Our Trip to the Zoo

The cutest creatures at the zoo!

We took the kids to the NC Zoo for the first time on Saturday.  And when we went, I realized why we waited until they were 7 and 8 before we took them.

I saw parents with infants heaving huge strollers around for miles.  I saw parents with toddlers and preschoolers lugging double strollers around.  I saw parents with infants and toddlers and preschoolers melting down because they didn't want to be in their strollers.  And then I didn't feel so bad for making my kids wait until they were 7 and 8 to go the zoo for the first time.

It was a beautiful day - sunny and in the 70's with a light breeze.  Perfect weather for walking 3 miles through North America and 2 miles through Africa.  We were there for 6 hours and were standing or walking the entire time with the exception of the 20 minutes we sat down to eat.

My legs felt like Jello by the time we got to the car at the end of the day.  The kids had a great time looking at the animals and they didn't complain at all about all of the walking.

Here are a few highlights from our day:

Black Bear

Bison

Cougar

Zebra

Chimpanzees

This gorilla is pushing a button and drinking water!  Smart!

My little monkeys reading about the chimps!

Baboon - Sarah was disgusted by the red tushies on these things!

Ostrich

Baboon - This sweet little thing kept licking this rock.

He liked to keep his feet on the glass while licking his rock. And poor thing only had one eye.  This upset Peter.

The white ghost!  Which was really an albino alligator.

Rhinos

Playful baby chimps

Elephants

Giraffes

My favorite animals at the whole zoo - The Blue-Tongued Peter and the Blue-Toothed Sarah

Tiny hand prints? Not any more.

Remember this poignant post I wrote two and a half years ago?  Take a minute and read it in case you have forgotten.  Tiny Hand Prints.

What a sweet post.

I still struggle with those hand prints.  I will go days and days between cleaning them off and no matter how long I go, within hours, the hand prints reappear - almost as if by magic.

I stopped getting upset by them along time ago. And not because I knew that the smudges were going to get larger and higher as my kids grew up and out and away but because I knew they were just going to come back again and again.  Nothing poignant about the dirt and grim - it's just a part of life with kids.

As I was cleaning this hand print off the glass yesterday,  I realized that the owners of the hand prints are about to have a new chore added to their chore list.

And that made me smile.

What is on their hands to make such dirty prints? They bathe and wash their hands on a regular basis, I promise!

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

I'm having lunch with Jennifer today!  Now that she's a working woman, I don't ever get to spend any time with her any more.  I miss her. 

--- 2 ---

We are heading to the zoo tomorrow.  We've never taken the kids before but Dan's company is having their family day there this year.  Free tickets and a cookout - how could we say no?

--- 3 ---

I have run 4 miles for three consecutive days.  I may be slow but I'm getting it done.  I will do a 10k in the spring.  I will do a 10k in the spring.  I will do a 10k in the spring.  I will...o.k. you get the idea. 

--- 4 ---

Peter made a 100 on his September project.  I was so happy to see that grade.  He worked hard on it and even though it could have been neater, he met all the criteria so he got an A.  Peter's October project involves researching a state  and putting his findings in a Power Point presentation and presenting it to the class.  The best part of this is that it is to be done entirely at school.  Yay!

--- 5 ---

Every fall, I buy a mum.  Every fall, the mum immediately dies.  This year my mums are thriving.  I think I finally figured out the secret...watering them more than once.  Who knew?

--- 6 ---

While typing "spring" and "fall" in the quick takes above, I couldn't decide whether to capitalize them or leave them lower-case.  I decided to leave them lower case but still didn't feel right about it.  I checked my BFF Google and determined that they are NOT to be capitalized. 

--- 7 ---

It is a requirement at my kid's school that a parent in the family volunteers at least 15 hours a year.  Although I have a feeling most families are volunteering way more than that.  I finally signed up to help with a couple of things when I realized that it is already October and the school year is going to be over before I know it.  I think my slow start is due to the fact that I don't know anyone there and they all seem to be best friends.  I'm aware that the only way to remedy that situation is to just go and do something so I guess that's what I'll do - reluctantly...

Sorry these quick takes have been so boring but that's my life!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

He killed it in a good way.

Yesterday while Peter was taking his guitar lesson, Sarah and I went to Walgreens.  Apparently she and her friend Cheyanne are both going to be cats for Halloween.  Cheyanne told Sarah that she saw some vampire fangs in Walgreens that would make great spooky cat teeth. 

We got back from Walgreens just as the guitar lesson was ending.  When Zach came out, he asked if I could hear what they were playing.  I told him we had just walked in the door and didn't hear anything other than one of the piano students banging around in another room.

