Spring has arrived! The snow is gone (other than a few flurries that haven't stuck), the daffodils are blooming, and the fruit trees are ready to bud. We hope that we don't get another hard freeze after they bud as we did last year. Another big sign of spring is that the children have put away the snow sleds and have been able to ride their bicycles again. Yippee!
A few weeks ago I looked out the kitchen window and saw S pushing Sacagawea around on her bicycle. I noted that the training wheels weren't on and was trying to remember when they had been removed. I certainly didn't remember blogging about such a momentous occasion. Then, I saw it...the pile of training wheels. S had just taken them off for her!
I watched them play while I was fixing lunch. S gave her a running push and she pedaled down the hill. Just before the bike stopped she would put her feet down and jump off the bike. It would fall over, then she would pick it up and take it to the top of the slope again.
When they came inside I sent S back out to reattach the training wheels "just in case she wants to ride when you're not outside." It wouldn't be good for her to fall when she was by herself. I couldn't believe he took them off all on his own, but M & J could.
A few days later The Man took the wheels off for good. She's doing a great job at riding on her own, even when she doesn't start at the top of the slope. She is also perfecting her stopping technique. She discovered that trying to jump off before the bike hits the ground doesn't always work out as planned.
A dear friend (who really needs to start her own blog) has requested that we remove a certain object from our yard so she won't hurt herself. I can't imagine Sacagawea attempting that, but I will have a talk with her about it.
She is doing a lot of things on her own now, including picking out her own clothes to wear.
Hmmm...short-sleeved tee with snow boots? By the way, she does own a helmet. We'll dig it out of the closet when we put away the snow boots.
A few weeks ago we had a very sad event happen here. Tails (or Scales, we really aren't sure), one of the Green Anole Lizards we got for M before we moved here, finally died. I say "finally" because according to many websites, including this one, they are only supposed to live 1-2 years in the wild and 2-3 years in captivity. We bought Tails & Scales, ages unknown, from a local pet store in October of 2002, 5 1/2 years ago!
They had an interesting start since the kid working at the pet store didn't inform us that two males shouldn't share a cage. We took them home and set up the recently emptied fish aquarium. Since we were planning on moving again in a few months we decided that lizards might be more portable.
After witnessing some impressive and aggressive territorial displays by the two lizards, we put up a partition in the aquarium to give each his own space. The both thrived there until after our move when Scales (or Tails) met with an unfortunate lid accident. His smooshed body was found at the next feeding time and promptly buried under the oak tree out front. His loss was Tails' (or Scales') gain as the partition was removed and the lizard had more room to roam.
When M got his own room about 3 years ago, the lizard cage remained behind for the other 2 boys to enjoy. S is (was) the official lizard feeder. About four Sundays ago (I know, I'm really behind on my blogging) J came into our bedroom in tears. Tails (or Scales) was dead!
They weren't sad for too long. Later that afternoon S found the first lizard of the season outside.
This Blue-belly was a fat one. "Can we keep it?"
"Where?" I asked, "In the aquarium with the dead one?" Yes, poor Tails (or Scales) was still in the aquarium. His body wasn't even cold yet (ok, yes, I know they are cold-blooded, it is just a figure of speech) and S and J were ready to replace him.
I opposed the idea of taking on a new pet, especially a lizard, at this point. We think that lizard thrived on neglect since sometimes it would go several days between feedings. I suggested they plan a lizard funeral instead.
Nearly two weeks later I insisted they plan a lizard funeral. Ick. They finally built a cardboard coffin and buried Tails (or Scales) out front. RIP Tails (or Scales).
Happy Pi (3-14) Day!
Yes, I'm a geek. I get giddy on days like today. Lots of fun stuff to celebrate March 14 can be found here and here. Unfortunately a lot of the links are broken, but there are still a lot of great activities.
(I know it is Friday, but we weren't crafty this week. You can still head over to Shereen's and see the stuff of the folks who were.)
I walked into the kitchen this morning and saw that the breakfast dishes were still on the table.
"Someone needs to come clear the table!" I called.
Immediately 2 pairs of feet came running to do the job. 
Thanks, but ummm...no!
