line of people waiting to get in to the aquarium. The line was in fact, all the way outside (canopies are set up to protect folks from the elements while they wait for ??? maybe an hour or two). I think they let people in rather slowly as space indoors is limited and you don't want to have to try to climb on the shoulders of the 50 people in front of you to see the seahorses or paddlemouth fish. So my advice - GET THERE EARLY. Make sure you take into consideration that it might take you a whole lot longer than you think - to drive the short distance to the aquarium.

In the afternoon we visited the Field History Museum where the dinosaurs were a favorite – especially “Sue”. We also enjoyed seeing the large Egypt exhibition.

Since the aquarium and Field Museum are next door to each other - we parked at the nearby football stadium parking garage and so only had to pay once for parking (we stayed all day). Cost - about $17

Lunch was at McDonalds in the Field Museum - McDonalds is usually cheap - but this McDonalds - no doubt due to its convenient location - was a total of about $5 more than usual.

On the shore of Lake Michigan - I could have stayed there a long time enjoying the view.

When we were finished at the Field Museum, we took a picnic lunch and ate it down on the beach of Lake Michigan – the weather was perfect and the kids (and I) enjoyed taking off our shoes and socks and walking along the beach (a good therapeutic massage for our very sore feet). Later we walked to Buckingham Fountain and then to downtown Millenium Park and the Crown Fountain and the giant steel “bean” Cloud Gate. We were very weary by the time we got back to our car that we left parked at the museums. Tylenol was dispersed.

The "Bean"

Our Tuesday morning drive downtown was less stressful as we now knew what to expect and we arrived at the Museum of Science and Industry before it even opened. We spent the day there – just leaving for a picnic lunch on the grounds. The kids went on a tour of the enormous German submarine that was captured during WWII and is in the basement of the museum. The girl and I especially enjoyed watching the chicks hatch in the incubator. Note about parking - here is a metered parking area in front of the building that says Space Center (or some such thing) that is to the left of the entrance of the Museum of Science and Industry and parking was cheaper than parking in the underground parking garage mentioned on their website ($7 vs $16).

Periscoping

We left for home around 3:30- though we stopped in at an Ikea store just outside of Chicago and shopped around for about an hour and then had supper there. Fun. BUT can someone please tell me why, the one item that I wanted from Ikea, that I have wanted for over two years, has not been in stock the only two times I have ever visited Ikea (this one plus the one in Minneapolis) ??

All in all the trip was a great experience – one that hopefully the children will remember.

In total our trip cost about $250. This includes gas to and from Chicago, two nights at a cheap motel, 2 days of museum parking, entrance to 3 museums (there was an additional charge of about $12 total for both kids to tour the inside of the submarine - but the tour is optional - unless you have a boy that loves all things military and wanted to go inside the sub very badly - then it's not optional but a desperate necessity) and a walking tour of FLW neighborhood, and 4 fast food-ish restaurant meals (we brought breakfast foods to eat in our motel room and had a picnic lunch for two of our other meals).

Though $250 isn't "peanuts" to a lot of folks - this is cheap for all the things we were able to do in Chicago. Admission to the 3 museums alone would have been approx. $250 for our family of four - which would have doubled the cost of our trip.

A Note

This is a note that greeted me when I first stepped into the kitchen this morning.

In case you can't read it: "Thank you 4 making this 4 your loving son! xoxoxo"

It was written by the boy and propped up against a box of pancake mix.

The note was a clever way of asking and his handwriting so nice - that of course I did it.

The Girl is Now Eleven...

We had a little photo session on her birthday - these are a couple of photos she really wanted Grandma S to see :)

And yes that is a real snake...(skin that is)!

The girl would have been mighty excited to meet the snake that fit that skin...

Transformation - Junonia coenia Hubner

A week or so ago, the girl found a caterpillar.

Into the critter catcher (CC) it went.

Very soon a chrysalis formed at the top of the CC.

This morning the girl placed a damp paper towel in the bottom of the CC.

This afternoon she noticed something different...the chrysalis was broken open and standing outside of it was a butterfly.

We took the butterfly outside for a photo and after a few shots (most too blurry to post) she flew away.

Early tomorrow we are leaving for the farm - what a blessing for the butterfly to be "born" while the girl was still here :)

The girl just looked it up and found out that the butterfly is the Junonia coenia Hubner otherwise known at the Common Buckeye.

Grandma R. told the girl that they recently saw a black snake in their garage and an 8-inch walking stick on the front porch. You can imagine the girl is excited at that news!