"I taught him how to play the beginning of the Harry Potter theme song and he KILLED IT!  He just KILLED IT!  I couldn't believe how awesome he did!"  was Zach's excited reply.

It took Peter a moment to gather up his guitar and his notebook but when he finally came out of the room, he was grinning from ear to ear.  And in the car, he went on and on about how Zach told him he couldn't believe he was able to play the song so well so quickly. 

When we got home, Peter went straight up to his room and practiced the song and then he practiced it again before bed and was practicing yet again this morning before school. 

Not to be outdone, Sarah practiced  piano before school this morning as well. 

Where are my real children?  Who has them?  Who are these little people they have been replaced with?  (I'm sure my real kids will be back this afternoon just in time for a homework battle but until then, I'm going to cherish the fond memory I have of them practicing their instruments before school without being reminded.)

And in case you are wondering, we got the $5 vampire teeth but they aren't one piece of cheap plastic.  Instead, they are two pieces of cheap plastic. Each piece fits over the first two teeth on each side of the mouth.  Sarah doesn't have enough teeth to wear these as she currently looks like a beaver. 

I wanted to leave you with a picture of Sarah's toothless smile but I don't have a recent close-up because by the time your kid has lost 8 teeth, you stop taking pictures of the new grin.  At least I do anyway. 

So I'll leave you with this shot.  It's the best I can do.  (And there's a rainbow in the background but it's all blurry.  I was trying to get a shot of just the rainbow but some little beaver-toothed cutey just can't stand the thought of a camera being around and her own little self not being in the photo kept jumping into the shot.)

Please note the scarf made out of a t-shirt that is not only inside out but also choking her because it's so tiny.  I'm sure I would have no problem marketing those bad boys.

Apparently, I have all the time in the world.

I was out for my morning run and decided to do 4 miles instead of my normal 3.  After all, I thought, I've got to work my way up to 6.2 miles if I'm going to be ready for that 10k in the fall.

And then it hit me - it IS fall.

So this morning it became apparent to me that I will not be running a 10k in two weeks as I had originally planned back in the summer when it felt like fall was waaaaaaaaay off and I would have plenty of time to get in shape for a 10k.

I guess I need to find a 10k in the spring and sign up for it and pay for it and put it on my calendar and train for it and then actually run it.  Sounds like a good plan doesn't it? 

On a completely unrelated note, my friend Jennifer's daughter, Caity, has been making bracelets and necklaces and selling them at local school Fall Festivals and at local gift shops.  Aren't they cool?  All the kids are buying them!

Caity is working hard at this and has made a lot of money doing it.  Sarah decided that she wants to make something and sell it as well so she can make a lot of money too. 

Sarah has a couple of things working against her.  Sarah is 7 and her mom isn't very crafty.  Caity is 10 and her mom is very crafty. 

She decided she wanted to make and sell scarves. 

SCARVES, people!  We do not own a sewing machine. I can barely sew a button and Sarah still has trouble tieing her shoes.  I'm not exactly sure how she thinks we are going to make SCARVES!   But she's leaving that tiny little detail to me.  Apparently her job in this little money-making adventure is to annoy the crap out of me until I come up with something for her to make and sell. 

I have been Googling "no-sew scarves" and came up with one made from a t-shirt.  So we made one and the problem is that it's a scarf made from a t-shirt.  I really don't have what it takes to go into a local gift shop and ask them to sell a scarf that I made from cutting up a t-shirt. 

I convinced her that it wasn't a good idea and then hoped that the whole thing would just die down.  And I was good for a couple of hours until she started asking me again what she could make and sell.  She wants to buy an iPad.  And if she can't make enough money for one, she is going to ask Santa to bring it.  HA!  I hope she has another plan because I can tell you right now, Santa ain't bringing no iPad. 

I guess I will spend my morning searching Etsy to see what the crafty people are making and selling and then spend my afternoon searching Google to see if there are any tutorials on how to easily and uncraftily copy what the crafty Etsy people are making and selling.

How am I ever going to be able to get ready to run a 10k in the spring if I'm spending all of my time crafting?  Good thing the spring is waaaaaaaaay off!

Soup. It's what's for dinner on Monday nights.

Mondays during the school year are pretty hectic for us.  Monday sets the homework tone around here.  How much do we have for the week, what tests do we have to study for, what are the special projects for the week.  I'm sure if you have an elementary aged child, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

And the paperwork that comes home on Monday is crazy.  Things to sign that must be returned, things that must be reviewed, things that need to be filed for review later.  Monday afternoons leave me feeling a little overwhelmed.

