Am I writing more about the ducks than my kids? Is that so wrong? The ducks are here all the time now – I had a talk yesterday with mama duck about not laying eggs anywhere near here. She gave me a look like she understood. I’ve read “Click Clack Moo” many times – I know how to communicate with ducks! We were working in the yard this afternoon when we could hear quacking in the air, rapidly getting closer. This is typical for ducks – graceful they are not. Geese fly in gracefully and ever so gently touch down when they land. Ducks always look out of control as they land, wobbling all over the place and even land on their sides sometimes (how can you not laugh watching them try to land!). So…back to the story…we could hear quacking in the air and Mr. Duck came in for a crazy landing, but there was still a ton of quacking behind me. Momma duck came walking/waddling over our hill, with non-stop angry quacking, waddled within 2 feet of me and headed straight for the pond (I’ve never understood why ducks walk so much instead of flying – they walk everywhere!). Oh yah…back to the story. Momma duck wouldn’t shut up…quack, quack, quack, quack…and I see a hawk swooping down low over our yard. Yikes…the hawk circled once more…and then left. Momma duck hid out under a bush the entire afternoon and I saw her limping a bit later and kept lifting and dropping one of her wings…so I’m not sure what happened with the hawk over the hill before she made it to safety. Ok…enough with the ducks…except…explain how this dude balances (notice his cool bracelet – the girl across the street says that’s because he’s somebody’s pet)…
Yesterday I biked 30 miles in the morning for MS and then coached both kids in soccer. The weather was great for the bike ride but then rained (very hard at times) non-stop all afternoon for soccer. Colleen’s was first and we stopped early because of the weather, so we went home, which left me just enough time to change into dry clothes and head out the door for Christopher’s first game ever. The younger kids had a great time (and whined a lot less than the older kids), but the parents on the sidelines were miserable once the wind kicked in too. We played two quarters and called it quits. Christopher did great – only one hand ball 🙂 He typically would stop about 5 feet from the ball and kick his legs as if controlling one of the players who could actually reach the ball. Once he perfects these phantom kicks hopefully we can get him a bit closer to the action 🙂
Colleen and Christopher have been collecting leaves, pinecones, etc from the yard all week for a Mother’s Day present. They stored these “presents” on top of their swingset. Here they are this morning in their pajamas getting their buckets down
Note: In a span of 2 seconds later in the day, Megan swiped her arm across the table with these buckets and completely dumped all of Colleen and Christopher’s hard work on the ground. Yes, she knows what she’s doing. Her other great quote from this week was when we saw a puppy on a walk and she said “when Raja dies I want to get a dog like that one”.
My new favorite hobby is yelling at the squirrel why simultaneously trying to snap a picture of him falling. This one’s not bad…
Not sure if I should apologize for writing so much…the last thing I will include is a movie (more for the sound than anything). Tonight a train went through the backyard that only goes through about once a year. I think they load it with executives, get them drunk, and let them go crazy with the whistle (ok, I made up the last two parts of that, but who knows?!?!?). It was going backwards this time, so the whistle and smoke are coming from the caboose???
Hey mom – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!