Gregory the Praying Mantis

I love this photo! Which is the real artwork? Both are unique - both have a Creator/creator.

Gregory is the Praying Mantis the girl found about a week ago. We were just walking along the sidewalk between Hobby Lobby and the fabric store when the girl spotted him on the pavement.

Of course she had to have him. But what to capture him in?? I dumped out my cosmetic case into my purse and she used that. He tried to allude capture by flying across the parking lot into a bush...but the girl was persistent.

Gregory on the girl's arm

We've witnessed Gregory consuming his lunch...not for the faint of heart...live crickets having their heads cut off and their guts consumed...

World Bird Sanctuary

After our hike we drove on over to Lone Elk Park and the World Bird Sanctuary.

We had been to both places about a yr and a half ago (in the winter) - so it was nice to actually be back during the summer time.

Lone Elk Park is a park that has - you guessed it - some elk. Also some bison . We drove along for quite awhile before we saw the bison all huddled together. They really are immense creatures and their heads are rather frightful looking. Not something I'd like to meet up with on a dark night on a lonely trail.

The elk all appeared to be female, and at rest - so little excitement there.

The World Bird Sanctuary "The World Bird Sanctuary rests peacefully on 305 acres of Missouri hardwood forest, next door to Lone Elk County Park and Chubb Trail. We are open daily from 8am - 5pm, and closed only on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The World Bird Sanctuary features free seasonal shows, nature trails, educational programs and picnic pavilions. Free entry and parking. Live displays of Bald Eagles, Owls, Hawks, Falcons, Vultures, Parrots, Reptiles and much more!"

We happened to arrive around "lunch time" and actually saw the workers throwing in carrion for the birds. It was very fascinating to watch the eagles and vultures tear and eat their lunch. Their beaks and talons are not something you'd like to meet up with.

We were also in time for the free bird show - approx. 30 min show of 5 birds with discussion about each bird and flying demonstrations. There was even a demo. of a recycling raven...a few volunteers in the audience hold up empty soda cans - the raven will fly to the volunteer, grab the can and drop it in the recycling bin :)

More Hiking - Chubb Trail

Last night around 10:30 PM my husband asked what our plans were for Saturday. A conversation like this usually occurs on Friday, perhaps Thursday and worse case scenario, Saturday morning.

Of course at 10:30 PM I am usually just thinking about how I'd like to be sleeping.

Seems like Saturdays usually come around so suddenly that I haven't thought much about what to do on that day - unless we already have something scheduled.

The kids will usually ask Saturday morning if we are going to do something "fun".

Around 10:45 PM the hub made a suggestion. "What if we get up at 5:00 AM and take a hike on the Chubb Trail?" The early hour, in part, due to the hot, humid summers up here.

The Chubb Trail is "...the most challenging trail in the St. Louis area. It is a seven-mile dirt and gravel trail between West Tyson County Park and Lone Elk Park (14 miles round-trip). It has very challenging hills and some nice flat stretches. Terrain is rocky and can be muddy long after rains or floods. After those tough climbs you are often rewarded with great views."

Unpaved trails through the woods, happen to be a favorite of our children. Throw in some rockiness and a little danger and they are game!

Personally getting up early for a morning of garage-saling sounds a whole lot more exciting to me...but I'm usually out-numbered. And I know the hike is a good healthy activity for us all.

We had never been on the Chubb Trail before and the online descriptions sounded a little daunting to me - I pictured it to be a whole lot more treacherous than it was. Of course if there had been a recent rain the trail could have been more tricky.

There were a few falls and scrapes for the kids but nothing bad at all.

We only walked about 1/2 of the distance - starting at the Tyson Trailhead and turning around after about 1.5 hrs (total time was about 3 hours with about 30 minutes of that being rest stops).

The first real excitement of the hike came within about 30 minutes when the husband suddenly stopped. Right in the middle of the path was a COPPERHEAD. My first Copperhead siting in "the wild" (though the girl claims she actually saw one at the park with me, in the water, a month or so previously...which I may or may not have seen and which may or may not have been a Copperhead - though the girl with her encyclopedic brain retention of all things "critters" may have correctly identified it).

We gave the snake a "wide berth" (risking poison ivy) and stepped off the trail into the grass, briefly.

The second excitement - at least for the children - was that they spotted close to 20 little toads as we walked along.

The third excitement - at least for the girl - was when dad spotted a teeny, tiny skink which the girl successfully caught. She had been wanting a lizard of any kind for a very long time. He was only an inch or so long...but very sadly - he did not survive the journey home :(

We all enjoyed the Chubb Trail - I especially liked the fact that for the most part we were very shaded by the trees.