And then throw in Cub Scouts and Brownies which both happen on Monday evening and the fact that I never know what time Dan is going to get home and WHAT THE HECK AM I GOING TO FIX FOR DINNER?

So dinner on Mondays have typically been leftovers and Spaghettio's..

And then yesterday afternoon, it hit me - SOUP!  Why haven't I been fixing soup for dinner on Mondays? 

I think soup might solve all of my Monday afternoon problems.  Well, not all of them, unless soup can sign papers and review spelling words.  But soup is something that can be tossed quickly into the crock pot and doled out to whomever whenever they might be hungry.

Yesterday I found a soup recipe that I thought Dan and I might like.  I tweaked it based on our tastes and based on what I had in the pantry and voila - dinner was served!

And it was delicious!  In fact, I'm having a big bowl of it right now.

Soup.  It's what's for dinner on Monday nights.

Beth's Buffalo Chicken Soup

2 cans (12.5 oz)  cooked chicken
1 large onion, chopped
1 can (15 oz)of Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cupTexas Pete hot sauce
      crumbled blue cheese, if desired

1.  Mix all ingredients except Texas Peter and blue cheese in a crockpot.

2.  Cover; cook on Low for 4 hours.

3.  Stir in wing sauce 5 minutes before serving.

4.  Serve sprinkled with blue cheese.

      

It's lonely at the top...and sometimes that's just how we want it!

Dan and Peter spent the weekend camping with the Cub Scouts.  Dan sent me these pictures from his Blackberry.

Both of these pictures were taken from the top of Raven Knob.  It's  a long and hard hike up to the top.  They went late in the afternoon and were the only ones up there. 

And knowing my solitary boys, that's just how they wanted it. 

It's items not years, Miss Smarty Pants!

Sarah and I were in the Walmarts on Saturday picking up 9-volt batteries and a few other items.  We were heading to the checkouts and I said, "Let's go to the 25 and under line."

Sarah replied, "But Mom, you are waaaaaaay over 25."

If I wasn't so tired, I could have come up with a funnier ending.

Dan and Peter left for a Cub Scout camping trip last night so it's just me and Sarah this weekend.

We headed to Chick-Fil-A for dinner last night and then came home and watched an episode of Chopped Champions - something that would never happen with the boys.

Dan will watch Top Chef with me and even The Next Food Network Star but  he refuses to watch Chopped.  His rational is that there is no way people in real life would ever make an entree using squid ink, Fig Newtons, caper berries and tile fish. And he's right because why would you even want to eat squid ink and I don't even know what a caper berry or a tile fish is.  I'm totally on board with a Fig Newton, though. 


After watching the chefs get creative with the funky ingredient basket we headed to bed.  Sarah likes to sleep in my bed when Dan and Peter are gone and I like to let her.  This is the only time I will ever let her sleep with me.  I prefer the kids in their own beds and me in mine but when the boys are gone, it's a special treat for her...and if you consider having a foot in your back or an arm over your face special, well then it's a special treat for me too.

I woke up around 2:00 AM for my nightly I'm-an-old-lady-now-and-have-to-go-at-least-once pee and then settled in nicely until 4:10 AM at which time I heard a loud beep.  My blood ran cold.    A smoke detector was beeping.  Why, me?  I have to worst luck getting them to stop beeping and I knew I didn't have any 9-volt batteries and I knew that when one beeps, another will surely follow.

I laid real still with my eyes squeezed tightly closed as if some how that would make it stop.  But it didn't because 30 seconds later it beeped again.

So I did what anyone would do.  I got up and closed the bedroom door and climbed back into bed.

30 seconds later - BEEP!

So I hopped up, dragged a chair out into the hall, climbed up on the chair and pulled the battery out of the smoke detector and then climbed back into bed.

2 minutes later - BEEP!

BEEP?!

What the beep?

So I climbed back out of bed and pulled the whole smoke detector out of the ceiling.  And while I was doing that - BEEP!

It was then that I discovered that it wasn't the smoke detector in the hall that was beeping, it was the one in Peter's room.  So I took the battery out of that one and took it out of the ceiling for good measure and finally climbed back into bed.

BEEP!

You are beeping kidding me, I thought to myself.

The one in Sarah's room was going off this time.  I took that one out of the ceiling and climbed back into bed at which point Sarah said, "What are you doing?"  And by now it was 5:00 AM.  We finally managed to get back to sleep until 7:45 when the cat decided we should all be up.

MEOW!

MEOW!

Three cups of coffee and a trip to Walmart for 9-volt batteries have done nothing to improve my grumpiness.  Sarah's grumpy today too.

And everyone knows - two grumps don't make a right.

Or something like that. (Cut me some slack - I'm tired.)