The picture’s a little dark, but it WAS pretty early this morning. Mama and Papa Mallard paid a visit to my front yard looking for something from under the bird feeder. We did them one better and threw them some bread.

I’ll have to look for them again tomorrow; I’ve been hearing them quacking around the neighborhood for about 2 weeks now but this is the first they’ve come to our yard. Generally they nest under my neighbor’s shrubbery. Once they hatch the eggs, they’ll leave pretty quickly with the babies and not be seen around here again until next spring!

Maybe it’s silly to get all excited about a couple of ducks. But I do anyway. I enjoy seeing the cardinals who visit my bird feeder as well–and so do the kids. Little Brother is learning to identify our most common visitors, such as sparrows, robins, cardinals and “Mourning Duffs.”

Seeing the ducks in the morning makes me smile. It’s right up there with a pretty sunrise, a good cup of coffee, and a little time to enjoy all of those before any kids are awake and needing my attention. Today, God gave me the gift of “All of the Above.” What a great way to start the day.

It’s always interesting to overhear little kids’ observations as they play with their friends.

Little Brother and Adventure Boy are playing with matchbox cars and Star Wars ships. Adventure Boy commented, “My mom has that toy.”

Little Brother was puzzled. “Your mom’s not a boy!”

Adventure Boy answered, “My mom’s a girl, because I love my mom.”

After we finished dinner, TheDad went to put his plate in the dishwasher. Since we had rice with our dinner, I asked him to rinse the plate.

“Dishwashers and rice just don’t get along,” I observed. “The only dishwasher we ever had that could take care of rice was that ancient Kenmore in our first home. I didn’t even have to rinse out OATMEAL BOWLS with that dishwasher.”

Big Brother commented, “You know what’s cool? I saw this dishwasher in The Big Orange Home-Improvement Store that had a transparent front so when you turn it on you see the water swishing all around.”

“Ewwwww! Who wants to see that?!” I answered.

All three kids, all at once, yelled, “I DO!”

Middle Sister, Little Brother, and a neighbor are outside playing basketball in the driveway.

I went to put something away in the garage and asked them to pass me the ball. A perfect SWISH!

Our guest cheered: “Nothin’ but net by a MOM!”

Mary Poppins NOT describes finding a children’s classic in a thrift store and seeing a special inscription:

“To a very brave little girl. From her loving and adoring mommy.”
How on earth could someone get rid of that book?

I once bought a children’s board book of prayers at a library book sale. It was MINT condition (rare for a board book) and when I read it with Little Brother for the first time, I found a loving inscription to a child from a GODPARENT. This was apparently a christening gift.

Could it really be true that a godparent took the time to select and inscribe this book for a godchild, only to have it donated, most likely unread, to a library sale?

What a tragedy that in both cases, a love note from a parent or godparent to a child is just considered clutter and thrown away.

From Big Brother’s high school Daily Bulletin:

From the Dean of Students:
REMINDER: NO FACIAL HAIR IS PERMITTED WITHOUT A DOCTOR’S NOTE.

Since early this morning it has been snowing and/or raining and/or dropping sleet-on-steroids (I’m serious; if you can identify the corners and planes on a piece of ice that has just hit your windshield, this is more than just sleet!)

And I spent a decent part of the day driving around in this mess. It took me a whole hour to pick up Middle Sister and my Fairy Goddaughter at school, drop off Fairy Goddaughter at her home, and get home here. I should be able to do that in 40 minutes tops. (Fairy Goddaughter really is my goddaughter, and TheDad’s too. When she was in kindergarten, she told her friend that I am her Fairy Godmother. Works for me).

Big Brother and TheDad are off for a fun-filled, snowy weekend of camping with the Boy Scouts. They’re in a lodge, so it will at least be warm once they get a fire going. They raided our board-game closet (3 versions of Axis and Allies, Risk, Monopoly, chess, and a deck of cards) to keep everyone busy since they will be snowed in.

We’ve had our dinner and it’s all cleaned up. I took out the trash and filled the bird feeder. Then I came in, put on my pajamas, made a cup of tea, and settled down at the kitchen table for a rare opportunity for Evening Prayer in the evening, before I’m too sleepy, with Little Brother’s SpongeBob cartoon providing the background music.

Once I find out that the Scouts have reached their destination (in good weather, it should take an hour) I will be able to relax. If you have a prayer to spare for these crazy guys, I’d surely appreciate it. Saint George is the patron saint of scouting, I have learned.

Now that the game closet is half empty, maybe I should finish cleaning it out. Or I could go make some cookies.

I think the cookies will win. The closet will be there tomorrow.

First of all, I’m 2 memes behind here, so if you tagged me, bear with me.

And now from the combox:
On King Tut:
Ellen, I would recommend this exhibit to any adult who has an interest in Egypt. I would not recommend this to children under high-school age. It is a museum exhibit. It’s in a series of little dark rooms. Most display cases show items at a 4-foot height (some ten-year-olds were too short to see some things). The IMAX movie is probably not worth it unless you have a crush on Omar Sharif. It’s not that the subject matter isn’t appropriate for children, but it’s not presented in a way that will interest them. It’s really meant for adults to appreciate.
Sara, there was no bloodshed, but I did lose one of the kids for a few minutes. The Tap-Dance-Kid (who thinks she is perpetually starring in her very own Broadway show) took off with some other chaperone to another area without telling me or the teacher. I spent most of my time counting heads to make sure I had all 5 kids at all times–in the dark. And I PAID for this privilege. Apparently at this school, there are no freebie field trips for room parents. But I had a very pleasant and polite boy in my group who actually showed courtesy all day long and thanked me for being a chaperone! That was a real treat.

On the Violas in the Yard:
Sara, I do not live in the Frozen Tundra. That is a good thing since I don’t deal well with cold. If it’s below 50 degrees I have gloves on. If it’s below 85 I am probably NOT wearing shorts. Thank you for letting me know the name of my cute flowers. Don’t worry, they won’t get any care other than the natural kind of watering that God provides them. This method of gardening has helped me produce the Hosta That Needs Its Own Zip Code. We haven’t killed the Live-Forevers yet either.

Now for the prayer request. Actually, TWO prayer requests. But one saint could intercede for both of these. Saint John Bosco, please intercede on behalf of:
The Kitchen Madonna’s son, who may lose his spot in a training program for handicapped young adults due to budget cuts, and
a young student I personally know (not a family member) whose educational career may be disrupted. This would be a shame for him.

Look who I found peeking out of the mess of dead grass in the flower bed this morning!

I’ve been seeing lots of daffodil pictures on people’s blogs all of a sudden, but I don’t think I’ll see any in my yard. The daffodils here popped up in January, put up some buds, and then froze in place. (Anyone know what I should do with this? I’m garden-impaired….)

Last year the kids’ school gave out pots of these little cuties to each child for Easter, to plant in their own gardens. I had no idea that it might come back another year.

We’ve got these tiny flowers, and the kids have all seen The Bunny (generally known around here as The Easter Bunny’s Brother). It will be 74 degrees here today, and Middle Sister wore her uniform shorts to school! Spring must be on the way!