Walking

We went to the Laumeier Sculpture Park again today - went early in the morning while it was still cool-ish outside. Here are the kids doing what they enjoy most...walking through the woods - more specifically walking through a little creek in the woods...walking through a little creek in the woods looking for "something" exciting...

We did have a couple of fawns jump out right in front of us and startle us.

The Three Little Bunnies

Dh and I were sitting out on the front steps last night, when these three fellas came out from their hiding place. Very sweet and very small - smaller than a squirrel.

Earlier in the day one of the bunnies had run out of the flower bed when I started watering the flowers and I saw the "mom" in there when we first sat down on the steps (but she took off running).

Free Meal at Chick-Fil-A

Kids with Chick-Fil-A Cow

Now what would you do for a free meal?

Would you dress in a cow costume?

We did! Well the kids and I - the hub wanted no part of it :)

Spelling errors in sign intentional... :)

Today is "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-Fil-A and if you dress from head to toe (or head to hoof as it were) you get a free combo meal. The kids and I decided this would be a fun summer activity and we whipped up some costumes (basically white/black clothes with paper colored spots and some paper masks).

We met my sister-in-law and her kids at Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed our free food (our meals would have cost about a total of $18 for my two kids and I).

Once I got to Chick-Fil-A I started to feel nervous about donning my spots and mask - but did it anyway (but waited til my sister-in-law arrived).

Trip to Alabama

We made a trip to Alabama (Muscle Shoals area) last week as my dh was doing some accounting volunteer work for a missionary organization.

While the husband worked, the kids and I didn't. The area was rather weak in activities/tourist sites - but we filled in the time gaps with lots of swimming (much to the delight of the girl and boy) and insect collecting :)

Our favorite site was Tom Hendrix's wall (which actually my dh did get to see as well as we visited it on our way home).

Tom is a 77 yr old man who built the largest un-mortared stone wall in the USA, as a commemoration to his great-great-grandmother who was forced to leave the area during the "Trail of Tears", but made her way back after a 5 yr journey.

The wall is incredible to behold. To think of someone working on such a project day in and day out for over 20 yrs, is amazing.

Here is an article on Tom's Wall.

We actually got to meet Tom and hear a little of his story. He is very friendly and talkative...he enjoys talking about the wall and the different special rocks it includes (rocks from every state, various countries, a meteorite (he suggested I take a photo of the kids holding the rock), giant geodes - bigger than a basketball, and "the ugliest rock in Alabama" :)

Holding the meteorite.

Tom's wall is just off of the Natchez Trace Parkway at approx. milepost 338.

Geodes

Critter Update

Giant Leopard Moth

All the tadpoles turned into frogs before we had to leave for our trip to Alabama a week ago Sunday.

The girl had planned on keeping one of the frogs - Beaver - for her pet collection. Sunday before we went on our trip, she went out to get Beaver from the little critter catcher and with great sorrow realized he was gone!

We have no idea how he got out - my theory is that the other frogs that she voluntarily let loose, mounted a mission to rescue Beaver and helped him escape. So now the girl is frog-less. Sad.

BUT she did not come home from Alabama empty-handed.

At a thrift store in Alabama we found a critter catcher - which was greatly needed as the girl was using a disposable beverage container to house her rapidly growing insect collection ... a small katydid like insect, a giant leopard moth (rescued from the swimming pool), a mysterious beetle, a strange lichen-ish insect that looks like a small piece of lichen or moss, and just as we were packing up to leave on Saturday - a full sized katydid (it was actually sitting on the back of the minivan).

As we were leaving the girl said, "Having a katydid is almost as good as having a lizard." (she had hoped to return home with a lizard - a green anole to be exact).

I'll need to try and get some photos of the other critters...especially the strange lichen-ish insect...I'd love to know what it is.

I generally dislike moths but the leopard moth is beautiful.

Wednesday Tadpole/ Froglet

Beaver checking out the scenery.

The girl looking in - Beaver looking out. Note - the water is not as green as it appears in the photo - the water is regularly changed.

Here he is today...the girl decided it's time to give him a name..."He looks like a beaver so his name will be Beaver". Hmmm not too many frogs out there named Beaver...

This afternoon we came home to find Beaver sticking to the glass of the aquarium. When we transfer him to a smaller home of his own - right away he hopped out of the water up onto the glass side.

Beaver's tail is much smaller today and he looks smaller than the tadpoles...we think at this stage he is actually considered a froglet...and the girl thinks he is a Spring Peeper (which is a type of tree frog).

Time to find him some "real" food.