Priceless

Art History degree = $60,000

Trip to Europe to see the Old Masters in person - $4,000

Art History books = $2,000

Using said books as makeshift balance beam to entertain Salad during blizzard = PRICELESS

Spur of the Moment

2 Mondays ago, R took off to get a second opinion regarding surgery vs. knee pain for the rest of his life. Looks like surgery took the lead today. But, I digress. He called me when he was about 10 minutes away and said "Let's go to the Academy of Natural Sciences today!" I panicked for a minute and then put everyone on the potties while I put their shoes on, jumped online to find out where the best parking was, threw 3 Uncrustables and bags of grapes into our cooler, dressed myself and off we went! I talked about some of the things we'd see, like GIANT dinosaur bones, so they'd be prepared. I learned that lesson the hard way, when an unexpected Chocolate Bar danced it's way up to S in Hershey Park over the holiday. She does not like surprises. Especially not of the "way bigger than she is" variety.
We got there and quickly became members. Not because we knew right away we'd love it, but because the Family Plus membership (which includes 2 guests every time we go - Get ready Gram and Poppy!) was a mere $12 more than the one day pass for my family of 5. On a side note, how do those "quiverfull" people afford anything?

We stomped around like dinosaurs. We studied African, Asian and North American wildlife. We spent a inordinately long time watching a girl clean the guinea pig cages. I think our favorite part, at least my favorite part, was the Butterfly Garden. 100 butterflies, fluttering by, eating bananas and drinking Hawaiian Punch, hanging off the walls and light fixtures, sitting on the ground, outgrowing their chrysalis and cocoons. Best of all was that we had the whole room to ourselves, along with the guide, at our beck and call. We learned that most butterflies use their colors to warn other insects that they mean business. We learned butterflies love the heat, so they keep the room at 80 degrees. We learned that once M gets sweaty, it's time to leave. It was about lunch, so we opted to keep the 3rd floor and half of the second floor for our next excursion. We got home just in time for long naps.

But our fun didn't stop there, after a quick trip to our local Target, we called Gram and Poppy and invited them to join us for dinner at Carrabbas. We had a great time, yummy food, blackberry Sangria and good company. My favorite part of the whole day was sitting next to A at dinner. I studied the way she wound her spaghetti around her fork with one hand, held it in front of her face and used her other hand to jam it into her mouth.

Damn, I love that girl who loves her food.

3 for 3

Happy Birthday, my sweet Fruit Salad! I've been trying to find the words that are in my heart. Words that would let you know that you made my world better the day you were born. Thank you for teaching me what it feels like to be a mother. Thank you for your unwavering forgiveness when I fail on this learning curve.

"I love you being nice,
and when you're cranky, too.
I love you without liking
the naughty things you do.

My 'love you' doesn't change
like the temper of the days.
It's a certain kind of thing
in many different ways . . .

I can't imagine life
before you came along . . .
me there singing senseless,
no meaning to my song.

Call it meant to be
or simply blessed fate,
you fill my heart with love . . .
and for that I celebrate."

Marianne Richmond, "I Love You So . . . "

Roarrrr!

This week we learned about the letter C. We used food dye to Color water. We poured it into trays and put them outside overnight to make ice Cubes. We learned they froze because it was Cold outside. We ate Chicken and Cheese and Carrots and Cashews for dinner. We learned about Cougars, that they live in the jungle. I said they looked a little like tigers, but were solid, not striped. I imagine that's why later in the week, I had this conversation after I got new prescription tortoise shell sunglasses.

Me: "M, do you like my new sunglasses?"

M: "Yes. You look like a cougar."

Me: "A cougar?" Geez, I thought, I'm not that old. Although, I'd be proud if I was and looked as good as Courtney Cox. Wait, how does he know about cougars?

M: "Yeah. Roarrr!"

Me: "Oh, a cougar!"