Mary's Muse

The Last Word

This is my last word before Lent.  No, really.  It is.  I walked downstairs to do my laundry when I noticed that two kids were playing Game Cube. Little man is rather an expert at the thing. Drama Queen is an utter newbie.  In fact, she's so new at it that often her brothers and sister just leave her controller unplugged and let her "think" she is playing.  Now that the kids have remote controllers, I have no IDEA of whether the kids "think" they are playing or are really playing.  Keep in mind that they were playing a car racing game at this time.  So I had to ask.

Me: Little Man, is DQ actually playing? Or is she not plugged in?

Little Man: No she's really playing.  See that guy going the wrong way?  That's her.

Oh Happy Day!

 
This year's Super Bowl was unusual.  Though we were invited to watch the game at a friend's house, we demurred.  We don't have access even to local channels.  And we really wanted to focus on the kids more than the game, anyway.  We watched what we could of the game on the computer while we played board games ~ Egyptians, Professor Noggin's Wildlife Game  (love these games: several themes, easy rules to follow, not so easy to play), Fruit of the Spirit, and Weather Bingo  ~ and ate ... and ate ... and ate ...

What did we eat, you may ask?  We had game day chili, a fresh veggie pizza made with croissant dough, cream cheese and ranch dressing, and the toppings included cucumber, carrot, radish slices, and tiny bits of cauliflower and broccoli.  Any number of vegetables can be included or left out.  We also had a pan of brownies with mint chips melted to make a football field, white frosting lines piped through and a chocolate chip football on top. 

While we didn't get immediate gratification on plays, play-by-plays, replays and thousands of commercials, we did get the gist of the action.  We also managed to get some commercials.  One of them I did *not* want the kids to see at all.  The other one was for the second Kung Fu Panda, about which I am very excited.  Hope it's as good as the first. 

Bottom line: our team won.  :o) And best of all, we paid attention to, and had tons of fun with, our children.  That's what it's all about!

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Since my kids are studying Botany and today's weather is outrageously calm and sunny, but not too hot, I made up a scavenger hunt that the readers could all participate in to find nature right in our yard.  Two of our three readers teamed up with fledgling readers and they were off! Some things I listed, the kids really have to think about.  For example, dragon's head sedum, geranium, and astilbe.  Other things are fairly simple, such as leaves, maple leaves, birch bark, and moss.  I planted some Scotch moss down our rock stairs, so that was very easy to find.  And some were nearly impossible to find, such as a frog/toad and a caterpillar (in our area or at this time of year, anyway).

In our family, if anyone is a winner, everyone is a winner.  I believe we'll be having ice cream bars tonight.

What Spring Thing Are You?

You Are Chirping Birds

You are a very caring person. You especially feel for innocent beings, like animals and children. You are keyed in to the world and very peaceful. You believe that everyone is connected. You remain focused and in the moment. You are not easily distracted. You have a good memory, especially for things that you hear. You listen carefully.

What Part of Spring Are You?

 

HT: Donna

My guilty pleasure?

Hmmm… thanks to  Matilda and Anne, I’ve been encouraged to think about those things that bring me pleasure as well as guilt.  Aw, can't we wait until Lent to talk about guilt?  OK, I guess I'll play.  That’s a fairly easy question to answer.  I don’t like chocolate as a rule, but you know, there are exceptions.  German chocolate hits the spot like no other.  My particular favorite is Hippo Snacks.

 

Our whole family fell in love with these creamy milk chocolate covered light wafer cookie with milk and hazelnut cream filling ~ just describing them makes my mouth water ~ when we lived in Germany.  We were searching for a house and our realtor had these little tidbits in his candy dish on his desk.  We were famished and when he offered a treat, even I couldn’t refuse.  We bought them as treats for really special days. 

Now we're back in the United States.  While there are a few tugs at my heartstrings to return to Germany, embarrassing as this is to say, this one tugs the hardest!

Notice I have NO GUILT WHATSOEVER about my coffee addiction. :o)

Still Homesick

Is this crazy or what?  I'm a tried and true red-blooded American.  So why am I homesick for England?  Well, there are several reasons.  First, it was incredibly family-friendly.  Let's just do a quick scan of some of the fun things we did that I miss.

• Warwick Castle includes authentic period indoor tours, outdoor trebuchet demonstrations, archery shows, birds of prey, jousting, iceskating.  Full of history.  Tons of fun.
• Leeds Castle we had so much fun outdoors that we never made it inside!  This castle has gorgeous grounds with two mazes and gardens galore.
• Ickworth House has an outdoors almost as fun as Leeds.  We walked a long path that led to a little chapel in a sheep field.  They also had a shaded place for kids to play close to a picnic area.
• Oxford Museum of Natural History was so much fun and free to boot!
• Pitt Rivers Museum was another museum we visited in Oxford.
• Walsingham has Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Shrine and the Slipper Chapel.

When we moved back ot the U.S., we thought that we were moving to a child-friendly, family-friendly state.  Not true.  *Family* activities for which you can buy a membership here include three people.  If you have any more than one child, you pay ... MASSIVELY.

While driving in England can tax your brain and your patience, gardening does not.  I so love that.  Basically, you buy some seeds and plant them.  The earth is rich.  Rain waters seeds steadily.  And you have a lush garden before you know it.  Yes, weeds can take over if  you're not careful.  They'll take over no matter where you live.

I would so like to be relocated to England again, even if it means letting go of half of what we own.   We missed Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and ever so many little things. We never managed to navigate through Cambridge. We never ice skated at Warwick.  We barely missed the Jane Austen Centre in Bath.  Oh, and to think that I had a chance to see Mr. Darcy's house from Pride and Prejudice and missed it!  Three years was not enough.