"I am SHRINKING!" Wren shouted this morning while standing with his back pressed against the door jamb. We had drawn a mark on the wall to show his height but it had been done with shoes on. This morning he noticed that he was a lot shorter than the mark and worried he had shrunk.
I explained that shoes made the difference but he didn't quite accept it. I allowed him to wear my shoes and draw a new mark "WREN + SHOES" which made him happy.
At bedtime Wren said "Its not fair that you get to stay awake but I have to go to sleep." I told him he had to sleep more than grownups because his body was still doing lots of work growing bigger.
"I will be bigger in the morning!" he said, in excitement.
If overnight bone growth doesn't occur fast enough, we are working on growing fatter with chocolate.
Frost and Josh went out to buy some Valentines Treats. They bought chocolates and flowers for us. When they came home with Safeway bags Wren shouted:
"I want some TRASH FOOD! I want TRASH FOOD now!"
"What is trash food, Wren?" we asked.
"It is sugar food that is bad for my body!"
"Ohh, you mean junk food?"
"Yes, I want JUNK FOOD NOW! .... please."
Of course, such honesty deserves sugar so we all ate some chocolates.
After dinner Joshua was shocked to see how few chocolates were left. "I have had one chocolate. How on earth have we eaten EIGHTEEN???" he asked. We explained that we gave a few to Lauren and kids. The math still made us look greedy. "If I'd known I lived with such ferocious eaters I would have bought more." he added.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Are we in Hawaii Yet?
The boys are counting down to our trip to Hawaii. They are very excited and asking questions like "Will it REALLY be warm?" and "Can we swim?" It is really hard to envisage warmth right now. We have been cold and gloomy for so long.
Mum, here is your bird. Its a duck. It comes from an excellent book I have just bought for us on Abe Books. The Birds Of Kauai (Denny) has photographs and more context for birding on Kauai.
From Denny's The Birds of Kauai (page37)
"This endemic waterfowl nests along the banks of mountain streams, tar patches, estuaries and isolated irrigation ditches. The Hawaiian Duck is closely related to the migratory Mallard and resembles the female of that species. There is very little difference in the color pattern between male and female Kolao Maoli, however, males are somewhat larger and have a darker head. In both sexes, the legs adn feet are orange. In the 1840s this duck was so plentiful that it was slaughtered by the hundreds to provision visiting whaling ships. Very leery of humans the Koloa maoli is shy and difficult to observe. Approachable individuals of this species occasionally frequent Kaua'i Lagoons near Nawiliwili and the taro patches in Hanalei. On other isalnds Kolao / Mallard hybrids to exist. Kauai remains the only place in Hawaii where genetically pure Koloa can still be seen easily."
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| Are we in Hawaii Yet? - Sunbathing in the winter kitchen. |
Mum, here is your bird. Its a duck. It comes from an excellent book I have just bought for us on Abe Books. The Birds Of Kauai (Denny) has photographs and more context for birding on Kauai.
From Denny's The Birds of Kauai (page37)
"This endemic waterfowl nests along the banks of mountain streams, tar patches, estuaries and isolated irrigation ditches. The Hawaiian Duck is closely related to the migratory Mallard and resembles the female of that species. There is very little difference in the color pattern between male and female Kolao Maoli, however, males are somewhat larger and have a darker head. In both sexes, the legs adn feet are orange. In the 1840s this duck was so plentiful that it was slaughtered by the hundreds to provision visiting whaling ships. Very leery of humans the Koloa maoli is shy and difficult to observe. Approachable individuals of this species occasionally frequent Kaua'i Lagoons near Nawiliwili and the taro patches in Hanalei. On other isalnds Kolao / Mallard hybrids to exist. Kauai remains the only place in Hawaii where genetically pure Koloa can still be seen easily."
 |
| Hawaiian Duck |
Hot Mama Makes Cupcakes
This morning I met up with some friends who have kids with heart defects. We got together at the Bouncy Castles at Magnuson and the kids enjoyed bouncing for a good hour. I arranged snacks, including ordering two dozen cupcakes from Sugarmotherbakeshop a local small business producing
custom cupcakes for parties. The business is simple - you order cupcakes and they either deliver or you pick them up at the kitchen in Ravenna - and delicious. I highly recommend their mini Pink Ladies. The raspberry buttercream frosting is startlingly good, good enough to tempt those of us working on losing the "post-baby-bump" before the kids graduate from elementary school.
Unfortunately, on my way to pick up the cupcakes I became lost. I called Frost to ask him to google Sugar Mother for directions. This was a bad move. Apparently, SUGAR MOTHER is like porn talk for cougar (the female equivalent of Sugar Daddy).
Frost says "I found PORN SITES that said "Are you a Sugar Mother?" and it was some bachelorette show that had some half naked women on it and it was strange and it wasn't... well... it wasn't pretty!"
After making my son surf porn sites for sugar, I managed to reach the proprietor and find that there had been an error in noting directions which had led me astray. The kitchen is a bit tricky to locate but it was worth it and we all enjoyed ourselves.
The weather is wild. A high wind is buffeting the trees and stirring the evergreen firs in waves. The bare poplars are opening and closing like kelp in the tide and the few leaves left from fall are scuttling along the street. The few open blossoms on the Camellia - always the first flower in the garden - are bobbing up and down outside my window.
But its not raining.
The sun is shining in brilliant white behind broken clouds. The brightness filtered but still too painful to look at directly.
The Boy is playing Halo Reach and the other boy suggests "You need to fight the Scarab Tank!"
"No," says Frost. "They just fought it."
Planning on going to the gym today. I shall have to post another post about my problems with running. More later.
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| Pink Ladies and Lick the Devil Cupcakes from Sugarmotherbakeshop.com |
Unfortunately, on my way to pick up the cupcakes I became lost. I called Frost to ask him to google Sugar Mother for directions. This was a bad move. Apparently, SUGAR MOTHER is like porn talk for cougar (the female equivalent of Sugar Daddy).
Frost says "I found PORN SITES that said "Are you a Sugar Mother?" and it was some bachelorette show that had some half naked women on it and it was strange and it wasn't... well... it wasn't pretty!"
After making my son surf porn sites for sugar, I managed to reach the proprietor and find that there had been an error in noting directions which had led me astray. The kitchen is a bit tricky to locate but it was worth it and we all enjoyed ourselves.
The weather is wild. A high wind is buffeting the trees and stirring the evergreen firs in waves. The bare poplars are opening and closing like kelp in the tide and the few leaves left from fall are scuttling along the street. The few open blossoms on the Camellia - always the first flower in the garden - are bobbing up and down outside my window.
But its not raining.
The sun is shining in brilliant white behind broken clouds. The brightness filtered but still too painful to look at directly.
The Boy is playing Halo Reach and the other boy suggests "You need to fight the Scarab Tank!"
"No," says Frost. "They just fought it."
Planning on going to the gym today. I shall have to post another post about my problems with running. More later.
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