Last week I was up in the city and popped into the only "nice" department store and discovered they were having a clearance sale. The Man will only wear 100% natural fiber (usually cotton) button-up shirts to work. Those are sometimes hard to come by at a reasonable price so I was excited to find some nice shirts for $2.97 each (regularly $30-46). I bought several, had The Man try them on, then went back the next day and bought a bunch more stuff. I used less than $90 off of gift cards we had from Christmas, but according to my receipts I "saved" over $700.
The next day one of The Man's patients complimented him on his tie. The Man told him that his wife (me) usually picks out his clothes and that I had just bought him several new shirts on clearance at the department store in the city. The patient came back to see The Man yesterday and told him that he had checked out that sale and bought a dozen shirts.
I happened to find this all very hilarious.
I send The Man off to work in his 100% cotton button-up shirt and tie and assume he is talking to people about their sore throats, diabetes, smoking, lab tests...not the latest sale!
So, since everyone that reads this blog is either a doctor, married to a doctor, goes to a doctor, or knows someone who goes to a doctor...is it common for doctors and patients to chat about clothes or sales? What do patients talk to their doctor's about? I really can't recall discussing anything other than something directly related to the reason for the visit.
S had, what looked like, a fairly straightforward exercise in his reading workbook this morning. It was simply a series of questions in which he was to circle the correct answer.
Which is longer? day year
Which is colder? ice water
et cetera
He read the first question out loud, "Which is longer? A DAY!" Then he circled the corresponding answer.
"A day? Are you sure?" I questioned.
"Of course! I'm on Venus today!"
We had a short discussion about how, yes, the days on Venus are longer than a Venus year, but the workbook publisher is on Earth, so they probably are expecting an Earthly answer.
Fine. He erased his circle and circled the correct answer.
"Which is colder? Ice??? What is ice? There is no ice on Venus."
Fun facts about Venus:
Venus orbits the sun about once every 225 earth days.
A Venus rotation takes 245 earth days (so the day IS longer than the year).
The temperature on Venus remains fairly constant due to the heavy cloud and gas cover. The range is between 447-477 degrees Celsius.
Find out more about our planet of the day here.
Last Tuesday The Man took the boys snow skiing. Sacagawea was disappointed at not being able to go with them until I suggested an alternate activity for us...getting her library card! She's been begging to get her own card ever since S got his.
The main requirement for a child to get a card at our county library is for the child to be able to write their own name on the back. She's been able to write her name small enough for quite a while, but we haven't been able to take the time to do it. It seems most of the time that we do stuff like this it is someone's first day on the job and they have to learn on us, which tends to take a lot of extra time. Last Tuesday was no exception. But she did get her card. 
She was only allowed to check out two books the first time. The next time we go she can check out up to 20. Wheeeeee.We celebrated by going out to eat at Taco Bell. Sacagawea asked me to buy her four bean burritos. I didn't.
J woke up this morning with a bad sore throat so he and I are staying home from church. He's here sipping some Throat Coat tea and he wants me to tell you all about his new retainer.
Two weeks ago his braces came off! Here is a picture we took right before they came off...
It is a big difference from when he first started treatment with his high pull headgear last April...
The orthodontist said that J is one of the best headgear patients he's ever had. He left the brackets on the back teeth so that J can still wear the headgear at night. The orthodontist hasn't made any adjustment to the headgear in months, but he doesn't want his jaw to shift back. After the braces were removed, the impressions were made. J got to choose from a variety of retainer designs, such as an American flag, glow-in-the-dark, different colors, speckles, stripes, and even a photo of himself! He chose a watermelon design, which we went and picked up last Wednesday. He said Grandma told him she wanted pictures so here they are...
I couldn't figure out why the assistant came out and told me he would have a hard time talking with the watermelon in his mouth. I had no idea that he had picked out a special design. They've come a long way since the days our only option was a clear gray!
J spent the west o da day tokkin ike is, but now that he is accustomed to the retainer, his speech is back to normal.
Hmmm...short-sleeved tee with snow boots? By the way, she does own a helmet. We'll dig it out of the closet when we put away the snow boots.
