The bird nest

Just a plain ol' front door

Until you look closer....

A Carolina Wren has built her nest between the door and the wreath. Thankfully we don't use that door very often! She started out with just one egg and then added a new one each day. We haven't checked yet today, but she has had 5 eggs in there for a couple of days now so she's probably finished laying. The kids have really enjoyed checking the nest each day. As soon as we open the other door (it also opens onto the porch), we see her fly out to the top of one of the trees in the front yard. She sits there and watches us until we go back in.

I didn't buy a formal science curriculum for Hank since he's only in Kindergarten, but we've been doing an informal bird journal. Our schoolroom is in the front of the house (near the above door actually) and we have a great big window to the front yard. We put out different kinds of feeders and we watch the birds.

We've written down all the birds we've seen, adding to the list when a new one visits. And we're just going down the list reading about each one. Then we draw pictures of what its nest or eggs generally look like or of the birds themselves and write down a few interesting facts.

I'm learning a lot, too. I have a *horrible* memory and have a hard time remembering what the different birds look like. Doing this little bird by bird review has really helped me! :)

Bill's dad can look at a bird and tell you almost right away what kind it is and all sorts of things about it. I wish I could do that, but I'm working on just remembering names right now!

We'll take pictures of the babies and post those. I'll have read (again) and see how long it will be before the eggs hatch. eta...the eggs hatch in 12-16 days so we should have some babies in early/mid-May.

A trip downtown

Bill had last Wednesday off for a DC gov't holiday so we decided to take a little field trip to the Natural History museum. I haven't been there since Jake was a baby so it's been a while!

We didn't tell the kids that DeeDee would be joining us. Hank was so excited when he saw her. He was supposed to spend last week with DeeDee at her house (to help her take care of the cows) but we had to reschedule to this week because he had a doctor's appointment last Thursday.

So we started at the bottom and worked our way up. The first floor has dinosaurs which the boys *loved*. Ella thought they were scary and gross though. What a girlie.

The second floor has a little butterfly conservatory. We just hatched our latest batch of butterflies here at home so we bought tickets to go through their display. One landed on Shane's head which freaked him out a bit. He spent the rest of the time with his hands on his head! Ella thought they were all just beautiful and wanted to spend more time looking at the flowers and watching the butterflies eat. Hank kept getting buzzed; they would fly right by his head so he was ready to leave right away. Jake and I got to go to the big butterfly conservatory in Niagra Falls. What a cool place. That was over 10 years ago so I don't know if it's even there anymore, but we really loved it.

I forget which floor houses the bug zoo. Shane held a big cockroach-looking thing. He was with daddy for that...mommy doesn't like bugs. Ella held a horned tobacco worm...or is it tobacco horned worm? Anyway, she held a big green juicy caterpillar. Hank was happy to look at the creatures that were behind glass!

The kids did an AMAZING job. They were so good. Even at the end when they were exhausted adn hungry, they hung in there.

DeeDee was extremely generous and bought them all little souveniers. When I was growing up, we always got t-shirts of the places we visited. Even if it was just Bob's Campground in Waxitoochie, MS, we got a t-shirt. I think my school wardrobe all through elementary school consisted of tourist t-shirts! So anyway, I made sure they all had t-shirts and they picked out other little goodies as well.

Then we headed out to the Mall for some much deserved running around time. Shane got lots of smiles from his very loud and friendly "HI!" to all passersby. Hank was on cloud 9 with his new dinosaurs. And Ella was helping DeeDee find all the candy in her purse. :)

Ella spotted the "big round thing" and wanted to see what it was. A ride on the carousel is pretty cheap - only $2.50 so Jake and DeeDee took the little kids on it. Shane had so much fun that they had to pry his fingers off the reigns. He kept trying to get away from Jake and run back on.

We figured we would take the risk and vist the Air and Space Museum too since it's just a little way down the Mall. We just did a leisurely walk through and let the kids do a few of the hands on things before heading back to the Metro.

They had a great time and I'm already thinking about when we can visit the zoo this summer and the American History museum when it reopens in the Fall. :)

Since Hank is five, he needed his own ticket. He was very proud of himself and even kept track of his ticket.

Daddy gets motion sickness so his eyes were closed much of the ride.
Little Hank in front of the big elephant
Shane was trying to climb over the railing to play in the sand. They had a mock dig with the tools layed out. He saw little shovels and rakes in the sand so it must have all been there for little kids to play with...right??
Ever the cutie pie

My poor little camera couldn't really catch them on the carousel.

Obligatory group shot
This looks like they're going to invade or something...like a kid swarm :)
Such a cutie

Say Aah

Ah! That's how Shane says Ella. So cute. We actually didn't get it at first because Ah is kind of short and doesn't really sound like Ella.

He is very protective of his Ah. He makes sure she has snack at snack-time, or that she has her kitty at bedtime. He also totes her around our huge house on his trike (ok, the house isn't huge but a princess can get tired if she has to make lots of trips from the schoolroom to the playroom).

Notice he has my cell phone. He was talking to Daddy.

The paparazzi has been spotted. Do they make a run for it, or....

Sit down and say Cheese!

Easter pictures

These are from Easter at DeeDee's house. Taking pictures of kids is like herding cats. Bill and Jake were still at church so Jake was spared the torture of the photo shoot.

I just re-read what I wrote...sounds abrupt which I didn't mean for it to.

These pictures actually crack me up since they're the best ones of the bunch I took...and I didn't get a single pictures of them all 3 looking normal - or abnormal? since kids usually have silly looks on their faces...so these pictures have captured their true personalities. Yea...that's it. :)

Kindergarten math

I think I may need to repeat Kindergarten because I've definitely miscalculated...

I thought Hank's math workbook was just one book - 80 lessons. A little light but I figured the authors cut the little kids some slack. I was looking for another book on my bookshelves and found "Book 2" of Hank's math. There are 180 lessons total!

Oh and we're only on lesson 67...

Rose Hill Manor field trip and a little catch up, ketchup or is it catsup?

I figured I'd use the kids' lunchtime to catch up a little. We've been crazy busy with no end in sight. Ella and Jake have thankfully been healthy. Shane - other than getting over his ear/sinus/rattling cough thing - is humming along.

Hank, otoh, is my current mess. Took him to the ped yesterday and we think he had an allergic reaction to his antibiotic last week. He spent the week breaking out in hives off and on for no apparent reason.

My brain is wired for food allergies and the occasional stinging insect allergy not medicine allergies. Oh well...he's on something new with no hives which is great. He has chronic sinusitis alternating with sinus infections, which affect his ears, which affects his hearing...you get the idea. We're already scheduled to see a new ENT next week. The ped wants us to also see an allergist to figure out what could be causing the sinus issues.

My fingers are crossed that Hank is mysteriously only allergic to black and white coonhound-mix dogs...though with my luck, it's probably house dust and I'll have to break down and dust more often than twice a year (unless company is coming and then it's only the rooms I think they'll be in!).

On to the fun stuff...pictures...
On Good Friday our co-op took a field trip to Rose Hill Manor in Frederick. I didn't even know this place existed...it was really fun....like a miniature Williamsburg. The kids really had a great time. Our interpreter/guide seemed to be either new or more comfortable with older kids so I'm not sure how much they actually learned, but they did have a lot of fun.