Reservations

I spent some time yesterday getting campsite reservations for several different times in the summer. Though I've never been much of a camping gal, I'm so excited. Oh the places we'll go!!

2 1/2 Pounds of Luscious Goo

It starts out with a classical story.

My boy was in science class. He was asked to pass out the frogs to be dissected that day in class. He thought it would be funny to throw a frog (wrapped in plastic) at a girl. It wasn't really that funny, which he learned the hard way.

Fast forward. I got a call from the teacher who wanted to know if I had really read the note that had been sent home. Well, I did sign a paper and apparently Nathan craftily cut out my signature and pasted it to another paper. So, I didn't know the real story. Talk about looking like a fool!

Nathan was assigned to yard work duty for Saturday. For Sunday, he was assigned to make fudge and caramels for the teacher and the girl. I picked this punishment because my mom used to make me stir the strawberry jam for hours and hours and hours. It's not something I would wish on anyone. Fudge and caramel both take quite a lot of stirring!

Our first batch of fudge was overcooked. We decided to call it, "Brownie been sittin' on the counter for two days fudge."

The caramels turned out very tasty and very gooey. And the second batch of fudge, with walnuts is pretty sinful too.



Ever wondered what 2 1/2 pounds of luscious goo looks like? Here you go:

A Little Tidbit: Amaranth

A few years ago, I learned about amaranth and that it can be popped like popcorn while reading one of Dr. Weil's books. It's taken me a few years, but I finally tried it tonight. The family loved it.

Here is amaranth:

The seeds are tiny, much smaller than millet.

Here is popped amaranth:


Click here for instructions on how to pop it (the directions are within a yummy looking granola recipe).

What's important, really??

On Tuesday, Brigham and I went to the zoo. Our zoo is only three miles from our house, so it made for a pleasant walk on an almost perfect Spring day.

As we got to the zoo, I got such an excited feeling. It has been a while since I've been to the zoo and I was happy about experiencing it with Brigham.

We got through the gates and checked out the aquariums. Brigham peeked into each one and said, "O.k., let's go!" The next stop was Arctic Foxes. I can't remember seeing them at this zoo before. One of them was lounging inside a large hollow log and the other one was digging a hole under the log. THIS, was going to be good! I looked over at Brigham who was puzzling out the sign hanging on the fence next to the exhibit (see coordinating sidebar story).

"What does this say, Mom?"
"It says 'Do not feed the animals.' Look Brigham, what is that silly fox doing? Look! He has dirt all over his face."
"What does this sign say, again?"
"Brigham, are you here to see the animals or the signs."
"The signs."

So, that was pretty much how our visit to the zoo went. Sometimes, like if there were five piglets nursing rabidly on their mother, he'd stop and watch for 30 seconds. Most of the time, though, he would just look in the cage and then want to move on.

What was the exception? The signs of course (Do not feed the animals, various animal names, no smoking, designated smoking area, etc. etc.) Another exception, you ask? Yes. There was one more. Birds!!!! Looks like you have done your job well, Nathan!!! Brigham could not get enough of our feathered friends.

The babies have arrived!

Earlier this week, Nathan was expressing some frustration that there was no indication of the wren eggs hatching. But, then as the days went by, I noticed both parental wrens out and about. They are running to and fro with food in their beaks. Twice, I even noticed one of them carrying away something that might have been part of an egg shell (it would be interesting to research this since I don't know if birds dispose of their chick's eggs).



At any rate, I did two things today. I checked the House Sparrow nest for eggs. Sure enough, there were four speckled eggs. Since House Sparrows are invasive species, I didn't have a problem with removing the eggs. Nathan would like to keep them in a collection (drained, of course). I didn't keep or photo the nest, but it was an interesting conglomeration of grass, feathers, hair and even plastic, all in the square shape of the nesting box. That was the morbid part of my day.



The wonderful part was checking the wren's nest. The Carolina Wrens took up a home in our Purple Martin hotel--which has yet to attract Purple Martins. At my first look, I could see two beaks poking up. The chicks are very silent, at least when I was there. I'm pretty sure there are at least three chicks in there, but it's hard to tell. There were four eggs to start with. Then, because none of the kids are tall enough to check inside to see, I took the camera out and took a few photos:




The wren's nest is a lot prettier than the sparrow nest. Wrens like moss. An interesting thing that Nathan taught us about wrens this year is that the male will begin building several nests (up to six). He will then take the female on a tour of his nesting sites and she will pick the one she likes best. Then, she helps the male finish building. Our funny male wren started nests in five of the six holes of the hotel and the female picked the bottom middle. We feel really lucky!

Random Silly Picture

This comes from the shores of Lake Michigan last summer.

An on-time birthday

Here's Elijah with his pogo team. He's on the right side of the photo, to the left of the group.

Elijah got to celebrate his birthday on the actual date this week. On the same date, we attended his jump rope team's show. The whole team did great, but Elijah on his pogo ball, was spectacular. I see the makings of a fine athlete in him.

Here are the cupcakes he shared with his class (idea from "Hello, Cupcake"):





Elijah loves the Little House on the Prairie books. He got the whole set for his birthday, just as he was finishing reading them. He requested that we make the recipe of Laura's Wedding Cake from our Little House Cookbook. This recipe takes quite a bit of work because it requires you to beat 10 egg white by hand with a fork until they are stiff. Elijah and I took turns with the beating. Here is the result:




His other passion at the moment involves Great Lakes Freighters. He's specifically interested in the sinking of the Edmund Fitz, but anything freighter is interesting to him. He asked for this map of ships that have sunk on Lake Superior.


Happy Birthday, Elijah!